Abdullah II of Jordan Quotes
We want to be, I think, an example for the rest of the Arab world, because there are a lot of people who say that the only democracy you can have in the Middle East is the Muslim Brotherhood.
Abdullah II of Jordan. Interview by Jon Stewart. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Comedy Central, 25 Sept. 2012.
This statement was made 20 years before the Arab Spring of 2011.
They are so different that most people in the West think of what Khamenei describes as “religious democracy” as not even close to democracy—almost the antithesis of democracy, and Islamic fundamentalists perceive Western democracy as sinful and evil.
Actually, this is a relatively new phenomenon. Before this, it was the Western Colonialists who were to blame. Before that it was the Ottoman Turks who occupied their land, and before that it was the Christian Crusaders. Since the Arab countries have started their decline from one of the most advanced people and cultures of the world to one of the least, they have always found some external source to blame. Many scholars observe that that process of blaming others and not looking inward and avoiding the reforms that other religions and cultures went through is among the biggest reasons for their decline.
The "we" referred to the Tunisian Ennahda Party of which he was the founder.
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein is King of Jordan, reigning since 7 February 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, he is a 41st-generation direct descendant of Muhammad.
