Giving due thanks

Jordanians adore political analysis. Some of them are so smart they can build a logical — or metalogical — pyramid on the head of a pin.

We, Jordanians, are not to blame. We have always been victimised by the upheavals in the MENA (or better WANA, i.e., West Asia North Africa) region. This exogeneity is both ambiguous and beyond our control.

We feel the impact of the gustoes upsetting our assets won the hard way and of the day by day stabilised life, and we begin to seek answers.

With little information, we say as a classical English poet would say: “Thar she blows.”

Such a description aptly depicts our lives. When we run out of explanations, we blame the government and the Parliament.

Why do they accept refugees when we suffer from employment?

Why are we helping Syrians when we have a mounting budget deficit?

Why cannot we give priority to our poor?

However, had the government addressed such questions with the proper policies, the blame would have shifted to the other side of the argument.

Why are we not opening our borders to our uprooted Syrian brothers? A meal which can feed two can feed three, and so on.

Jumping on the two horns of the argument is part of the contradictory feelings we Jordanians harbour as a result of our difficult economic conditions.

His Majesty King Abdullah has been travelling the globe to ensure that the horns of the bull do not puncture our efforts. He is the matador calming the raging beast.

He succeeded to secure more aid from the United States. Both Congress and administration are in full agreement that Jordan deserves and has earned that extra cash.

The King’s recent visit to the EU seat, Brussels, and his meeting with top EU officials there produced encouraging results: more aid, more soft loans and relaxing of terms of origin for a period of 10 years.

The last item allows Jordan to attract more investment from Europe and from countries seeking to increase their exports from Jordan to the EU.

The help Jordan receives can go a long way to enhance its economic competitiveness and promote its exports.

We have a huge deficit with Europe. Exports to Europe have been handicapped by the unparallelled stiff requirement of 65 per cent added value. The relaxation of this percentage will cushion our export capabilities.

Even with this good news, some Jordanians are asking why this generosity. They think that Western countries are too clever to give money for nothing.

Yes, this help is for something. We are shouldering a huge responsibility that threatens Europe’s current governments through the emerging ultra-right parties opposed to immigration of refugees.

Whenever these parties emerge, Europe’s stability and order are put to the test.

We, Jordanians, should thank His Majesty and all the donors.

The writer, a former Royal Court chief and deputy prime minister, is a member of Senate. He contributed this article to The Jordan Times.