#arab monarchy

[the-funtime-autocrat]

King Hussein did not look at social and cultural programs in sophisticated development terms. He simply wanted to ensure that every person whose life he could touch had access to the best possible education, health services and jobs, so they, in turn, could contribute to the nation-building process.

Queen Noor, “Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life” (2003).

[the-funtime-autocrat]

To most Israelis, we were just "Arabs." They did not know how different we are from one another, or our cultural terms of reference, or what our concerns are. The Israeli equation was a simple one. The "good" Arabs were the ones who talked to Israel; the "bad Arabs were the ones who did not.

Queen Noor, “Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life” (2003).

[the-funtime-autocrat]

By far my greatest worries were the personnel repercussions of the (First Gulf) war. The feelings of despair and powerlessness Hussein had experienced when he realized that the leaders of the coalition against Iraq were not interested in attempting a peaceful resolution had grown more acute during the destruction of Iraq and the war's crippling aftermath. In his four decades as Jordan's monarch, Hussein had developed the tough skin necessary to withstand the criticism that inevitably followed his every move; over the years, he had been called both a lackey of the West and an Arab hard-liner. He had shrugged off these unfair portrayals as part of the expected fallout from holding to his convictions, but these days the affronts, large and small, hit him hard.

Queen Noor, “Leap of Faith: Memoirs of an Unexpected Life” (2003).