Jordan had possibly the most popular royal family imaginable. Pictures (in the background of the photo above) of the late King Hussein and his son, the new King Abdullah, are lovingly displayed in virtually every shop and building throughout the country. It's like the Shawn Cassidy / Farah Fawcett pin-ups from TigerBeat.
King Hussein reigned for over 47 years and he could do no wrong. He was a renowned playboy, with 4 hottie wives and hobbies that rival Richard Branson's today. The mystique runs deep: in 1958, he was flying his airforce jet to visit Europe when two Syrian fighters tried to force him to land; he handily evaded them.
King Hussein also weathered the fallout from the 1967 Six Day War, when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan. The country lost the vital tourism revenue from Jerusalem and the produce from the bread basket that was the West Bank. In return, they gained a whole slew of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinians then started a virtual civil war until Jordan managed to expel the real bad apples to Lebanon, where they became yet another part of that country's woes.
Hussein made peace with Israel in 1994 and normalized relations, much to the anger and dismay of many other Arab states. The king knew that Jordan had much to gain with peace. He was a brave visionary. In 1997, I distinctly remember his actions after a Jordanian soldier went nuts and gunned down 7 Israeli school kids. The king attended the Jewish funerals and visited other victims in an Israeli hospital. Unmatched diplomacy.
King Hussein reigned for over 47 years and he could do no wrong. He was a renowned playboy, with 4 hottie wives and hobbies that rival Richard Branson's today. The mystique runs deep: in 1958, he was flying his airforce jet to visit Europe when two Syrian fighters tried to force him to land; he handily evaded them.
King Hussein also weathered the fallout from the 1967 Six Day War, when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the West Bank from Jordan. The country lost the vital tourism revenue from Jerusalem and the produce from the bread basket that was the West Bank. In return, they gained a whole slew of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinians then started a virtual civil war until Jordan managed to expel the real bad apples to Lebanon, where they became yet another part of that country's woes.
Hussein made peace with Israel in 1994 and normalized relations, much to the anger and dismay of many other Arab states. The king knew that Jordan had much to gain with peace. He was a brave visionary. In 1997, I distinctly remember his actions after a Jordanian soldier went nuts and gunned down 7 Israeli school kids. The king attended the Jewish funerals and visited other victims in an Israeli hospital. Unmatched diplomacy.
He died in 1999 and left behind 11 kids: one was anointed his successor, much to the dismay of the other siblings (and other mothers) who missed out. The new king, Abdullah II, is a young statesman and also much adored. His father's picture, however, will still hang high all around this country.
