I am not surprised at statements like this since @ForeignPolicy it self reports that: "Nearly 25 percent of Americans don't know that the United States declared its independence from Great Britain, according to a 2011 Marist poll" and also reports: "88 percent of young Americans couldn't find Afghanistan on a map, 75 percent couldn't locate Iran or Israel, and 63 percent couldn't identify Iraq, according to a 2006 Roper Public Affairs/National Geographic Society poll". So then perhaps he was playing to the ears of the a/m.
HM The king did not dissolve parliament because of the Oct 5th demonstration by the MB, nor did he appoint another PM for that reason, but I am sure the writer knows, the Jordanian constitution (amended last year for this reason) demands that. New elections were on the cards: talked about day and night, for more than a year. A new law must be enacted, followed by early elections. Dissolution of parliament must be done on recommendation from the Prime Minister. The PM who recommends dissolving parliament to HM the King must resign within a week from the dissolution. The new PM (current now) will hold the elections and once a new parliament sits; he must resign paving the way for a PM from inside parliament hopefully to stay 4 years. The MB did not boycott after the Oct 5th demos. It did that long time before, even at the time of the former PM Khasawneh who seemed to offer them concessions beyond their dreams.
Anyway, there is also the continued talk about the "Beduins" and the "City dwellers", which reminds me of the narrative of the Orientalists of past (the inhabitants of Jordan are Palestinians and Beduins!!!), and surprisingly enough he did not see any of the latter when he strolled the streets near the Intercon. Hotel.
The MB could not entice many Palestinians into their demos. The elections will go on without them, voter registration was nearly 70% (close to the US presidential percentage), a lot of work has to be done on the stability of the economy and the budget deficit. A solution must be found for the soaring cost of energy...and the national debt. Balanced reporting should not be made on impressions, even for a known writer with connections to the MIT center for International Studies, the New York review and FP.
