| |
For this war, Jordan switches
sides
By Ferry Biedermann
AMMAN - A group of Iraqi exiles sitting down at
the end of a day of fasting in Café Central in downtown
Amman are not worried that the US wants to attack Iraq.
But they are surprised by the opposition to it from many
Arabs.
"Arabs don't know what we've been
through, they don't know what life is like under
Saddam's regime," says Jamal Boustani, an Iraqi writer
in exile. "I don't understand why they're angry and why
they want to demonstrate against a US war to topple
Saddam when we are actually hoping for change."
Such views are not uncommon among the some
300,000 Iraqis in Jordan. They are skeptical of Saddam
Hussein's apparent softening toward his opponents in
releasing political prisoners last month, and in
declaring an amnesty. The Iraqi embassy in Amman says
some 700 new passports have been issued to exiles since
then, but few believe that figure. And no one thinks
that any outspoken opponent of the Iraqi regime is among
the applicants.
Jordan is a haven for Iraqis
fleeing Saddam Hussein. The kingdom is regarded as among
the most stable and loyal allies of the West in the
region. But many Jordanians vehemently oppose an attack
on Iraq.
During the Gulf War the late King
Hussein represented the will of the people in keeping
Jordan out of the coalition against Iraq. Other Arab
countries such as Egypt and Syria backed the US and
received its largesse in return.
Jordan not only
angered the US but also Gulf nations that had given
Jordan much-needed economic aid, and provided work
opportunities for its people. Jordan was severely
punished for its perceived pro-Saddam stance after the
Gulf War, and many of those sources of money dried up.
As trade with Iraq collapsed, Jordan suffered
more than most of Iraq's neighbors. Only recently have
some of the Gulf countries restored their ties to the
old levels. And it is only after the 1998 oil-for-food
protocol that trade has recovered. US aid to Jordan has
also risen, to a record US$235 million in civilian aid
and some US$200 million in military support in the
current US financial year.
The tables seem to
have turned in the Arab world. Syria and Egypt are now
counselling the US against attacking Iraq, while the
Jordanian government is said to be quietly aiding the US
effort. In the streets of Amman this has inevitably led
to grumbling that "America is running this country".
The local unrest has increased after
heavy-handed suppression of demonstrations in support of
people in Gaza and the West Bank. The official figure
for Jordanians of Palestinian descent is 40 percent in a
country of 5.3 million. Unofficially,
Palestinian-Jordanians are believed to be the majority.
The focus has shifted now from dissatisfaction
with the government's response to the intifada to
unhappiness over its position on Iraq. Laurence Foley, a
senior administrator with the US AID program, was shot
dead last month. Last year an Israeli businessman was
shot dead in Amman. There are fears that these may not
remain isolated incidents.
Rami Khoury, a member
of the Middle East team of the International Crisis
Group, says the murder of Foley could be the beginning
of long-term violence against foreigners across the Arab
world. "There are a lot of very frustrated, angry,
humiliated people," he says. "There is a widening gap
between governments and their people in many cases and
Jordan is one of those cases."
Most suspicions
focus on Islamic fundamentalists. Jordan is the only
country in the region where the fundamentalist Muslim
Brotherhood is not banned and where its political wing,
the Islamic Action Front (IAF), can openly engage in
politics, even though its members are singled out for
close scrutiny by the security services.
"The
targeting of Islamists is an unjust measure and does not
serve the country's interests," IAF secretary-general
Hamza Mansour warned at a conference of Muslim scholars
in Amman last week. "If this US policy that we and
others condemn does not stop, the price will be heavy,"
said Mansour. The assembled scholars warned Arab
governments in a fatwa, or Islamic edict, that support
for the US plans would be un-Islamic.
The fatwa
says: "It is considered a crime against Islamic Sharia
law what ruling governments have adopted in outlawing
jihad and preventing Muslims from fighting the US
invaders. It is not permissible for any Muslim to help
Americans in any way possible, whether by guiding him or
her to roads that harm Muslims or filling their planes
or cars with fuel or selling the aggressor a piece of
bread or even giving them water."
The fatwa is
clearly aimed at the Jordanian government. The monarch,
King Abdullah II, has indicated that he will not follow
the stand taken during the Gulf War. His new slogan is
'Jordan First'. An American-dominated Iraq can mean a
new market for Jordan and revival of its old trade
route.
Opponents of a US attack on Iraq see in
that slogan a message of things to come. "We are worried
that this slogan is a way of preparing people for Jordan
siding with the Americans in a war against Iraq," says
Jamal Abu Bakr, deputy secretary-general of the IAF.
The fundamentalist position has drawn a sharp
response from pro-government politicians. "We will have
to deal strictly with agitators and organizers of
unauthorized demonstrations," says senator Marwan Dudin.
"Everybody has to abide by the national consensus that
Jordan is a moderate and respectable country. We can
never be free of people who are fanatic, before or after
September 11, but you must be aware of what our security
apparatus can do to thwart any attempts at terrorist
attacks."
While the US is preparing for an
attack on Iraq, Jordan is preparing for the regional
fall-out. There is support for the US within the
government and among the Iraqis here. The anger among
the Islamists and the Jordanians of Palestinian descent
is also palpable, but the government has a long track
record of handling such dissent.
(Inter Press
Service)
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
