Jordan

Riots erupt in Jordan: The end of absolute monarchy

by News Sources 11.14.2012

Christopher Dickey reports: The blue-eyed king and beautiful queen of Jordan are facing the biggest crisis of their reign. On Tuesday night, riots and protests broke out in many of the country’s cities. Some in the crowd shouted “the people want the fall of the regime.” Others burned the monarch’s portrait. One longtime supporter of [...]

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Video: Jordan claims to have foiled al Qaeda terror plot

by News Sources 10.22.2012

If the Arab Spring had for some time appeared to bypass Jordan there are now indications that it is about to erupt and shake the Hashemite Kingdom. Rulers in peril have an uncanny ability to foil terrorist plots. Last week, Ruba al-Husayni wrote in As-Safir: Jordan was not spared from the repercussions of the Arab [...]

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The Jordanian spring has begun

by News Sources 10.19.2012

Zaki Bani Rashid writes: The call for reform started in Jordan well before the Arab spring. However, it has intensified since – not only because of the Arab revolutions, but also in response to widespread state corruption. Jordan’s reformers are demanding constitutional changes; in particular, changes to our election law so that a truly representative [...]

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Video — Jordan: A kingdom divided?

by News Sources 10.07.2012
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Jordan seeks Palestinian respect by offering Hamas a new home

by News Sources 11.23.2011

Zvi Bar’el reports: Jordan’s King Abdullah is not an innovative leader. But last week he surprised Arab leaders and the whole world by becoming the first Arab ruler to call on Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign. “If I were in his shoes, I’d step down,” he told the BBC. This declaration set off a [...]

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Jordan starts to shake

by News Sources 11.22.2011

Nicolas Pelham writes: To measure the sturdiness of King Abdullah of Jordan against the tide of upheaval sweeping the Arab world, go to Tafila, an impoverished town tucked into a sandy bowl encircled by the Moabite Mountains 110 miles south of the royal seat of Amman. Outside the courthouse where four youths recently awaited trial [...]

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Israeli diplomats leave Jordan ahead of protest

by News Sources 09.15.2011

The New York Times reports: Israel nearly emptied its embassy here of staff members on Thursday ahead of a planned pro-Palestinian rally outside the gates. But officials denied Israeli press reports that the diplomats had been completely evacuated over fear that the building could be ransacked, in an echo of the attack on the Israeli [...]

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Jordan king: Palestinians have more secure future than Israel

by News Sources 09.12.2011

Haaretz reports: Jordanian King Abdullah II said Monday that Israel’s position in the Middle East has deteriorated in the wake of the recent wave of Arab uprisings, telling a group of intellectuals that the Palestinians now have a “more secure future” than Israel. Israel’s position is “more problematic than it has been in the past”, [...]

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Jordanians ‘welcome’ King Abdullah by pelting his car with rocks and bottles

by News Sources 06.13.2011

BBC News reports: A group of young men in the Jordanian city of Tafileh have pelted the motorcade of King Abdullah II with stones and bottles, officials say. The king is unharmed, they add. The attack comes a day after King Abdullah announced major reforms, promising to relinquish his right to appoint prime ministers and [...]

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Intifada update

by News Sources 02.25.2011

Hundreds of thousands protest across Mideast Hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out in cities across the Middle East on Friday to protest the unaccountability of their leaders and express solidarity with the uprising in Libya that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is trying to suppress with force. The worst violence of the day appeared to be [...]

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A great change is sweeping Arab political culture

by News Sources 02.25.2011

Issa Khalaf writes: As soon as news emerged that the Libyan protestors were also planning to take to the streets, I was horror-struck. This wasn’t going to be Egypt or Tunisia, or even frightened emirs, sultans, and monarchs. Libya has neither Egypt’s vibrant civil society nor developed institutions, nor a military that can easily challenge [...]

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Intifada update

by News Sources 02.16.2011

Mubarak given up, wants to die in Sharm says Saudi official Egypt’s ousted president has given up and wants to die in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where he has been living since a popular uprising ended his rule, a Saudi official said on Wednesday. Hosni Mubarak, 82, has suffered from health problems [...]

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Intifada update

by News Sources 02.15.2011

Now Iran feels the heat On Monday, as Tehran once again became the scene of clashes between the security forces and demonstrators defying the government’s ban on street rallies, the paradoxical impact of the Arab world’s democratic awakening on Iran became glaringly obvious. External, that is, geopolitical gains, may go hand-in-hand with political losses at [...]

