Like you, I know a lot of Jordanians who share sentiments such as those you’ve posted. One of the smarter men I know there told me early on, Ellen, go ahead and read the JT, but then, if you want to know the truth, it’s probably exactly the opposite of what is published. I thought that was such a sad commentary about free press and veracity in Jordan.

Here are some links to global economic data by country:

1. http://www.finfacts.com/biz10/globalworldincomepercapita.htm

There are 2005 per capita gross national income data from the World Bank:

Switzerland’s–US$54,930 (ranks 3rd globally)
Jordan’s–US$2,500 (ranks 93rd globally)

2. http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_gro_nat_inc_percap-gross-national-income-per-capita

Or, from a site called NationMaster, which obviously uses a different equation to calculate per capita gross national income:

Switzerland’s–US$36,666.11 (ranks 1st globally)
Jordan’s–US$1,451.29 (ranks 89th globally)
Weighted average of all countries–US$5,510.35

3. http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/may03/middleEast5.asp

Or, this from an Ph.D. in economics in 2003:

“A lot of potential unemployment and underemployment has been absorbed by the informal sectors of many Arabs states. One wonders how much more it can absorb without pushing real earnings down even further. Unless there are significant changes in the way things are being done in places like Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Morocco and Yemen, we may be looking at an economic catastrophe sometime within the next 15 or so years.”

“Poverty seems to be on the increase in the region. Many studies point to increases in poverty in Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Egypt and Algeria over the past decade. These are potentially brittle countries, and potentially pivotal countries for extremism and violence. Again, it is important to look at definitions. Extreme poverty in the region is often defined as living on $1 or less a day. Just plain poverty is defined as living on $2 or less a day. Now that may seem extreme for an American, but for many Arabs that is the way life is. About 100 million Arabs are significantly impoverished.” [Emphasis mine.]

This is not selective research. . .I simply plucked three links from Google and this is what they had to say about the situation in Jordan. But if anyone wants to live in a fool’s paradise and believe otherwise. . .

How can you be so narrow as to take offense with that?
I didn’t use that phrase to offend you, but you seem intent on taking everything that is posted in the most hateful and negative of ways. Something is really wrong with your attitude and your heart. We are trying to be kind and patient with you, but you insist on being as difficult, hard headed, and unreasonable as can be.

You are exactly the kind of person who should be reading more widely. Obviously, you are very selective, but not in a good way, about what you will let enter your head. I find it a pity that someone so young has already closed his mind and isn’t open to better information that more closely dovetails with objective reality.

… it is an evidence on how we as Jordanians live in constant fear, something the regime has clearly succeeded in, because here we’re not talking about people from the street, we’re talking about young educated Jordanians, a sect of the community that supposedly should carry the concern of making things better, not escape when it matters.

http://me-in-jordan.blogspot.com/

And to follow up on what I mentioned earlier about Al-Abbadi:

A Jordanian activist and author was recently arrested for writing a letter to Senator Harry Reid that was posted on the internet.

We are writing you this letter to express our utmost concerns regarding the current deteriorated state of political, economic and social affairs in Jordan. Jordan is now going through its worst period of dictatorship. The entire nation is in tatters. The people of Jordan are in an unbearable economic situation.

King Abdullah II’s corrupt regime has been dragging its feet to change the unjust and undemocratic elections law. This law, introduced and ratified by a Royal Decree in August 1993, contains serious flaws that hinder the development of political participation in Jordan.

(Link)

Here’s an editorial, with an accurate perception nonetheless:

Trekkie is one of those Middle East leaders that the U.S. government and the news media call a “moderate.” Moderate is an exceptionally vague word, but it’s meant to imply goodness, decency and level-headedness. In fact, when the United States calls a Muslim leader a “moderate,” that means he’s our friend. Jordan is a dictatorship. The only thing moderate about it is that it’s moderately less fascist than its neighbors Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt.

(Link)
Spare us the nationalist propaganda. We all live it and know it too well when we see it.

