Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 21)
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- Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 21)
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Attack on the Jordanian
Writers Association
'§ Association sent
the following memorandum to the office
of the prime minister, demanding a halt
fo ooo illegal measures against the union
nd iis mem ok in peoiG.
1, ane ae our union m: nee have
been arrested: others beaten and
humiliated:
a.Nimr Hijab, president of the irbid
‘branch of the union. writer and
researcher in popular heritage, was Cal-
led in to the intelligence on six days, kept
-untiimidnight, beaten and humiliated.
b. Mahmoud issa Mousa, member
of the union, writer, artist, critic and
member of the Pharmacists Union, was
treated as above.
c.Dr. Ahmed Zubi, member of the |
union and short story writer, was called |
in to the intelligence twice.
d.Dr. Ibrahim Khat
rogation.
2.The head of the intelligence in |
irbid demanded of the above persons |
that they close down the association, |
stop going there and stop holding meet- |
ings or seminars, etc. If not, they would
be arrested and lose thei
3. These measures are illegal anda |
clear violation of Jordanian writers’ con- —
stitutional rights. We therefore find it |
necessary to submit this memorandum |
in protest of the measures being carried —
ligence in Irbid against our
out by the inte
members.
Hussein and the Brotherhood
While the official Jordanian media
has been silent about the campaign of
repression against the progressive
nationalist forces, it has played up the
measures taken against the Muslim
Brotherhood, which in reality have been
much milder. In actual fact 20-30
‘brothers’ have been arrested although
press reports have put the number much
higher. From the Jordanian airline Alia,
260 were dismissed. A number have
been dismissed from public posts, par-
ticularly in the Education Ministry which
the Brotherhood had virtually controlled,
determining school curriculum and hav-
ing thousands of teachers at schools
and universities. Only on the backdrop
of the Brotherhood’s extensive power
can the present restrictive measures be
evaluated. The regime itself facilitated
the Brotherhood s establishing its influ-
ence, as a convenient means of fighting
the progressive forces, splitting student
and trade union organizations, etc. How-
ever, «the realization that fundamen-
talists ‘have infiltrated certain institu-
tions and government departments that
weren't easy to infiltrate before,’ such as
the police and intelligence departments,
caused greater high-level consterna-
tion, the government official said»
(Washington Post, December 27, 1985).
The regime also fears that a section
of the Brotherhood would jaunch a cam-
paign against moves to enter negotia-
tions with ‘Israel’. In short, the regime
seeks not to end the Brotherhood, but to
control it in line with the requirements of
the current political situation. The other
obvious reason for curtailing the
Brotherhood was to meet Syria's condi-
tions for restoring relations with Jordan.
King Hussein badly needs relations with
Syria to fall back on, if his attempts to
negotiate with the Zionist state fail. Itis a
4 ee
ib, member of the -
union and medical specialist, was
threatened with having his right to prac-
tice withdrawn. He had to be hos- .
pitalized due to the violence of the inter-
trends within the regime itself. One trend
represents the liberal commercial
bourgeoisie which wants the public sec-
tor restricted in favor of the open door
policy. This trend opposes the Moslem
Brotherhood’s influence. The liberal
bourgeoisie has been expanding
economically since 1970, and now
wants political power equal to its
economic interests.
The other trend, which has been
close to the Brotherhood, is the reactio-
nary bureaucratic bourgeoisie, tied to
the intelligence service and the state
apparatus generally. While the con-
tradictions between the two trends are
secondary and unlikely to explode into
an open conflict, the regime's policy
must take both into account. They repre-
sent the two aspects of the regime: rela-
tions with the world market and
capitalism, and repression of the mas-
ses. Both trends are necessary for the
regime's. survival and for its chosen
course of. ‘peace’ with the Zionist
enemy. While the liberal bourgeoisie is
the candidate to profit from future joint
ventures with ‘Israel’, the state bureau-
cracy and intelligence service are
needed to keep the masses in line.
Ry pe
«1 wrote about repression...Now I'm writing my will.» Drawing by Naji Ali.
timeworn trick of the Jordanian regime to.
cultivate a ‘nationalist image on the out-
side, while cracking down on domestic
opposition.
Two sides of the regime
There is another factor involved in
the monarchy’s efforts to set its house in
order, and that is friction between two
These are the components of the
regime’s dilemma. As of now, the main
response has been repression to averta
situation where it becomes obvious that
King Hussein's intended reconciliation
with the Zionist enemy is opposed by the
broad masses in Jordan, both Jordanian
and Palestinian.
6
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