King Abdullah II of Jordan, right, meets with then US Vice President Joe Biden, at the Husseiniya Palace in Amman, Jordan, March 10, 2016. (AP/Raad Adayleh)
Rami Dabbas – A coup attempt in Jordan – A warning to Israel & The United States defends the Ideal Monarchy
A coup attempt in Jordan – A warning to Israel
The former crown prince to the throne and brother of the king, Hamzah bin Hussein, was accused of destabilizing the country with the support of an unnamed external force.
In Jordan, which until recently was one of the quietest countries in the Middle East, a scandal is developing rapidly with the attempted coup d’état averted. The former crown prince to the throne and brother of the current king, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein, was at the center of the investigation for actions that could destabilize the country, according to the official version. At the same time, a group of his alleged accomplices was arrested in this case. Interestingly, the kingdom’s authorities allude to an Israeli impact on this story.
The main arrests took place in Jordan over the weekend, but details of what happened are still emerging. According to the official version, the authorities were able to prevent the suspicious activity of Prince Hamzah, which might threaten national security. According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Hussein Abdullah Al-Safadi, the local special services have arrested about twenty people in a scandal case. Among them are high-ranking officials, but not a single soldier. Earlier, the Arab media actively published the story that there were representatives of the army circles among the organizers of the coup.
At the same time, Al-Safadi indicated that there is reliable information indicating that foreign parties with whom Prince Hamzah had active contacts for a long time were involved in the events in Jordan.
According to the authorities, after the plot was revealed, a certain Israeli businessman called Prince Hamzah, who suggested that the family of the former crown prince should travel abroad on his plane. Despite the fact that this businessman acted as a private person, in Amman it is believed that the Israeli is linked to the Mossad intelligence.
Palace plots
Among the alleged conspirators are the former envoy of the Jordanian king to Saudi Arabia, Sharif Hassan bin Zayed, and the king’s former advisor for economic affairs, Bassem Awadallah. According to the official version, it is claimed that Hamzah himself is at liberty, but it is strongly advised that “not to take any other measures affecting security and stability”. The current King Abdullah II, brother of Hamzah, suggested that he return to the bosom of the Hashemite royal family. However, according to officials, “Prince Hamzah did not respond adequately to the king’s request.”
The former crown prince to the throne managed to record a video message about the accident. He said in the video that he remains under house arrest. Hamza did not admit his guilt: according to him, he was not involved in the plot and did not receive any support from outside. “I am not responsible for failures in administration, corruption and inefficiency in state structures over the past 15 to 20 years,” the prince said.
He stressed that the official line does not reflect the overall situation on the ground. His oppositional stance is not surprising. According to the Arab press, Prince Hamzah was specifically handed over for his constant rapprochement with the anti-government circles. In particular, he alerted the security services by establishing contacts with disaffected figures from local tribal federations and opposition activists.
Tribal loyalty is one of the guarantees of political stability in the Persian Gulf states, but so far in Jordan there are no noticeable indications of an increased likelihood of protest in this environment.
Call to Israel
Any hint of instability in Jordan increases the stakes not only for the United States, which has granted the kingdom the status of a major non-NATO ally, but also for other countries in the Middle East. Thus, the Hashemite Kingdom plays the role of a buffer zone for Israel against the spread of Iranian influence. If not for Jordan, the forces brokered by Tehran would have long been able to gain a foothold on the borders of the Jewish state, experts in the Middle East believe. For example, according to one unofficial account, Jordan often provides the Israeli army with its airspace to organize operations against Iranian targets in Syria. In addition, the kingdom plays a central role in settling the Palestinian issue.
An attempt to link the conspiracy scandal to the Israeli intelligence service appears to be one of the elements of the campaign against Hamza. But such anti-Israel sentiment is unlikely to be used in a domestic situation if relations with the Jewish state do not systematically provide an excuse. One disturbing event occurred in recent months when the current crown prince, Prince Hussein, was denied access to the Temple Mount. After that, Jordan not only reduced its contacts with the Israelis, it was also supposed to close its airspace to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who decided to visit the Emirates.
Israeli experts now say that even if the scandal surrounding the attempted coup in Jordan turns out to be exaggerated, then for the Jewish state what happened is a reason to think about whether it is worth being more attentive to its much-needed neighbor.
The United States defends the Ideal Monarchy
Hamza lost the title of crown prince 17 years ago. This explains why the kingdom “withered away” for a period of 15-20 years, not more or less.
