By Amer Al Sabaileh
It takes very little effort to discern the attempts being made by international media, while covering the protests in Jordan, to infuse Jordanian political ambition with slogans relating to individuals. Most media reports have focused on presenting the unrest in Jordan as if it relates solely to King Abdullah. Moreover, the selectivity of which slogans were translated for the articles was clear: most of the deep political slogans were emitted, while the slogans, which personalize the whole political movement in Jordan as an assault on King Abdullah, were emphasized.
Such brazen fact-changing also reached the New York Times. In this American newspaper, a certain David D. Kirkpatrick published an article “Jordan Protesters Dream of Shift to King’s Brother”. It is important to highlight -after deep research- that this news about a proclaimed “dream” and some such call for Prince Hamza, never happened. It is, purely and simply, false news. Actually, everyone who is in touch with the situation, or was among the movements knows perfectly well that such a call has never taken place. But what pushed a famous Newspaper to put its credibility in doubt? Perhaps all those involved in the fabrication of such ‘news’ are involved in some ulterior agenda! Does this agenda include people from within the current Jordanian political system? Or, perhaps, some protagonists of a previous era who are dreaming of a return to the political scene?
Today in Jordan, it is obvious that there is a latent desire to persecute an era by inflating mistakes. This is clear from the way in which the attack is being launched against this specific era and person as if it were the sole source of all our problems. Furthermore, comparing phases and persons might not be beneficial or result in accurate findings. Every political era and individual has its mistakes, King Abdullah included, indeed, even King Hussein made grave mistakes. However, in this same article by “David D. Kirkpatrick” there is an obvious attempt to play on the emotions of the people by reminding them, in a nostalgic way, of the late King Hussein. It is strange that those who write such things forget that the beloved King Hussein himself faced two serious revolutions, the last just two years before his death, not to mention the several assassination attempts that he himself mentions in his memoirs.
The conduct of recent coverage might well suggest the existence of a conspiracy against Jordan and Jordanians. The word “dream” employed in this New York Times article is a deceptive word. The Jordanian dream today is the dream of creating a decent political situation. The Jordanian political dream was born from people’s suffering, from the desire to build an advanced society based on the values of justice, human rights, respect and dignity. The Jordanian dream was never linked to the change of particular persons. Yet, the fault of the western world will always be seeing others by an exclusively western prospective. According to such a dreamy vision of what is called the “Arab spring” the toppling of individuals is perceived to be core to the whole movement. X replaces Y, Morsi replaces Mubarak, Ghannushi replaces place of Ben Ali, and so on.
In a few words, it seems that the western world would like to keep seeing a Jordan divided into two sides: first, the regime, represented by the king and, second, the Muslim brotherhood. Therefore, if the Muslim Brotherhood has failed to seize the moment and to come to power, then the only other option would be a change within the same ruling family. The advocates of this naïve vision remain obstinately unaware that between these ‘two parts’ of the conflict, a new political power, is emerging in Jordan, and can be described as a “democratic progressive movement”. It does not find itself under the umbrella of the “old style” regime, nor under that of the Muslim brotherhood. This movement has the real legitimacy to decide the shape of change in Jordan, since it includes a large section of Jordan’s Media, thinkers, intellectuals, seculars, nationalists, writers, politicians, and artists. Therefore, when it comes to change in Jordan, the world should realize that Jordanians desire a better future not the changing of individuals.
Dr. Amer Al Sabaileh
http://amersabaileh.blogspot.com
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