The British airliner's trip was near its end when the captain announced we would be landing in Jordan in 20 minutes. I looked out the window and I was surprised to see a long sandy beach that ran along a near-straight line, and told myself worriedly: “We have been hijacked." But the flight attendant's smiling face reassured me, and I realized we were flying over occupied Palestine (Israel). This is one of the ‘kindnesses' that the Syrian regime has bestowed on us; realizing we are nostalgic to our homeland, it committed acts that made international flights cautious about flying in Syrian airspace. A month earlier, I was on a flight from Beirut to the Gulf. The plane flew south all the way to Egypt, crossed the Red Sea and then flew over the desert in Saudi Arabia until we finally landed in Dubai. That flight's plan was another “achievement" of the Syrian regime, which no one appreciates except Hezbollah. How much you have changed, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, since 2006. I was in Jordan to take part in the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa at the Dead Sea, as usual every year. I disembarked at a glitzy new building at the airport in Amman, which stands apart from every other airport because it has stalls that sell falafel and shawarma. Later, I told the receptionist at the Mövenpick hotel that I did not want a room overlooking the Dead Sea, but the other side in Jordan, as looking at the desert is better than looking at the occupied land. She told me she has worked at the hotel for years, and this was the first time a guest told her he did not want to see the Dead Sea. Well I want to see it....but only when it's liberated. The theme of this year's conference was “Advancing Conditions for Growth and Resilience." King Abdullah II dedicated most of his opening speech to the Jordanian and regional economy, and spoke about the need to create millions of new jobs. He also promised to work relentlessly to build a better future for his country, while safeguarding security and stability. Queen Rania entered the crowded hall afterwards with Crown Prince Hussein. With her permanent smile, she greeted the guests in the first row. I was sitting behind friends Amr Moussa and Ibrahim Dabdoub, and promised to protect their backs, but they said that they did not need my protection. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas followed the king with an address at the opening session, and invited the audience to visit Palestine and start joint ventures with local businesspeople. He complained about the stalled peace process, and how Israel evades its peace commitments and plays for time. He also said that he wants Palestinian reconciliation to lead to an interim government that would go on to hold legislative and presidential elections. I embraced Abbas outside as he was leaving, but did not find any words to say to him other than “God help you." The opening session was followed by another on the main theme of the conference, and brought together Jordan's Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, Ibrahim Dabdoub, and others. Since my economic knowledge is limited, all I can say is that from what I understood from the discussions and the figures of the prime minister, the situation is difficult, but also promising. There was a session on US foreign policy, which I decided not to attend. Indeed, the whole subject can be summed up in one word: Failure. I then tried to attend a session on “Islamism and Good Governance," but the first speaker was an advisor to the Egyptian president who said something to the effect of that the new regime is opening factories that had been shut down. I could not bear listening to that so I left. Better than that was a session on foreign policy in the region, attended by Nabil Elaraby, Secretary General of the Arab League, and Amr Moussa, former Secretary General of the Arab League, and another session on the future of Syria, which was as useful as the details were painful. Between the sessions, I was pleased to see Sheikha Lubna Bint Khalid Al Qasimi, Minister of Development and International Cooperation in the United Arab Emirates, and from al-Masri family, Munib, Sabih, and Taher. Munib has carried the Palestinian cause on his shoulders ever since I met him, and I heard from him new ideas that are worth returning to in a special column soon. Sabih is a successful businessman by all standards, but the best thing about his work is that he has been able to combine in his investments profitability and patriotism, as all his projects have a national background, including most recently a huge project in Aqaba worth hundreds of millions of dollars that will be completed soon. I also asked Taher about the political and economic situation, and I heard from him some credible information. Arab politics are devoid of positive developments these days, but I found that there is a new generation of young men and women that combines qualifications with national commitment, and I am confident that it will achieve what previous generations had failed to accomplish. No generation can be worse than the previous three generations. [email protected]
