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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 February - 3 March 1999 Issue No. 418 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 February - 3 March 1999 Issue No. 418
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters His Majesty's loyal opposition
By Khaled Dawoud
To talk of the opposition in Jordan is to tread in sensitive territory. The circumstances surrounding the creation of Jordan in the early 1920s and what could be described as "security phobia" -- a sense that the country's very existence is in constant danger -- seem to have convinced most Jordanians that maintaining their unity should always remain their top priority.
Zuneibat
There is a wide consensus among Jordanians that Jordan's neighbours pose the most serious threat to its security. Syria and Iraq, the pan-Arabist Baathist regimes, have always had their own loyalists inside Jordan, so loyal in fact that they would never dream of hanging up pictures of King Hussein in their offices and instead display those of Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad or Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
The Hashemite family ended up in what was to be later known as Jordan after losing the battle against the victorious Saud family in the Arabian peninsula in the early 1920s. Thus, it is perfectly normal to find several Jordanian tribes who trace their origins to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, one of many power brokers in Jordan.
And although most Jordanians, like other Middle East Arabs, state publicly that Israel is the main threat to their security, there are many among Amman's rich and famous -- East Bankers, who refer to themselves as "original Jordanians" -- who seem to view the Palestinians as the real threat to the security and, indeed, the continued existence of the state of Jordan.
Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jordan annexed the Palestinian West Bank, which was later captured by Israel in the June 1967 war. In Israel, on the other hand, there have always been leading politicians -- as diverse as the late Labour Prime Minister Golda Meir and current Likud Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon -- who look upon Jordan as an alternative homeland for the Palestinians. For them, "Palestine is Jordan."
Decades of war and conflict, coupled with a flood of refugees to the East Bank over two waves in 1948 and 1967 have made it extremely difficult to differentiate between who is a Palestinian and who is a Jordanian among a population of four million people. The dilemma was dramatically highlighted in September 1970 when the Jordanian army cracked down on armed Palestinian militias, killing thousands of guerrillas in what became known as "Black September." King Hussein's solution to the problem was to provide Jordanian passports to all those living in Jordan while demanding loyalty to the security and interests of Jordan and not to any of its neighbours, including the Palestinians. The king's declaration in 1989, in which he severed all political and administrative links with the West Bank and recognised that Palestinians are entitled to have their own independent state, failed to assuage Jordanian fears that their country would one day be overwhelmed by a third wave of Palestinian refugees, turning those who insist on their Jordanian identity into a minority.
The skilful and pragmatic Hussein was forced to deal with all these contradictions, building bridges with Jordan's tribes, opposition groups and Jordan's Palestinians.
Unlike many Arab countries, Jordan's main opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, is not seen as a threat to the stability of the regime and many Jordanians would not even describe the group as a political "opposition."
Even the Jordanian ruling family seems to share the same view. According to one top Jordanian official who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity, "They [the Brotherhood] are part of the same [Jordanian] family and we all have a common bond within the framework of the constitution."
Another former Jordanian official told the Weekly, "Opposition parties in Jordan bark a great deal but don't bite. Meanwhile, ever since the 1970 incident, Palestinians are too panicky to voice any real opposition."
The Brotherhood was one of Hussein's key allies in his 47 years in power. "The fact that the ruling family traces its origin to the Prophet Mohamed has always given it a religious aspect, which is why it was very easy to forge an alliance with the group," said one Jordanian analyst.
Following in the footsteps of the group's founder, Egypt's Hassan El-Banna, the Brotherhood in Jordan considers itself bigger than a political party, more like a movement. As a result, it has its own network of social services such as schools, hospitals and mosques. In the centre of Amman, a large flag shows the Brotherhood's logo, two crossed swords with the Qur'an placed in the middle.
Abdel-Meguid Zuneibat, head of the Muslim Brotherhood's chapter in Jordan, did not deny that the group sees itself as part of the Jordanian political order. "We support political stability and this is the main position of all national forces in Jordan," he told the Weekly in an interview.
Zuneibat was the only Jordanian opposition figure to visit Hussein while he was hospitalised in the United States. The Brotherhood was also among the first political groups in Jordan to declare their loyalty and support for King Abdullah, both upon his appointment as crown prince and after he became king.
"The Islamist movement in Jordan is a mature and rational one," Zuneibat said. "We have been turning Islamic action away from extremism in a manner which has helped prevent the emergence of more radical groups. This has achieved political stability in Jordan. The Islamic movement is deeply rooted in Jordan and well-respected by all institutions," he added.
Yet, being loyal to the regime does not mean there are no differences. "We want Jordan to be a fortress in confronting the Zionist enemy and the Zionist project. The current level of relations between Jordan and Israel will only provide assistance to the Zionists and help in Israel's expansion. That is also another reason why all national forces in Jordan are aware of the importance of maintaining unity," Zuneibat said.
"If the regime wants to get closer to the people, it has to freeze, if not abolish, relations with Israel. The regime claims that the peace agreement benefited Jordan, but we think that it is an unbalanced relationship which is harming Jordan," he added.
Indeed, the Brotherhood has been vocal in its opposition to Israel and the 1994 Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty. Its members are also united in their support for the lifting of sanctions on Iraq, even if they disagree with the policies of the Baghdad regime. Such disagreements never led to open confrontation with the late king, however.
As for the vacuum left by Hussein's death, Zuneibat hopes that this will be filled by reviving the role played by the country's "democratic institutions", particularly the parliament. The Brotherhood led the call to boycott the 1997 elections on the basis of their opposition to a law which they saw as a direct attempt to weaken their chances in gaining more seats in the 80-member Jordanian parliament. Like other opposition groups, they also demand the abolition of a press law which gives the government wide powers to close down newspapers.
"We expect institutions to play a stronger role under the new king. We also expect from the new monarch a comprehensive review that will restore institutions, public freedoms and improve the economic situation," Zuneibat said.
He added that the Brotherhood's policy is to participate in, not boycott elections. But he insisted that the group will not take part in any upcoming vote if its demand for a comprehensive review was not met. "Our participation in any upcoming election is not only conditional upon amending the election law, but we demand a comprehensive review which will guarantee the government's neutrality and make us feel that we are not being targeted as an Islamic movement. We feel there is an international trend against political Islamic groups which seeks to either contain or exterminate them," Zuneibat said.
However, he added, if the Brotherhood ran in the coming elections, scheduled for 2001 (many Jordanians expect early elections to be held shortly after Hussein's death) they will not seek a majority. "We are not seeking a majority right now in parliament. We want active political participation that will enable us to influence the decision-making process. We define ourselves as a reformist movement and believe that our earlier participation in parliament helped in easing the impact of many of the government's negative decisions," Zuneibat said.
