The King of Jordan and al-Sisi

The quest to deal with radicalism in Islam expands. The two regional leaders are going to hold a conference aimed at finding ways to "modernize" Islam in the hope of constraining groups like Daesh.
Although their voices may be stifled by tightened anti-terrorism laws, many of his subjects are dubious. In a country where some 90% of the population is Sunni Muslim, many wonder why their monarch has joined the American-led coalition against jihadists from Islamic State (IS). “We don’t understand why the king has joined the alliance against Syria’s Sunnis in IS and is helping to prop up Bashar al-Assad, who has far more blood on his hands,” says a Jordanian writer. After the capture by IS of a Jordanian pilot whose plane came down in Syria in December, a group of retired army officers issued statements arguing that Jordan should not be involved.

The king’s appearance at a march in Paris alongside world leaders after the attack on Charlie Hebdo caused further unhappiness. Shortly after the king returned home, a protest gathering against the magazine and its cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad drew thousands of people.

3 comments:

Gringo said...

As I recall, his father King Hussein had a de facto peace with Israel long before he signed a peace treaty. King Hussein also had no hesitation to apply Black September to the Palis in Jordan. In addition, Abdullah II's grandfather, Abdullah I, was killed by Palis in 1951- most likely for advocating peace with Israel. The more things change....

MikeD said...

Interesting side note. The al-Hashimite family which the Kings of Jordan claim is (theoretically) directly descended from Mohammed's family. Much as Medieval kings would claim direct descent from King David of Israel (or even Adam), the ruling family of Jordan claims their legitimacy from this bloodline. Which makes it interesting that he gets criticism for showing up at the Charlie Hebdo march, since he is (again, supposedly) much more closely related to Mohammed than anyone who may have taken offense.

Grim said...

That's interesting, Mike.