In Jordan, a palace coup against the legendary King Abdullah II was prevented. The king, who has been called a “Middle Eastern style icon”, risked becoming a victim of the intrigues of a less fortunate brother. However, the situation can be viewed differently – as an attempt by the democratic opposition to topple an authoritarian and corrupt regime. How close is this to the truth?
“King Abdullah is a major American partner, and we fully support him.” This statement by the US State Department came on the heels of rumors immediately from Jordan, that a plot was uncovered, the authorities later said, and the coup attempt was avoided. Moreover, this allegedly happened the moment the conspirators moved from the planning stage to direct actions to overthrow King Abdullah II.
At the heart of the plot is the former crown prince, half-brother of King Hamzah bin Hussein. The motive is already guessed by the word “ex” – the 41-year-old was supposed to take the throne from Abdullah, but decided otherwise. Now Hamzah claims he is under house arrest and talks about the kingdom’s affairs like some sort of liberal opponent.
“I am not the one responsible for the failure of governance, corruption and inefficiency that has dominated our government structure over the past 15-20 years and which is becoming increasingly apparent,” the prince said in his speech. It has reached a point where no one can speak or express an opinion on any issue and not be prosecuted, arrested, tortured or threatened. ”
Hamza lost the title of crown prince 17 years ago. This explains why the kingdom “withered away” for a period of 15-20 years, not more or less.
What does this position on the Western-style pro-democracy side seem to look like? King Abdullah II has been in power for twenty-three years – and he is ruling the country with his cruel hand. Under his leadership, Jordan is a security island in a very volatile region, but the country is still not rich, and it is clear that people want more in terms of economy and democracy.
Ten years ago, the king risked becoming a victim of the “Arab Spring,” but managed to reach an agreement with the residents, promising that the government would not be appointed by the king, but by Parliament. He has not kept his promise yet, and the population has not gotten richer since: The kingdom was very difficult to get out of the global financial crisis, and then the Coronavirus crisis covered it.
The situation was similar in another Arab country – Sudan: President Omar al-Bashir withstood the onslaught of the masses, and promised not to run in new elections as they were, but he advanced nonetheless, and brought the situation to a coup and is now. Awaiting trial in prison (it is not clear which court is directly Sudanese or international).
Prince Hamzah, unlike the Sudanese putschists, has a moral right to the throne. Their common father, Hussein, saw him as head of state. In compliance with the will of his deceased father, Abdullah, who unexpectedly obtained the crown, appointed Hamzah as his successor, but five years later he changed his mind in favor of his son – at the age of twenty, he became the new heir and acts as a father while the king is on a business trip.
Now, the disgraceful relative angrily denounces corruption, condemns dictatorship, and sympathizes with those in need – in general, an exemplary democratic leader. According to the Jordanian foreign minister, Hamzah and other conspirators were “sent” from abroad, but in such cases something similar is always said. In any case, the country that was necessary in the first place to expect to interfere in the internal affairs of Jordan and support the “democratic aspirations of the people” (that is, the United States), for some reason declares its categorical support for Abdullah II, because (here the State Department does not lie) a major American partner Region.
Another thing is that in this case it makes no sense to blame Washington for double standards. It is not so important who the king is – Abdullah or Hamzah, because the entire ruling dynasty adheres to a strict foreign policy orientation towards the Anglo-Saxons. Literally everything is in her blood.
The life and rule of this noble family is reminiscent of an expensive and somewhat old-fashioned TV series – “Soapy Opera” of British production, without a doubt.
We can say that the British invented all of Jordan. The autonomous Emirate of Transjordan appeared for the first time in its mandated areas, and it broke off from the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War. After the end of World War II, it became friends with the West, but it became a truly independent kingdom. After annexing the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) during the First Arab-Israeli War, the founding king Abdullah gave the feudal fief its current name.
The beginning of the first season of the saga was amazing with the assassination of Abdullah the First: In 1951, a Palestinian terrorist shot him at the entrance to the famous Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, which Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad performed the Isra and Mi’raj.
Initially, Jordan was the frontline for Arabs in the confrontation with Israel and hosted many Palestinian refugees, but this turned out to be a side to the kingdom. First, the founding assassin of King Abdullah saw the Jordanians as invaders. Second, Yasser Arafat and his entourage were from the left-wing political views and were about to prepare for a revolt against the monarchy, after which the Jordanian dynasty became extremely cold towards the “Palestinians”.
