The Muslim Brotherhood, most of whom are residents of the northern part of Jordan, want to eliminate the monarchy, and this places them in eternal conflict with the king. The election of Morsi last year was very encouraging to them, because he shares their political desires. They attempted to organize a demonstration of 300,000 people in one of the squares of Amman to turn it into the Jordanian version of “Tahrir Square,” but the Jordanian security forces discovered the plan and prevented it in the usual way.
The king is aware of the idea of an “alternative homeland” and has said many times that “Jordan will not be an alternative homeland for anyone,” and therefore it supports the establishment of a Palestinian state outside of Jordan. The king also tries to calm the people by assuring them that he was never subjected to pressure from any American president, Bill Clinton, George Bush or Barack Obama, who wanted to establish a Palestinian state at Jordan’s expense.
Perhaps the presidents of the United States did not pressure the king to establish a Palestinian state in Jordan. However, in my opinion, there is pressure to permit the Brotherhood to become part of the Jordanian political system, mainly from the State Department, which has, for years been attempting to promote the political project of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan. In order to sedate the king, the State Department works toward establishing a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria, which would compromise the state of Israel’s security, since this Palestinian state will become another Muslim Brotherhood state, ruled by Hamas, in the future. Thus the Islamic noose will close around Israel’s neck, thus the dream of Safwat Higazi to establish an Islamic Caliphate state with Jerusalem as its capital is fulfilled, and all the Islamists the world over will love America because it threw Israel under the Muslim Brotherhood bus. How otherwise can the State Department’s objection to recognizing Jerusalem – the capital of the Jewish people for 3000 years – as the capital of Israel, be explained, and the American objection to the Jewish people’s sovereignty over Judea and Samaria as stipulated by the decision of the San Remo Conference in 1920?
In conclusion, it can be stated simply and painfully: the State Department and the White House fear Islamic terror more than anything else. Therefore, since September 11, 2001, they have been obsessed by a desire to please the Muslims at any price. They think that Muslim Brotherhood rule over most of the Muslim states is the ideal solution, and the most suitable one to American interests, even if the price is abandoning long-standing friends and allies. Mubarak, Qadhaffi, Abdullah the Second and Israel are all part of the sacrifice that the State Department and White House are willing to make on the altar of Muslim Brotherhood rule over the entire Arab and Islamic world. Will the elimination of Morsi be the blow that will send the Islamist-American genie back into the bottle?
Translated from Hebrew by Sally Zahav with permission from the author.