Democratic Palestine : 18 (ص 14)
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- Democratic Palestine : 18 (ص 14)
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Jordan’s War on the PLO
SS
King Hussein of Jordan has continued his attempts to eliminate the
PLO as the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, a
task made easier by the Palestinian right wing’s having signed the
Amman accord with the Jordanian monarch.
In his efforts to enter the imperialist
peace, dragging the PLO behind him,
King Hussein was not satisfied with the
concessions given by Arafat. Rather,
the monarch wanted the PLO to reduce
itself to an appendage of the Jordanian
foreign ministry. After Hussein’s
attempts ran into obstacles, he froze the
coordination with Arafat’s leadership
and pursued his old-new plan for
wiping out the PLO altogether. In line
with this, the Jordanian regime has
taken a series of measures which, taken
singly, may appear unimportant, but
which add up to a consistent anti-
Palestinian policy.
During his last visit. to Washington
D.C., King Hussein lobbied for his
plans of finding an alternative lea-
dership to the PLO. In an interview
with the Washington Post on June
11th, ‘‘He left an impression, without
Saying so explicity, that an Arab
summit conference might be called
upon to endorse a new leadership for
the Palestine Liberation Organization
or, failing that, to give recognition to
leadership outside the PLO that would
cooperate with King Hussein in peace
efforts.’’ Hussein himself said,
‘‘Maybe the Palestinians themselves
will find it necessary to reorganize
themselves in such a way as to enable
this (new leadership) to emerge’’
(International Herald Tribune, June
12th).
Of course, the plans of Hussein
caused delight in Washington and Tel
Aviv, and he continued on this course.
In every public statement, he stresses
his suspicions about the PLO’s ability
to represent the Palestinians. In a press
conference in Jordan on July 12th, he
opened fire again: ‘‘Our difference with
the PLO is that they see the Palestinian
people as one people, regardless of their
location... We see the importance of
keeping our family on their land, and
after we recover the land for the price
of peace, the Palestinians would decide
for themselves within the framework of
a confederated Jordanian-Palestinian
State... The question of self-
determination is a Jordanian-
Palestinian question. It is totally wrong
to discuss it in a (international) confe-
rence... The PLO should accept 242
and 338, and denounce terrorism to be
able to attend the conference and start
relations with the US.’’
These words need no explanation.
14
They mean simply the negation of the
Palestinians’ right to. self-
determination. The monarch said that
the Palestinians ‘‘need an institution to
play its role fully in representing the
Palestinian people,’’ whereas the
Palestinians already have their institu-
tion, and that is the PLO. The problem
facing the Palestinians is the ability of
this US puppet to overtly wage war on
their sole, legitimate representative.
King Hussein is only able to do so
because of Arafat’s having signed the
Amman accord, which resulted in the
division and weakening of the PLO.
Accordingly, confronting the King’s
moves demands cancellation of the
Amman accord and reunification of the
PLO on the national platform, opposed
to imperialism, Zionism and reaction.
SILENCING THE
PALESTINIAN VOICE
In accordance with the same policy,
the Jordanian regime increased repres-
sion in Jordan. After the massacre at
Yarmouk University and the attacks on
the Jordanian national movement (see
Democratic Palestine No. 17), the
regime directed its fire against the
Palestinians.
In the beginning of June, the regime
decided to incorporate all Palestinian
youth centers into the Jordanian
Ministry of Youth. The regime dis-
solved the elected executive committees
of these centers, that had the backing of
progressive and nationalist forces. Ins-
tead, the Ministry of Youth appointed a
set of stooge executive committees.
The director of UNRWA in Jordan
sent a letter on June Sth, to the Minister
of the Occupied Territories, explaining
the dangers of the step and its contra-
diction with UN agreements and speci-
fically article 100 of the UN Charter.
The Jordanian regime, however,
ignored the UNRWA letter and conti-
nued its plan of negating any expression
of the Palestinian people’s independent
indentity.
The Jordanian regime took anti-
democratic steps against our people in
the occupied West Bank. The Jorda-
nian press, radio and television were
ordered to boycott news published by
the independent Palestinian press in
Jerusalem. Besides being an attempt to
cut the flow of information between
our people in the West Bank and
Jordan, this was intended to punish
Palestinian journalists for their support
of the PLO as the sole, legitimate
representative of the Palestinian
people. The regime placed 34 journa-
lists in the West Bank on a black list.
This list included the chief editors of
four newpapers -A! Mithagq, Al Fajr, Al
Quds and AI Shaab- and 10 other edi-
tors. These journalists face detention
and interrogation if they visit Jordan.
In another move to pressure the PLO
and the Palestinians generally, the
Jordanian regime revoked the passports
of 35 Palestinians who had_ been
expelled from the West Bank by the
Israeli authorities. Some of the
deported were freed in the 1985 pri-
soner exchange; most of them are sup-
porters of Arafat’s Fatah. The Jorda-
nian regime also placed some of them
under house arrest.
SEARCHING FOR
‘MODERATES’
The Jordanian regime is also working
directly in the occupied territories to
create an alternative leadership to the
PLO. An Israeli official said that
Jordan is pressuring for the appoint-
ment of four ‘moderate’ mayors in the
West Bank, in an attempt to weaken the
PLO. He added that King Hussein has
promised more aid to cities and towns
that cooperate with his plans (AI! Safir,
July 2nd).
To this end, the Jordanian cabinet
approved a five-year ‘development’
plan for the West Bank, whereby $1.4
billion, supplied by the US and Gulf
states, will be dispensed by the Jorda-
nian regime. Of this, only $.25 billion
will be spent on agriculture and
industry; the rest will be spent on ser-
vices. This means that the Zionist
occupation authorities will be excused
from spending any money on services
for the people they exploit daily. The
term ‘services’ 1s also an appropriate
guise for dispensing funds as bribes in
order to cultivate ‘moderate’ Palesti-
nian figures who will advertise for
Hussein’s policy of returning the
occupied West Bank to Jordanian rule,
in accordance with the framework that
was presented in the Reagan plan in
1982.
The Jordanian regime has moreover
decided to resume paying the salaries of
those employed in the public sector
hetore the 1967 occupation, and to give
fuel subsidies. Nimrod Novek, assistant
to the Zionist prime minister, expressed
support to the Jordanian plans, saying,
«We support anything that encourages
the moderates.»
The proposed mayors. are
Mohammed Rashad Ja’abari for Al
Khalil (Hebron), Khalil Mousa for
Ramallah, Walid Mustafa for Al Bireh
and Abdul Fattah Dudeen for Al Dura.
These four persons were summoned to
Jordan to discuss the question of their
appOintmento. After returning ta Je:u-
salem, Ja’abari said, ‘‘Jordan supports - هو جزء من
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