Hussein of Jordan or Jordan of Hussein

Published online in:
http://ritro.com/sections/worldaffairs/story.bv?storyid=3413

As a young Jordanian living in Toronto, Canada, the most multicultural city in the world, the question of background was comfortably dropped. My response was almost always: "Jordan, you know, the country of King Hussein". That second part always seemed necessary for identifying the country, it also provoked –more often than I anticipated- a knowing smile. As if trying to convey the message that the late king was more popular in, and respected by, more people in the world than any other character of this era.

Before you think this writing is written to the glorification of Hussein of Jordan, well, just wait till I get to his downs, but first, think about the attendees of his funeral, an event that went down in the history books next to the funerals of Charles de Gaulle and Tito. That was owed to not only the number of delegations present, but also to the fact of their political diversity.

Only Hussein's funeral could have managed to bring the US President Bill Clinton and Colonel Qadaffi's son together, President Hafez Al Asad of Syria and Hamas militant group representatives were set side by side with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with three Israeli delegations, Jordan was a recent peace ally and a very welcoming ground to Israeli business and politics.

To situate dignitaries from the US Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush with Tony Blair of the UK and other symbols of western democracy together with leaders of radical Arab and Muslim states was unheard of. That was just what he was famous for, even after he lost his battle with cancer.

That was one of the few battle he lost in his lifetime, always able to get the best out of every situation. He was always labeled as a pragmatic leader and yet still had the respect of being able to do so very prudently. He did create a state out of barren Jordan and did put it on the map.

While in 1950, water, sanitation, and electricity were available to only 10% of Jordanians, today these reach 99% of the population. In 1960 only 33% of Jordanians were literate, in 2003, this number climbed to 91.3%. In 1961, the average Jordanian received a daily intake of 2198 calories, and by 1992, this figure had increased by 37.5% to reach 3022 calories. UNICEF statistics show that between 1981 and 1991, Jordan achieved the world's fastest annual rate of decline in infant mortality—from 70 deaths per 1000 births in 1981 to 37 per 1000 in 1991, a fall of over 47%. King Hussein always believed that Jordan's people are its biggest asset, and he continued to encourage all—including the less fortunate, the disabled and the orphaned—to achieve more for themselves and their country.

That still doesn't get me to the point of interest; I wanted to show that a man like that was nothing but raw leader. He knew the right step to take every time and so caused Jordan to be the model state in the region. With the highest civil liberties "ceiling" amongst its neighbors, the highest literacy rate in the Arab world and the longest standing form of government in the region. He was responsible for 47 years of that.

So why do I write about him right now? Six years after he left us? He was missed by Jordanians and neighbors more than ever recently. This article, while a belated eulogy for him, it is not a belittlement of his son's accomplishments, but the situation in the region does need someone of a more "known face". That kind of familiarity was what helped Jordan take a firm position against US interference in Iraq in 1991 and still managed to maintain the United States empowerment of the Jordanian economy.

The President, Senators, Congressmen and people in almost all of the levels of the government had found the excuse for him, knowing he will never choose anything that will harm his country. Such familiarity would not have made Jordan a target for terrorists, and like he did in many previous occasions, he would have acted like an arbitrator, causing the situation in Iraq to defuse.

That was mainly because he knew how to deal with terrorists on negotiation tables, Yasser Arafat, the deceased leader of Palestinian guerilla group PLO was a longtime enemy of Hussein, and tried to topple his regime in 1970, but come 1990s he was transformed into a Palestinian leader, an ally of Jordan, to die as President of Palestine earlier this year.

This is just what everyone expected of him, and he knew how to navigate all the seas to get to the shore of safety. All that being said, Hussein did have a few set backs in his history he could have lived without, and while the habit of not talking ill of the dead is practiced seriously in Jordan, it goes without saying that no one is perfect.

Hussein was taking his time in learning the lesson that the Arab world was not to be relied on for the well being of Jordan. After the 1967 war, he was called a traitor and a man who favored the west over his brethren in Palestine. He had just entered a war on behalf of the Arab world as Nasser was asking them to push Jordan, the country with the longest borders with Israel, push it into a war against Israel.

That did not gain Jordan any compassion in the west, but he was guaranteed by the Arab leaders, that no matter what happens, Jordan will be adequately compensated by petrol-rich countries. Lack of air cover by the Egyptian air-force caused for the war to be a tragic loss, Hussein lost the West Bank and Egypt lost Sinai. He was not compensated for his shattered army, his impoverished country or the influx of population caused by mass displacement of people from West Bank.

He again relied on them in the late 1980's after they promised to better the situation for refugees and went on to borrow billions of dollars, but he had to take it out of Jordan's pocket and devalue the Jordanian dinar. A third time happened just after the 1991 gulf war, with resentment for gulf countries for causing a situation in his country. He did not rely on them and did not support the allied mission led by the US, they decided that they will no longer keep the Jordanian laborers, a very valuable source of currency to Jordan. They also kicked them out of their homes, to Jordan and its already troubled social resources, and to our day some people still are waiting for their compensation in Jordan.

Hussein never admitted that he was a pragmatic ruler, looking for the interest of Jordan first, before any morals or ethics; it just happened that, more often than not, Jordan's benefit was in the moral way.

Whether you see more positive than me, or just don't agree that he was that righteous, no two people can argue that he was a true leader and a very good survivor. This Kid-made-King, Soldier, Peacemaker, Aviator, Educator and above all a true humanity-lover is one of the most remarkable leaders of the second half of the twentieth century.