Jordan tribes threaten revolution over country's Palestinian Queen Rania
Hard-line nationalist East Bankers take issue with both Queen Rania's
Palestinian background and her highly visible role in the country's
male-dominated society.
By Reuters Haaretz Published 20:43 08.02.11
http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/jordan-tribes-threaten-revolution-over-country-s-palestinian-queen-rania-1.342072

Jordanian tribal figures have issued a petition urging King Abdullah to end
his Palestinian wife's role in politics, in a new challenge to the monarch
grappling with fallout from uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

Evoking comparisons with the wives of Tunisia's former strongman Zine al
Abidine Ben Ali and Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, the signatories
attacked Queen Rania's Palestinian origin and accused her of using state
funds to promote her image abroad without concern for the hardship of
ordinary Jordanians.

The 36 figures are drawn from conservative East Bank tribes who form the
backbone of the Hashemite monarchy's support -- as opposed to Jordanians of
Palestinian, or West Bank, origin who are the majority of the country's 7
million population.

"She is building power centers for her interest that go against what
Jordanians and Hashemites have agreed on in governing and is a danger to the
nation and the structure of the state and the political structure and the
institution of the throne," the petition said.

"Disregard for the content of the statement will throw us into what happened
in Tunis and Egypt and what will happen in other Arab countries," it added.

The unusually blunt statement reflects the deep rift between nationalist
East Bank Jordanians and the majority Palestinian population, rather than a
direct challenge to Abdullah's rule.

But it keeps up pressure on the monarch who responded to anti-government
protests last week by dismissing the cabinet and appointing former army
officer Marouf Bakhit as prime minister.

The move, which followed a 500 million dollar package of state aid to raise
civil service salaries and curb price rises, aimed to address East Bankers'
alarm over economic liberalization by the previous government which
threatened their state benefits.

Publicly attacking royal figures is taboo in Jordan under tough sedition
that limits discussion of Jordan's royal family.

But the signatories, drawn from within the ruling hierarchy's chief tribal
groups such as the Bani Sakhr, Abadi, Shobaki and Manaseer, said their
concern for the country and throne had prompted them to speak out.

The signatories said the legitimacy of Jordan's Hashemite monarchy, which
claims descent from Islam's Prophet Mohammad, depended on the consent of the
East Bank tribes.

Mindful of the status of the monarch, Faris al-Fayez, who helped draft the
petition, told Reuters the statement emphasized that aside from the monarch
there should be no "legal immunity for any corrupt person regardless of his
title."

Hard-line nationalist East Bankers have taken issue with both Queen Rania's
Palestinian background and her highly visible role in the country's
male-dominated society.

The queen, who meets top Western delegations alongside her husband, is an
articulate advocate of Jordanian women's rights, including the right of
women to pass on their citizenship to their children if they marry
foreigners, a right which is absent in most of the Arab world.

By supporting a law that could naturalize more Palestinians, the queen has
raised fears in Jordan's ruling hierarchy that the demographic balance could
tilt further in favor of Jordanians of Palestinian origin.

They also argue that empowering Jordanians of Palestinian origin before a
Palestinian state is created will give Israel a pretext to keep denying any
Palestinian right of return and solve the issue at Jordan's expense.

The petition is the most sweeping personal attack on the 40-year-old queen
since East Bank fans at a high profile soccer match chanted slogans
denigrating her Palestinian background and even urging the monarch to
divorce her.