SOAS NEWS

Hai Nassal, a demotic neighbourhood just east of downtown Amman is home to many Iraqi refugees. At first glance it seems like a normal neighbourhood. But poverty is hidden behind the facade of everyday life. Usual gestures seem to normalize a neighbourhood where poverty is, on the contrary, endemic.

Pauperism is hidden, inside houses, behind walls and away from the main roads. Ali Sahab, shows me where he lives: Three rooms shared between eight people. His wife, three sons, his elderly father and two friends. But still, Ali considers himself lucky, “In Najaf I used to be an electrician so I have some money away on which we can survive.”

Ali used to run his own business. Here in Jordan he is content with the occasional jobs he finds in the informal sector. His wife, Shada, is not a legal resident. She lives in terror of being discovered by the police and sent back to Iraq. “I want to go back to my country, but not now. I’m scared.”

Mukheimar Abu-Jamous, Jordan’s secretary general of interior Ministry, acknowledged in 2007 the influx of 750.000 Iraqi refugees. This is only an official estimate. Many claim the presence of at least one million refugees, if not more.U.N.H.C.R. estimates that more than 4.7 million Iraqis have fled their country since the war started. More than 2.7 million have been internally displaced and the rest have immigrated, mainly to neighbouring Jordan and Syria.

Ali and his family have applied for refugee status in the United States. The first step is to register with the U.N.H.C.R. But hopes are minimal. Priority is given to those who have worked for the United States and its allies. “Only 53.000 Iraqis are registered with us” Arafat Jamal, deputy representative of U.N.H.C.R., says and “to be resettled, registration with the U.N.H.C.R. is compelling.”

Saubrey, U.S. assistant secretary of state in charge of refugees, promised that 12.000 refugees would be granted asylum in the U.S. this year but officials say only 1.200 have been given asylum in contrast with the estimated 100.000 who have collaborated with U.S. forces. Even if 100.000 were to be be resettled in the U.S. the number would be minimal when you think it is the country indirectly responsible for the Diaspora of nearly five million people.

“Taking the figures in percentages, if the U.S. took the number of refugees Jordan did. that would add up to 24 million,” Andrea Swimburne-Jones, activist for World Vision, says with a look of despair on her face..

A 35 year old Iraqi woman, who prefers anonymity states, with passive desperation, that she has been living in Amman for nearly 4 years. She fled from Baghdad, her hometown, in 2005 and was able to come to Jordan thanks to political connections. “In Baghdad I used to be rich. I used to live in the centre, in a house with a garden.” Now, she lives in a small dank room on the first floor of a downfalling building. “The Jordanians respect us because we are their neighbours, but I try to be invisible.”

Like Dante’s Ignavi, not saved but not even condemned, Iraqi refugees, in Jordan as in Syria, live in a limbo between legality and illegality. Hosted but not granted full rights Iraqis are unable to work legally, buy houses and are not considered citizens. In the end, their situation is known but not acknowledged. The ones lucky enough to find a job are exploited.

“If a Jordanian maid gets 2 JD ($2.50)per hour an Iraqi one gets half a JD per hour accompanied by the threat of being reported to the authorities,” Andrea Swimburne-Jones continues.

“Jordan,” says Issam Zayed, project manager of U.N.H.C.R. funded program, “opened its arms widely, they have helped them in every possible way.” After Syria which host 1.000.000 refugees, Jordan is the second country for number of Iraqi refugees. The cost for the Jordanian government is around 1 billion against the 30 million dollars donated by the U.S. to all the hosting countries. Official estimates talk about 2 million Iraqi refugees.15 dollars pro capita.

Differently from Syria and Lebanon, states Arafat Jamal, the “Jordanian government has opened its doors.” The U.N.H.C.R. deputy representative acknowledge that since April 2007 “the government has moved. It has broken the ice.” Even if not officially, the Iraqi refugees are now considered slightly more than temporary guests.

Since January 2008, basic health care has been granted to all Iraqis and with the August agreement Jordan allows access to public schools. But more has to be done. Overcrowded schools foster feelings of uneasiness among many Jordanians and Syrians who accuse Iraqi refugees of their deteriorating conditions of life.

Iraqis are held responsible for the increase in average food prices, the price of oil along with rising rent prices and the lack of employment opportunities. Such accusations are easily rebutted in light of the official decreasing unemployment rate and the global food crisis that affects the majority of countries including Jordan.

A natural question arises on why the Jordanian government maintains Iraqi refugees in this legal limbo making them a burden for the country’s economy. In simple Keynesian economics prosperity is gained by incrementing government expenditure (creating jobs and undertaking public policies) and creating a “virtuous circle” of increased tax revenue and enhanced personal expenditure. Keynes wrote his General Theory in 1936 but the application of his principles could help rebut the IMF’s prediction of a half percent decrease in Jordan’s economic growth.

