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King Abdullah II of Jordan
Answers to Written Questions from the Floor:
Q: There is a lot of curiosity around the role of Iraq and the Arab nation. What should the United States' role be in the envisioned long-term prospects for a world free of conflict and terrorism? Or may the clash of civilizations become a self-fulfilling prophecy?
A: The problem that we've had in the past, when we talk about extremism, terrorism and the problems that not only face our region but the international community: sometimes we get too fixated with the immediate problem the extremists or the terrorists and we forget: Why is there a terrorist? Why are there extremists? If we want to have a world that is safe for all of us, you have to go to the roots of these problems. In our part of the world, I strongly and I can't impress this enough on this audience the core instability for the Middle East, the core problem in everybody's hearts is the Israeli-Palestinian one. That is the recruiting ground for extremism and terrorism that we see in the Middle East but also has affected all our countries yours, as well as mine, and very recently, our friends in Europe, if you remember what happened in Madrid last month.
Going after terrorists is only part of the problem. Solving the core issues of the region that is how we win; this is how we make the world a better place. And in our hearts, in our blood, until we solve the Israeli-Palestinian/Israeli-Arab issue, then none of us will ever be safe; none of us will ever have the ability to bring the type of world safety and prosperity to all our peoples and our younger generations. So if we are looking to the future the crisis in our part of the world has gone on for over 60-70 years; it has pulled in more than eight American presidents, whether they liked it or not, into the problems that we have in the Middle East. If we solve the Israeli-Palestinian issue, then we have a chance, in the Middle East, to be part of the international community.
Q: How should the United States behave in order to facilitate peace in the Middle East?
A: We have a process, and everybody knows what is expected of each other. The president of the United States articulated a few years ago the need for a viable, independent Palestinian state. He put a timeline, so that people would concentrate; so we solve it today as opposed to tomorrow. We have a vehicle the "road map" on how to implement that; that articulates what is required of the Israelis, what is required of the Palestinians, what is required of the Arabs. And I mention the Arab peace declaration, because again I thought the challenge needed to be thrown to Arab countries: What are we expected to do? Even before the war with Iraq, every country signed onto that peace declaration, including the regime of Saddam Hussein. It is not rocket science; everybody knows what needs to be done. We all know to the minutest detail what is required of Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs. The problem is, we have to make sure that the vehicle moves forward. The road map is explicit. And it needs, obviously, the strong role of the United States, the international community, which is represented by the Quartet which is America, the United Nations, the Europeans, the Russians and the rest of us in the Middle East. We all know what needs to be done. What needs to be done on the ground is implementing the road map. Once we do, then we will finally have peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the Israelis and the Arabs.
I want to throw out one other thing: When we talk about peace, I don't see and I learned this from his late majesty King Hussein you always put yourself in the other person's shoes. Is the peace for the Israelis to Jordan on its eastern border, to Syria and Lebanon on the north, and Sinai towards the Egyptian border on the south is that the peace that the Israelis want? Or is the peace that the Israelis want to be part of the neighborhood? So they're part of the neighborhood, from Morocco on the Atlantic to Oman on the Indian Ocean? That is the type of peace that I believe in. And that is the type of peace that I believe the overwhelming majority of Israelis believe in.
Can you imagine Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians what we call the Fertile Crescent working together? You talk about Silicon Valley here; I talk about the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. The potential is enormous. So the peace prize is not to the borders that Israel has with Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. The prize is Israel integrated into the neighborhood. And I think that's what leaders have to keep in mind when we look at the peace process and we look at the solution that brings hope to all of us.
Q: Considering that the Israeli-Palestine conflict is the root of much of the anti-American Muslim sentiments, do you think that solving this problem would serve as the best strategy to fight terrorism?
