These leaders are already getting what they want from Old Joe Biden. They know he is going to pressure Israel not to go after Hamas too effectively. They also know it’s better optics for their constituencies to self-righteously refuse to meet with the corrupt old dotard. “Jordan cancels summit with Biden, Sisi and Abbas in […]
In Jordan, Colossal Mismanagement of a Planned New City
We hear and read constantly about the two complaints that Arab citizens or subjects have against their rulers: mismanagement and corruption. The corruption is clear: two heads of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal and Moussa abu Marzouk, amassed fortunes of $2.5 billion apiece; Mahmoud Abbas of the P.A., together with his two grasping sons Tarek and Nasser, […]
At UN, King Abdullah Warns That ‘Christianity Is Under Threat’ In Jerusalem
King Abdullah used his speech to the UN General Assembly on September 20 to attack Israeli control of Jerusalem where, he claimed, “Christianity is under threat.” A report on his charge can be found here: “King Abdullah blasts Israel: Christianity in Jerusalem is under fire,” by Tovah Lazaroff, Jerusalem Post, September 20, 2022: Christianity is […]
The Pandora Papers, King Abdullah, and Crooks On the Other Side of the Jordan
The Pandora Papers is the name given to a very detailed report, the result of a multiyear investigation by 600 journalists from 117 countries, about how many of the world’s very rich — politicians, celebrities, billionaires, drug dealers — manage to hide, for various reasons including tax avoidance, a total of $32 trillion. Among […]
Biden, Soft Everywhere, Is Soft On Jordan, Too
Joe Biden recently met with Jordan’s King Abdullah. It was a meeting all full of smiles. The King was assured of continued American support, financial and diplomatic. Jordan receives $1.3 billion a year in American aid, more than any country save our ally Israel. But in return, the Jordanians have not been asked to […]
In Jordan, Uneasy Lies the Head
King Abdullah of Jordan recently accused his half-brother Hamzah bin Hussein of plotting a coup against him, and had him placed under house arrest in Amman. A few days later, and the Palace announced that, in fact, there had been no coup attempt. Prince Hamzah’s real crime seems to have been his open criticism […]
Israel, Jordan, and That “Peace Treaty” We Hear So Much About
As talk of Israel’s annexation of part of the “West Bank” continues, it is important to recall that last November, the Kingdom of Jordan cancelled a component of its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. It evicted Israeli famers from two tracts of contested land in the Jordan River Valley that they had been farming for […]
Jordan conducts military exercise simulating war with Israel
What has Israel done to Jordan? Nothing, of course. Discover the basis of this enduring hostility in The Palestinian Delusion: The Catastrophic History of the Middle East Peace Process. “Jordan simulates war with Israel in army ‘maneuver,’” Jerusalem Post, November 29, 2019: The Jordanian army conducted a military exercise simulating battle with Israel, according to […]
Trump’s new counterterrorism strategy singles out “radical Islamists”
Bolton says: “Radical Islamist terrorist groups represent the preeminent transnational terrorist threat to the United States, and to United States’ interests abroad. The fact is the radical Islamic threat that we face is a form of ideology. This should not be anything new to anybody. King Abdullah of Jordan has frequently described the terrorist threat […]
King Abdullah of Jordan: “Maybe there’s a lack of understanding of Islam” in Washington
There is indeed a lack of understanding of Islam in Washington, but not in the way King Abdullah is claiming. Abdullah said: “It is not a religion of hate. We as Muslims believe in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. We believe in the Holy Virgin Mother. We believe in the Bible and the Torah, and […]