Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 22)
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- Democratic Palestine : 33 (ص 22)
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«Everyone should learn from it,
especially the Jordanian nationalist and
progressive forces, in order that they
may shoulder their responsibility as the
vanguard and improve their ways of
working in order to fulfill the demands
and goals of the masses. The events
have proven that social and economic
factors and the struggle for democracy
are priorities for the masses. These
events and similar events in other Arab
countries show that, in most cases, the
masses take the initiative before the
organized political forces. This in itself
necessitates learning a lesson.»
These lessons must be learned quick-
ly in order to face up to the king’s cur-
rent maneuvers as he tries to capitalize
on the fact that the revolt was explicitly
aimed against the Rifai government and
not the monarchy per se. A classical
stick-and-carrot scenario is underway,
trying to keep the social situation in
tow, while restructuring the economy
according to IMF conditions and the
needs of the ruling class. On the one
hand, the king appeared on television
to lecture his subjects on «being good»
and holding out the carrot of quick
elections and the loosening of restric-
tions on free expression. On the other
hand, the stick is ever present.
Military governors have been ap-
pointed in Maan, Tefila and Kerak, and
the security forces seemed poised for
more repression if needed. Although as
previously stated, it was not organized
political forces which initiated the
revolt, the progressive and national
parties naturally supported this mass
struggle. They made their position
known by calling for the abrogation of
the IMF agreement, economic reorien-
tation, redistribution of wealth, an end
to corruption, democratic freedoms,
etc. On this pretext, the security forces
arrested a number of political activists
and professionals, including the vice-
president of the Jordanian Writers’
League (previously bannd by the
regime), the head of the Geological
Union and members of the Jordanian
Communist Party, the PFLP and the
DFLP, as well as members of parlia-
ment, such as the deputy from Kerak.
So, rather than providing more
democracy as promised, the regime has
actually reversed the moves it made
earlier this year when it declared an
22
amnesty and actually released a number
of political prisoners.
The bigh stick is most graphically il-
lustrated by the appointment of Zeid
Bin Shaker as prime minister for the
new government whose designated role
is to prepare for the new parliament
elections. Until being appointed as
court adviser on security affairs this
year, he served as army commander for
12 years and is described in the official
army history as «the principal architect
of the operational plan for neutraliza-
tion of the fedayeen» (1970-71). He is a
member of the Hashemite family and
personally accompanied King Hussein
to quell an army mutiny in Zarqa, in
1957, during a period when the na-
tionalist forces stood much stronger in
Jordan than is the case today. (In 1956,
there were relatively free elections
under Suleiman Nabulsi’s government,
which enabled nationalist forces to take
the majority of parliament seats.)
Shaker is reputedly popular in the army
which is disproportionately recruited
from among southerners. It remains to
be seen if his charisma works in the
post-revolt phase.
Fulfilling the masses’ demands re-
quires a number of immediate steps to
reduce unemployment, increase wages
in line with the reduction of the dinar’s
value, and lower the prices on basic
goods. However, the popular revolt has
accentuated the fact that Jordari’s
economic crisis cannot be solved short
of a comprehensive economic reform
which could only be enacted if there is a
radical political change as well, based
on instating civil liberties and reviving
parliamentary life through free and
democratic elections. Such programs
can only be enacted by a national
democratic government that enjoys the
trust of the masses. This is not
something that can come about over-
night, but should provide the guidelines
for the nationalist and progressive
forces’ struggle in Jordan. The Jorda-
nian mass revolt has already provided
the Palestinian uprising with an objec-
tive support in forcing the regime to
think twice about its policies. With the
active input of the conscious political
forces, the mass movement in Jordan
could play a pivotal role in spreading
the intifada to open a new stage of the
Arab national liberation struggle. @
Anni Kanafani
Originally, the Foundation was
established to collect and republish
Ghassan’s literary works and arrange
translations, as well as to carry out
other cultural activities. The
kindergartens began as part of these
cultural activities and have become the
main focus of the Foundation’s work.
We have chosen to specialize in
kindergartens instead of doing a lot of
different activities, because we felt it
was better to concentrate on one theme.
Maybe the fact that I am a kindergarten
teacher influenced our choice, but the
main thing was that in 1974, when we
began, there was a great need for
kindergartens in the camps; there was
only one in all the Palestinian camps in
Lebanon, established by the In’ash
group in 1970. So we began by
establishing a kindergarten in Burj Al
Barajneh camp, Beirut, in 1974.
We now have six kindergartens. All
run on a double shift, which means that
one group of children come from 8
a.m. until noon, and another group
from noon until 4 p.m. There are also
two groups of teachers. The Burj Al
Barajneh kindergarten is still small,
accomodating about 60 children. Since
1981, we have been hoping to build a
bigger and better kindergarten just
outside of the camp, to accomodate
needy Lebanese children as well as
Palestinians. The Foundation was
established by Lebanese as well as
Palestinian friends of Ghassan, and is a
recognized Lebanese foundation, open
to all children according to need. We
have had to postpone our plans for the
new building due to the recurring wars,
beginning with the 1982 Israeli inva-
sion, but we haven’t given up this plan.
In Ain Al Hilweh camp, near Sidon,
there is a larger kindergarten for 300
children. In Rashidieh camp, near
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