Where are you really from?

I understand they … have Jordanian nationality

Then they are correct when they say they are Jordanian.

but are they originally from there?

Shouldn’t matter.

Jordanians from Palestinian families have strong ties to both Jordan and Palestine. It’s not as if Jordan and Palestine are two pieces of land that are on opposite sides of the world to begin with. So keeping that in mind, I believe they should be free to decide which of the two they want to be more strongly associated with.

You can’t expect somebody who was born in Amman, and whose parents were born in Amman, and who has never stepped foot west of the river, to not say that they are Jordanian.

why?

not only they have the right to identify with what ever they want. we should be saying we are ARABS. the least we need at these times is to be seperated.

What is wrong with people saying that they are jordanian if they only lived in jordan, jordan and palastine used to be one country before 1981!!It ok to say that you are orginally from palastine, but why not say I am jordanian!!
Hamzeh is 10000% correct in what he is saying, being jordanian doesn’t mean that you are an israeli or you come from mars!!Jordanians are the closest to palastine wether you like it or not!

I don’t see any difference between the two. Most families are mixed.. I have a Jordanian mom and a Palestanian dad, and have never felt there’s a difference between the two.

We were raised here, lived and still living here .. when Im in a duty trip, I represent the country I live in. No?!

I have to disagree with some here. True there is no difference between Jordanians and Palestinians, but one must not deny where he/she came from. You came from Palestine so you are Palestinian no matter where you go.
I am Palestinian and I am proud of it, and will stay this way whenever and forever.

well said!

shall we call it identity crisis ?? It’s even worse!

It’s an old plan to demolish the Palestinian identity, so that 100 yrs from now, there should be nobody to claim any right. Palestinians then will be either Jordanians, Lebanese, Americans, Canadians, and even Israelis.

It’s not inevitable, everything can be reversed. We should preserve our invaluable identity.

When you’re Canadian from a Palestinian origin, you’ll still say you’re Canadian when you’re asked about your nationality, not your origin. Why shouldn’t the same apply to Jordan? If you don’t have a Palestinian nationality and you hold a Jordanian nationality, then you’re Jordanian (from a Palestinian origin).

You just said “I’m Canadian now”, although you’re originally Palestinian. Then why should Palestinians who hold a Jordanian nationality say they’re otherwise?

If I was born and bred in a country, lived in that country all my life, and all my family is there, then I belong to that country, and should be proud to say I’m from that country.

An identity crisis is when you deny where you’re from, but does saying you’re Jordanian (from a Palestinian origin) strip you from your identity? Here’s a question, a rhetorical question that is: Did anyone ever hear of an American saying: “Hey I’m American but I’m originally from England”. Or “Yes I’m American but my ancestors are from Spain”. Or in the case of black Americans, you don’t hear any of them saying “I’m American but I’m originally from Tanzania”. Do they suffer an identity crisis? Heck, they’re the proudest nation in the world, and the only real Americans are the Red Indians.

Sorry if this is long, but I’m trying to make a point here: it should not matter anymore.

It’s only in Jordan, and specially brothers Palestinian. I cant understand why they deny what Jordan have made for them, I am living in UAE and there are lot of Iranians having UAE Nationality, but they never say a word in Parisian Language and they consider themselves as original Arab.

Hello

don’t really see what’s wrong about saying that you are Jordanian if you have a Jordanian nationality and have lived all your life in Jordan.

if you want to know were a person is actually for you can change your question to “were are you actually from?” or “were are you originally from?”
i hope that solves your problem.

Re:Mona

“you guys are seriously funny..”
sorry but that’s a lame way of answering the serious comments.

Who-Sane:

When your nationality is Jordanian and your origin is Palestinian, then this is an extremely exceptional situation.

Do not compare it with any other situation. Here is the reasoning behind this:

There’s a well-known, publicly declared, policy to make Jordan a replacement for Palestine. That is, If Palestinians accept the fact that they’re Jordanian; then they will have no right whatsoever to claim anything back. They can’t even talk about the right of return.

so it’s essential to say that you’re Palestinian. Everywhere, including and most importantly in Jordan.

It’s an identity conflict, and identity must be preserved for future claims, wars, and possibly negotiations.

Palestinians identity will never be lost, simply because the Jordanian culture, the dialect, the lifestyle, the concerns are almost identical to the Palestinians’.

Abed Hamdan, Mona: I’m not saying “don’t you dare say you’re Palestinian”, but If you’re nationality is in fact Jordanian, then you’re Jordanian. If you’re from a Palestinian origin, then you’re a Jordanian from a Palestinian origin.

Abed: If you’ve been living in Jordan since 1948 and 1967, then Jordan is your replacement!

Please don’t tell me you disagree with that because it will be just stubbornness.

In the end my friends, we’re all brothers and sisters, we’re truly one big family now. We’re so mixed that it’s just silly and stupid to stir up discord amongst us. And no attempts whatsoever should drive a wedge between Jordanians and Jordanians from a Palestinian origin.

Mona: We got your point, you should get our point too, our point is relevant.

Who Sane:

I understand you. I said I’m Jordanian/Palestinian. Just like American/Lebanese , British-Syrians. It’s ok.

Demolishing the Palestinian identity is a Zionist plan, a well-known declared one. It’s not a piece of cake to end the Palestinian identity, but unless we’re aware of this problem, Zionist will do more and more to demolish it, and they achieved a great deal already!

Jordan should never be a replacement, whether it’s 1984 or 1800. Having Jordan as a replacement for Palestine is not for the good of neither Jordanians nor Palestinians. It’s for the good of Zionists.