A: As I alluded to in my question beforehand, when we talk about the fight against extremism and international terrorism, what we're talking about the major effect of solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem is shutting the recruiters down. You solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem, and I cannot give a percentage, but the overwhelming majority of our problems are behind us. And it's not just the Israeli-Palestinian problem. We're talking about reform in the Middle East political, social and economic. The excuse used by many countries in the old guard is the Israeli-Palestinian one. The Middle East is unstable, so can we pursue social, economic and political reform? The Middle East will never be able to move the way that we want unless the problem is solved, because it doesn't allow societies to be able to take the risks for peace. We have a very ambitious program in Jordan what we want to do politically, socially and economically. But I know that I'll only be able to achieve 80-90 percent of what our vision is for Jordan if the problem across the river is still there. We're talking about the Middle East being part of the international community. The only way we can do that is to solve the problem. And so again, I cannot say enough that solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem does not only take a huge bite out of extremism and terrorism but gives us the hope to reform the Middle East and have it truly be part of the international community.
Q: Two questions around the same topic, and I'll combine both of them: In light of President Bush's recent policy statement seeking the Arab world's assistance in achieving peace in the Middle East, is Jordan willing to absorb the Palestinian refugees already in Jordan? And would Jordan be willing to give a small portion of its territory to this Palestinian state?
A: I think the question takes some assumptions that are not quite correct. We have 1.4 to 1.5 million Palestinians that are considered refugees in our country. When we look at the peace process and the ability to have a viable, independent Palestinian state, it is then for the Palestinian refugees in our country to make the choice whether they want to be part of the new Palestinian state or whether they want to continue to make Jordan home. And I personally think the overwhelming majority of those refugees in our country will probably choose to stay in Jordan. But when it comes to the issue of refugees and this is why we're a bit concerned of some of the statements that we've heard over the past couple of days, because we're looking at the emotional aspect. This is why in the Arab peace declaration, knowing the sensitivity for the integrity of the Jewish state of Israel, the Arabs really went out on a limb to say an agreed-to solution for the refugee problem. In other words, taking into account the problems that Israelis will face in their cultural or geographic set up inside that country; the integrity of the Jewish state.
What we have now is no refugees, so that basically breaks down the facade that the possibility of the symbolic aspect of issues, the symbolic return of refugees, or the compensation for the refugees. So, it's shaken up the Middle East quite a bit, and I think it's shaken up Palestinian refugees not only in our country but throughout the whole world. I'm obviously reserving judgment until I get to Washington to have a clear understanding of where we are now in the peace process. But I do believe that the refugee issue needs to be listened to. I mean we do have, like I said, 1.4 million, 1.5 million in our countries. There are the refugees in other parts of the Middle East. And what type of neighbor do you want to have? For Palestinian society, you want them to be an equal partner, I would imagine, in the process that's going to take all of us together into the future. The relationship between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the Israelis the Jordanians and the Palestinians, is going to be one that has to be clearly thought out. If this side of the fence is greener than the other side, then we are always going to have a problem with stability. Do you want a neighbor that is healthy, that is your partner or a partner that is destitute, that is feeling frustrated, that is desolate? I think these are the questions that we need to ask ourselves when we deal with the refugee issue. And I hope that I'll have a better understanding where we are on that when I'm in Washington next week.
Q: What is your view on President Bush's support of Prime Minister Sharon's plan to allow Israel to maintain the West Bank settlements?
A: Again, part of the confusion is, all these issues are fairly well articulated in the road map, and so some of the comments that were made are they inconsistent or do they work themselves into the road map? I can't say now, because really we don't have the facts at hand. And I hope by next week with the president, what is happening on the ground, what has been agreed to, will be more articulated so that we could decide where to take it from there. I just don't have the facts at the moment, and I think it's very dangerous to pass judgment until you know the facts at hand.
Q: How is the war in Iraq affecting Jordan and the rest of the Arab world right now?
A: Well, it's affecting the international community, it's obviously affecting Iraqis, and it's another source of instability. And I know for an American audience, obviously, Iraq is probably what takes up the majority of your thinking, because of friends, families, loved ones that many Americans have over there. In the bigger picture of the Middle East it is a secondary issue; the major issue is still the Israeli-Palestinian one. The future of Iraq is something that is going to affect all of us and, obviously, the instability of the moment is of great concern. I'm hoping that we, as part of the international community, can work together to be able to solve these problems, and these are some of the discussions that we'll be having with the American administration next week: How do we get the instability, the violence down? How do we give the Iraqis a handover as quickly as possible? We have a long way to go and there's going to be a lot of work that's going to be required from all of us.