From the Arab Times, an open letter to Rice: Jordanians Under Absolute Monarchical Siege -

We are writing you this letter concerning the current political, social and economic developments in Jordan and the recent falsified remarks delivered by King Abdullah in Jordan and abroad. The king says something in the presence of foreign leaders, dignitaries and world press and media, but acts very differently back home. For instance, the king is using international forums, such as World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, Dead Sea and other international gatherings for merely public image and propaganda to show his western audience and his foreign interlocutors that he is a real democrat believing in democracy and human rights.

It is absolutely shameful and ludicrous to hear Queen Rania, the wife of King Abdullah, stating on Thursday, September 21, 2006, during a conference organized by Clinton Global Initiative in New York City, that the “only way to create a stable and secure world is to address global injustices, specifically in the Arab world,” while she and her husband, King Abdullah, and members of the royal family are standing in the way by not allowing the Jordanian people to elect a representative government! Queen Rania has been playing significant overt and covert political roles in the daily functions of the unelected government. She is interfering, dictating and steering the executive branch of the state. Queen Rania is assuming this unconstitutional role despite opposition from the great majority of Jordanians. She is responsible for promoting corruption and nepotism in the appointed government. While Jordanians live an impoverished life, Queen Rania spends a huge portion of the country’s resources on buying private jets, building new palaces, lavish parties, royal receptions and her very expensive fashions.

Oh but it does not stop there!

As tax payers, Jordanians are misinformed and blocked from accessing critical information related to the state budget, monetary policies of borrowing from foreign countries and even basic information such as the annual income of members of the royal family.

No one in Jordan, including members of Parliament, knows or is even allowed to discuss the budget of the royal court. King Abdullah lacks command of the Arabic language: speaks Arabic with a heavy accent and has never spoken at or attended an Arabic press conference or delivered a lengthy speech in Arabic.

Also, the king and members of the royal spend most of their time traveling abroad spending millions of dollars, they do not pay taxes and their annual and source of income are unknown to the public or appointed government. For instance, King Abdullah recently gave each government, military and security agencies employee JD100 ($150), total of $77.5 million, for Ramadan, described by observers as a cheap bribe to silence Jordanians and reduce the heat of resentment that our people feel toward him and his oppressive regime. Jordanians are wondering where he obtained this money from and how much he has in his personal and saving accounts!

And finally…

As stated by Professor Marc Lynch in an article, written by Simon Tisdall on Tuesday November 29, 2005, in the UK-based Guardian Newspaper, “after six years in power, King Abdullah had little to show for his frequent speeches about reform. His tenure had been characterized by a steady decline in freedoms.” JNM will work consistently and wholeheartedly to reverse the regime’s absolute military-style of governance. To avoid generating new evil terrorists and suppressed people in Jordan, our friends must work hand-in-hand with us to carry out this long-awaited change swiftly, peacefully and democratically!

Dr. Ahmad Oweidi Al-Abbadi (Chairman), Former Member of Parliament (Two Terms) Amman-Jordan.
http://www.arabtimes.net/AAAA/A2006/october/88.html

And ask any sociologist or anthropologist and they will tell you how much it takes to change cultural norms within a society, it doesn’t take years , it takes generations!

What a lazy, backwards attitude. It doesn’t take generations to implement and influence change. It takes good leadership, and that is precisely what your country is lacking. But it’s great to see that they excel in marketing and PR. The Switzerland of the Mideast? Thanks a lot for the laugh!

one good example was the establishment of a ministry dedicated entirely to raising political awareness and developing practical methods to implement real democracy in the kingdom called the Ministry of Political Development, tell me, where else in the Arab world did the government implement such a project??

You are so utterly naive it’s almost sickening. I’m revolted.

It seems the 3 years you’ve spent in Jordan weren’t enough for you to realise that in most cases of honour crimes, families drop charges against their son who killed his own sister!!,they wait for him impatiently to get out of prison to celebrate his “heroic” act of reclaiming ” the honour of the family”!, for that there is nothing that can be done to those families other than raising awareness!, there is nothing that can be done-in my opinion- to stop people from killing their own flesh and blood other than convincing them that it’s wrong and by no means supported by religion!

