Why peace with Israel was bad for Jordan

[Aepsilons]

@RazPaK and others,


Let me say that even tho I am not Jordanian, I have a lot of respect for Jodanian people and the nation itself. I've some good friends who are of Jordanian background and I've never met such humble, good and genuinely kind hearted people. So thus, I will defend Jordan.

Jordan has done what it could to keep peace in the region, and has done its part, more so than many Arab neighbours who just talk the talk. Jordan, has walked the walk, by not only building refugee centers as well as housing for Palestinian refugees, throughout the decades. In addition, it was Jordan, along with Turkey, who have taken up the majority of the refugees from Syria and Iraq. So please spare me the ad nauseum lecture about how Jordan is "shaking hands with the enemy". I'll tell you one thing, Jordan is not killing its own people, unlike the Assad Regime. Jordan is not imposing religious fanaticism , unlike ISIS, ISIL, FSA.As we speak, Jordan pours its medical and housing resources to aid these Syrians and Iraqis that are crossing the border in droves looking for safety.

Tho She (Jordan) is a small country, it has a heart of a Shepherd boy in defense of his flock. Reminds me of Prophet David (Da'ud) going against Goliath. A small nation , and willing to share its much needed resources to the hundreds of thousands, millions that are in its borders after these wars. Tell me, name me one country in the middle east (besides Turkey) who has provided such magnanimous human resource aid to these refugees? And I'm talking about direct aid?

If foreigners don't like Jordan's pragmatic foreign policy, because they're not in cahoots with them, then so be it. Jordan's Monarchy, and Jordan's Government has only one concern: Jordan's peace and Jordan's development.

 

[Zarvan]

@RazPaK and others,


Let me say that even tho I am not Jordanian, I have a lot of respect for Jodanian people and the nation itself. I've some good friends who are of Jordanian background and I've never met such humble, good and genuinely kind hearted people. So thus, I will defend Jordan.

Jordan has done what it could to keep peace in the region, and has done its part, more so than many Arab neighbours who just talk the talk. Jordan, has walked the walk, by not only building refugee centers as well as housing for Palestinian refugees, throughout the decades. In addition, it was Jordan, along with Turkey, who have taken up the majority of the refugees from Syria and Iraq. So please spare me the ad nauseum lecture about how Jordan is "shaking hands with the enemy". I'll tell you one thing, Jordan is not killing its own people, unlike the Assad Regime. Jordan is not imposing religious fanaticism , unlike ISIS, ISIL, FSA.As we speak, Jordan pours its medical and housing resources to aid these Syrians and Iraqis that are crossing the border in droves looking for safety.

Tho She (Jordan) is a small country, it has a heart of a Shepherd boy in defense of his flock. Reminds me of Prophet David (Da'ud) going against Goliath. A small nation , and willing to share its much needed resources to the hundreds of thousands, millions that are in its borders after these wars. Tell me, name me one country in the middle east (besides Turkey) who has provided such magnanimous human resource aid to these refugees? And I'm talking about direct aid?

If foreigners don't like Jordan's pragmatic foreign policy, because they're not in cahoots with them, then so be it. Jordan's Monarchy, and Jordan's Government has only one concern: Jordan's peace and Jordan's development.

They will get nothing off these until issue off palestine is solved Jordan will either go to war or face ISIL type groups. And every Muslim country will face same until issue off Palestine is solved

 

[Zarvan]

Parsing peace will make people house burn?

Yes betraying Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir soon every one will burn so better they take on Israel or soon face from wrath inside and even civil war even King off Jordan admitted this is recent conference

 

[Aepsilons]

They will get nothing off these until issue off palestine is solved Jordan will either go to war or face ISIL type groups. And every Muslim country will face same until issue off Palestine is solved

Get nothing? Jordan receives close to a billion dollars per annum on aid from the United States, Japan's ODA has provided over $1.5 Billion to Jordan as well. This does not count other nations' aid. Jordan is growing with a stable GDP growth rate of 3%, relatively manageable inflation. And since the establishment of the FTA with the United States and relevant partners, the bilateral trade between Jordan and the USA has reached over $3.5 Billion per annum. This is 10 fold increase since the agreement was passed; and 30% increase since 2009.

My point is this: Jordan is an oasis of calm in a region that is plagued with instability. Why would any Jordanian citizen want his or her sacred nation to be affected like Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Iran?

Yes betraying Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir soon every one will burn so better they take on Israel or soon face from wrath inside and even civil war even King off Jordan admitted this is recent conference

@Zarvan

Find peace, brother. Focus on the right path. Remember, ALLAH Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is Love.

