The Jordanians: And the People of the Jordan

By Kamel Abu Jaber

First published in 1980, The Jordanians presents historical and statistical data as well as an entertaining and witty narrative that treats the reader to a peek into the Middle Eastern cultural heritage, its diversity and humanity. It shows why even after drastically changing their lifestyles to keep up with the world around them, the Arabs still cling to their traditions of humanity, compassion and hospitality. This second edition, republished on the occasion of the 100th year of establishment of Jordan, includes a new foreword by economist and former Minister Dr. Yusuf Mansur, a new introduction, and never before seen restored pictures of Jordan during its early years as well as updated statistics.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Independent Publishers Group
• Release date: Sep 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781843919889

Kamel Abu Jaber

Professor Kamel S. Abu Jaber is an internationally recognised statesman, diplomat and scholar. He was the Foreign Minister to Jordan in 1991 during the Madrid Peace Conference negotiating a peace treaty between Israel, Palestine and Jordan. He has written many articles and books about the Middle East. Among his most notable books: The Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party (1966) and The Palestinians: People of the Olive Tree (1980) and The Jordanians (1991) currently being republished by Hesperus Press.

Book preview

The

Jordanians

and the People of the Jordan

Dr. Kamel S. Abu Jaber

To my beloved,

The jordanians,

The palestinians,

The people of the Jordan.

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Foreword

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Preface

1:The Jordan and the People of Jordan

2:Development and Change: Causes and Range

3:Making a Living

4:The Family and Occasions

5:Culture

6:Politics: Hussein and the Modern Hashemites

Epilogue

Appendix

Selected Bibliography

About the Author

Copyright

Foreword

If you wish to read a book about Jordan and its people that is written in the words and language of a poet, who is also an intellectual leader, a first rate diplomat, and an outstanding scholar who truly loved his country, then this is your book, authored by the late Dr. Kamel Abu Jaber, may he rest in peace. It is a book that spans the modern past of Jordan, tells its stories, provides difficult to obtain data, and analyses Jordan’s birth, development, styles of governance, family life, past and incumbent customs and cultures, the arts, and the challenges. The book reconciles the vintage with the modern in a story-like setting, describes what is and what can be, and integrates best practice with the local story that only a native son knows and appreciates, and tells it with an encompassing and inclusive voice of all Jordanians. Beware, however, this is not a sojourn into the world of academia, it is far beyond that; this book is a love psalm! A love story between a country and his people … One that is told by the forever articulate and devoted to Jordan and its people, Dr. Kamel Abu Jaber

Dr. Yusuf Mansur, 2021

Arches of Hope, coffee on paper, Suheil Bisharat, 1979

Introduction

My husband wrote this book in the 1970s when he was dean of the college of economics and commerce at the University of Jordan. He wrote this in an effort to explain the thoughts feelings and aspirations of the Jordanians, Palestinians, and Arabs, whom he felt were mistreated and often misunderstood by the Western world, to provide insight into who we really are. It also serves to remind the youth of today and older generations of who they are and of their magnificent cultural heritage.

He was proud of his beloved country’s progress and development in keeping up with the changing world, and felt that while he was looking older with more gray hair and wrinkles, Jordan kept looking younger and more vibrant. In this second edition, republished on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Jordan, I have added new statistical data for 2020 to illustrate the country’s fantastic development and achievements since 1980, in spite of its many challenges.

Loretta Pacifico Abu Jaber, 2021

Acknowledgements

This labor of love would not have been possible without the encouragement and enthusiastic support of my children and grandchildren and the gracious assistance of my dear friend Ica Wahabeh, former managing editor, editor of the opinion page of the Jordan Times Newspaper.

Heartfelt thanks to the estate of our long time and dear friend, prominent Jordanian artist, the late Mohanna Durra, (1938–2021), cultural icon, ardent advocate for art education in the kingdom. He established the Fine Arts section of the Department of Culture and Art, and the Jourdan Institute of Fine Arts. His painting of a Bedouin graces the book’s cover.

Additionally, I would like to extend thanks to our good friends, Jordanian artists Suhail Bisharat for his painting, Arches of Hope, coffee on paper, 1979; and Riham Ghassib, Amman, acrylic on canvas, 1994.

Thanks to Kelvin Brown for newly restored pictures of Jordan during the early 20th century.

A sincere thanks to Dr. Yusuf Mansour, economist, former Minister os State for Economic Affairs for writing a Foreword to the book.

On behalf of myself and my late husband who was recently, posthumously, awarded the State Centennial Medal for service to his country, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate his Majesty King Abdullah the Second, the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan and the people of Jordan on the Centennial of our beloved country. Alf mabrook.

