The last time King Abdullah II met President Bush in the White House, Jordanian state television pointedly played down the visit–a stark departure from the way a small country typically covers an effusive Oval Office reception for its leader. But this was no public-relations oversight, just good domestic politics.
Abdullah’s restive subjects, some 60 percent of whom are of Palestinian origin, are in no mood to see their king cozy up to a Bush administration they view as supporting the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian territories.
Since Abdullah’s visit to Washington in January, anti-Israeli and anti-American sentiments in Jordan have grown much worse as the Palestinian death toll has mounted. Riot police have repeatedly clashed with demonstrators calling on the king to expel the Israeli ambassador and abrogate Jordan’s peace treaty with the Jewish state.
The government in Amman deployed so many tanks and soldiers in the capital to head off an April 12 demonstration that one child who witnessed the scene asked her mother, “Are the Israelis invading Jordan?”
Many analysts and political leaders in Jordan fear for the security of the reign oftheir 40-year-old, Western-oriented king, who is more fluent in English than Arabic and who sometimes seems more at ease on the streets of Beverly Hills than in the slums of Amman. Most dare not say so publicly, however, lest they join the dozens of journalists and politicians who have been detained by state security agents for allegedly defaming the government.
Images can be deceiving
Despite its moderate image in the West and its reputation as one of Washington’s most stable Arab allies, Jordan has become a place where even supporters of the government are convinced that the secret police are watching them. One former government official was so sure he was being bugged that he would not begin an interview until he had shoved his cell phones beneath the sofa cushions.
Political activists say the government crackdown against dissent is becoming particularly sinister.
Aida Dabbas, a leading pro-Palestinian activist in Amman, said she was questioned twice in the last month by state security agents trying to dissuade her from organizing sit-ins and distributing leaflets.
The last time, she said, agents threatened to spread rumors that she had committed an “honor crime,” such as an extramarital affair–a potentially deadly accusation in a tribal culture where families may seek to restore their honor by killing the violator.
“The Jordanian government won’t let us demonstrate or speak out, but it says we have to watch the Israelis kill our people,” Dabbas said. “The government is forced by the United States to take this position against the will of the people, but I don’t think they can control the population any longer.”
Journalists have been detained and harassed for trying to report on anti-government demonstrations. To avoid censorship at the state-controlled satellite uplink facility, foreign television reporters must smuggle their videotapes out of the country.
“They don’t want us to show things that will embarrass them with the United States,” said Tareq Ayyoub, a reporter for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite network who has been arrested several times for trying to cover protests.
“The government says this is irresponsible. But I am not defying the government. I am doing my job,” Ayyoub added.
Government leaders say the crackdown on demonstrators and the press is justified, adding it is being conducted according to laws intended to maintain social peace and stability. There is no legislature to oppose the moves, because the king dissolved parliament a year ago and has yet to schedule new elections.
`Put a check on things’
“I believe strongly in democracy and freedom of the press, but in real life, freedom of the press can get out of line,” said Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb. “There are only two journalists in jail right now, and if you read what they wrote, you would put them in jail too. This can be very harmful to the state.
“Sometimes you have to take a harsh measure, just to put a check on things,” the U.S.-educated Abul Ragheb added. “Believe me, I could send a lot of journalists to jail every day.”
Jordan long has been a key American ally in the Middle East–and a major recipient of U.S. economic and military aid–ever since Abdullah’s father, King Hussein, followed Egypt in concluding a landmark peace treaty with Israel in 1994.
Abdullah was among the first world leaders to express support for the Bush administration’s war against terrorism after Sept. 11, and Jordanian intelligence reportedly helped foil several Al Qaeda terrorism schemes.
In January, Bush and the king exchanged praise during the White House visit. But when the Bush administration decided to regard Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians as a struggle against terrorism, Abdullah suddenly was caught in a vise between Washington’s expectations of support and his citizens’ deep sympathies for their Arab kin.
On shaky ground
So far, Abdullah has stuck with the White House, suppressing domestic demonstrations and maintaining diplomatic ties with Israel. But the vise could tighten further if the Bush administration decides to target Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who supplies half of Jordan’s oil for free and the rest at a steep discount.
The White House has so far declined to promise Abdullah oil security in the event of a U.S. attack on Iraq, diplomats say.
Such acute pressures leave many Jordanian politicians and Western diplomats scratching their heads over why the Bush administration seems intent on raising the heat on Abdullah.
Bush singled out Jordan in a speech last Wednesday, after Secretary of State Colin Powell returned from his peacemaking mission, saying it must “help confront terrorism in the Middle East.”
And the International Monetary Fund, which is heavily influenced by the United States, pressed Jordan to implement price hikes last week on staples such as bread and fuel, as part of a debt-restructuring deal.
“This will increase the burdens on Jordanian citizens, and I am very worried,” said Hamzeh Mansour, general secretary of the opposition Islamic Action Front, who noted that riots broke out in 1996, the last time the government raised bread prices. “I don’t know when things will blow up.”
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Jordan at a glance
GOVERNMENT
Type: Constitutional monarchy
Head of state: King Abdullah II (assumed the throne in 1999 after the death of his father, King Hussein)
PEOPLE
Population (2001): 5.15 million
Ethnic makeup: 98% Arab (up to 60% of Palestinian origin)
Literacy rate: 87% (U.S.: 97%)
Population in poverty: 30% (U.S.: 13%)
ECONOMY
Per capita GDP: $3,500 (U.S.: $36,200)
Top imports: crude oil, machinery, food
Top import partners: Iraq, Germany, U.S.
Top exports: phosphates, fertilizers, potash
Top export partners: India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia
Source: CIA World Factbook
