#4 Not true, bigjim-ky. They care greatly that the Palestinians provide a constant running sore useful for attacking Israel.
But on a personal note? You're right.
I had occasion to talk with several Jordanians recently. One is an authority on Arabic poetry who is totally invested in a fantasized history in which only brutal suppression by the Brits disrupted Arabs' 1000 year+ leadership in science and technology.
The other is a professor of engineering whose family were among those the Al-Sauds expelled to the Hashemite kingdom. Being someone who deals daily with stubborn facts about materials and electrical currents and such, he is pretty clear-eyed about political issues as well. No romanticism re: the Palestinians in Jordan or elsewhere.
To his credit, the latter guy is working to educate Jordanian university students into a mindset that habitually start with facts as the basis for beliefs. He recognizes the cultural challenge in doing that but is chipping away when/as he can. |