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Source: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/119483/how-jordans-king-hang-on
How Jordan's King Hangs On
(Tablet) Joseph Braude - Over the past few weeks demonstrations in Jordan have ebbed, the king pardoned most protesters he had jailed, and the monarchy proved once more that reports of its death had been greatly exaggerated. The kingdom paid close attention to the revolutions of the Arab Spring and formed a clear strategy to quell the demonstrators using a softer approach. The king's response to the protesters was carefully calibrated. Whereas last year's despots doubled down on repression, "police were ordered to let the kids vent," explained Sameer Baitamouni, a businessman and liberal activist. "They limited demonstrations without repressing them." "Visiting journalists see revolutionaries and think they represent millions," Sheikh Mustafa Abu Rumman, an Amman mosque cleric, told me. "But the millions want reform, not revolution, as do most protesters themselves. In my mosque, barely any worshippers want to topple the king."