Jordan Feature: Will Protest Move from Tunisia to Amman? (Tarawnah)

The state is currently facing a crucial catch-22 in its history, a situation that has been created in recent years from uninspired economic policies to a lack of genuine political and social reform. After years of attempting to reign in any attempts for true democratic reform on the political level, a struggling economy has emerged. Today, Jordan, and perhaps much of the Arab world is learning one important lesson from Tunisia: the call for political change from the domestic constituency is unlikely to happen in the region unless the economy gets bad, real, real, bad. Governments can take away, censor or control various freedoms, including the right to a free press or the right to an elected government, and people are unlikely to be moved enough to demand widespread change. That’s just the political reality of it; people can’t afford to make such demands. But if you put a man’s livelihood at stake, if their financial situation is in dire straits, then they’ll be forced to react.

Will the events in Tunisia cause asimilar situation to unfold in Jordan?

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Jordan Feature: Protest, The Pressures of Poverty, and the Middle Class

On Friday, an estimated 8000 people --- in an "unprecedented development" --- protested on the streets of Amman and other Jordanian cities over rising food prices and unemployment. They challenged Prime Minister Sair Rifai with chants, "Down with Rifai's government. Unify yourselves because the government wants to eat your flesh and raises fuel prices to fill their pockets with millions." There were reports of tanks surrounding major cities and the establishment of checkpoints and barriers.

In that context, we note this article from Yasmeen Tabbaa in Muftah:

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Wikileaks Analysis: Getting Behind the Revelations on Iran and Arab States

Shibley Telhami writes for The National Interest:

One of the highlights of the most recent Wikileaks release has been the focus on Arab attitudes toward Iran. The headlines suggest Arab unanimity in support of a U.S. or Israeli military attack on the Islamic Republic, as long as Arab governments are allowed to keep their heads low to the ground. There was much evidence, and many colorful quotations, to make the case, especially from Saudi, Bahraini, and United Arab Emirates' leaders. And although some of the quotations were jaw-dropping, in truth it was all a bunch of stuff we've heard before. But analysis by the media that followed, and the sweeping conclusion that "Arabs support attacking Iran", is misplaced and ignores significant differences among Arab governments about how to deal with Iran and especially missed the boat on true attitudes of the Arab public.

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Complications of War: Jordan and the Iraqi Refugees

Jordan has provided a safe haven for Iraq’s never-ending stream of war refugees, as the country has kept its borders open long after other regional destinations have closed. According to recent estimates, Iraqis constitute somewhere between 8 to 12 percent of the Jordanian population. Jordan’s goodwill is, however, nearing its breaking point, due to resource strains, security concerns and continued violence inside Iraq. Moreover, the humanitarian crisis created by this situation has raised numerous challenges and questions of ethics and transparency in refugee management and service provision, which many in the government and NGO world did not foresee.

Jordan: Another Failed Election in the Middle East? (Daragahi)

The only suspense surrounding parliamentary elections here and in other Arab countries for many years has been over how many seats the opposition would be allowed to win.

But in Jordanian elections Tuesday, even that question was put to rest beforehand. The main Islamic opposition group and other parties boycotted — not because the vote was rigged against them, but because they say parliament has become pointless.

"There is a conviction that political reform through the elections is useless," said Zaki Bani Arshid, a leader of the Islamic Action Front, the country's main opposition movement.

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Israel-Palestine Memories: Prime Minister Olmert's 2008 Offer and the Palestinian Response

On Sunday, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that if the current Israel-Palestine talks are to succeed, the agreement would have to resemble the plan the Palestinians turned down two years ago in negotiations.

Israel offered the Palestinians close to 94 percent of the West Bank, with East Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine and holy sites governed jointly by Israel, the Palestinians, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the US. In addition, less than 20,000 refugees would have returned Israel and 100,000 Palestinians would be given US citizenship.

Olmert blamed the Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas for no resolution: "There is no choice but to say that this agreement was not achieved when that was possible because the Palestinian side was not prepared to make the extra step that I believe we made."

The Palestinians have a different recollection. In March 2010, their top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told an audience at the University of Birmingham that a counter-proposal had been offered to Olmert and nothing had been received in return.

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