To Where Do Jordanians Immigrate?

"The problems of the Arab world are almost always the fault of it's leaders and politicians"

That is King Hussein as quoted in Lion of Jordan by Avi Shlaim. The book so far has been very interesting and "asskinssingless"! Recommended.

On the Jordanian Political Parties law

A quick read of Jordan's Political Parties Law reveals how arbitrary the permission granting process is. Section B1 of article 5 says the following:

ب. 1. يجوز لعشرة من الاردنيين على الاقل من الراغببين في تأسيس حزب ، التقدم للوزير بالمبادئ والافكار الاولية للحزب ، وللوزير الموافقة على ممارسة انشطتهم السياسية التحضيرية والترويج لهذه الافكار على ان يتقدموا بطلب التأسيس عند استكمال الشروط المنصوص عليها في هذا القانون وخلال مدة لا تزيد على ستة اشهر من تاريخ تلك الموافقة

B. 1. It is permissible for at least ten Jordanians, who have a desire in founding a party, to submit to the Minister [of interior] the principles and preliminary ideas of the party, and it is up to the minister to grant consent to exercise their preparatory political activities and the promotion of these ideas so they could submit the establishing application upon completion of the conditions Set forth in this law, within a period not exceeding six months from the date of such consent. source

In a country where joining political parties is still a stigmatized taboo, the government is still making it more the harder on average jordanians to found a political party that has a chance in being approved, let alone changing the status quo. The law puts too much power in the hands of the Interior Minister to decide what suits the public and what is allowed to be promoted as principles and ideals. Jordan has a little chance in advancing the tiny crumbs of democracy into a real and competent force of change if the whole process is carried out in the most undemocratic manner.

Why Language is Jordanians' main factor in deciding where to Immigrate?

Jordanians are certainly one people that would like to get the hell out of the country in search of prosperity in many parts of the world. The chronic economical, social, and civil rights problems are the motivation behind almost all those lining up in front of various embassies in Amman. A few of the 65 Consulates/Embassies receive the lion's share of interest. Aside form the typical Arab destinations, such as UAE and KSA, English speaking countries are the most popular. Countries like the US, Australia, and Canada are the top preference.

It just seams to be a huge limitation to confine the search for a better life to a place where you would still need to learn the way the language is spoken locally (believe me. MOE English curriculum is garbage). Saying "How do you do?" in the US won't get yo punched in the face, but will put the letters "FOB" on your forehead immediately. And that not to mention that European countries are actually closer culturally to Jordan than the US and Canada are.

Take for example Spain. The Spanish language is very close to English, contains more words of Arabic origin than any other language, and it already includes the sound TH (as in ثغرة عصفور)! In addition, the people are great, still celebrate the Islamic mark in their history, and it is home to a lot of North African Arabs. Also, Scandinavian countries have been shown to be the best in terms of happiness, least Corrupted,and Human development. And, Most European countries are within 6 hours of flight time and not 12-20 hours as is the case with the US.

So, there are other destinations in the world that actually welcome immigrants more than others. Some countries are struggling to coup with a declining population, such as Italy and Spain and others would like to enhance their communities with diverse cultures. And, although the US, Canada, and Australia remain good choices, let's not ignore others that might prove better in the long run.

The New Political Reform and the Monarchy

The new political reform “road map” being prepared by Political Development minister, Mousa Ma’aytah, has one huge fallacy as if the minister, who is a staunch supporter of political parties’ rights in Jordan, finally succumbed to the pressures of being part of the same government he opposed. The fundamental error in the road map is the prominence given to the institution of the monarchy:

“آن الاوان لاعتماد (خارطة طريق) لاصلاح سياسي آمن ومتدرج يأخذ بعين الاعتبار أسس الالتزام بالثوابت الوطنية الاساسية وعدم المساس بها وهي مؤسسة العرش والدستور والاردن وطن لجميع أبنائه”

[Time has arrived for the adoption of a secure and gradual (road map) of political reform, taking into account the foundational commitment to the basic national principles and not compromising the institution of the throne, the Constitution, and Jordan as a home to all its citizens.] source

Due to the role played by the monarchy, and the royal family for that matter, and taking into account the history of limiting political freedoms and the taboo that is “political party membership” amongst youths, expecting this reform to take on solid steps and wide participation is impractical.

As long as the king is the Executive Power, little is possible in way of changing the perception of political parties to those most in need of having a say heard.

It’s well known that Jordanian universities’ students are more politically vocal than most other age/demographic groups in the country. However, having to concentrate their indignation at those in the cabinet and the parliament has little to do with concrete political reform. Basically, political reform has a much better chance at succeeding, however gradual, if no person/institution is above criticism.

When law is legislated with the monarchy in mind, the law doesn’t have peoples’ interests as its top priority. When judges hand out convictions and sentences while having the government in mind, little credibility is given to the judicial system. In addition, when the government tells citizens to go ahead and join political parties because it’s encouraged and healthy, their response is: “yeah, right!”

was also posted on 7iber.com