The case of HRH Prince Hamzah has
been one of the most controversial for public opinion in the country during the
past two decades, and maybe the only of its kind in the history of
Jordan, in
terms of complexity and the involvement of internal and external parties.
اضافة اعلان
Public opinion in Jordan has been
split three ways following the referral of Bassem Awadallah and Sharif Hassan
to court; the first group rejects the entire narrative and deems it a
fabrication to damage the Prince’s reputation — and it is most commonly a group
that takes up the rejection of all official narratives as a hobby, the second
group believes the story along with the evidence presented by state bodies, and
the third group believes the story but also believes that it was poorly
managed, and that it could have been resolved discreetly via political and
security instruments, without publicizing it for the entire planet.
First, it must be said that the
story is embarrassing for the King on a personal level, a human level, and in
terms of his position as leader of the country, and he was not obligated to
publicize the story, particularly as it harms the family, its unity, and its
domestic relations, not to mention that many parties, internally and externally
will be divided on it, and it floats various scenarios regarding the stability
of Jordan. In this sense, resolving the issue in secret, away from public
opinion, on the level of Prince Hamza and then the duo Awadallah and Sharif
Hassan, among others, would have been preferable for the King. In fact, it is a
costly but necessary option. This is point of view is meant for those who
believe that the publicizing of the issue represents poor management and
temperamental rashness.
Following the referral of Awadallah
and Sharif Hassan to the court, opinions were split once again, and, in my
interpretation, some links were missing and have not been revealed so far,
while some security information remained confidential for various reasons. If
official bodies were not confident of the validity of its narrative they would
not have publicized it, and we would not have reached the stage of trial, and
verdicts later on.
This is a clear-cut case; some
parties took it upon themselves to convince Prince Hamzah that he can be an
alternative to the King, deluding him that there is an international and
regional project for his support, and then linking this delusion to the
administration of the former US president and his son in law, which explains why
the new US administration is the one that tipped in Jordan on the initial
information. Observers can see that the new administration wanted to expose the
Washington’s former administration for wanting to interfere in stable
countries. While notifying Jordan and thwarting the scheme achieves an American
interest that intersects with a Jordanian one, Jordan itself has its agendas
for a public rather than a discreet resolution of the issue, which include
sensitivities, interpretations and possibilities.
On the Jordanian side, as I
mentioned earlier, the case was embarrassing for the King; he would not have
wanted to find himself and his family facing such a case had he not seen for
himself that there is an international project to sow chaos and invest in public
anger, and what added fuel to fire is that those handling the management of the
game by proxy are people that the state has invested in throughout their lives,
at a time when Jordanians were opposing the policies of Bassem Awadallah, and
warning against him and his relationships and moves. These warnings went
unheeded, instead, Awadallah received additional protections, and it was proven
later that the people’s warnings and judgments are never amiss.
The publicizing of the case has achieved
various goals for
Jordan, key among which is sending a message to the people
that there are international conspiracies against Jordan, and that not every
protest is innocent, and while some might be innocent, various powers would
invest in them. The publicizing of the case also achieved the goal of affirming
the state’s strength; even if Jordanian governments are weak, the system itself
remains strong, and wins consensus internally, in light of a society that is
facing many challenges but is not giving up on its country.
Publicizing the story also posed the
question of what would have happened had the scheme succeeded, the people were
divided, and chaos prevailed in the aftermath of the plan’s success, where
would we be then, taking into account the complexity of the country and its
components.
After the referral of evidence and
documents, denying them is deemed a form of stubbornness, but it is still a
guaranteed right for lawyers. It must be said that the story was embarrassing
for the King, and no one would have wanted to see themselves or their families
amidst such an unfortunate event, and he did not have to resolve it publicly,
had its discreet resolution been feasible and beneficial.
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