Regardless of the reasons why certain groups are living in Jordan the main point is there are at least four primary groups that live within Jordan boundaries: The Bedouin, Jordanians, Iraqi Guests, and Palestinian Refugees. These four groups each have their own cultures. These four groups also have beliefs, misconceptions, and biases against each other.
One thing I noticed about my discussions with Jordanians is their crisis of identity. Jordan has a population of Bedouins, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Iraqis. In every conversation the subject of nationality came up. I heard:
- “I’m one hundred percent Jordanian”
- “I’m Jordanian but my parents are Palestinian”
- “I’m Palestinian”
- “I’m Bedouins and I don’t care about the king or any of them I just care about my people and my land”
- “I’m Iraqi and want to go home.”
- “I’m not Bedouin.”
The one thing I walked away from with these talks is Jordan is facing a crisis. Every person who I spoke to in regards to their nationality or lineage had comments and beliefs about the other groups in their society. Some of them were stereotypes, some were misconceptions, and others were statements based on limited truth. However these misconceptions and stereotypes mixed with anger and discontent can create a hostile environment for Jordan, particularly with a growing unemployment rate and limitation to social resources. Jordan needs to bridge a gap and create a civil society encompassing all of these communities.
Benedict Anderson refers to the concept of a nation and nationality in his article Imagined Communities. Anderson states how nations are imagined communities. These imagined communities can be created or destroyed. To create and maintain a nation there needs to be a common value, history, language, or religion.
In order to create a civil society to create a sustainable infrastructure one must create a common identity. This identity can be created through nationality, religion, or common values. Jordan is doing a lot of work trying to work on their infrastructure. However, if they don’t address their identity crisis they may face a total crumble and disentrancement of their society. The inability to solve the Palestinian Refugee and Iraqi Guest situation will only hinder the success of Jordan. If there is no end in sight Jordan must begin evaluating creating a civil society with these societies involved.
While visiting Gregera we learned about a settling project involving the Bedouins. The Bedouins had houses built by the Jordanian Government. However, the project did not approach the societal aspect of the Bedouins. Bedouins feel connected with their land and historically are roamers. Therefore the houses are often empty while the family’s animals can often be found inside the house. What also is important is the respect and acceptance of the Bedouin culture. For instance, the Bedouin schools are employed by teachers that are assigned to the communities. Often, these teachers have no knowledge of the Bedouin society or culture. Therefore, the teachers often seek to get placement elsewhere. This is detrimental to the Bedouin society for several reasons, first the education curriculum gets upset with constant change in teachers, second the Bedouin society can easily feel disempowered due to the fact that their community is considered a bad place to work and fellow Jordanians have no desire to work with them.
Jordanians face a complex of their own. First, many of them face high unemployment. Particularly the younger generation. They also face rising college costs and living costs. Jordanians have limited access to organizations that will provide these services to Jordanians. However, Iraqi guests, Palestinians, and Bedouin societies have INGos and NGOs dedicated to working to get services to those portions of the society. This can create a tremulous environment and even possible violent environment depending on how angry the societies become.
Iraqi and Palestinian refugees are groups of people who have limited ability to participate in Jordanian culture. Many Palestinians have the ability to work however sometimes cannot have traveling papers. However, many Iraqi guests are unable to work and become completely dependent on international foreign aid and the State of Jordan to cover their living expenses and needs.
Jordan is one of the largest hosts of refugees and guests within the Middle East. The percentage of refugees and guests is outgrowing Jordanians. This is causing discourse within Jordan. There is a large amount of unemployed Jordanians who are unable to receive benefits from the government of Jordan. However, refugees and guests are able to receive services from UNRWA and UNHCR as well as other NGOs, INGOs and IGOs who wish to send money to the refugee situation. These groups UNRWA, UNHCR, NGOS, and INGOS AND IGOS need to target their aid programs in a non-confrontational way. They have targeted communities with high refugee and guest populations that also have a high poverty rate. They create a blanket program to cover all those in their target areas and therefore help to prevent dismay and distrust among the societies. There is also another layer being created with this method of outreach. It is creating a central strand among the societies. All of the members of a community will come to a community center to receive whatever services are being provided it will allow for them to mingle and create bonds. This is the beginnings of creating a united civil society and building Jordan’s infrastructure. However, if it is not handled correctly it can also drive these societies farther apart.
Photo Credits: Sylvia Chung
Nicole Adam-IPS Jordan Summer 2010
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