And ask any sociologist or anthropologist and they will tell you how much it takes to change cultural norms within a society, it doesn’t take years , it takes generations!

And for the article you posted!..well, we don’t claim here that we’re perfect!, but our leadership has made major steps in political and economic reforms, one good example was the establishment of a ministry dedicated entirely to raising political awareness and developing practical methods to implement real democracy in the kingdom called the Ministry of Political Development, tell me, where else in the Arab world did the government implement such a project??

Since its establishment, the kingdom has embraced the Islamic movements like no other country in the region ever did!, they integrated well into our social and political structure, which ultimately helped moederate they’re policies and agendas, something most countries in the region have failed to achieve.

Even though I’m not a big fan!-as even though I’m indeed a muslim, I support the form of governance that wouldn’t differentiate between me and fellow christian Jordanians or followers of other religions for that matter- the Islamic movement in Jordan is probably the most moderate and progressive in the entire world!

Also since its establishment, the kingdom believed in women empowerment, in the country from which you come from Murad, women were not allowed to vote until last year, women in Jordan have been granted that right since the 50s of the past century!!

And what the article referred to as “western friendliness”, we view it as a balance of relations between the east and west, something Jordan has done brilliantly, while maintaining good relations with the west and world’s economic power houses, we kept good relations with most of te Arab countries, something that helped Jordan being stable and progressive country amidst turbulence and turmoil, something, we Jordanians take much pride in, as Beirut is referred to in some media circles as “Paris” of Middle East due to the French influence in the infrastructure of the city that apparent in the 20s, 30s, and 40s of the past century, Jordan is referred to as the “Switzerland” of the Mideast , to its safety and stability and progressiveness.

We in Jordan are different in how think of democracy and politics , yet something that we have in common is that we are all Jordan,we love this country and hold deep respect to its wise leadership.

ERS,

I’ve worked there on numerous occasions, always for free because I actually give a damn about your country and know it is impoverished and don’t feel right taking money from the mouths of poor people.

I sincerely was thinking of looking up your book and buying it,but your attitude kind of repelled me…

Our country is not impoverished, it’s a country in transition , Jordan is middle-income country, we are progressing, our leadership is forward looking and is implementing various development projects for both the infrastructure and the cultural structure of society, we are embracing modernity but are maintaining our moderate Islamic tradition and heritage.

Others have articulately expressed the issues I have with Queen Rania. It’s just that it’s all talk, all positioning, all about her own PR. I know members of her family, have shared meals with them, have corresponded with them, have chatted on the telephone with them many, many times. I know more about the inner workings of things than I could or would write here. She is surrounded by PR machinery, that is how she spends most of her time (i.e., managing her image). She is an intelligent woman, though not very experienced at anything before she became queen, but only because she was so young when it happened. I just find it a pity that she hasn’t used her intelligence and her position to do more for her own people. She could. She’s got the ability and the means. It’s just that, for some reason, she doesn’t. It’s a huge missed opportunity.

It’s a shame you haven’t read my book. I believe it has sold out in the Jordanian bookshops (try The Good Book Shop on Rainbow Street in Jebel Amman. . .if they don’t have any copies, probably it can no longer be bought in Jordan). Alternatively, you can find it at the Shoman Library, between the First and Second Circles in Amman. And it it is still available on the American version of Amazon.com, but I don’t know whether they’ll ship to Jordan.

What you have spouted back to us here is all the conventional thinking in Jordan on this topic, but it is not based on any kind of empirical data or evidence, just what peoples’ hunches have long told them and what they’ve perpetuated for years because they’ve lacked any evidence to the contrary.

