By Madeleine Mezagopian

"I'm against war and abuse of humankind. I'm not for politics, I'm all for love, peace and healing the broken." With these words Nick Vujicic approaches the world. Nick Vujicic, the limbless fighter for hope, represents himself and advocates a cause, above all other causes which involve authority or territory. A cause where the mere naked human being is the core issue, nude of gender, origin, and religion, a human being with incomplete body yet of perfect soul and brain.

The inspirational Nick Vujicic was about to give Jordan the honor of having him to lecture on hope to inspire many in desperate need for spiritual uplifting in a region where they are unwelcome members or unpleasant scenes during an event which would have benefited societies serving a segment of Jordan's society who paid dear price for serving Jordan, given all revenues would have been channeled to assist the organizing parties in enhancing the services they offer to their beneficiaries: Hashemite Commission for Disabled Soldiers, the National Committee for De-mining and Rehabilitation, Jordanian Association for Spinal Cord Injury Care and the US based nonprofit organization Roads of Success.

However, regretfully the event has been cancelled as response to lobbying by those Jordanians who perceive receiving such a personality who claims to stand by Israel to exhibit insensitivity to their Palestinian origin and cause.

It is not difficult to anticipate and understand Vujicic's identifying with Israel like any person with physical challenges identifies with a country with excellence in the field that provides only the very best and state of the art to those physically challenged among many other challenges. Israel which for decades now has become the safe haven for those seeking excellence in health services including thousand of Arab citizens foremost Palestinians.

For a country like Jordan who entered into a peace agreement with Israel, a legitimate member of the global society, the UN, after regaining its rights, such a statement by Vujicic should not obstruct receiving an honorable guest like Vujicic whose boundaries exceed the sky as he reaches the divine providence through his spiritual enlightenment which stand's Vujicic's inspiration and motivation to serve mankind whoever and wherever they are.

This said, would not have been a wiser choice for those who disagree with Nick Vujicic on a specific issue irrelevant to the cause of his visit to Jordan if they welcomed the visit rather than preventing it and saw in his presence in Jordan an opportunity to provide him with all the good reasons to stand by the Arabs in general and by the Palestinians in particular. A stand which Vujicic could have reflected to the millions who revere and listen to Nick Vujicic instead of dismissing and unwelcoming him and thus giving him yet another reason to stand by Israel?

Truly, a regretful approach to a noble event.


Madeleine Mezagopian
Academic Researcher, Advisor and Analyst
Conflict Resolution/Peace and
Socioeconomic and Political Development