Zone1 Islam- Arab Imperialism

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[Islam and Putin, working on invading the West ]

 

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[surada]

The Middle East unites against the terrorism perpetrated by #Hamas. We stand with the people of both #Gaza and #Israel. The misinformation spread by the Muslim Brotherhood cannot deceive us; we now have access to information through various tools.
@lalshareef and I shared this viewpoint at the University of South Florida, where I witnessed and heard from Jewish students facing racism and antisemitism on American university campuses. These students reported extremist individuals, who fled from terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq to the USA, gained citizenship, and began supporting ISIS, al-Qaeda, and Hamas.

Have you ever noticed that Jordan is very safe, peaceful country?

 

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Have you ever noticed that Jordan is very safe, peaceful country?

[Hooray for Authoritarian Dictatorships ]​

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Democratic facade​

Jordan is best described as a "soft dictatorship," as Yasmina Abouzzohour, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution's Doha Center think tank, writes in an analysis of how Arab monarchies have survived popular protests. Jordan has minimum democracy and reforms come from the top, Abouzzohour points out.



In Jordan, this means the country's king, Abdullah II, may appoint or dismiss the country's prime minister and cabinet ministers as well as members of the upper house of parliament. Members of the lower house are elected every four years but tend to have comparatively little sway.

New generation of protesters​

This system has been under pressure for decades but since the so-called Arab Spring in 2011, when popular demonstrations toppled authoritarian regimes, the strain has intensified.

Jordan, too, had its own Arab Spring-style protests. They started in January 2011 and involved a younger generation of more critical Jordanians, known as the Hirak, or popular movement. But, as Abouzzohour points out, most Arab monarchies managed to contain these protests in a similar way: "They granted monetary incentives and limited political concessions … combined with repressive tactics."

In Jordan, this buy-off included promises on subsidies, taxes and wage increases, as well as several changes of government and leadership. There have been 13 prime ministers since the current king took power in 1999 and the move is something that critical Jordanian media outlets have started to describe as a diversionary tactic.

Jordan's economic woes​

Still, protests have continued throughout the decade, mostly driven by a deteriorating economic situation, worsening living standards and what are generally seen as broken government promises.

The demonstrations by Jordanian teachers that started in 2019 are a significant example. The government promised teachers a 50% pay rise back in 2014. That pledge was later adjusted before stalling entirely when all public sector pay increases were frozen in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

By mid-2020, the Jordanian government had arrested dozens of leading members of the teachers' union and banned the organization.

Worrying trend​

"That was a big deal," Adam Coogle of Human Rights Watch explained. "It was the largest independent organization in the country capable of that kind of mobilization, and it was closed down almost overnight. It points to a really concerning kind of trend," he concluded.

Other organizations have spotted this trend too. Freedom House, a US-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that measures how "free" a democracy is, reduced Jordan's ranking from "partly free" in 2020 to "not free" in 2021.

Media freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders also noted that hundreds of local websites have been blocked since Jordan overhauled its media laws in 2012, and underscored the fact that posts on social media are now potentially punishable with jail sentences in the country.

Freedom of expression endangered​

"Basically, there's growing discontent and frustration as well as the perception that basic rights are being eroded," Coogle told DW. "People here feel they cannot express themselves the way they used to."

And it is in this context that the unusually public scrap between members of the Jordanian royal family may best be seen.

The subject of the weekend's events, Prince Hamzah, half-brother of King Abdullah II and a popular, former contender for the crown, is seen as a reformer and has attended meetings with tribal groups critical of the country's leadership. He's also a canny user of social media.


(full article online)

How stable is Jordan really? – DW – 04/06/2021

The Middle Eastern country's allies are concerned after this weekend's palace intrigue. Observers say the royal family's public spat is just a small example of long-term problems.

www.dw.com

 

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