Jordan treated Palestinians generously, and king Hussien (allah yer7amo) gave us nationalities to help us have future and better lives so we can fight for our cause better. Neither Palestinians nor King Hussien want Jordan to be a replacement.!

think about it this way, if Palestinians accept Jordan as replacement, then they wouldn’t be allowed to claim the “right of return”.

Sorry, but there are 7 million Palestinian refugees scattered around the world, they can’t just be given nationalities and be shut up.

Yes, I’m a Jordanian citizen, proud of this citizenship, proud and grateful to be Jordanian. But I’m Palestinian as well, with a cause to stand for and with rights to claim.

got my point ??

Abed,
You are right, but I was surprised by the reply that was toooooo shallow and showed the awsome way of thinking that some people have, And nobody wants anybody to be grateful, it is your life that you built with your own hands and you take credit for it, as for jordan we all take credit for building it, the palastenian identity should always be there but I think at some point people forget that it used to be one country until 1981.. And there is no such thing as identity crisis, you a jordanian from a palastenian origin? where is the crisis, I have never seen a palastenian that says he is only jordanian and I have never seen a jordanian who doesn’t state his original city!!No crisis at all but some people just want to be heard thats all!!

“Whatever you say.. I disagree. I think we should always go back and say we are Palestinian. Nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t tell people I am Canadian.. and I never stepped a foot in Palestine either!”

That sounded like you were saying that no matter what I said, you were going to disagree Anyway, I don’t disagree with the notion that you should never deny your heritage. In that regard, I think it is nice, and in the case of Palestine’s special circumnstances, it becomes important, to stick to your heritage.

However, you are crossing a fine line between criticising those who deny their Palestinian heritage (something I believe is wrong) and criticising those who simply acknowledge their stronger physical ties to the country that they are nationals of. The two are very different things. The second criticism, I believe is unjustified.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a person who is of the Jordanian nationality saying that he/she is Jordanian. If they were from families that came from other places (like Syria, Palestine, Chechnya), this statement doesn’t deny those ancestral ties. In the end, it is completely up to them and it is their right to determine which one they would like to be identified with, just as you choose to be identified with Palestine, even though you are really a Canadian too.

When those people deny their heritage however, it becomes a different story, and there you might have a valid point in criticising that behavior. But most of those who deny they are from Palestinian families do so out of the fear that they will be discriminated against for ties that in reality never materialized themselves to them in any way. A person who was born in Amman, always lived in Amman, and who has no relatives anywhere other than Amman will seek to sever the ancestral relationship he has with Palestine if others are going to hold it against him/her. I still think it’s wrong, or rather weak, but it is something that doesn’t come with no reason, and something that is largely not that person’s fault. It is the fault of the people who put too much emphasis (way more than required) on ancestral ties and use that as a basis for discrimination.

In your argument in this post, you also give too much emphasis to the ancestral relationship between some Jordanians and Palestine. They don’t have to say they are Palestinian, but that doesn’t mean that they will necessarily deny the relationship they have with Palestine.

One other thing to think about is this. I am a Jordanian, not a Palestinian, but my grandfather was not born in Jordan. The point you should think about is not why I identify myself as a Jordanian, the point you should think about is why I care so much about Palestine?! I don’t have a single drop of Palestinian blood in me, but I happen to be a muslim, and an Arab, and I believe I have, to a certain extent, the right to have a say in how justice should be achieved in Palestine. My point is that it shouldn’t matter where your family is from, whether you’re Syrian, Jordanian, Saudi or Palestinian, you should always stand for justice for all and if everybody just sticks to that simple principle that transcends racial, religous and national boundaries, you’ll soon find the whole world standing up for Palestine. So while you should encourage people to keep the Palestine issue alive and to promote the Palestinian identity, you should not drive others away by seeking to put boundaries between who is Palestinian and who is not.

Muhannad:

1) My answer was neither shallow nor skeptical, I’m just trying to stay within the scope of the discussion.

2)”And nobody wants anybody to be grateful, it is your life that you built with your own hands and you take credit for it,”

No, there should be some loyalty to the country that anyone have its nationality, even if it’s America. you reap what you sow, I agree, but be grateful for being given the chance to reap. Compare the situation with the refugees in Lebanon.

3)”I have never seen a palastenian that says he is only jordanian and I have never seen a jordanian who doesn’t state his original city”

Sorry, but obviously you’re not in Jordan. I’ve seen such incidents all the time. You know what, just roam the Jordanian blogsphere and you will find out lots of example!!! Ask anybody who lives in Jordan and he/she will tell you.

4) There’s an identity crisis. Israel is claiming Falafel, Mjaddara, el thoob el falasteene, to be all Israeli heritage.

This is a long discussion, and I’m not planning to take it any further. So please for the sake of our beloved friend Mona (blogs owner), let’s end it here.

Dear Mona,

sorry for the long comment, It’s just an important topic..

Abed,
I was not referring to you..

And regarding “jordanians” not leaving comments on your blog, maybe- and I speak on behalf of myself- it is because of the subjects you cover; is not interesting for my taste and by chance this one was somehow “tasty” for me:)

Sorry,
This is the last one I promise:
“Israel is claiming Falafel, Mjaddara, el thoob el falasteene, to be all Israeli heritage.”
If it is about falafel then let them have it!!It is about relegion Mr.Abed, it is not mjadara and it is not thoob it is the temple mount on the top of the aqsa mosque, it is the return of Jesus!!