Caught between Bush and Bin Laden

Palestinians have strong support in Jordan

By Kate Clark BBC correspondent in Amman

I met Tujan Faisal in her home in Jordanian capital, Amman.

She is a former MP from the days when Jordan had a parliament - an outspoken woman who is an old campaigner against fundamentalism.

Bush's "war on terror" is seen by many as a war on Islam

She spent years living under a death threat after Islamists accused her of blasphemy.

But even she said she would support Bin Laden over George Bush.

"What are we to do," she said, "when Bush says you are either with us in the fight against terrorism or you are against us - and then he calls the Palestinians terrorists?

"What are we supposed to do?"

From Jordan, it feels like the world is polarising, a chasm has opened up, engineered by men on both sides who see this conflict as existential - a clash of civilisations.

Even the natural middle-grounders - liberal Muslims like Tujan Faisal and Arab Christians - are finding it difficult to do anything but try desperately to cling onto one side or the other as a void opens up under their feet.

Storm clouds

Despite the denials of George Bush and Tony Blair, plenty of people here think the war on terror is actually a war on Islam.

There is some support for Bin Laden in Jordan

It is 13 years since I was last in Jordan.

I was living in the West Bank at the time.

Then as now there was a Palestinian uprising raging.

Coming to Jordan always felt like entering a safe haven - no pitched battles, no curfews, no road blocks.

This time there are also storm clouds gathering over Iraq, Jordan's neighbour to the east.

Every time I ask what people think of a war on Iraq, they answer with angry words about Israel.

Betrayal, double standards, hypocrisy - these were the accusations which keep coming up.

A promise betrayed

Anger over American backing for Israel has spilled over into support for Saddam Hussein and a refusal - often - to admit that he has committed gross human rights abuses.

There is also some support for Osama Bin Laden.

Bizarrely, the same person might say it had been good to see America getting a taste of its own medicine - and then deny, in the same breath, that Osama could possibly have been behind the 11 September attacks.

One MP pointed out how the West once supported Saddam Hussein

Underlying the anger is the sense of a promise betrayed.

Another former MP, the Islamist, Leith Shbeilat, described how he had studied in the United States as a young man.

Now in his 50s, he said it had come as a terrible shock to realise he had been tricked.

"We feel like we have lost our north," he told me, "it's like we've lost our compass.

"Washington says it wants democracy and then uses the language of human rights to attack Iraq, but it's lying," he said.

"It supports dictators in the third world - even Saddam when he was pro-West."

Fear or fervour?

Only a few people in Jordan refused to buy into the football match-style pressure to support one side or the other in the war on terror.

"Leaders on both sides sound the same to me," one analyst told me - "the same confrontational rhetoric, the same racist stereotyping.

King Abdullah is going to Saudi Arabia for talks about Iraq

"What's the difference between Osama calling the Americans crusaders and fundamentalist Christian leaders in the States linking the Prophet with terrorism?

And what do Iraqis themselves think?

The biggest refugee community in Jordan are the Palestinians - who form well over half the population and have lived here for decades.

But there are now also 300,000 Iraqi refugees.

"I'd give my eyes for Saddam," one old woman told me.

It was a standard piece of Arabic rhetoric and sounded like it had been learned by rote.

But her eyes were blue and shining - genuine fervour? Or had fear trained her to look zealous when speaking about Saddam?

It is difficult to know what Iraqis really think - the Baghdad regime has a long reach.

Bewilderment

It is a brave man who speaks in favour of war given the prevailing public opinion in Jordan.

But one young man, who had been a teacher in Iraq, quietly discussed with me whether war could actually solve his country's problems.

Tony Blair: Just a "tail wagging for Bush"?

Would it really put an end to Iraq's isolation, the crushing sanctions, the predatory regime?

Could the US really be trusted? He didn't think so.

People in Jordan are as generous and open as I remembered them.

There is a deep level of anger here, but even now, it is nuanced.

There is no blanket condemnation of the West or of westerners.

"We're angry with the American Government," people kept saying, "not with the American people."

People appreciated the less belligerent stands of Germany and France.

And there was just plain bewilderment with Britain.

"What on earth is your prime minister doing?" I was asked many times. "He's just a tail wagging for Bush."