Much has been written on the similarities between the current economic crisis and the infamous one of September 1929.Simplistically, an economic crisis implies the forgetting of others, fostering a state of nature of all against all. During a crisis people, as nations seek their own interest, which in the short run is divergent from the one of the community or of a political union. Leaders of the major counties in south east Asia as in Europe have cried out a pledge for unity for over one year, the last being Obama at the G20 in London. Obama warned against protectionist behaviour and the risk of a repeat of the Great Depression.

The European Union is no different from the world system and its political and economic coherence rest on a firm response to the economic crisis. The difficulty of the European case rests on the fact that, Europe as we address it now, is not an homogeneous economic entity. It is the sum of many and d?fferentiated economic entities and to analyze the effects of the economic crisis on Europe is to analyze the effects of the economic crisis on one member at a time.The E.U.’s economic problems are almost as diverse as the number of its members, ranging from slumping exports in Germany and Eastern Europe, to anaemic consumer spending in France and to property bubbles in Britain , Ireland and Spain. To seek an aftermath scenario of the E.U. is, in primis, to deconstruct the idea of E.U. into its components. The most important partition has been between the core and the periphery countries. To seek an aftermath is to analyze the different drives within the E.U.

In the U.S. the economic and financial crisis was triggered by the subprime mortgages crisis. In the E.U. the pression of the underlying economic model can be said to have been caused by a subprime country crisis: The former Soviet Union members whose growth was bolstered by easy access to capital from core European countries, Austria in particular. As the former Soviet republics are sinking into recession, western banks are closing the flow of money that has sustained its export-led growth in an East Asian fashion.

The rushed enlargement of the European Union to its coeval status quo has been driven by an optimistic assuption of economic growth for the new proselytes of the European Union. The recent crisis has shown this is not the case. Results of the crisis have been visible throughout the whole Eastern Bloc. On the 27th of March Hungary’s Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsàny resigned over widespread unpopularity caused by the mismanagement of the economic crisis. In Latvia, prime minister Ivars Godmaris resigned amid popular upheaval, a series of clashes with the police and an IMF forecast of a 10% fall in GDP for the next year. For the periphery countries being part of the European Union implies a f?rst advantage: Brussels will ultimately not allow a total economic collapse within its borders. For instance,Hungary recently received a combined aid from the IMF and the E.U. and Germany lifted its veto over the ceiling it first posed on aid to Eastern Europe doubling it to $50bn.

The majority of the periphery countries are not part of the single currency having to prove an ability to converge with the economy of the core countries. As a consequence, the corporate sector was borrowing in Euros to invest in the local market to reduce cost of borrowing and relying on an assumed future adoption of the Euro. The sharp devaluation has made the level of debt almost unbearable for many corporates, exacerbating the problem with the banks and adding to the negative effects of the crisis. Depreciation of their currencies vis a vis the Euro has continued steadily for a year: the Hungarian Forint, for instance, is down 18% compared to last year at the same time. Countries such as Hungary, Denmark or Iceland in order to protect themselves from sharp declines in the real value of their currencies will consider strongly entering the Euro Zone and mantain both themselves within the European Union and the idea of European Union in existence.

Differently, countries part of the Euro Zone are disallowed to pursue independent economic strategies because of the ECB. The actions of the Irish govenment at the start of the crisis were not easily swallowed by Brussells. European commission officials indicated that the Irish government, which failed to consult it, could be forced to rescind their actions under EU competition rules. The Irish decision accompanied by a similar attempt by the Greek government could trigger a fragmentation of Europe’s cross-border banks.The problem is that every bank has a nationality and there is no willingness to engage in a concerted effort. Silvio Berlusconi’s attempt to found a joint European rescue fund failed in front of Berlin’s Veto. Germany has been predicted to contract at an annual rate of 8.4pc ?n the next year. The implications are obvious. Berlin is not going to rescue Ireland,Spain,Greece and Portugal as the collapse of their credit bubbles leads to rising defaults, or rescue Italy by accepting plans for E.U. union bonds should the debt markets take fright at the rocketing trajectory of Italy’s public debt.

Lastly, a country’s political stance is influenced by the votes backing the government. Economic policies mirror the short term content of the voters. Hence when the French government has to face a widespread unpopularity caused by the economic crisis it is hard for it to take into considerations decisions taken for a transnational union. The economic crisis, because of the difference consequences it fosters, nurtures antithetical desires for a broader European alignment. The core because of its own internal economic crisis does not want to support the bailing out of Eastern Europe. Differently, the periphery countries, unable to sustain with domestic capital the start of a new growth will favour a European response to the crisis.