But, again, the perception to many people in the Middle East and this is one that really terrified me before the war and still concerns me greatly today it's the visual. And the visual that we see in the Middle East when you turn on the TV, rightly or wrongly, is just the perception that the man or the woman on the street who really doesn't understand politics sees. They turn on the TV and they see an Israeli tank with a tank barrel pointed at Palestinians. The program changes and they see an American tank pointing at Iraqi citizens. This is creating, for the first time that I've felt in the Middle East and around the world, some sort of an animosity that I've never felt or heard about towards the United States. As a friend of the United States and somebody who has many friends here and cares for your country very deeply, that hurts me and that creates tremendous concern for me; that the feeling that is being felt towards the United States throughout the region and world is not a healthy one. So, solving these problems needs to be done as quickly as possible, because at the end of the day you're being held responsible, rightly or wrongly. We're all affected by this, and this is why countries like Jordan and others in the Middle East are working so hard not only to solve the Iraqi problem and have Iraq for the Iraqis as quickly as possible, but also solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem because it does affect Americans. It does affect the perception that our part of the world, and other areas of the world, has towards the United States. And as a friend of yours and one that cares about many, many people here in this country, I am very, very worried about that perception towards America and Americans.
Q: Could you please give your view of the Greater Middle East Initiative proposed by the U.S. administration?
A: The Middle East has to have reform, there is no doubt about that. It has to have reform socially, economically and politically. That is the way the world is going, that is the way the Middle East needs to go. But if you want to have true reform, reform has to come from inside. Reform is difficult to implement when it's forced. Again, I don't want to go back to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, but that is a major concern and a major excuse used, I would say, by the old guards not to look forward. What we're trying to do and what we hoped to achieve at the Arab summit last month was an articulated blueprint from the Arab countries detailing what needs to be done on reform. Understanding that each country has a different cultural/social background than its neighbor. Understanding that each country moving for reform, moving towards democracy, will have a different pace.
Now, I know that this is sort of a very awkward subject in our part of the world. My hope was, before the Arab summit: We're on a path of reform in Jordan, we're on the safe side of this issue. We know what we want in Jordan, we're going ahead and we're not using the Israeli-Palestinian issue or Iraq or other instabilities in the Middle East as an excuse not to go forward. But if the Arabs don't develop a blueprint, if they don't look forward, that they have to answer questions on reform, then one might be forced on them. And the one that is forced on you is one that I will think will have a negative backfire. So our efforts in Jordan are really to try and convince many of the Arab countries to think about tomorrow, forget about yesterday. Create a blueprint, understanding that each country has its own pace, each country has its own special issues on how to deal with that, but the momentum is the most important thing. Start a process, and I think gradually it will pick up the speed that will make the Middle East what we all want and that is part of the international community.
Q: Please explain the Jordan First program.
A: Jordan First was an advertising campaign started two years ago. Although it was interpreted by those that wanted to interpret it as a political slogan, it was basically to gear people for elections. We were coming up to parliamentary elections and what we wanted to do was reach out to the silent majority. We feel that in Jordan we have developed ourselves enough to go away from the rhetoric that we hear in other parts of our region. Without naming countries, if you were to say: We need to improve education, we need to tackle health, we need to tackle social issues you are told, That is unacceptable; your efforts have to be put towards Palestine, have to be put towards foreign intervention in the Middle East. We think in Jordan that we are mature enough to be able to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian issue, to deal with the Iraqi issue as part of common day-to-day workings for Jordan, but that Jordanians as a society can ask questions of where they are heading.