But I went out and conducted a national survey of public opinion on “honor” killings, using proven empirical, scientific techniques. Polled a representative sample so that I could generalize my findings to the larger population. I spoke with young and old, wealthy and not, educated and not, Muslims and Christians, men and women, people from cities, towns, villages, refugee camps, bedioun tents. I didn’t want my sample to consist only of, say, educated people or English speakers. I was seeking the voices of all.

And what I found is what no one was expecting, least of all me. A full 89% of the people in my sample already support strengthening the penalties for “honor” killings. Another 3.5% don’t care one way or another. So that leaves 7.5% who prefer things remain just as they are. A lot of the 89% who support stronger penalties just volunteered that they think the perpetrators should get the death penalty. One man wanted to hang them off Hadrian’s Arch in Jerash and make a big spectacle of it. A few even said they’d gladly perform the job. So it isn’t even a close call here. Jordanians should be very proud of this. . .most people do know right from wrong, and they think “honor” killings are wrong. Bravo.

This was just one of a whole lot of questions I asked in my survey. Others corroborated this overall sentiment on the part of most Jordanians that “honor” killing is unacceptable and that the time has come to change the status quo. I also recorded peoples’ comments and verbatims and put them all in an appendix at the back of my book. You would probably be really surprised at how strongly people feel about this issue when they get serious and talk about it with someone for hours at a time. Some people cried during the survey. Others told me that it’s happened in their families. Almost everyone had a tale to tell about this.

I never intended to write a book on this subject. I am a marketer by training, and I was intending to use all this data to help me design a hearts and minds marketing communications plan to begin to change attitudes. But first I had to know what the attitudes were, and that’s why I started with a survey. This is just how my profession does things. But, to my pleasant surprise, most peoples’ attitudes don’t really need to be changed. However, the laws do. The options for at-risk people do. There is work to be done. And that is why I lived in Jordan much, much longer than I really wanted. I wanted to get out the word, let the leaders know what I found so, if they want to change things for the better, then can do so knowing they have the support of most of their countrymen and women. And that’s when people began to ask me to write a book about this.

I hope you read it some day. Instead of being so knee-jerk combative about this issue, you should feel proud of your people. I just happen to think your leaders are lagging behind the people on this issue. There is so much more they could be doing. Talk isn’t what’s needed, “dialogue” and “public awareness” (as Queen Rania says) aren’t what’s needed. Those are delay tactics. Action and leadership are what’s needed. And that is basically what I was trying to encourage the leadership to do.

I don’t need to read all your references because I am already so familiar with Queen Rania’s positions on things and her love of all things WEF. There isn’t much that is new to me, at this point. I have been immersed in it for yonks and very, very exposed.

I have spent enough time in Jordan to know that the rosy kingdom you see the gorgeous Queen Rania extolling to Oprah is not exactly true-to-life.

Jordan is a soft police state with very little freedom of expression or freedom of the local press. Those who openly criticize the king or the royal family get a one-way ticket to jail. Jordan is a destination for the U.S. practice of extraordinary renditions, the backyard of the U.S.-led war in Iraq and a breeding ground for militants such as its most famous terror export: Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the late leader of al Qaida in Iraq. Jordanian intelligence agents keep close tabs on Islamist and other opposition activists, and crackdowns on dissidents can be swift and brutal.

But it’s easy to see why the West latched onto last week’s polls as some kind of sea change in Jordanian politics. King Abdullah and Queen Rania have always had great success at peddling their authoritarian kingdom as a democratic oasis in the Middle East.

(Skip) – continued:

The queen talked in vague terms about “honor killings,” which are still common practice in Jordan. Queen Rania pledged that, “once we have this open dialogue and we reach to the grassroots where people can understand this issue, we are hoping through democratic process to change these laws that we have in Jordan.”

That was in 2001. In a case last month, a Jordanian court sentenced a man to just six months in prison for killing his pregnant sister in a so-called honor case. From what I could find on the Web, there wasn’t a peep of protest from the thoroughly modern, Western-friendly royal couple.

Couldn’t have said it better myself!

Read article in full.