Brethren meaning not only Al-Muslim, but also Al-Qitab; Jew, Christian, et al.

 

[Zarvan]

Get nothing? Jordan receives close to a billion dollars per annum on aid from the United States, Japan's ODA has provided over $1.5 Billion to Jordan as well. This does not count other nations' aid. Jordan is growing with a stable GDP growth rate of 3%, relatively manageable inflation. And since the establishment of the FTA with the United States and relevant partners, the bilateral trade between Jordan and the USA has reached over $3.5 Billion per annum. This is 10 fold increase since the agreement was passed; and 30% increase since 2009.

My point is this: Jordan is an oasis of calm in a region that is plagued with instability. Why would any Jordanian citizen want his or her sacred nation to be affected like Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Oman, Yemen, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Iran?



@Zarvan

Find peace, brother. Focus on the right path. Remember, ALLAH Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is Love.

Brethren meaning not only Al-Muslim, but also Al-Qitab; Jew, Christian, et al.

That is nothing specially what Jordan is about face in shape off ISIL and these groups are rising because off Jordan and other groups off betrayel off Palestine issue and ALLAH offers peace for those who don't attack Muslims those who do we take them out

 

[Aepsilons]

That is nothing specially what Jordan is about face in shape off ISIL and these groups are rising because off Jordan and other groups off betrayel off Palestine issue and ALLAH offers peace for those who don't attack Muslims those who do we take them out

So, do not those ISIL, ISIS, FSA and even the Assad Regime -- not attack Muslims? Do not the thousands upon thousands of individuals who have been butchered by ISIS, ISIL, FSA -- count as muslims? Or are they excusable?

I'm sorry, I don't quite see your vantage point or see any sense of rationalization in these acts. In regards to Mercy, and Justice, I don't pretend to know the mind of the Almighty Creator, let alone dare try to execute the Almighty's Justice. Only ALLAH Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will judge the living and the dead for their crimes in the Life After.

 

[Mahmoud_EGY]

That's Al Jazeera for you. I assume the powers that be in Qatar have decided to add Jordan to their list of enemies.

welcome to the list

 

[Zarvan]

So, do not those ISIL, ISIS, FSA and even the Assad Regime -- not attack Muslims? Do not the thousands upon thousands of individuals who have been butchered by ISIS, ISIL, FSA -- count as muslims? Or are they excusable?

I'm sorry, I don't quite see your vantage point or see any sense of rationalization in these acts. In regards to Mercy, and Justice, I don't pretend to know the mind of the Almighty Creator, let alone dare try to execute the Almighty's Justice. Only ALLAH Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will judge the living and the dead for their crimes in the Life After.

Yes they do but west needs to stay away from Muslim world issues and as for Palestine issue most troubles and groups rising in Muslim world are rising because of this issue not getting solved and as long as this issue exist world war can have World WAR III but no peace

 

[Mahmoud_EGY]

That is nothing specially what Jordan is about face in shape off ISIL and these groups are rising because off Jordan and other groups off betrayel off Palestine issue and ALLAH offers peace for those who don't attack Muslims those who do we take them out

ISIL and other terror organizations attacks muslim countries

 

[Cheetah786]

That is nothing specially what Jordan is about face in shape off ISIL and these groups are rising because off Jordan and other groups off betrayel off Palestine issue and ALLAH offers peace for those who don't attack Muslims those who do we take them out

Where did Almighty said that?

 

[Cheetah786]

Yes betraying Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir soon every one will burn so better they take on Israel or soon face from wrath inside and even civil war even King off Jordan admitted this is recent conference

How exactly am i betraying Muslim in Kashmir and Palestine ?

 

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View attachment 138364

Jordanians have strong reasons for rejecting Israel - for some, these are nationalistic, for others, they are religious.


Five and a half years before Jordan signed its peace treaty with Israel at Wadi Araba in October 1994, the country saw the eruption of its first major revolution since its creation by the British in 1921. Dire economic conditions and a series of draconian measures adopted by the pro-Syria government of Zaid al-Rifai to restrict political activities and curtail civil liberties, sparked what became known as the April (1989) uprising of the South.

In anticipation of the need to adopt a severe austerity programme and in a bid to appease disgruntled masses, the late King Hussein launched a process of political liberalisation that included new legislative elections. However, the Jordanian democratic honeymoon was short lived. The massive popular show of support the Islamists received in the elections, the 1991 Gulf war provoked by Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, and the Madrid Peace Conference in late 1991 were among some of the factors that dissuaded the king from pursuing the democratic reform path. Yet, the most important impediment to democratisation has been the peace treaty with Israel.

