Gaza, pt. 3 -- The Jordanian position

As Israel's ground offensive into Gaza begins, Electronic Intifada has published a collection of images from protests around the world. The photo to the right is of a demonstration in Amman on December 31st. My one regret about this past summer is that I never got to experience a protest/demonstration (the pinnacle, of course, being tear-gassed in the West Bank), though the closest I got was the last ten minutes of a Palestinian hip-hop concert on July 4.

Speaking of Jordan, Juan Cole posted several summaries of editorials from Arabic Jordanian newspapers. Here's one that especially caught my attention:

Fahd al-Khitan also writes an article in Al-Arab al-Yawm..."in light of what is happening in Gaza, Arab moderates should stop marketing illusions about peace." He says that Jordan has done its utmost on the political and human level to declare solidarity with Gaza and condemn the Israeli actions. He adds:"We should conduct a profound review of the political discourse by rehabilitating a previous position, which the state had adopted; namely, supporting the right of the Palestinian people to resisting the occupation and not being satisfied by saying that negotiations are the only way for achieving peace because this path has failed to achieve anything since the peace process was launched 17 years ago. This position should be translated into direct and public relations with the Palestinian resistance movements, alongside continuing official relations with the Palestinian Authority" . . .

An editorial over at 7iber by Jordanian Observer makes a case against annulling the treaty.

We are a country of 5 million, we have very few resources, and to put it simply and clearly, there’s no way in hell we can win a war against Israel. The reason Jordan has remained quite a safe country (considering the fact that we live in a war zone), is not exactly a miracle. It’s because we’ve accepted the presence of the Jewish nation as a fact and let’s face it, it’s not going to go away anytime soon, and if you think otherwise, you are either impacted by your emotions, or grossly overestimate the abilities of the very country you’re criticizing.

And this is why I can’t support the riots that have been breaking out all over the place. I couldn’t be more angry about what’s happening, but I frankly think you’re a hypocrite if you tell me you’re willing to sacrifice your freedom and safety to go into a battle, to go into a war, that you KNOW there’s no way you can win. I like the fact that I live in a safe, secure country, where I can go about my daily life without fear of having my house brought down over my head.

What's equally interesting and revealing are some of the comments on that particular post.

Jordan was always meant to be a recpeticale for expelled Palestinians. It’s sort of like Gaza. israel never wanted Jordan or Gaza. To them, it’s one big blob of human misery, a vast refugee camps of expelled Palestinians in the 1948 and 67 wars. Jordan to them is the same. No reason to invade. No oil, no water, no natural resources of significance, millions of refugees….let me repeat…millions of refugees. Why in the world would Israel want to occupy a land that’s full of expelled Palestinians.
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"– It’s because we’ve accepted the presence of the Jewish nation as a fact and let’s face it"

No we did not. again, stop putting words in our mouths. You accepted. The regime accepted it. A rigged Parliament with a rigged election accepted it. Do a referendum today on the peace treaty on on the presence of a racially driven state next to us and you will find the overwhelming majority of Jordanians are against it inasmuch as every decent self-respecting human being was against Apartheid South Africa and White Rhodesia. There is a difference between accepting and being forced to deal with a racist colonialist Israel.

And how in the world do you accept to live next to a state that pisses allover Arabs. Have you no dignity? What sort of peace treaty creates a national security threat for one country, Jordan, while reliving another, Israel, from its ethical and legal responsibility? I am talking about the Palestinian refugees. Fact is, any peace treaty that does not abide by international laws is null and void. Do you think the world would have honored a peace treaty between Whites and neighboring Black African countries whereby they are obliged to take in expelled South African Blacks or suffer an invasion form White South Africa?

And one more, from ArabianMonkeyTales:

Flag burning, calling for cutting off relations - ie communication, and sporadic protesting without true activism is useless to everyone. Jordanian officials and any Arab official who care about the Palestinians and peace in general need to truly get their act together and step up, stand for something and sincerely and diligently take action towards it.... every waking moment of their life until resolution is achieved.

The burning of the Israeli flag in our parliament achieves nothing other than an outburst of emotion. What a farce this kind of action is. Calling to cancel the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement is an even bigger joke. Wanting to expel the Israeli ambassador solves nothing. That is not diplomacy, and it's certainly not a conversation for peace. Then what? Does anyone calling for such ridicule ever ask that? Do they stop to imagine what's next after they kick up a seasonal tantrum?