Democratic Palestine : 9 (ص 26)
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- Democratic Palestine : 9 (ص 26)
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Jordan
New Government for Camp David
The formation of anew government
in early April is a sure sign that the Jorda-
nian monarchy is serious about entering
the imperialist settlement now. Politi-
cally, the composition of the new gov-
ernment is geared to removing the ob-
stacles to Jordan's entry into Camp
David; specifically it aims at forming a
Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to
negotiate with the US, then ‘Israel’. This
means pressuring Arafat to explicitly
recognize Security Council resolution
242, and thereby the right of ‘Israel’ to
exist, and/or relinguish the PLO’s right to
represent the Palestinians. It also
means improving relations with Syria, so
as to contain opposition to Jordanian-
PLO involvement in the US plans.
Moreover, King Hussein is. shrewd
enough to realize that he may get
nothing from imperialism and Zionism in
this round. In such case, he would need
good relations with Syria in order to sur-
vive in the aftermath.
Politicos to the fore
The last two government heads,
Obeidat and Badran, rose to political
Office from the intelligence service; they
were thus well suited to preside over the
repression on which the monarchy relies
so heavily. Yet what Hussein needs now
is a political breakthrough, so he chose
Zaid Rifai as prime minister and defense
minister. Rifai is a skilled politician, edu-
cated at a US prestige university, Har-
vard, and with excellent contacts in the
US establishment. Rifai’s other advan-
tage is long-standing relations with
Syria. He headed three governments
between 1973 and 1976, the highpoint
of Syrian-Jordanian relations. Unlike his
predecessors, he is not suspected of
supporting the Muslim Brotherhood
against Syria.
Rifai is also known for his tough line
on the PLO and the Palestinians gener-
ally. When the Rabat Summit recog-
nized the PLO as the sole, legitimate
representative of the Palestinian people
in 1974, Rifai quarrelled with Arafat. In
effect, Rifai told the PLO chairman: Now
you took the right to represent the Pales-
tinians, but you will return, asking us to
represent you before the US.-Thanks to
Arafat's right-wing deviation, these
26
words became a prophesy.
Hussein’s quest to control the
Palestinians is also seen in the compos-
ition of the government as a whole: Ele-
ven of twenty-three ministers are Pales-
tinian, accounting for all the main cities
and traditional families of the West
Bank. From a class viewpoint, this is the
ultimate weapon of the Jordanian
regime against the Palestinian people. It
has long worked to cultivate a sector of
the traditional Palestinian bourgeoisie
as a loyal «leadership» to collaborate in
controlling the masses whose resis-
tance has thus far blocked Camp
David's completion. It is not just history
that the Jordanian regime was created
by British colonialism in 1921, to absorb
the Palestinians soon to be disposses-
sed by Zionist settler colonialism. In the
current phase, the regime carries out
rear guard action, in imperialigm’s ser-
vice, to complement the Zionist invasion
of Lebanon, which caused the Palesti-
nian right-wing to give up the national
struggle.
sent poe
imprisoned by the Jordanian intelligence
since February 14th
The _ political
Camp David
The former government rep-
resented the bureaucratic bourgeoisie
who opt for a state role in the economy.
Especially in the context of Jordan’s
economic difficulties and dependence,
this has been having bad effects on the
private sector. There was pressure on
Hussein from the comprador, finance
and commercial strata of the
economy of
bourgeoisie to give more freedom to the
private sector. Rifai represents the
king's positive response. His first meet-
ing in office was with the Chamber of
Commerce where he promised liberali-
zation of the economy, i.e. less state
control. This should prepare Jordan for
the economic side of Camp David: even
more dependence on imperialism with
results as can be clearly seen in Egypt.
In this context, it is interesting to
note the article of Jordanian Crown
Prince Talal Bin Hassan in Foreign Pol-
icy (Winter 1984-85). After warning of
chaos in the region if there is no settle-
ment of the Arab-Zionist conflict, he
states the regime's alternative to social
revolution: «A comprehensive settle-
ment would release the constructive
capacities of both Jordanians and
Palestinians to work for socioeconomic
development that can consolidate the
peace. It could easily turn the region into
an advanced workshop and a mainte-
nance center of modern technology.
Such a settlement will have to be sup-
ported by a Marshall-type plan for the
region...»
For this, the Jordanian regime
launched the «land for peace» formula,
and it is this dream in which the Palesti-
nian right-wing bourgeoisie hopes to find
a niche. This is the class basis for
Arafat’s deviation and the Amman
accord. However, a glance at the
realities of imperialist and Zionist domi-
nance in the area shows that such
dreams are truly illusions, and moreover
nightmares for the masses. Zionism,
including the Labor Party, is not pre-
pared to enter into an equal exchange; it
has only eyed the chance for being
accepted in the area, and thus getting a
larger share of the exploitation of Arab
resources and_ labor. Increased
imperialist dominance will not bring
development, but only more depen-
dency and some crumbs for the regimes
and bourgeoisie. This reservation can
be irrelevant for King Hussein and his ilk,
as long as their thrones are secure. Yet
for the Palestinian masses, such a «sol-
ution» denotes disaster, heralding new,
more entrenched forms of partition,
domination and exploitation of their land
and themselves. @ - هو جزء من
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