The Memoirs of Prime Minister Suleiman Nabulsi An Oral Account Recorded and Edited

Description

Suleiman Nabulsi worked as an English language teacher at the Al-Karak Intermediate Secondary School for one academic year before resigning. He subsequently spent over a decade working within the central state apparatus in the capital, Amman—serving in the Prime Minister’s Office and its secretariat, the Ministry of Finance, and eventually as Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers.

During this period, his proximity to political and administrative decision-makers allowed him to gain a wealth of experience in management, finance, and politics. This experience led him to resign from his post and dedicate himself entirely to political life. By 1942, he had come to realize that the Jordanian political landscape was in dire need of an active opposition movement and influential leadership to fill a void—a need exacerbated by the passing of figures such as Abdullah al-Tamr al-Hamoud and Muhammad al-Muhaisen, as well as the exile of Dr. Abdullah Subhi Abu Ghanima in Damascus. Following 1942, Suleiman Nabulsi evolved into what the Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci (1891–1937) termed an “organic intellectual.” He grew close to the Jordanian people, becoming deeply attuned to their struggles—poverty, ignorance, disease, and neglect—and recognizing their lack of leadership to defend their interests, rights, and aspirations for political participation, freedom, justice, and equality. Nabulsi sought to lead and defend his people, becoming an exemplary figure for young Jordanian intellectuals. He held a profound admiration for the Jordanian people, as well as for their capacity for patience, endurance, and contribution. Al-Nabulsi acknowledges that he was never a proxy for any political faction or family interest. He remained steadfast in his struggle to defend the Jordanian people, undeterred by the prospect of arrest, imprisonment, or internal exile. He never fled Jordan to escape persecution or detention; instead, he set a remarkable example for the youth of Jordan in confronting oppression and tyranny, and in championing the rights and interests of the people.