King Hussein and JFK

Recently, a major New York newspaper has been publishing a number of full-page ads that attempt to prove, with simplistic arguments printed in large, easy-to-read type, that the country of Jordan is really Palestine. We have already given our views on this canard (see The Washington Report of September 6, 1982), but would like to shoot down one of the out-of-context quotations that the advertisers seem to specialize in.

In one of the ads, they quote Jordan's King Hussein as having said in 1981 that "Jordan is Palestine and Palestine is Jordan"—as though this were proof-positive that the statement is literally true. There is no doubt that the King has said this and on more than one occasion. But what the advertisers either don't know or preferred not to mention was that he was using a very common way, in the Arab language and culture, of expressing solidarity for another's cause. Such a statement is meant to be figurative, not literal, and is the equivalent of saying "We are with you!" Those Americans who recall the day that President Kennedy stood in front of the Berlin Wall and said "Ich bin ein Berliner!" (I am a Berliner) should be able to understand this. It was pretty clear to everyone at the time that Mr. Kennedy was just expressing solidarity with the residents of West Berlin. Certainly, no one imagined that he was claiming to be a citizen of Germany—any more than Hussein is claiming to be king of a country called Palestine.