The people of Jordan, just like the majority of Arabs and Muslims, do not recognise the legitimacy of Israel's occupation of Palestine. Israel's very existence on a land that was usurped by force continued to be regarded as an aggression against the entire Ummah. Generation after generation, Arabs, foremost among them the Jordanians - who until recent years did not see Palestine and Jordan as separate entities - aspired to see Palestine liberated and the Zionist project aborted. Jordanian children like their fathers before them, grew up learning by heart details of what happened to Palestine and its people, several millions of whom ended up living in Jordan permanently either as refugees or as Jordanian citizens. Invariably, Jordanians have strong reasons for rejecting Israel; for some people these are nationalistic, for others they are religious and for a great many they are personal.

Public sentiment

Yet, the Jordanian public sentiment was for much of the history of the Zionist occupation of Palestine at odds with that of the ruling elite in Jordan. Since King Abdullah the First, the founding monarch, the Hashemite rulers of Jordan have maintained clandestine contacts with the Israelis. They probably would have recognised Israel much earlier had circumstances permitted them. Nevertheless, their political discourse, at least until the Madrid peace conference, remained within the bounds of Arab consensus, paying lip service to the public sentiment.

There was even a time when Jordan was home for the PLO resistance factions and other times when King Hussein competed with Yassir Arafat over who legitimately represented the people of the West Bank who were, until the mid-1980s, still considered Jordanian citizens.

Therefore, it was to be expected that political liberalisation in Jordan would not assist in the conclusion of any peace deal that might recognise Israel's right to exist. It even became clear that any fair legislative election, as part of such a process of liberalisation, was going to produce a parliament with a sizable Islamic representation and most likely a majority that would be opposed to any move towards Israel in contradiction with the people's wishes. A free and powerful parliament in Jordan would never authorise the executive to sign a peace deal with Israel.

It is no wonder then that after the Madrid conference and less than two years away from the next parliamentary elections the Jordanian authorities embarked on changing the election law.

The aim was to restrict the ability of the Islamists in particular, but more generally any candidates who were not to the liking of the intelligence services, to gain votes in sufficient numbers to guarantee a seat in parliament. The measure soon paid dividend. The legislative elections of November 1993 resulted in reducing, substantially, the parliamentary share of the Islamists and other political trends allied with them. The king had his parliament of choice, one that would bless whatever it is asked to endorse.

A mirage

What was hailed as a genuine transition to democracy in the autumn of 1989 soon proved to be a mirage. Throughout the initial stages of political liberalisation, and despite some tangible improvements in the record of human rights and civil liberties, the king made sure he relinquished very little of his powers to the elected parliament. And as soon as the post-Madrid Washington talks started, Jordan saw a rapid reversal of many of the positive steps taken earlier. The intelligence services gradually regained many of the powers they had lost during the initial period and this led to heavy restrictions on freedoms of expression, of assembly and of movement.

The regime was not content with just changing the election law, opposition groups, some of whom chose to boycott subsequent elections, claimed that those elections were rigged, or somehow interfered with, in order to produce rubber stamp parliaments.
@Horus @Oscar @AUz @al-Hasani @fatman17 @BLACKEAGLE @Arabian Legend @Yzd Khalifa @Mosamania @RazPaK @Jf Thunder @Munir @Bratava
Why peace with Israel was bad for Jordan - Al Jazeera English

I checked the article and could not find a single argument why its bad except that it causes buthurt to Al Jazeera journalist.

Peace with Israel gives Jordan water (50 million cu m a year).
Airspace passage.
US aid and trade relations.
Cheap gas from Egypt and now from Israel itself.
Tourism and so on.

 

[Aepsilons]

I checked the article and could not find a single argument why its bad except that it causes buthurt to Al Jazeera journalist.

Peace with Israel gives Jordan water (50 million cu m a year).
Airspace passage.
US aid and trade relations.
Cheap gas from Egypt and now from Israel itself.
Tourism and so on.

In other words, everything that some neighbors wish they could have, but don't have. Oi Vei!

 

[Ahmed Jo]

Though it will be interesting to see whether the treaty holds up with the recent events in Jerusalem. I hope the Israeli government will respect Arab authority of the quds compound and let the worshipers pray there as it has been doing since 1967(even before the treaty). If the Netanyahu government makes certain wrong decisions, it could violate the terms of the peace treaty and thus make it void.