Late politician Zaiadeen to be remembered as patriot who fought for the poor — columnists

AMMAN — As Jordanians bid farewell to Yacoub Zaiadeen, political commentators said the politician, unionist and author will be remembered as a patriotic Jordanian who dedicated his life to fight for the poor.

Zaiadeen, who hails from Smakiyyeh in Karak, was more known as a patriotic Jordanian than a communist, Fahed Khitan, a political analyst, said Tuesday.

“His passion for reform and change in Jordan was the main drive for his struggle,” said Khitan.

Zaiadeen, who was a physician from a middle class family, could have reached senior positions in the state, but he placed the interest of the poor before his personal interests, added the columnist and former chief editor of Al Arab Al Yawm.

“His drive to improve the situation of the underprivileged got him arrested when martial law was in force in Jordan,” Khitan told The Jordan Times.

Zaiadeen, who died at 95, was not a conventional member of the opposition.

“He defended the Hashemite regime and was not part of any groups calling for toppling it,” he said.

In an article remembering the politician, who was laid to rest Tuesday, columnist Ibrahim Gharaibeh said he worked as a surgeon in Jerusalem where he was elected as a lawmaker representing the city, which was part of the Kingdom at the time.

Zaiadeen was secretary general of the Jordanian Communist Party and a deputy in the 1956 Lower House.

In his memoirs, he depicted himself as a pious man who was committed to Arab and Jordanian traditions, and who belonged to the community’s traditional tribal structure, Gharaibeh wrote in the article posted on his Facebook page.

Zaiadeen was capable of combining his communist leanings with patriotism and a deep sense of belonging to the homeland. He believed that communism was not against religion and traditions, the columnist added.

In an article published by the Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency, Palestinian author Jamil Salhout wrote about the professional and resistance history of the late Zaiadeen. 

Salhout said he was among the first to study medicine from Jordan and Palestine, adding that the communist could have lived an affluent lifestyle, due to the rare number of physicians in the 1950s, but he chose to live among the poor.

Zaiadeen used to treat patients at his clinic for free, according to Salhout, who wrote that the physician, who hailed from a family of peasants in southern Jordan, worked at a hospital in Jerusalem in the 1950s and gained popularity for philanthropic work and political views, in support of Palestinian people and refugees.