King Abdullah and Star Trek
by
Kim Petersen
Dissident Voice
March 13, 2003
Like
columnist Firas Al-Atraqchi I am also an avid viewer of Star Trek (1) although
I wouldn’t label myself a Trekkie. We share something in common with a
diminutive Middle Eastern ruler. King Abdullah of Jordan is also an
acknowledged fan of Star Trek. In fact the King is one up on Mr. Firas and I in
that he even had a cameo on Star Trek: Voyager in 1995. He played a medical
officer who had a brief dialogue with Ensign Kim.
Ostensibly the Star Trek
philosophy of originator Gene Roddenberry hasn’t had a profound effect on Mr.
Abdullah. He really has lost sight of the significance of the character Uhuru.
Freedom, huriya in Arabic, is rather limited in Jordan. Don’t expect in Jordan
to have the freedom to elect your own Head of State, Prime Minister, or Senator. Don’t expect freedom of the press. Don’t
expect the freedom to dissent. There are protests but only when the oligarchs
give their blessing.
In fact there are no Uhurus
in Jordan. Jordan is staunchly a patriarchy.
Unlike Roddenberry’s
peaceful future on Earth, King Abdullah, currently sandwiched between two
genocides, may soon find himself trapped between two wars.
After stating repeatedly
that no US forces would be allowed on its sand, Jordan through its Prime
Minister Ali Abu al-Rahgeb finally confessed that it had opened its air space
to the US and that American troops were in Jordan. American chequebook
diplomacy works again. Jordan, however, plays down the presence of US forces
and claims they are only there for defensive purposes. Fortunately Mr. Abdullah
doesn’t have to worry about his token parliament nixing any deal the way
Turkish democracy did. Jordan has openly taken sides.
King Abdullah hasn’t
forgotten the price Jordan was made to pay following the initial US-led
onslaught on Iraq in 1991. The populace was swept away by Palestinian sentiment
and Arab nationalism and Mr. Abdullah’s father King Hussein steered a neutral
course. For this he was openly scorned and punished by the US.
The war drums are beating
louder in Iraq. In the Occupied Territories chaos and violence reign. There is
the fear that the war criminal known as Israeli Prime Minister Sharon will
abuse the war in Iraq to ethnically cleanse the remaining Arabs. Jordan could
very well be deluged with refugees on both sides. This is at a time when its
own economy is under pressure from missing tourism revenues.
Mr. Abdullah has a split
constituency. A sizeable chunk of the populace is Palestinian. Mr. Abdullah
truly is between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Mr. Abdullah must be
keenly aware of events transpiring in his Kingdom. Moreover, despite what is
obviously, for the average Arab, tendentious support of Israel by the US,
Jordan relies on its relationship with the US.
In the most recent installment
of the Star Trek motion picture series, Nemesis, the theme was “peace.” US
President Bush despite ingenuous rhetoric to the contrary is pursuing the path
of war. In a further blow to any ideological pretence to the Roddenberry vision
that Mr. Abdullah might profess, he is seen as a potential beneficiary of the
war. It has been suggested that Abdullah might wind up with an expanded
Kingdom: a change imposed from outside.
Kim Petersen is an English teacher living
in China. Email: kotto2001@hotmail.com
References
(1) Firas Al-Atraqchi, “Iraq
and Gene Roddenberry,” YellowTimes.org, Tuesday, March 04, 2003: http://yellowtimes.org/article.php?sid=1117