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Not even Jordon or Lebanon want the Palestinians. So much for Arab brotherhood:
With reports about the Israeli proposals to the Palestinians replete with hints about progress on the issues of the refugees and border demarcation, Jordan and Lebanon have cause for concern - particularly with regard to the refugee question.
“The Jordanian option does not exist,” King Abdullah made a point of declaring last week in an interview to the French weekly L’Express. Abdullah is worried about what Abbas told Arab newspapers last month after visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Back then the Palestinian president said he could not demand that Israel accept all the refugees, but that this need not mean that none of them would return. “It is untenable for me to propose that five million refugees return to Israel, because they [the Israelis] will immediately tell me that I am out to liquidate the state. But it is also untenable for me to say that none of them will return. Compensation must be paid to those who return and to those who do not return, and also to the countries that hosted the refugees.”
For Jordan, whose population is more than 60 percent Palestinian, the problem concerns the country’s character and identity. Even before the second intifada, and more so in its course, when concern arose that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would cross the border into Jordan, the prime minister at the time, Ali Abu al-Ragheb, announced that his government would not grant citizenship to even one additional Palestinian. That approach is even more deeply ingrained today.
With nearly two million Palestinians and another 700,000 refugees from Iraq living in Jordan, the country is barely able to create its own national identity. The slogan “We are one family,” intended to show Jordan’s solidarity with the Palestinian problem, was changed to “Jordan first.” Publicists in Jordan have written that the slogan should really be “Jordanians first,” implying that the Palestinians who hold Jordanian citizenship are not truly brothers.
Read the complete article here.
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September 9th, 2008 at 4:57 am
It's a weird dichotomy to Jordanians. On the one hand they are proud to be the supporter of Palestinians… on the other hand they want them out and Jordanians often tell Palestinian jokes the way US citizens tell Polish or Irish jokes which imply stupidity or prolification akin to lapins (bunnies). I always admired Jordan for taking on the refugee problem while their richer and more self-titled "devout" (read Saudi and Iranian and well all other oil-rich states) could care less about the refugees. They seem to be too pious to remember the Hadith in which Muhammad stated "you should not eat if your neighbor is hungry". Ugh. Jordan would seriously be empty if the Palestinian descendants left. They would, however, have more money and public programs if Iraq was safe enough for people to go home and rebuild. 500,000 nearly undocumented people who aren't allowed to work is pretty draining. I'm surprised King Abdullah said that… thanks for the link. You are sooooo one of my favorite random news facts websites.
September 9th, 2008 at 7:49 am
It's easy to see both sides of the situation for Jordon, but it becomes tiresome hearing about Arab brotherhood when we have examples of the exact opposite happening instead. From a westerners perspective, it's simply another drop of hypocrisy into the bucket of Arab countries. Of course I realize that no country is free from it's own version of hypocrisy, but it's a particularly hot topic when Americans are trying to understand exactly what it means to be a Muslim.
September 10th, 2008 at 2:34 am
hmmm, well to me it's a fallacy to equate Islam with Arabs… Since Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country (with a female President in it's somewhat troubled history.. ok quite troubled history) maybe we should all be compared to Indonesians… er maybe not. None the less, I just wish people would realize that it's a religion not a race or location.. present company excluded… I am not at all referring to you. Perhaps this is why I choose to wear a more traditional hijab as opposed to a head covering of any kind. I like to challenge stereotypes. Arabs: Muslims Texans:Christians sure, many Texans are Christians… but there's more to Christians than that right? Yes, Muhammad was an Arab… and the rest of the Prophets were Jews.. so… now what do we do? Simplification really does not do this situation justice. The Jordan situation, however, is always quite complicated. One of my favorite blogs is from a family who used to reside in Baghdad. They are privileged in Amman because the father is Jordanian… well Palestinian Jordanian. The mother's a Shiite Iraqi Muslim, the dad's a Sunni, the kids are in between (a secularist, a reformist and a more religious guy). I bet their viewpoint would be interesting (and they are all allowed to work and go to school, etc there because they are now citizens too). Besides, although I believe in the idea of Muslim Sisterhood (only marginally care about brotherhood) Arab Nationalism and the Arabist movement are on their way out the door anyways.