Between Terrorism and Civil War by Clive Jones Ami Pedahzur

Author:Clive Jones, Ami Pedahzur [Clive Jones, Ami Pedahzur]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Middle East, Military, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science
ISBN: 9781136868115
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2013-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

EARLY RESPONSES

As early as 2 October 2000, less than a week after the eruption of violence, a mass demonstration was organised by the union of the professional associations and several Islamist groups, in support of the Palestinians. The organisers denounced ‘Israel's brutality’ and demanded the closure of its embassy in Amman. Continuous and intensified expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians and protests against Israel included, in addition to mass demonstrations with the burning of the Israeli flag, public rallies and strikes, as well as written and oral criticism of the government and virulent anti-Israeli propaganda. Demands to suspend relations with Israel or to abolish the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty enjoyed ever greater and wider public support and were even heard in the parliament.

The professional associations initiated and led most activities. They prepared a blacklist of individuals and organisations accused of normalising relations with Israel, and leaked it to the press. They also organised a ‘march of return’ of Palestinian refugees, 20,000-strong, heading for Allenby Bridge on the Jordan River; they were stopped by the police. The Jordanian Monetary Exchange Society forbade the use of the New Israeli Shekel (NIS), and money-changers were not allowed to make any transaction in the Israeli currency.6

For its part the government publicly committed itself to the Palestinian cause. The King undertook to put all Jordan's resources at the disposal of the PNA and to provide as much food, medical assistance and treatment, as was needed. He personally donated blood. Palestinian intifada victims were hospitalised in Jordan as government guests. Jordan had also delayed the departure for Israel of its newly-designated ambassador.

Simultaneously, however, as early as 6 October the government banned demonstrations of support for the intifada. The prime minister called for a cessation of all acts of protest after a demonstrator at one of the refugee camps was killed in an encounter with security forces. Even though political observers questioned the legality of the government decree, the police did arrest participants in what were defined as unlawful acts of protest.7

Later on, when the anti-normalisation committee (ANC) of the professional associations published another blacklist of ‘normalisers’, against the government's will, the confrontation between the two sides heralded a new chapter, with the arrest of several members of the ANC. The government insisted that its duty to protect civil liberties included the right to establish business ties with Israel. As previously implied, while the professional associations and other opposition groups took advantage of the intifada and its derivatives to defy the government, the latter made use of the same situation to curb the political activities of the professional associations.8

The intifada uncovered yet another dimension to the gap between regime and public. The government-controlled media were accused of not playing ‘a constructive role’ in supporting the Palestinians. Their coverage of the uprising was construed by viewers and listeners as not being sufficiently empathic with, or enthusiastic for, the Palestinian cause. The media were depicted by a Jordanian paper as ‘one of the first and unexpected victims of the Intifada’.

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