But then, in the footsteps of Al-Aqsa, there was still a long way to go for reconciliation with Israel (i.e. to remove the fundamental contradiction with the political West). Prince Talal became the heir to the deceased king – at the time of the attack he was near his grandfather who was assassinated and survived thanks to this coincidence the grandson, where the bullet hit one of the medals on the prince’s chest.
However, the reign of King Talal did not last long, as the heir suffered from a disease of schizophrenia and considered it good to abandon the rule in favor of his son Hussein, the father of both the current king and the current main opponent. The eldest son (meaning the current king) was named in honor of his beloved grandfather, but they did not prepare Abdullah for the throne – Hussein’s younger brother was considered the heir, and the king changed for reasons completely unknown. Where he changed his political will only before his death.
Be that as it may, during the era of Saddam Hussein, who was held in high esteem in both the region and the Western world, the Jordanian ruling dynasty began to speak better English than Arabic, being an example of a monarchy of the Western kind rather than the East. The Anglo-Saxon world is so entwined with the Jordanians that it is difficult to imagine local Hashemites in a quarrel with London or Washington, even with the greatest imagination.
Hussain, Abdullah and Hamza graduated from the British Military Academy Sandhurst – that’s really something like family tradition. The mother of the current king is British, and she is the daughter of an officer. The mother of the attacking prince is an American of Swedish descent, the daughter of a former deputy defense minister. The current king himself is married to the daughter of Palestinian refugees from Kuwait, Queen Rania, which confirms the general rule: Men of the Jordanian ruling house have a weakness for western women of typical appearance.
But despite its alienation, Royal Jordanian is bilateral. In other words, the king is the true head of state, with enormous powers. Not only is the commander in chief of the armed forces, but also the person who actually controls the army. However, there is also Parliament, which appears to have the right to annul the king’s decisions by a two-thirds majority, and it simply does not consider it necessary to do so. This democratic sign allows the West to view the Jordanian monarch not only as their “king of their own”, but as something like the ideal ruler of the Middle East, he is a standard.
Abdullah II is an established brand with a huge media pump. A military man to the core with hobbies like diving and parachuting, on the throne he became the king of glamor and recognized progress in Islamic life.
“Liberal”, “modern”, “European” Islam, which you will not find in Europe itself day after day with fire (except perhaps Tatarstan, Bosnia and Albania after socialist experiences with them), is represented by the royal family in Jordan. According to the coordinators, the rest of the Mohammedan world should be equal to this pair, since everything is too expensive for her, everything is technically advanced, everything shines – teeth, cars, odds.
And the practice of equalizing inequality, which the West only masters in caring for minorities, has really advanced in Jordan: eight percent of the Christian minority has a twenty percent quota in Parliament. It is worth expecting from the Anglo-Saxons something like this in relation to the Muslims in twenty years (but, apparently, it is worth the wait).
This idealistic image of an Islamic monarchy integrated into a globalized world is greatly appreciated by Washington in Abdullah and Rania. It will be protected from any abuse as the best PR product of its kind, as controversial Jordanian realities are hidden behind a designer cover.
There should be no spots in the sun, and in the light of its rays, it is not permissible for Hamza to depend on the position of a prisoner of conscience, although he loves the Anglo-Saxons no less than his brother, and everything he said about the Jordanian may be true.
Rami Dabbas is a rare, outspoken advocate Arab for Israel fighting against terrorism. Rami is a former Muslim who became a Christian Zionist. Based in Jordan, he joined anti-Islam activities at university after leaving Islam in 2012. Rami studied civil engineering and is now a human rights activist fighting against Sharia Law, radical Islamic terrorism & Arab nationalism.
Rami is a political writer involved in Christian and pro-Israel advocacy. He is affiliated with groups like Pegida Canada and Jihad Watch which is a part of the LA-based think tank ”David Horowitz Freedom Center.” He also serves as a peace campaigner promoting normalization between Israel and the Arabs. In addition to the Voice of Europe & JihadWatch.org Rami also writes for the NY-based journal and news-site The Algemeiner and the Times of Israel.
His passion is to promote peace between Arabs and Israel following in the footsteps of the late Jordanian King Hussein who made peace with the Jewish State in 1994.
As a pro-Israel advocate, Rami connects in his home country Jordan with many NGOs and think-tanks that promote peace with Israel and work with counter-Jihad organizations.
Rami gives Israel Today readers a unique Arab Christian perspective on events in and around the Middle East. Here is the link for more of Rami Dabbas
