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Democracy and Human Rights Jordan as a Model for the Region We are fully aware that consolidating peace and stability is linked to the achievement of comprehensive economic and social development. We are also aware that peace and prosperity cannot prevail except in an atmosphere of justice, freedom, democracy, respect for human rights, and the supremacy of the law. Based on this firm conviction, we shall continue our diligent efforts to ingrain these concepts in our society, until Jordan becomes an example of the commitment to these noble objectives. Address to the Middle East and North
Africa Economic Summit
We believe democracy to be the only real guarantor of stability and we have sought to create a “Jordanian model” that might also inspire others in our region. I wish democracy and peace to be my legacy to my people and the shield of generations to come. Address to the Rotary Club
Under the auspices of peace, our comprehensive renaissance will be built, and it will be a model for those who wish to emulate it in the greater Arab homeland. Address to the Jordanian War College
We believe that this country has a huge potential, in terms of the hopes and sentiments of its sons, and their genuine belonging. This makes it incumbent on everybody to stick together and rise up to their responsibilities in these circumstances, so that this country will remain—through democracy, shura, respect for human rights and cooperation—a model for others to emulate, and so that it can continue to perform its duty, carry its message and remain a source of hope for people in this region, aspiring for steadfastness, firmness, pride, determination, resolve and awareness in our greater Arab homeland. Remarks to the Jordanian Cabinet and House
of Representatives
We started this nation's development with tolerance and shura and we continue to tread on the same path today. Democracy in Jordan has become an example and a model, a blessed tree deep-rooted in this beloved Arab land, with its branches reaching towards the horizon of the great homeland. Let us move forward and shoulder our responsibilities, and go forth to the nation with the great call for freedom, unity and human rights. Let each one of us take responsibility for the protection of our chosen path against the danger of the greedy, the fearful and the hypocrites. Address on Election Law Amendments
We do not seek to influence others except positively, and I believe that the greatest achievement that Jordan can attain is to make of itself a good example to others in the region. I believe that we in Jordan at least, cannot continue to rule as if we owned the land and everything above and everything beneath it. Nor can we live a lie. People have got to reach a point where they realize what their rights are, and enjoy them. Address to the Royal United Services
Institute for Defense Studies
Before us lies a phase during which we shall review our national plans in all fields in order to achieve one object: realizing a Jordanian model of a modern state based on Shura. We stand at the threshold of a new century, during which we do not wish to fall outside the pale of history. Nor do we want to be followers of others. We wish to tread a straight path and to make our country the capital of our nation's culture, striving to liberate it from dependence, hesitation or inaction. We continue to adhere to the principle that the unity of our nation's culture with its forward-looking and refined Arab and Islamic roots in terms of creativity, synthesis and approach, is the basis of any comprehensive national renaissance in our present time. It would be a renaissance offering our nation a real opportunity to foster life, freedom, justice and equality, and a strong culture capable of interacting with other cultures from a position of confidence, because it seeks light and freedom even as it seeks to be self-generating and judicious in what it accepts and what it turns away. It also seeks to distinguish between what is arid and what is fertile, and between what is racist and what is human. Address to the Nation
I will go even further to say that the coming phase is a most difficult battle in which those who are capable of patience, construction and learning will prove themselves in this world. They will emerge from the tumultuous process of change stronger, more steadfast and more determined. In this way, Jordan will remain as the world has always known it—enjoying a position far larger than the space of its beloved territory. Its Arab aspect and its compassionate spirit will remain a shining example to those who can see what is good and benefit from it. For those who would turn their heads away, those who would distort the image, out of ignorance or envy, we can only pray that they be brought to see the light before they turn into fossils of history, whose wheels will forever continue to turn. Address to the Nation
And we shall continue to advocate our nation's freedom, its decision-making independence, dialogue among its citizens and justice to all its peoples. If our calls are to go unheeded we would at least have fulfilled the trust of disseminating the message. Those who fail to see the light of day until it is too late must bear the responsibility of time wasted for our nation, time that could have been used for spreading awareness, for construction, for liberating our nation from the tyranny of intellectual inaction, from the heavy hand of political feudalism in all its forms, from the weight of ignorance, disease, backwardness, poverty and unemployment. All of this would be a prelude to moving to an overall state of civilized existence, with all its freedoms, institutions, laws, knowledge and modernity. Address to the Nation
Let us together launch an appeal to our beloved nation—one that would renew itself across distance, direction and time—to stand up to the ambitious and to the renegades; to protect its capitals from those who would advocate tyranny or who would tie the destiny of nations to individuals; and to open wide the gates of freedom, democracy, pluralism and respect for human rights. Our own model is open to the whole nation. Let them come to our universities, our institutions, our schools and our newspapers. Let them support this proud national voice, for the sake of the entire nation, and not for our sake. Address to the Nation
Jordan seeks to play only one role, that of a model state. It is our aim to set an example for our Arab brethren, not one that they need follow but one that will inspire them to seek a higher, happier destiny within their own borders. We propose to devote, without ever losing sight of the ultimate goal of a united Arab nation, our full time and energy to the creation of a way of life that we hope in time all Arabs will achieve. We are supposed to be an underdeveloped country. But we are not underdeveloped in those attributes that will eventually make us great—pride, dignity, determination, courage, confidence, and the knowledge that nothing can be achieved without work. p. 99, Uneasy Lies the Head, 1962
Jordan aims at setting an example to the world of what a model democracy should be like. We try to base our lives and our work on all the previous heritage of Islam, by learning from experiences of other nations, and by keeping ever before us the symbol of freedom to which the people of Jordan are dedicated. p. 273, Uneasy Lies the Head, 1962 |
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