By Amy Hybels

AMMAN - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama told reporters on Tuesday that he was honoured to be in Jordan, which he described as “an invaluable ally and a partner of the United States”.

He also said he is looking forward to discussing opportunities to deepen cooperation on a full range of security and economic challenges in the region.

However, most of the questions he fielded from US and British journalists on Tuesday pertained to his visits to Iraq and Afghanistan.

Not everyone was satisfied with the amount of time devoted to the Israeli-Palestinian issue during yesterday’s press briefing at the Amman Citadel.

Saad Silawi, chief correspondent for Al Arabiya TV who was one of only two Arab journalists called on during the press conference.

Silawi said he had expected to hear something “stronger” about the Palestinian question.

Obama explained to reporters the reason he had not focused on the issue was because of his plans to visit Israel and the West Bank the following day.

“It is my firm belief that it is in the interest of both the Israeli people and the Palestinians to arrive at a peaceful settlement,” he said.

Obama’s briefing at the Citadel, an ancient fortification overlooking east Amman, was not open to the public.

However, Jordanian in east and west Amman did not hesitate to express their opinions about the presidential hopeful’s visit.

“We love people, American people,” explained Rasmieh Refaie, “but we don’t love their presidents.”

The 55-year-old Jordanian, who was shopping in downtown Amman on Monday, admitted she doesn’t know much about Barack Obama. However, she said what she has heard concerns her.

“From the beginning he wants Jerusalem to be, you know, for Israel. He wants everything for Israel, but he doesn’t want anything for Arabs,” Refaie said.

In a speech last month, Obama told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee “Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided.”

Obama later told CNN that he had used “poor phrasing in the speech” and said “we immediately tried to correct the interpretation that was given.”

Speeches aside, Refaie’s 22-year-old daughter Reem said she’s not buying the Obama campaign slogan “Change we can believe in”.

“I don’t think that there is hope for making a good… change.”

Across town at an upscale coffee shop in Abdoun, 33-year-old Jamal Sayyed and Feras Awadi argued that the Obama campaign’s slogan of “change works” is catching on in Jordan.

“People are excited because they think of Barack Obama as an element of change,” said Sayyed, “and they’re eager to see some change in the American foreign policy.”

Awadi says he’s encouraged by Obama’s willingness to “explore the other side of the world”. He also supported Obama’s commitment to a phased redeployment of combat troops from Iraq.

Jacqueline Taylor Basker, an expat from New York, says Obama’s stance on Iraq won her support; so much so that she formed a group in Jordan called “American Expats in Jordan for Obama”.

Basker says the goal of her group is to “try to bring information to the Jordanian Americans so they can become voters in the election”.

She is also reaching out to the American expat community by holding monthly meetings to keep them informed of the latest news from the campaign trail.

Obama’s campaign travels to Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday, where no doubt every statement Obama makes will be closely scrutinised back in Jordan by those who share a huge interest in the fate of their Palestinian neighbours.