A freezing London afternoon, one of those when you think you should not get out of bed. But outside London is moving, people from all over the country are gathering at Speakers’ Corner. It’s the last day of protest after a long week of marches during which Londoners have demonstrated throughout the city, from Marble Arch to the Israeli embassy. Saturday the 10th of January is the final day, 20,000 people (according to police estimates) gathered once more at Speakers’ Corner. A horizon of banners and flags covers the central forecourt of the world famous park. It’s impossible to count the number of slogans, the eye soon becomes dizzy: “Free Palestine”, “Stop the holocaust in Gaza”, and “Israel out of Gaza” are only a few examples of the hundreds of variations underpinning the concept behind it. The demonstrators are a beautifully heterogeneous group of people. Mothers with their children, young people, university students and senior citizens, all united in what seems to be a common call for peace driven by human empathy towards the unacceptable condition of the Palestinians.

The march proceeds peacefully through a frozen London, constantly accompanied by chants in support of a free Palestinian state, in support of a lasting peace and in support of an international boycott. From Hyde Park, through Bayswater Road, to Notting Hill Gate where the Israeli embassy lies, at the corner with Palace Green. The snow falling on the heads of the demonstrators did not fade the enthusiasm and the desire to make a statement against the current status quo in the Gaza strip.

As I march, I talk with Jamal, who prefers to keep his last name a secret. I ask him what gives him the impetus to come and protest; he answers with an irreverent grin, re-stating my question with an exclamation mark on the end of it. He seems to mean the answer is obvious and self- explanatory. But I want to know more than that, I ask him is it against Israel? In support of Hamas? In support of peace? If so, for a two state resolution? Against the war per se or just against the Israeli approach? Jamal quickly clarifies; he is here because “the Israeli methods are unacceptable, they are responding to fireworks with tanks and rockets”. I put forward a possible counter argument to his point, should the Israeli state remain passive in front of a military threat even if it is comparatively insignificant? Jamal continues “Israel is a war zone, you don’t put civilians in a war zone, Israel’s response is unacceptable”. But Jamal is a single participant in the multitude that is protesting. It is a heterogeneous group, both in semblance and in ideas.

There is not a single unifying motive of the protest, and sadly often some participants seem drawn in by uninformed populism. The young, many of them of Arab origin, have a more radical view; they think Israel is an ‘illegal’ state occupying a territory unlawfully. Hussam Hussein, originally from Palestine, says he feels as his own the sufferings of the people of Gaza. “I can’t stand watching the news, I can’t stand opening the newspaper, every time I feel an outburst of rage”, he continues “If I were in Palestine I would be a terrorist”. It is surely hard for Westerners to fully comprehend the feelings going through the mind of a young Arab, but behind the impetus of feelings there seems to lie little factual knowledge of the situation itself. When judging something so difficult we have to try and separate feelings, as passionate as they can be, from rationale and the realism of the causes of war. Angry and misguided youths like Hussam, because of the lack of a structural organisation within the protest, became the louder voice which subdued the majority of chants for peace. The lack of organisation favoured the radical view of the youth to take the upper hand. If the organisers of the protest had invited academics, members of parliament or an activist to give talks, the violence would probably not have been perpetrated.

The protest turned violent in front of the Israeli embassy. At our arrival, three young men were standing on top of the Victorian gate with Palestinian flags and banners, showing a photo of Hassan Nasrallah. What does the leader of Hezbollah have to do with the crisis in the Gaza strip? This seems to be the epitomy of confused anti- Israel sentiments.

The next moment, the lamp posts were being smashed, and an American flag was being burnt and the gate to the embassy torn down; the moment after the police squad came. Protesters were ever more in tension and the whole atmosphere swirled in a climax of suppressed violence. The crowd became a mob, the peaceful protesters soon left and shoes, sticks taken from banners, bottles and jars started flying towards the assembled police presence. Slogans against them started to rise, with one police officer being knocked out in the ensuing clash.

The next day, reports of pitched battles between police and protestors and the smashing and looting of shops on Kensington High Street appear in the press. Violence certainly gave a short term answer to many frustrated sentiments, but sadly the overall image of the protest just resembles the sentiments behind the conflict in Israel itself: a climaxing of what seem irrational actions, where sentiments, prevailing over reason, have lead to the impossibility of finding a common ground where discussion is possible. A march to demonstrate the awareness of the world to what is happening in Gaza and the will of people to find a solution seemed, unfortunately, to confirm the ever so distant gap between Palestians and Israelis and their respective supporters.

It seems that for the meantime we will be posting videos and articles to this webpage!!
If you wish to post an article please send it to snewseditor@googlemail.com