By Mahmoud Al Abed
English News Editor
Albawaba.com – Amman
Enough is enough, says the Jordanian government after it has become fed up with raging campaigns led by the professional associations and opposition figures against firms and individuals suspected of having relations with Israel.
In response to the publication of a long-waited list of “normalizers” by a committee of the Islamist-dominated associations recently, Jordan’s Acting Prime Minister, and Minister of Interior, Awad Khleifat threatened to diminish the association’s power and curb their political activities.
The first blow was delivered to the vehement anti-normalization crusaders Saturday night when a bunch of their key figures were arrested.
Following in the footsteps of their counterparts in Egypt, Jordanian professionals have tried to paint the relations between their country and Israel into the corner of official ties only, with persistent calling for abolishing the 1994 Wadi Araba peace treaty between Jordan and Israel.
The black list has been a source of terror for people towards whom accusation fingers were pointed. A reporter at a Jordanian daily published a curtain raiser in anticipation of the 68-item list. The next day he received calls from people who sounded very terrified and wanted to check if their names were included.
In fact, the worries are justifiable for three reasons. The Islamists are a dominant player in the country’s political theater and are supported by the vast majority of Jordanians people, half of whom are of Palestinian origin.
Second, most of the people who deal with Israel are business people who would be considerably harmed when about 100,000 doctors, engineers and lawyers, in addition to the people of the street, began to boycott them. This is not to mention the feeling of disgrace that they would have amidst escalating anti-Israeli sentiments after the eruption of the Intifada. The Intifada and the scenes of brutal treatment of the defenseless Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces have fueled the popular anger and furnished the stage with a fertile soil the political activists made good use of.
Protestors who took part in the over 300 demonstrations in Jordan since late September were chanting slogans against Israel, US and pro-normalization fellow country men. Of course, many of these activities were organized by the associations’ members with experience and skill.
The danger of the anti-normalization campaign does not stop here, according to columnist Sultan Hattab in a statement to Albawaba.com. He said that the possibility of a fanatic shooting him is not to be discounted if his name appears on the black list.
Hattab, who came under bitter criticism after a visit to Israel in 1999 together with another three top journalists, is among the normalizers, according to list published this week.
Official statements have in vain tried to curb the crusade and protect the state’s vision of economic revival, which depends primarily on agreements with the US, in which Israel is a partner or a potential partner.
The Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) in Irbid, where joint Israeli-Jordanian ventures were established and enjoyed US fees exemptions, have proved a failure because it has not been able to attract Arab investors, for the same political reasons and because it did not make a change in Jordan’s labor market.
In 1998, a leading Jordanian businessman complained that the Qualified Industrial Zone was flourishing, but at the expense of Jordanian industries.
“There are some investments that come to the Qualified Industrial Zone (QIZ) bringing with it foreign labor and even the food required by the workers,” Hamdi Taba’a, head of businessmen association, said stressing that the kingdom did not get any benefit from such investments except renting the land.
The US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement would solve this problem because it is not directly linked with Israel, although Israeli investors are likely to have their projects here and benefit from the cheap labor.
The head of the Jordanian government Ali Abu Ragheb has been quoted in the press as accusing the associations of seeking to deprive 13,000 workers of their jobs in Irbid’s QIZ.
Khleifat met with Azzam Hneidi, head of the associations’ council, on Wednesday. The latter reiterated that the lists harm the national economy, and the former vowed to scrutinize any upcoming list to make sure that all the names therein deserve to be there.
However, Hneidi revealed to the press that there are differences between the council and the anti-normalization committee at the associations, headed by the prominent Islamist Ali Abu Sukkar, who was one of the detainees in Saturday’s crackdown. The disagreement is over the second list of normalizers. He said the council, which comprises the heads of the 13 associations, has reservations on the manner the lists are drafted. He stressed that only his council is authorized to allow the publication of the black list.
If the associations use the religious dimension, the Intifada, and the boycott in their battle, the government has two weapons but it has started with the least effective one.
The executive power can resort to arrests, threats and weak legal cases against the campaigners, but this will make these people heroes, even if the state security court convicts them for whatever charges are made against them.
However, the Achilles heel, as far as the associations are concerned, is that the obligatory membership of the associations is against human rights, according to the international Human Rights Declaration.
Former governments have threatened to modify the laws and make membership optional. With the parliament’s current composition, Abu Ragheb and his team could get away with this and finally be able to dismantle the monster.
The question is why have they not done so for so long? Simply, it is dangerous. If the professionals cannot play politics within their associations, they will play it somewhere else, namely from within political parties, which will be energized with the new blood of young educated young men, who will be some day under parliament dome and make more trouble. The government is wise enough to keep the other monster asleep, and try its luck with suppression.