Preface

The information in these personal essays is as accurate as humanly possible. Statistics and/or citations, whenever and wherever they appear, are there to illustrate a point, to clarify an issue, to generate interest and to elucidate feelings. These essays contain my inner thoughts, opinions, emotions, and feelings about who we are, and about the myriad issues that confront us. I have attempted to articulate to the non-Arab reader my and my people’s – Jordanian Arabs – sentiments and thoughts. I was prompted to do so by my feeling that we are misunderstood, and this, in turn, because we often behave in an illogical and contradictory manner. In our frustration and anger, we have lost the ability to communicate clearly with others. These essays express the thoughts of a people – the Jordanians, Palestinians, Arabs – unjustly treated and often deliberately misunderstood. I do hope they will give the reader an insight into who we are.

Ferry boat on the River Jordan, 1934–39.

G. Eric and Edith Matson, American Colony (Jerusalem).

Photo Department. Library of Congress.

Restoration by Kelvin Bown. Reawakening the Past, 2015.

Chapter One

The Jordan and the People of Jordan

The Jordan is only a river that runs in the deepest gorge on the face of this earth. Meandering from north to south through the Great Rift Valley that continues down to East Africa, the Jordan River pours into the Dead Sea, almost 400 meters below sea level. The Dead Sea, and the harsh and severe surrounding hills, is one of the strangest, yet most beautiful and eeriest places on earth. In most of the area, it is as if one suddenly found oneself on the surface of the moon, Mars, or some other far-flung planet. This is especially true late at night and in the summer.

Though it is only a river, a natural phenomenon whose waters touch both banks, in recent decades it has become a dividing line, a boundary separating the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan from Palestine … the East from the West Bank. It has become a meeting place and a separation line. The Jordan Valley, a huge, elongated bowl, hugs the hills of both Palestine and Jordan, forming on both sides an escarpment of unusually beautiful proportions, deep, dangerous, and often breathtaking. It is much harsher on the West Bank, where it is also steeper and saltier. The off-white color of its earth gives the atmosphere a certain unreal quality that is hard to find anywhere else. Around Jericho, or Deir Mar Saba, one feels close to nature and to God, feels the magnificence of God’s creation and the insignificant nature of man’s existence.

The River: Source of Life

The Jordanians? Who are they? I shall come to that in good time. The land has had something to do with the people and has influenced their character. Surely, the Jordan River is only a body of water forming the western boundary of the country Jordan. But it is not just another river. In fact, by the standards of respectable international rivers or riverine basins like the Nile, Amazon, Mississippi, Yellow River, or Ganges, it is not a river at all. Today it is only a trickle, and one has to conjure up all sorts of powers of imagination to elicit the image of a river. Since 1948, the Israeli authorities have changed the shape of the land, diverted much of its waters, and dried up lake Hula. Much history and much romance and sanctity were sacrificed to raise tomatoes and vegetables to feed the Jewish immigrants who flocked into Palestine. But that is politics, and that will be discussed elsewhere.

Let us consider the river, the source of life and inspiration. John the Baptist drank from its waters. He came out of the Jordanian desert, no doubt looking wild and having eaten locusts and wild honey, and settled by its eastern bank. Imagine that bushy-bearded, romantic, gentle, clairvoyant, and inspired personality, John the Baptist, in Arabic called Prophet Yahya, thundering his prophecies some 2,000 years ago. I often wonder to whom he could have been prophesying in the Jordanian desert in those days, for he is described as having come out of the wilderness. John, Yahya, son of Zachariah, had one of the greatest honors of all times, an honor that God bestowed upon him at least three times: once, by choosing him as a prophet; secondly, by having him predict one of the greatest dramas of human existence, the coming of Jesus, in Arabic Issa Ibn Mariam, son of Mary; and thirdly, by having him baptize the Prophet Jesus in the waters ever since then known as the waters of the holy River Jordan. Other names the people of Palestine and Jordan call their river are Al-Shari’ah, the Mawrid, the source, the straight path, the ford, a place where people used to cross from one side to another. An old wooden bridge on the river survived until 1918, when it was destroyed by the retreating Turks. Later, it was rebuilt as a steel structure and called the Allenby Bridge. Now it is called the King Hussein Bridge.

In several other locations, however, people wishing to cross had either to swim, ford it or be transported on the backs of men who had made a livelihood out of carrying people across. At one spot, some say, there was also a primitive raft that used to cross the river by means of ropes and pulleys. This raft could not be operated in the winter when the river flooded. For, until well into the 1930s, the river and the surrounding gorge were still in a natural state. The river still flooded, and wild beasts still lived on its eastern banks. I was told that wild boar, deer, and even tigers and leopards used to be hunted there. Bedouin lore and poetry speak of the existence of lions near Zarka, and I have heard some Bedouins speak of Masba’at al Zarka, the lion-den in Zarka. One Bedouin