Tom A. Peter's Notebook:

A rough month for Jordan

When it comes to big news stories from the Middle East, Jordan is usually on the sidelines. This past month, however, has proved an exception but not for reasons that Jordanians would like.

Most recently, it was revealed that U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who killed 13 people and injured 30 others in a shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas, is Jordanian. Though he is U.S. born, his parents were Palestinian descendants from Jordan (more than half the people in Jordan are of Palestinian descent).

Last month, Hosam Smadi, a 19-year-old Jordanian, dominated the headlines after he was busted in an FBI sting for allegedly plotting to blow up a skyscraper in Dallas.

While these attacks are most likely unconnected, if Jordanians continue to make the news like this in the U.S., the kingdom may be forced to do some serious PR work to improve its image overseas.

Indonesian maid left at hospital weighing only 45 lbs.

Abuse of migrant workers has long been an issue in the Middle East, however, a rather extreme case has been making headlines in Jordan. The Indonesian Embassy here is filing a lawsuit against a doctor who dumped his maid in front of a medical facility.

The Indonesian maid has a severe case of tuberculosis and weighed less than 45 pounds, reports the Jordan Times. The doctor's family had kept her for 19 months without pay and the doctor's mother frequently abused the maid. Medical officials say it will take at least two months for the girl to recover.

The case illustrates how many countries that supply the Middle East with domestic helpers are taking bigger steps to protect their countrymen overseas. Earlier this year, Indonesia and the Philippines signed a memorandum of understanding that will regulate the recruitment of domestic helpers in Jordan.

While governments are working to take action to prevent these types of incidents, it will take much longer to eliminate the racsim that many Asian and South Asians face in the Middle East, as many Arabs tend to brand them all as the servant class. A Chinese-American friend of mine who lived in Beirut told me this story about an embarrassing gaffe in Lebanon that's recounted here by Guardian reporter Anna Louie Sussman. Whether or not it's true, it's eminently believable.

Although it is, perhaps, an urban myth, a friend once told me how the wife of an Asian ambassador had been asked to leave the swimming pool of an upscale beach club when other patrons complained to the management that "the help" was swimming in the pool. The fact that her social class and diplomatic status overrode the colour of her skin, causing embarrassment and profuse apologies, only makes it worse.

Abandon all hope ye who manifest here

I couldn't help but wonder if I'd provoked some bad karma this afternoon when I signed online to see that the story I'd written about being delayed in Iraq had just posted on the GlobalPost website. I'd written the story after my last trip to Iraq earlier this summer, and by chance the editors decided to post it a few days into my current trip here. As it turns out, I saw the story had been published on day four of my delay trying to make it up north for an embedded reporting trip.

While I've removed the concept of hope from my day-to-day life, unlike the seven-day delay I mentioned in the story, this time around I have a book to read. (Last time, I left my reading material at home by accident. A fatal error.) I've also spent some time online trying to make myself feel better by reading about other people's misfortunes on a website recommended to me by a soldier called www.fmylife.com. Perhaps if I get stuck out here for a few more days, my next online update will appear on that site.

Iran election: The view from Iraq

At no point in recent history has Iran held as much influence in Iraq as it does now. So not surprisingly, many Iraqis kept an eye on the recent elections. However, that's not to say the results left anyone here dumbstruck.

As the war unfolded over the last six years, many Iraqis have watched nervously as a Shiite-led government took control and opponents began to accuse it of having strong ties to their fellow Shiites in Iran.

Some Iraqis hoped that these recent elections might put a new leader at the helm of Iran who would pose less of a threat to their country. But as one construction worker told me, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection changes little for them. "So Iran will continue to influence our politics like before," he said. "But with the American army here and a bigger Iraqi army, at least we don't have to worry about getting attacked by their army."

See here for an overview of local reaction around the world.

Back to the beginning ...

A friend just passed along this article written in 1947, six months before the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 by Jordan's King Abdullah I (the current King Abdullah's great-grandfather). It gets to the core of many Jordanian attitudes towards Israel. If you've got a few minutes, give it a read. It's an interesting historical document that will elucidate the roots of many present day sentiments.

Here's an excerpt from the summary: 

[King Abdullah I] notes that Jews and Muslims enjoyed a long history of peaceful coexistence in the Middle East, and that Jews have historically suffered far more at the hands of Christian Europe. Pointing to the tragedy of the holocaust that Jews suffered during World War II, the monarch asks why America and Europe are refusing to accept more than a token handful of Jewish immigrants and refugees. It is unfair, he argues, to make Palestine, which is innocent of anti-Semitism, pay for the crimes of Europe.

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