Democratic Palestine : 16 (ص 11)
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- Democratic Palestine : 16 (ص 11)
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and its partners in the Labor Alignment.
They envision the possibility of token
military withdrawal from parts of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip, in return for
economic and cultural occupation of the
entire Middle East, and gaining historical
legitimacy for the Zionist entity.
Recent polls show a clear increase
in the popularity of Peres. This explains
the Labor Party's continuing attempts to
divide the national unity government
with the Likud, and the calls for new elec-
tions. In an attempt to deceive public
opinion, Peres has continued to make
remarks about readiness to negotiate
with Palestinians from the West Bank in
the framework of a solution with Jordan.
In his opening speech to the Labor Party
congress in early April, Peres said, «We
want to say to the Palestinians that we
recognize you as a people and it is not
our intention to destroy you. We don't
want to solve our disputes by force... The
only way to solve the conflict is through
dialogue between Israel and represen-
tatives of the Palestinians willing to work
for a settlement.» This means Palesti-
nians who have submitted totally to the
Zionist conditions.
As quoted by the Zionist radio, the
prime minister clarified that: «israel will
continue the transfer of local and munic-
ipal authority to the Arabs in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, and will be ready
to transfer additional powers in that field.
We will be ready to give all or part of
these areas, like the Gaza Strip, self-rule
as a first stage...lsrael recognizes the
fact that all inhabitants of the West Bank
are Jordanian citizens...represented in
the Jordanian parliament.»
These political developments in the
Zionist entity are clear echos of US pol-
icy in the Middle East. There is nothing
new in essence, just the Zionist poison
being offered with a sugar coating. The
US may, however, be faced with the
need for resolving the political differ-
ences in the Zionist government in a way
whereby the Labor Alignment takes the
majority in the Knesset.
Jordan's Iron Fist — Update
The Jordanian authorities have
continued the repressive campaign
begun in November 1985, against the
nationalist forces, trade unions and
other mass organizations. Towards the
end of January, they arrested the writer
Subhi Taha, member of the Jordanian
Writers Association and the General
Union of Palestinian Writers and Jour-
nalists. On January 26th, a military court
sentenced Ali Hamdan Zayoudi to five
years imprisonment on charges of
belonging to the Jordanian Communist
Party, without having provided him with
a defense lawyer.
According to information received
from the relatives of detainees, the
authorities are in the process of bringing
many other detainees to ‘trial’ in the
military court. This ignores the calls of
international human rights organiza-
tions, local politicians and trade
unionists for the release of these
detainees. It also ignores their calls for
an end to the fierce campaign of arrests
and military trials which violates all civil
and democratic rights.
At the same time, the intelligence
service has been repeatedly calling a
number of citizens for interrogation.
Three members of the elected adminis-
trative board of the youth center in the
Hussein Palestinian refugee camp were
summoned: Director Akram Habash,
Majed Hamam and Musa Odeh. For a
whole week, they were beaten, insulted
and threatened, and had their passports
confiscated, for no other reason than
their membership in the board. In view of
the regime’s current efforts to make a
deal with the Zionist enemy, bypassing
the PLO, it is imperative to silence the
popular forces on all levels.
Member of parliament, Doctor
Nawaiseh sent a protest to the parlia-
ment concerning the security forces’
attempt to atiack him while he was
speaking «<o a group of citizens at the
trade union building in Karak on Feb-
ruary 24th. (Dr. Nawaiseh’s subject was
the new election law which increases the
members of parliament, providing for
more ‘Palestinian’ representatives, as
part of the regime's plan to act as their
political spokesman.) As Dr. Nawaiseh
was speaking, a large group of police-
men and security officers barged into the
trade union building; they ordered him to
be silent and to disperse the audience.
They surrounded him, pointing their
automatic rifles in his face, when he tried
to discuss the matter reasonably. In the
face of what he called this «democracy
at gunpoint», he deemed it better to ask
the audience to leave and end the
speech.
More recently, the Jordanian
authorities moved to silence cultural and
journalistic circles. A number of writers
were banned from writing in local pap-
ers, including: Khaled Mahadin, Bader
Abdel Haq and Ziad Al Shilah of A/ Rai,
Abdul Raheem Omar and Tawfiq al
Abed of Saut a/ Shaab, and Lamis
Andone of Jordan Times. Previously,
the authorities had banned the famous
journalist, Fahd Al Remawi, from writing
in Al Ra’.
Solidarity with political
prisoners
Several local and _ international
organizations have begun a solidarity
campaign with the militant, Breik al
Hadid, who has served eight years in
Jordanian jails. They are demanding his
immediate release. On February 18th,
Hadid began a hunger strike to protest
his continued detention. Other political
prisoners in the same jail joined in the
strike. Hadid’s health is deteriorating
and the Committee for the Defense of
Democratic Freedoms in Jordan issued
an urgent appeal for efforts to save his
life.
On March 14th, the General
Assembly of Insurance, Bank and
Accounting Workers sent a warm greet-
ing to their fellow unionist, the militant
Abdul Razaq Saed, secretary of the
union, who is serving a five-year sen-
tence, passed by the military court, for
charges of membership in the PFLP.
How King Hussein
‘celebrated’ Land Day
The real indication of the Jordanian
regime’s respect for Palestinian land
and rights came in its crack-down on
activities held in Jordan for the occasion
of the Day of the Land. The authorities
stormed the headquarters of the Bank
Workers’ Union and forbid a planned
conference for the Day of the Land. The
following members of the administrative
council of the union were interrogated by
the intelligence forces: Hayder Ra-
sheed, Mohammad Kasem, Musa
Kwedil. Another member of the union
was detained. The security authorities
also forced the dismissal of three mem-
bers of the administrative council of
Zarqa camp's youth center, and three of
Wehdat camp's youth center. A number
of youth were interrogated on the Day of
the Land. ®
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