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Uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt reveal potent challenge to Middle East seats of power

by News Sources 02.14.2011

The New York Times reports: As protesters in Tahrir Square faced off against pro-government forces, they drew a lesson from their counterparts in Tunisia: “Advice to the youth of Egypt: Put vinegar or onion under your scarf for tear gas.” The exchange on Facebook was part of a remarkable two-year collaboration that has given birth [...]

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Protests in Jordan

by News Sources 01.22.2011

Brian Whitaker writes: The “Tunisia effect” continues. Several thousand protesters took to the streets of Jordan yesterday, for the second Friday in succession. More than 5,000 marched in the centre of Amman, with smaller demonstrations in several other cities, according to agency reports. The protesters are said to have ranged across the spectrum, from leftists [...]

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In the Middle East, no one thinks Obama is serious about democracy

by Paul Woodward 01.17.2011

In Washington, when a cabinet level official is facing calls for his resignation, he is likely to take cover behind that regal phrase, “I serve at the president’s pleasure.” Most of the Arab world’s autocratic leaders could use the same expression since most would find their positions untenable without American support. Last Wednesday, when Hillary [...]

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Who’s pushing to strike Iran?

by Paul Woodward 07.07.2010

[Update: See this post which confirms that Goldberg twisted the narrative here.] After an exchange between the UAE ambassador to the US Yousef al-Otaiba and Jeffrey Goldberg on Tuesday we learn that “the UAE would sooner see military action against Iran’s nuclear program than see the program succeed” — at least that’s what Goldberg says. [...]

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Turkish human rights group: Arrest Barak when he arrives here

by Paul Woodward 01.15.2010

Turkish human rights group: Arrest Barak when he arrives here By Daniel Edelson, Ynet, January 14, 2010 espite the intensifying crisis between Israel and Turkey, Defense Minister Ehud Barak is insisting to follow through with his scheduled plans to visit Turkey next week. However, on Thursday it became clear that an arrest warrant may await [...]

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UPDATED – Jordan emerges as key CIA counterterrorism ally

by Paul Woodward 01.04.2010

UPDATED with NBC report on the identity of the man who attacked the CIA last week: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy Jordan emerges as key CIA counterterrorism ally By Joby Warrick, Washington Post, January 4, 2010 Hours after last week’s deadly attack on a CIA base in Afghanistan, [...]

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Where have all Israel’s friends gone?

by Paul Woodward 10.26.2009

“Where have all the friendships gone…” By Uri Avnery, Gush-Shalom, October 24, 2009 Among all the members of our political, military and media establishments who are now suggesting an “inquiry”, there is no one – literally not one – who means by that a real investigation. The aim is to deceive the Goyim and get [...]

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Jordan king warns over US Mideast policy

by Paul Woodward 10.19.2009

Jordan king warns over US Mideast policy AP, October 19, 2009 Jordan’s king said in comments published Monday that the U.S. administration seems to be focusing more of its attention on Iran and less on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying time was running out to make peace. In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica, [...]

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Jordanian frustration with U.S., Israel mounting

by Paul Woodward 10.14.2009

Jordanian frustration with U.S., Israel mounting By Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy, October 13, 2009 While I was in Jordan, King Abdullah gave a lengthy interview to Haaretz about the Israeli-Palestinian situation in which he warned that “We’re sliding back into the darkness.” My conversations with more than two dozen Jordanian officials, political activists, journalists and [...]

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NEWS, OPINION & EDITOR’S COMMENT: America has abandoned the rule of law

by Paul Woodward 12.02.2007

Jordan’s spy agency: holding cell for the CIA By Craig Whitlock, Washington Post, December 1, 2007 Over the past seven years, an imposing building on the outskirts of this city has served as a secret holding cell for the CIA. The building is the headquarters of the General Intelligence Department, Jordan’s powerful spy and security [...]

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NEWS: Jordan prepares for undemocratic elections

by Paul Woodward 11.12.2007

Jordan, fearing Islamists, tightens grip on elections By Thanassis Cambanis, New York Times, November 11, 2007 This month’s legislative elections were supposed to be a watershed in this pro-American kingdom’s slow but committed march to democratic change. But Hamas’s rise to power in the Palestinian Authority and its violent takeover of Gaza in June have [...]

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