And so the Jordan First program was started initially to get as many people to vote. When it came to elections, I think around 65-68 percent of the voting population voted, which is very high by international standards. We have a brand-new parliament, they are younger, better educated,; and I have to thank and I have four representatives here from our universities that are with me on this trip the role that I think the younger generation really played in elections. We had a lot of young people going out to the booths. As you know, the problem in our societies is that the silent majority is always on the defensive and it's the extremist minority, the loud minority, that intimidate the majority. What we tried to do with Jordan First was to give spirit and courage to the majority to stand up and say, This is why or, This is what we want from Jordan. So we had a very good election, we had a very good parliamentary session now.
The next phase in our political life and, again, Jordan First is part of that program is to try and get out 30-odd political parties that have no basic social or economic or even political agenda to, hopefully, whittle them down to two or three or four major parties that represent left, right and center, to come out with platforms, so that in four years when we go to the next elections, the Jordanian individual can pick that particular candidate because of what he stands for and not because he belongs to this village or that tribe.
Q: I have a couple of questions to ask about your domestic agenda and what the major problems are; and, along with that, what changes have occurred in your domestic economy as a result of free-trade policies with the United States?
A: The problem that we suffer, when it comes to the economy, is really: We're part of a very difficult neighborhood. The old joke used to be, Jordan is between Iraq and a hard place. After the war was over I said, Well, now we just have to deal with a hard place. But I've been proved wrong again, so we're back to the old position that we were in. Having said that, Jordan was one of very few countries, probably the only country in the immediate region, that bounced back economically very well. We have 3.5 percent growth this year where everybody expected either sort of a neutral or negative growth. We have a very ambitious agenda in Jordan. If you saw where Jordan was in 1999 to where it is now let's take the free-trade agreement as an example: trade with the United States was $13 million in 1999; last year we surpassed $660 million. And a lot of it goes to the thanks to all our friends here in the United States, especially the Congress. This was sort of an unusual request for Jordan to have a free-trade agreement with the United States. Congress went out of its way to pass that resolution in record time. It's created over 35 thousand jobs, mostly women, up in the north. So it's going to have a very positive social impact in our country, because now they are the major bread earner, and I think that that will have a very positive effect. So when we said we were going to reform we put our money where our mouths are, and we've come a long way. And a lot of thanks goes to the support that we've had from the United States and the trust that the United States had in what Jordan was trying to do with our economy.
Q: You were invited here by a group of young people. What can young Americans do to help the development of the Middle East in a peaceful direction?
A: Well, I think, again, what we're talking about in Jordan is a model for reform and I think this is where there is tremendous pressure on us. We have a very ambitious social, economic and political reform agenda. But what we do in Jordan is going to have implications throughout the Middle East, positively or negatively. Negatively if we fail, if what we're trying to do in Jordan, the Jordan story, the Jordan model, if we don't succeed that is going to be an argument used by the old guard, by those that don't want to see reform, that say, "See? What Jordan tried to do is not the right thing for the Middle East." If we succeed, and the success that we've shown so far has had a ripple effect throughout the Middle East what we're doing for education for our young people is already being picked up by many countries. What we're doing in relations to political reform, to press freedoms, is being picked up. It's an argument that the younger generation can use with the older generation in those countries: "See, Jordan has done it, it's not as painful as people think, it's not as dangerous as people think." So, basically, if I ask anything of our young friends, all friends here in the United States, it is: Take a chance on us, help us succeed, because I think the success of what we do in Jordan will be the success or the model for the rest of the Middle East.
Q: Your Majesty, we only have time for one more question and the question is a personal one. Please describe the important influences for you to become a moderate, progressive and peace-oriented leader.
A: That's a very easy question to answer, and I think, Mr. Shultz, you would agree with me that I had probably one of the best teachers I could have had my father, whoŠ [Applause] Well, I think the applause speaks for itself. And we were very grateful for a visionary that led Jordan to where we are today. If it wasn't for him, there wouldn't be a Jordan. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be able to take the reform aspects of what we're trying to do in Jordan forward. It was his hard work that allowed the new generation of Jordanians to be able to go forward. Thank you very much.
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