Visit any government ministry, police station, supermarket or falafel stand in Jordan, and you'll find a token picture of the King and perhaps his family. According to one critic I know--an Ivy League graduate who works for a prominent pro-democracy activist--these icons are disgusting symbols of tyranny. That's one way of looking at it. But the fact is, a lot of Jordanians do deeply revere their king. Some Jordanians revere him so much that they paint their rear windshields with His Majesty.
I've started collecting photos of this uniquely Jordanian form of art. I will post them here until the local intelligence service shuts me down. Please note that I do
not endorse closing within a few feet of speeding cars in crazy Middle East traffic to snap photos with a cell phone.
In this first set of photos, we discover that our king can put a bullet between the eyes of your king. Watch out!
7 comments:
I saw a tour bus that had the king's marriage on the back window, his family on all the right side windows (I think), his military exploits on all the left side windows (I think), and the obligatory "ما شاء الله" on the windshield in large letters. I think the king must have miraculous powers to have prevented that vehicle from crashing, the visibility was so bad due to the stickers.
Dude... now I have to spend the rest of my time in Jordan hunting down that bus for a photo. That sets a new standard for awesomeness.
It was someplace in the north, maybe near Umm Qais or the castle south of Umm Qais. I can't remember the name.
Loved the post. My fiancee and I spent two years in Jordan as Peace Corps volunteers and we too were treated to a number of great posters of the King. They always reminded me of a Barbie doll collection: there was Soldier Abdullah, Family Man Abdullah, Traditional Arab Dress Abdullah, Sports Fan Abdullah, etc. My fiancee once saw (on the approach to Amman's southern bus station, coming from Karak) a poster which juxtaposed the king on one side and a hawk on the other. The best part was, the same beret the king was wearing in the image had been photoshopped to sit atop the hawk's head as well. Ahh, Jordan. Good times.
Neal, thanks for the comment, that made my day. My wife was in the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan before we got married. When were you in Jordan?
Ha! I saw a similar Hyundai van with 'King with gun' photo art.
http://twitpic.com/1piyh3
This one was in downtown Amman at the Hussainy mosque.
Thanks, I'm glad there's more folks out there who love a good photo of the royal Jordanian family. We even brought one home with us, depicting King Hussein firing an AK-47 while Saddam Hussein looks on approvingly. We were there 2007-09 and have since resettled in DC (I'm working on my MA at SAIS). My fiancee was stationed in a small town outside Karak while I was up in a village b/t Jerash and Ajloun; we both taught English in local schools.
I only recently discovered your blog but I've enjoyed it very much; keep up the good work!
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