Jordanians on Terrorism, al Qaeda and the US

World Public Opinion.org recently published a new study on the Public Opinion in the Islamic World on Terrorism, al Qaeda, and US Policies. The study build on different polls conducted in various Muslim countries in 2006, 2007 and 2008, including some in Jordan. The full study can be downloaded here. For a description of the methodology behind the study see this. 

Jordan is not included in all of the themes covered by the study, but some interesting findings stands out:

• While a large majority of Jordanians rejects attacks on civilians in the US (68%) and US civilians working in Islamic countries (64%) 23% respective 26% approve or have mixed feelings about attacks on US civilians.
• 80% of Jordanians polled consider weakening and dividing the Islamic world is a US policy goal. 79% consider spreading Christianity in the Middle East as a US policy goal and 87% consider maintaining control over oil as a US policy goal. 84% consider expanding the borders of Israel as a US goal, while 28% consider the creation of a Palestinian state a US policy goal.
• 6% consider the US supporting democracy in Muslim countries regardless of the elected government cooperation with the US. 41% consider the US opposes democracy in Muslim countries. And 40% says US supports democracy only if the government is cooperative with the US.
• Regarding Bin Laden 20% of Jordanians polled have negative feelings towards him, while 27% have positive and an equal 27% have mixed feelings about him. 11% – the lowest among Arab countries – believes al Qaeda was behind the 9/11 attack while 17% thinks the US government and 31% Israel – the highest percentage – was the perpetrators behind 9/11.
• According to the poll 26% rejects Islamist party participation in elections because their ultimate goals are not consistent with democracy while only 50% finds that all people including Islamist groups should have the right to establish political parties and run for election.
• And finally – and interestingly – 60% of Jordanians are in favour of US military aid to Jordan and KSA – while 22% opposes such aid.

What continues to strike me as odd is the relative support of OBL in Jordan knowing that Jordan have been a very hard hit victim of al Qaeda in the past.

Cartoons

This week has been difficult at the Danish embassy. It is not every day that you have 300 people in the street with protest signs and ten TV-cameras pointed at your embassy. On the other hand the demonstration on Monday was a very peaceful and calm event – just as the organizers from IAF had promised. And a peaceful and lawful demonstration is a perfectly legitimate way of using the freedom of expression.

At the conclusion of the demonstration I invited the Secretary General of the IAF and the IAF spokesperson to my office, where they handed me a letter to the Danish Prime Minister. The meeting took place in a friendly atmosphere and the IAF used the occasion to explain the anger of Muslims with the reprinting of the cartoon. I had the opportunity to try to correct some of the misunderstandings that apparently are widespread.

First of all, I think it is very important to state clearly that there is no specific or general intention to harm or disturb Muslim feelings or the feelings of other religious communities for that matter. This is and has always been the position of the Danish government.

Secondly, the reason for the republication of the cartoon – as stated by most of the editors-in-chief – was to document a murder plot that had been planned by three persons. Let us not forget that – the events all started out with the successful intervention from Danish police and intelligence in foiling a planned terrorist assassination of the illustrator. So, it was not about causing intended harm to the Muslim population, but about how to document a news story.

Thirdly, it is crucial to understand that the government – and that goes not only for Denmark but for many other countries – has neither means nor political mandate to interfere in the decisions of the free press. That is why it is free. But the press is also responsible and accountable within the law – and very often the editors have to appear before the court to defend their writings – mostly about individual people. Sometimes they win – sometimes they lose their case.

Fourthly, organizations representing parts of Danish Muslim population reacted with a statement saying that 1) they distance themselves from the alleged murder plot, 2) the press is free to choose what to print and that the opponents of the cartoons are free to disagree with the printing, and 3) that in light of the current situation they did not understand the purpose of reprinting the cartoon. The statement concluded by stressing their readiness for dialogue and in fighting radicalisation.

Getting back to the meeting with IAF the main conclusion was that dialogue and mutual respect is the only way to wipe out misunderstandings like this one. This has also been the generel conclusion when talking to other Jordanian national figures during the last week.

And dialogue is actually one of the main reasons behind establishing an Embassy in Jordan. The Embassy will be a partner in dialogue – especially when focusing on enhancing mutual understanding and avoiding new misunderstandings and misconceptions to spread. Many of our projects in Jordan and the region are exactly about this. We want to continue on that track. Our relations with the Arab world have been long lasting and substantial. Just to mention a few examples of what we are doing, the Danish support for the Palestinians is solid and substantial. In Paris last year, Denmark pledged more than 110 mio. USD for the PA. For the refugees from and in Iraq we allocate more than 20 mio. USD a year. Another important aspect is our continued political support in solving many of the most important regional questions.

It seems that it is once again necessary to refocus on issues that unite us instead of highlighting divisive events.