It is said that the most important lesson we learn from history is that man does not learn from the lessons of history, and it seems that the lesson being repeatedly posed since the establishment of the modern Jordanian state and demanded to be discussed multiple times is the systematic media attack on the essence of the Jordanian state and targeting its existence. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, countries and regimes devoted their media and cultural institutions to foster a discourse of hatred against the Kingdom. The discourse carried terms of insult, belittlement, and condemnation of every Jordanian value. They dedicated radio stations and newspaper columns to analyses of the Jordanian model’s failure, and they set a fictional countdown to the fall of the Jordanian state and its Hashemite leadership. Time turned, and everyone else fell while Jordan remained.
We are not revealing a secret when we talk about a bitter feeling experienced by every passionate Jordanian during the current period of war due to the amount of hatred being broadcast through prestigious media sites and social media platforms, attacking, promoting rumors, and targeting state institutions, diminishing the role of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan internationally. A significant and systematic media effort was detected, involving the alarming involvement of some citizens contributing to it not because they believe in it—God forbid—or because they want to promote it to insult their country, but rather through the door of wanting to be witty and create humorous social content. Unfortunately, our brethren who were dragged along with good intentions in this path of promoting rumors did not realize the other dimensions of the danger of what was being published. This group did not understand that this content would become a weapon in the hands of enemies of the state and chaos traders and would turn what they publish for laughs into poisonous daggers stabbing the back of the Jordanian army, which faces the enemy and leaves its back to its people, not expecting to be struck from within.
Here, I express my disappointment with our official media institutions, which did not elevate the public's awareness to the seriousness of the situation. Today's wars are no longer just about missiles, tanks, and bullets; the importance of other elements such as words, mobilization, and trust has evolved to where a word equals a convoy and a battalion, through which armies and states fall, and we can see lessons from the experience of the Arab Spring and the chaos and bloodshed it left in many countries.
We were supposed to work on building social awareness and not let it be shaped by specific gangs, nor should we allow our children to believe that chaos and wars are an electronic game where you can simply restart in case of death, and to educate their awareness about the challenging, diligent institutional work and the tremendous effort our noble Arab army and security institutions put in providing every moment of security.
Every day since its existence, Jordan has lost numerous opportunities for development and progress, not due to its own failures but due to the geographical circumstances of our fate to be born in this region. However, with the capability of its sons and its wise Hashemite leadership, we have turned this geographical dilemma into a beacon of science and an island of security amid a turbulent sea, and we still vow to protect it and uphold the trust of our fathers and forefathers.
As we pointed out in the introduction, for more than a century since the establishment, the same gangs have been betting on the fall of Jordan, and history proves them wrong every time, informing the ignorant to learn to read because Jordan was born to remain. We believe in our army, our security devices, in the knights of truth, and we believe in the sons of our nation and in the wise leadership that has navigated the sea in the toughest conditions and always led the nation's ship to the shores of safety.
