Posted on 01/30/2003 7:45:27 AM PST by Thinkin' Gal
As he launched the 'Jordan First' drive, His Majesty continued efforts to bring about peace in Mideast, resolve Iraq crisis through dialogue
By Francesca Sawalha
AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah marks his 41st birthday today having begun the new year calling on the international community to work towards rebuilding trust between nations and peoples.
This past year has again brought significant challenges to Jordan, and King Abdullah has continued as the vanguard of efforts to bring about peace in the Middle East, push for dialogue in resolving the Iraqi crisis, while at the same time launching the “Jordan First” drive to mobilise the nation in advancing on its democratic, political, economic and social fronts.
His visits abroad, his addresses to leaders and citizens of other nations, and his candid interviews with international media have put Jordan on the map as a modern Arab country striving to uphold principles shared by nations of goodwill. The Jordan Times has received many letters from online readers abroad praising King Abdullah for his clear and reasonable views of the situation in the region.
Working to defuse regional tensions and solve conflicts, King Abdullah met last February with President George W. Bush at the White House and urged him to pressure Israel into recognising a Palestinian state. That was the first of three meetings the King and Bush had at the White House over the past 12 months. But the two leaders also met other times on the sidelines of international gatherings.
In all these talks, as the King himself has said on several occasions, ways to end the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and defuse the Iraqi crisis were core issues, figuring at times even above Jordanian concerns.
The King warned the US administration against an Iraq war, repeating it would be an “Armageddon” for the entire region and have unforeseeably disastrous repercussions on the stability and security of the area.
Vis-a-vis the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the King's most outstanding achievement is generally considered the “roadmap” for Mideast peace — a concept that the Monarch conceived and persuaded Bush to adopt.
The “roadmap,” envisaging the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005, represented a revolutionary approach to Palestinian-Israeli peace-making in that it hinged on international consensus over an endgame, to be executed according to a precise timeline.
A document drafted by the international quartet for Mideast peace — the US, UN, EU and Russia — is now expected to be officially published shortly.
Since the beginning of 2002, the King had also worked to secure consensus on a groundbreaking land-for-peace initiative that was later officially submitted by Saudi Arabia at the March Arab summit. The initiative, endorsed at the Beirut summit, offers Israel full normalisation with its Arab neighbours in return for full withdrawal from all occupied lands.
In meetings with Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and leaders from Japan to Argentina, the King lobbied for the Arab peace initiative, the roadmap, and a peaceful solution to the standoff between the US and Iraq.
By October, when the King launched the “Jordan First” campaign, the country's Socio-Economic Transformation Plan was about to mark its first anniversary.
Achievements made over the year included major infrastructure works, upgrading of educational facilities and a national push for vocational training — all geared to citizens sensing an improvement in basic services and giving them hope that as the plan took on its next stages, they would begin to feel a better quality of life.
Education was at the core of the King's reform drive. As of the 2002-2003 academic year Jordan was the first Arab country to introduce English classes as of first grade and computer literacy courses as of seventh grade in all public schools.
These steps marked the completion of a major educational reform effort and the beginning of the implementation of an ambitious e-learning initiative that few developed countries have embraced thus far.
Reforms at home were accompanied by an aggressive liberalisation drive, which resulted in an astounding five per cent growth in the economy in 2002, fuelled by increases in exports and sustained by monetary stability, with the Central Bank declaring record foreign reserves.
Part of the economic growth was attributed to the entry into force of the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement, for which the King personally endeavoured.
Marking the first anniversary of the FTA, the King said in a video conference address to officials and business leaders in Washington and six Arab capitals, that the deal represented a “vote of confidence in Jordan's investment climate.”
The US-Jordan trade volume skyrocketed in the past two years, due mostly to the FTA and the Qualified Industrial Zones, with exports to the US growing by more than 210 per cent between 2000-2001, and an impressive growth registered in 2002.
Before securing the FTA with the US, King Abdullah had already clinched similar deals with Europe and Arab countries.
Analysts concur that, after concentrating on vigorously reviving the economy despite all odds during his first three years of reign, the King is now determined to open a new page of political reforms, after the country hit a period of stagnation midway into its 13-year-old democratisation march.
This is why, the King's aides have explained, he launched “Jordan First” — a national campaign to set the tone for not only the upcoming parliamentary elections in spring, but an overall reform of political life designed to strengthen political parties and engage them in policy and decision making processes.
Officially launching “Jordan First” with a letter to Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb on Oct. 9, the King also named a 31-member committee to draft mechanisms to translate the national campaign into practical legislative and administrative steps.
Those recommendations, now endorsed by the King and passed on to the government for implementation, included the introduction of a parliamentary quota for women, the establishment of a constitutional court and mechanisms of checks-and-balances, as well as speeding up judicial reforms.
On Wednesday evening, King Abdullah, joined by Her Majesty Queen Rania, attended a celebration to mark his birthday at Al Hussein Sports City. An avid sports fan himself, the King honoured 230 athletes at a ceremony arranged by the Higher Council for Youth. His Majesty presented the young men and women with awards and urged them to excel in their sports to make “Jordan First.” The event was attended by members of the Royal Family, Abul Ragheb and Chief of the Royal Court Fayez Tarawneh.
Thursday, January 30, 2003
And...
In all these talks, as the King himself has said on several occasions, ways to end the Israeli aggression against the Palestinians and defuse the Iraqi crisis were core issues...
Deceit to prosper ping!
If Abdullah II can bring about *peace* in the ME, he will be so greatly loved and admired by the world...
We've read that Jordan has been asked to assume at least a temporary govenorship over post-Saddam Iraq and if he could settle the Palestinians, the Israelis would love him...
Anything's possible, but Abdullah deserves very careful attention.
18 Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.
19 The same dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end they might not live.
20 In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months:
21 And when he was cast out, Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.
22 And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds.
23 And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel.
24 And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended him, and avenged him that was oppressed, and smote the Egyptian:
25 For he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them: but they understood not.
Full Forty
Full
Hebrew for 08141 Shin-Nun-Hei
Pronunciation Guide, shaneh (in pl. only), {shaw-neh'} or (fem.) shana
Biblical Usage
1) year
a) as division of time
b) as measure of time
c) as indication of age
d) a lifetime (of years of life)
Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count —
Total: 875AV - year 797, not translated 55, yearly 3, yearly + 08141 2, year + 01121 1, live + 02416 1, old + 02416 + 03117 1, misc 4; 875
Forty
Hebrew for 0705
Alef-Reish-Beit-Ayin-Yud-Mem
Pronunciation Guide'arba`iym {ar-baw-eem´}
Outline of Biblical Usage
1) forty
Authorized Version (KJV) Translation Count — Total: 136AV - forty 132, fortieth 4; 136
Queen Rania of Jordan addresses the World Economic Forum during the meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Monday, Jan. 27, 2003. (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)
What a peace-loving Arab Family!
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