The dream of Millions...

They say the people of the Middle East especially Arabs are emotional...

They trust quickly, they think whoever laughs to them is a friend...

This is how they do business, this is how they think in politics...

I dont know if that is true...

But what I am convinced about it that we do not know anything about being rational...

And our reactions to major events are completely irrational...but not emotional...

Hassan Hijazi, a Palestinian living in Syria was able to cross the border from Syria to Israel...

He was able to go sightseeing to Jaffa or Yaffa (call it whatever you want)...

All the way from the Golan Heights to Jaffa/Yaffa...

Go check your maps to see how far that is...

and guess what?

No reaction whatsoever from the Arabs...

Do you think someone raised the question of how all that happened?

Do you think someone asked for clarifications?

So for years, we have been living in  a great fear that if we cross the borders we will be doomed...

And once it happened...the dream of millions....

If not millions... at least my dream...

The response or reaction was not...rational...

when I wrote my article about Armenians in Jerusalem and I had a whole section about my initiative to bring in People from Beirut to Jerusalem just to fulfill their religious duties...people went crazy...

And the article is not out yet...

People get crazy about something written on paper...but they react so indifferent to something that has actually happened...

So, now I say it out loud...

If the Palestinian State is recognized by the UN in September...

I will travel to Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas...

Back from Amman

Saturday evening, the plane to Amman took off...

The plane was full...my seat was comfortable...and I had 45 minutes to relax and take a nap before the big event on Sunday...

The plane landed... Haitham was waiting for me as usual...

On our way to the hotel...we saw a dozen of protesters chanting in favor of the Syrian people..."One, one, one...the Syrian people is one"...they were Syrians living in Jordan protesting in front of the Syrian embassy...

We passed by...the people of the Middle East are changing...

But these same people should stay strong and should remind themselves that they are strong and they toppled regimes...

They should not allow parasites from stealing their dreams and achivements...

I arrived to the hotel...we had a business dinner...

My Palestinian friend was not very enthusiastic about the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and he looked at me with amazment when I declared that I supported Salam Fayyad...

But who cares what I think...it is the people...They decide...

Sunday morning, 9 am...I am anxious...

9:30 am... the conference room is full of MPs, CSO and media...I am excited...

2:00... the conference is over with huge success...

4:00...I am in my room...watching TV...nostalgic...

8:30 pm...the plane takes off to Beirut...

Once again I leave Amman with that same feeling of hope and deception...

However, I left Amman knowing that Amman is fine...Amman is safe, secure and strong able to overcome all troubles...

And, I know that I will be back to Amman again with the same hope...

Amman is dear to me

Amman might not be the most beautiful place on earth...or the most interesting place on earth...or the most exciting place on earth...

But for me it is a special place...

Could it be that in my previous life, I had been living there?

Maybe...

I always have positive feelings when I am headed to Amman or to Jordan in general...

I always get this feeling that something extraordinary will happen to me while I am there...

I always feel as if I am going to meet a person that I havent seen for so long...

It puts me in a mood of joy, excitement and at the same time I feel anxious...

And every time, I leave...with a feeling that I lost something in Jordan...something precious...

But I always know that I will be back to Amman, with the same hope...

I have not forgotten about Amman,

I was there for a day, I had meetings all day and then off to Beirut...

I didnt have time to analyze enough...

But I will be back on Saturday for a two day trip to Amman...

I will have the chance to meet a significant number of people...

I will talk to them and listen to them...

And I will get back to you with my opinion...