Tuesday, September 29, 2009
When One Man Rules....
Ever since his death in 1999, Jordan's King Hussein has become increasingly more revered. Even a lot of the leaders in Israel have pointed to this man as a benchmark for effective Arab leadership. And, yes, folks, I'd be forced to agree with much of this; the fact that Hussein finally made peace with Israel, the way that he liberalized large segments of Jordanian society, etc..............................................................................But while, yes, he did do these things and should in fact be commended for them, I also think it's important to look at this man's total record. Hussein, for all of his strengths, made numerous decisions that often proved tragic. His first huge mistake was his decision to enter the '67 War. Israel had made it perfectly clear to Hussein that they much prefered not to engage Jordan. But Hussein didn't listen. He instead caved in to Arab pressure and ended up losing a large chunk of his kingdom (the part that HE annexed after the '48 War)...................................................................................The second tragic event occurred because of his decision to so bloodily squash the 1970 Palestinian uprising. Granted, the PLO was causing trouble for him and all but, please, for HIS government to have so ruthlessly slaughtered thousands and thousands was purely disgusting......................................................................................And, finally, folks, let us not forget that King Hussein ended up throwing his support to Saddam Hussein during Desert Storm. I mean, I know that it was largely a political decision on his part. But, still, based on the massive amounts of aid that the kingdom had long been receiving from the west (that, and the fact that the west GAVE him his kingdom), that truly was a slap in the face. Big time..................................................................................P.S. It should also be pointed out that NOT ONCE did King Hussein (from 1952-1967) EVER offer the Palestinian population of the West Bank and Jordan a state of their own. Yeah, huh? So much for Palestinian autonomy from one Arab's perspective. And, yes, this whole lifting of martial law stuff in the early 90s (that, and the instituting of other rudimentary freedoms), that only took him, what, four decades?
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6 comments:
He was definitely in it for himself.I remember reading numerous times how various Zionist leaders,Meir,whoever-when asked about a Palestinian state would say something to the effect of "there is a Palestinian State-Jordan".
I'd think "there is a Jewish State-Brooklyn".
Hussein did one thing I respected. Remember when a Jordanian soldier went crazy and shot a bunch of Jewish little girls at some island where schoolkids went ? back around the early or mid 80's?
Hussein went to the individual homes in Israel,got down on his knees in front of the childrens mothers and begged forgiveness.
I thought it took a real man to do that.
There would have been a Palestinian state in 1937 (and again in 1948), had only the Palestinians accepted it. Never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. I think that that's how it goes. As for the example you give, Oso, absolutely, that was a courageous thing for Hussein to have done. No question about it.
@Will,
thanks for the good perspectives and facts here. A lot of this is lost when people in the broadcast media and in the blogosphere zero in on Israel as the sole "antagonist" in the matter of Palestine autonomy.
-SJ
Hi SJ. I know it sounds like I'm anti-Palestinian sometimes, but I'm really not. I want these people to have a country as much as anybody. I just get frustrated by 1) their "leadership" and 2) the surrounding Arab countries that sometimes use them as props/propoganda.
Will,
I'm in complete agreement with you on (2).The surrounding countries will exploit the situation for all it's worth but will not help out in any way.Humanitarian or otherwise.Just lip service.(1)I concur but with reservations-should a good leader (good for Palestinians)arise I'm absolutely certain the Israelis would kill him with or without our approval.
Re:1948-in hindsight accepting the divide,47% or whatever it was would be preferable to what we have at present but it would have been a hard sell at the time.Did you know there was a minority report which favored a vote and a single state.I knew the details at one time but that would be like remembering,oh,like what I had for breakfast!
Not sure about 1937? There was an Arab Revolt I think in 1935-but I don't remember reading about the Brits offering anything then. But like I said,I don't remember what I had for breakfast.
Hussein bin Talal was an imperfect politician in the middle of a bad situation. His son can be proud and should work hard to emulate such a man of peace and one of America's best Allys.
We cannot expect other nations to put America's interests ahead of it's own.
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