Democratic Palestine : 45 (ص 25)
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- Democratic Palestine : 45 (ص 25)
- المحتوى
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it constructive to assess the initial reaction of the mass
movement because «the scope of the destruction inflicted on
Iraq by the aggressive imperialist coalition caused shock and a
mechanical reaction. But after exposure of the objectives of
this aggression, the masses in general and the political forces in
particular began a process of reconsidering and rearranging
their priorities in order to confront the imperialist — Zionist
plan. Immediately after the war, the imperialists and Zionists
sought to capitalize on the new situation in the region in order
to promote their control over the oil and the region, and to
liquidate the Palestinian cause. Our masses became even more
conscious of these plans and this issue will be a major pillar of
the mass movement in the future.»
Tayseer Al Zabri conceded that one cannot compare the
mass mobilization during the crisis with the present situation,
«Our people were astonished by what happened. They
anticipated a long battle, but no battle occurred and they are
suffering as a result. As the [Iraqi] troops were withdrawing
from Kuwait, people here were in the streets shouting that we
are winning the battle, not knowing the battle had already
ended, because we did not trust the Western media when it
reported the results of the war. It was horrible...Now the
people have stopped some of their activities because they are
watching what the Iraqi government has done — accepting
resolution 687 and the troops in the North. But I think the
people are still ready to struggle against imperialism and
Zionism. They are now watching for the time when they will get
their strength in battle, but what can they do when there is no
battle?
«While our people were looking to the Iraqi leadership to
face the battle, in Jordan we are seeking democracy, pluralism
and the cancellation of martial law, connecting these national
demands to our position towards Iraq and the Gulf crisis, and
focusing on the intifada to the same degree. We said that
Jerusalem — Amman — Baghdad is our line of battle. Now one
line of the battle has stopped, but Amman still requires our
forces, and the intifada still needs Palestinian — Arab joint
struggle against Israel.»
Lua’y Dabbagh of the Unity Party evaluated the aftermath
of the Gulf war as follows: «We have to accept the reality that
the level of activity and great enthusiasm has declined, because
the masses feel more defeated than do the political parties and
movements. During the war, there were many committees of
many types and their main interest was to support Iraq and
mobilize the people to defend Jordan in case of war. Such
committees dissolved by themselves. We have the duty to revive
the mass movement by a major initiative — a political,
economic initiative, using the social struggle as an instrument
to mobilize the people to struggle for their own interests in the
face of the acute economic crisis. We are working on how to
defend the political and civil rights of women in particular, as
well as of other social sectors. The masses are ready to be
involved when the political parties and movement are mature
and have a response to the issues that concern them.
«Mounting a major initiative depends on how the political
parties view the new era. The main thing is to protect
democracy, to pressure the bourgeoisie and government to
resolve the economic crisis, taking into account the interests of
the popular classes. The initiative of the political parties and
popular forces must revive mass mobilization in order to
protect democracy, support Iraq’s reconstruction, defend its
territorial integrity and resolve the Kurdish question in the
framework of an internal solution based on democracy and self
— determination of the Kurdish people, but protecting Iraq’s
integrity. We are now working on part of this initiative,
concentrating on defending the right of Palestinians and
Democratic Palestine, August 1991
Jordanians in Kuwait. This is a prelude to raising other
questions.»
At the time of this interview, protests were at a height
against the death sentences handed down by martial courts in
Kuwait against 29 Iraqis, Jordanians, Palestinians and other
Arabs for such «crimes» as writing or making lay — out fora
pro — Iraqi newspaper. This made front — page headlines as
the Jordanian government called for international intervention
to reverse the death sentences. PNC members directed an open
letter to Kuwaiti officials demanding that these arbitrary and
excessive sentences be rescinded and torture ended. On June
19th, 150 relatives of the condemned staged a sit — in at the
Red Cross. building in Amman, accompanied _ by
representatives of popular committees and unions, as well as
three MPs. They then headed toward the Kuwaiti embassy,
intending to present a petition demanding fair trials, reversal of
the death sentences and an end to acts of revenge and torture.
Kuwaiti officials tried to keep the people off the embassy
grounds and refused to receive the petition, leading MP
Mansour Murad of JANDA to call for Jordan to severe ties
with Kuwait if the latter did not respond to the appeals.
In late June, Kuwait commuted all 29 death sentences to life.
imprisonment in response to the appeal of the UN Secretary —
General and other international organizations. However, no
other steps have been taken that would indicate fair treatment
for all. On the contrary, discrimination against non — Kuwaiti
Arabs has accelerated, leading to a mass exodus of as many as
5,000 people from Kuwait in two weeks. In Amman on July
4th, 2,000 protested the mistreatment of Palestinians and
Jordanians in Kuwait, along with the Lebanese Army’s shelling
of Palestinian camps near Sidon, in the biggest demonstration
in Jordan since the end of the Gulf war.
The Islamic forces
Until the new democratic era, the Muslim Brotherhood was
the only organized force allowed to work openly in Jordan.
With the 1989 elections, the Islamic forces gained roughly one
— third of the seats in the parliament, constituting the single
biggest bloc. They were subsequently prominent in the mass
mobilization against the imperialist attack on Iraq and, in
January, Prime Minister Badran brought the Brotherhood into
his cabinet. In answer to a question as to whether the Islamic
forces have gained or lost influence as a result of the outcome
of the Gulf war and their own participation in government,
Lua’y Dabbagh said: «It is clear that the Islamic forces are
becoming weaker, but that does not mean that the left or other
nationalist forces are stronger. In the aftermath of the war,
mass participation and enthusiasm are less, as I explained,
because the masses feel the defeat. To some extent they hold the
political forces responsible for this. Since the Islamic forces are
the biggest group among these forces, they suffer the impact [of
this blame] more than others. Also their participation in
government negatively influenced their mass support, because
they diverted the struggle from facing the big problems our
society has. They worked to reinforce their presence in the
ministries they controlled and to limit the role of women. In
addition to their policies in the field of education, they
segregated employees in the Ministry of Social Development.
In a ministry that really depends on women — over 60% of the
employees are women — this obviously had a negative impact.»
Tayseer Al Zabri insisted that the relative decline in the
Islamic forces’ popularity was almost solely connected to their
record in government: «The people saw that they gave nothing.
In the social field, they confronted the women’s union. In the
field of education, they elicited the opposition of hundreds of
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- Democratic Palestine : 45
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