In my office, I keep files for countries that see many pieces of news published about them. I started with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the USA, Israel, Iraq, Libya, Turkey, Iran and now Jordan. I had wished for Jordan to be left without a special file in my office, because the western rule of journalism is, “no news is good news," meaning that news means problems and threats, while the absence of news means that this or that country is kept away from them. Jordan dodged the scourges of the so-called Arab Spring and I thank God for that. However, I see a fire lurking under the ashes and I am afraid that this fire will break. Jordan is suffering from some imported problems, or not made in Jordan, such as the repercussions and crimes of the Israeli occupation, the occupation of Iraq and lately the Syrian revolution that resulted in around half a million Syrian refugees in Jordan, i.e. ten percent of the Jordanian population. All these issues are important and Jordan is capable of dealing with them. However, the domestic problems are way more dangerous for Jordan's present and future. Jordan has no natural resources. Yet, it it is big enough for all its people; while the tribes are at the core of everything. This is a reality that no one should disregard. When some tribal figures addressed an ill-worded letter to King Abdullah II, I wrote an angry column to attack these figures, not forgetting to mention, in the same piece, that the tribes constitute Jordan's backbone, nobleness and dignity. When the Jordanian princedom was established in the early 1920s and upon the country's independence in the early 1950s, Jordan saw a flood of Circassians, Chechens, Palestinians, Syrians, and Iraqis; and Jordan grew stronger with them all. There were definitely some sensitivities that emerged, but the Jordanian unity survived. Now however, I see there are reasons for concern. I do not care at all for the positions of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, because this group will not be ruling Jordan. I am mostly concerned about the scenes of violence within the universities between the people of tribal descent and the Jordanians of Palestinian origins. This is totally unacceptable, as it will harm Jordan's social components. Anyone who takes part in that is an enemy of God and the nation, and should deserve the heaviest of punishments. The impunity is probably the reason why these university fights are still proceeding. In 2011, there were 60 fights, while last year witnessed 80 fights, to the extent that four people were killed, including one child in the University of Al-Hussein by late last month. I remember that I read, two years ago, a report about violence at Jordanian universities. If my memory is still intact, the report blamed the security services for failing to punish the perpetrators, because many incidents end with a tribal reconciliation outside the university campus. The university administration then takes the perpetrators back in, which leads to additional turmoil. Today, the fights and violence within universities reached such a high extent that the New York Times carried a detailed story with the headline “Tribal Clashes at Universities Add to Tensions in Jordan", about the subject. When King Abdullah II visited the USA some days ago, after President Barack Obama had visited Jordan a month ago, the King and the President met at the White House and held a discussion. President Obama spoke of the peace process, the Syrian refugees and the change of the game's rules, if the Syrian regime was to use chemical weapons. However, the American president started by congratulating the king on the basket of domestic reforms that he launched and he promised that the US will be doing more to support Jordan's economy and prosperity. He further stressed that the US will be supporting the provision of loans to Jordan considering that this country is trying to be a model of good governance in the region. I must add that King Abdullah II told me, prior to the so-called Arab Spring, that he as thinking of transferring many of his jurisdictions to the parliament. I believe that he is still working on that, because he never said anything to negate it, following the latest domestic problems that broke in the country. Jordan is my country just like Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and every Arab country. Jordan belongs to all its people and the tribes must be given credit for being there first. It is a good thing for people to learn from their mistakes and from the those of others. Jordanians must look at the situation in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq and must thank God for the graces he bestowed on Jordan. [email protected]
