Editorial of the “World”. The image of unity cultivated by the royal family reigning over Jordan is considerably tarnished by the internal dissensions revealed in broad daylight, Saturday, April 3, with the announcement of the house arrest of Prince Hamza Ben Hussein, half- brother of King Abdullah II. The Hashemite regime has implicated Prince Hamza as well as two personalities close to Saudi Arabia in an alleged attempt to destabilize the kingdom, in collaboration with an unidentified foreign power.
In the absence of elements attesting to the preparation of a coup or the conduct of simply seditious activities, this accusation seems greatly exaggerated. What seems to have played out in this crisis, which seemed on the way to be resolved on Tuesday, April 6, is the reactivation of an old quarrel, between two men who quarreled in 1999 for the succession of their father, the charismatic King Hussein.
Abdallah won but has never since reached the level of popularity of his father. Hamza, who never really accepted his sidelining from the throne, took the opportunity to develop a critical discourse of power, highlighting the carelessness and corruption that plagues government circles. Has a foreign hand sought to deepen this divide? Nothing for the moment allows to certify it.
If the Palace has decided to crack down, it is because Jordan is going through a critical moment in its history. The kingdom is unable to extricate itself from the economic and social stagnation in which it has been stuck for ten years. These difficulties, exacerbated by the consequences of the Covid-19 epidemic, generate movements of discontent at regular intervals, such as the sling of teachers in 2019-2020, to which the authorities oppose a growing authoritarianism.
Overwhelmed by Abu Dhabi and Riyadh
As every time its stability seems in danger, the kingdom has received in recent days a flood of messages of support from its allies, in particular from the Gulf States. But this diplomatic ritual poorly masks the questions about its role in the region. Its historic function as a buffer between Israel and the hotbeds of threats in the Middle East is increasingly being questioned.
Syria and Iraq, bastions of Arab military-nationalism, between the 1960s and 1980s, are no more than a shadow of themselves. The former self-destructs in the repression of the anti-Assad uprising and the latter continues to pay the devastating consequences of the 2003 US invasion. Neither constitutes a danger to Israel. .
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain having also normalized their relations with the Jewish state and Saudi Arabia having developed its own channels of communication with the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Jordan no longer serves as a discreet gateway to Israel for the monarchies of Gulf. During Donald Trump’s tenure, Amman even found itself overwhelmed by Abu Dhabi and Riyadh on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. These two capitals seemed ready to come to terms with the peace plan of the former US president, to the chagrin of Abdallah, who considered it dangerous for his kingdom.
As it prepares to celebrate, on April 11, the hundredth anniversary of its founding, Jordan finds itself challenged not only on the weaknesses of its political regime but also on its place in a Middle East in full reorganization.
