US embassy cable - 04AMMAN6771

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 006771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KISL, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: ANTI-NORMALIZERS, ISLAMISTS DEFY GOVERNMENT AND 
PRESS ATTACK AGAINST REFORMIST MP 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 04629 
     B. AMMAN 03484 
     C. AMMAN 02764 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affaires David Hale for Reasons 1.5 (b),(d) 
 
 ------ 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  (C) The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) announced a 
"boycott" of MP Raed Qaqish after he appeared on an Al Hurra 
television program debating an Israeli official.  The GOJ 
publicly rebuked the JEA and the related Professional 
Associations Council (PAC), reminding them that the PAC 
Anti-Normalization Committee had earlier been ruled 
unconstitutional for engaging in prohibited political 
activity.  The PAC refused to back down, declaring that the 
JEA decision was an "internal matter" beyond the government's 
authority.  Qaqish received a supportive statement from his 
colleagues in Parliament, although members of the Islamic 
Action Front (IAF) were quick to distance themselves from it. 
 Qaqish alleges that he is being personally targeted for his 
reformist, pro-Western agenda and criticized a "very weak" 
Prime Minister al-Fayez for refusing to personally weigh in 
on the matter.  If the GOJ declines to back up its warnings 
with action, it could further embolden anti-normalizers.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
AL HURRA PROGRAM SPARKS ANTI-NORMALIZERS' IRE 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) The JEA announced July 28 that it had decided "not 
to invite or honor the presence of Raed Qaqish at any 
events."   Qaqish is a JEA member and MP in the Chamber of 
Deputies (Christian, East Banker - Balqa, 1st District) -- 
one of the Chamber's few outspoken liberal reformists. 
According to the press, the JEA's decision was prompted by a 
recommendation of the PAC Anti-Normalization Committee in 
response to Qaqish's appearance the week before on Al Hurra, 
during which he debated Israeli official Ranna Gissan over 
the security barrier in the West Bank (and, ironically, 
stoutly defended Jordanian opposition to the wall).  Qaqish 
promptly complained to Minister of Interior Samir Habashneh 
about the "boycott" and asked that Habashneh take action 
against the JEA if it did not reverse its decision. 
 
3.  (U) Habashneh sent a public memo August 4 to the PAC 
rebuking it for harming Jordan's national unity and economy. 
He threatened to take "necessary measures" if the Council and 
its Anti-Normalization Committee did not refrain from 
"illegal" actions against individuals they deemed to be 
normalizers with Israel.  He further referred to a November 
2002 ruling by the Court of Cassation's Special Bureau for 
the Interpretation of Law, which found the PAC and the 
Anti-Normalization Committee to be engaged in prohibited 
political activity.  Habashneh met with PAC leaders on August 
5. 
 
4.  (U) The PAC, in response, mounted a vigorous defense. 
Its president claimed that the boycott decision was "an 
internal JEA matter" that had nothing to do with the 
Anti-Normalization Committee.  He reiterated the PAC's 
position against normalization with Israel and said it would 
not abandon its "educational" campaign aimed at informing 
citizens about how to refrain from dealing with the Jewish 
state.  He stated that the GOJ's actions were a setback to 
the political reform and that complaints should be taken up 
by the courts, not the Interior Ministry.  JEA chairman Wael 
Al-Saqqa announced that there would be "no backtracking on 
our decision to resist normalization," which he characterized 
as a "national and religious duty." 
 
----------------------------------- 
MEANWHILE, BACK IN PARLIAMENT . . . 
----------------------------------- 
 
5.  (U) In addition to turning to the Minister of Interior, 
Qaqish sought the support of his fellow MPs.  Sympathetic 
colleagues issued a statement in the name of Parliament 
(currently in recess) August 7 denouncing the JEA decision 
and accusing the PAC of "intellectual terrorism", only to see 
the statement rescinded when other MPs cried foul.  In press 
reports, Islamic Action Front (IAF) Deputy Ali Abul Sukkar 
(West Banker, Zarqa - 2nd District) said that he and others 
had protested because the body's Permanent Bureau, which 
traditionally endorses such statements, had not discussed the 
issue.  The Permanent Bureau met August 8 and authorized a 
second statement.  The new statement called on the 
associations to focus on developing their professions, rather 
than on side issues, and urged the GOJ to ensure that all 
parties to the controversy, including the PAC, abide by 
current laws. 
 
6.  (U) Sukkar alleged to reporters that "parties outside 
Parliament" had "intervened" to alter the second statement, 
and that the published text did not accurately reflect the 
consensus of the Permanent Bureau.  IAF members issued their 
own statement reiterating their support for the professional 
associations and rejecting attempts to interfere in their 
affairs, alleging that such acts were "unwarranted and 
unconstitutional." 
------------------ 
PERSONAL VENDETTA? 
------------------ 
 
7.  (C) Qaqish claimed to PolOffs August 9 he had been 
personally targeted by anti-normalizers and Islamists who 
pounced on his appearance on Al Hurra to destroy his 
political career.  The reasons he was being targeted, he 
said, included his pro-Western positions, his ties to the 
U.S. (where he studied and has good contacts in the NGO 
community), and his vocal backing for reform.  The fact that 
he was seen as a young upstart in Parliament, and came from 
the Christian community, also played a role.  Qaqish noted 
that this was not the first time he has been embroiled in 
controversy.  He was attacked by Islamist elements for 
traveling to the U.S. on an NGO-sponsored trip without 
"parliamentary approval," and for bringing members of another 
U.S. NGO to a meeting in Salt to discuss development projects 
(ref b). 
 
8.  (C) Qaqish criticized PM al-Fayez for refusing to weigh 
in on the controversy, describing him as a "very weak" 
leader.  Fayez had talked with Qaqish on the phone, but 
rather than offer support, he urged Qaqish to meet and work 
things out privately with the JEA to prevent further 
"escalation" (which Qaqish refused to do).  While Qaqish 
confided that he "feared for the future" -- not only 
regarding his career, but also for the future direction of 
Jordan -- he said he felt emboldened to speak out against the 
Islamic fundamentalists who attacked him.  "I know I'm 
playing with fire by doing this, especially since I'm 
Christian," Qaqish stated, "but I have to defend myself." 
 
9.  (C) Not all the attention directed at Qaqish has been 
negative.  Qaqish said he was gratified by numerous calls of 
support from constituents, civil society figures, and fellow 
reformists in Parliament.  While much of this encouragement 
has been private, others have spoken out in defense of 
Qaqish.  Human rights activist Walid Saadi was quoted as 
saying the whole controversy was absurd given that Qaqish's 
rebuttal of Israeli arguments on the security barrier was a 
national duty "especially for members of Parliament, rather 
than an act of treason." 
 
------------------- 
THE STORY CONTINUES 
------------------- 
 
10.  (C) On August 10, Qaqish announced that he would contest 
the JEA decision in court.  The following day, Government 
Spokeswoman Asma Khader was quoted in Arabic daily Al-Dustoor 
as saying that the government had "no position" on 
anti-normalization.  (Note:  The Jordan News Agency, Petra, 
reported Khader as saying that membership in professional 
associations should be based on professional, not political, 
criteria, and that "the JEA's actions against Qaqish are not 
based on professional standards.")  Qaqish told PolOff he was 
"deeply disappointed" with Khader's statement and that he was 
now rethinking his plan to take the matter to court.  "I 
don't want to pursue legal action if the government is going 
to sit back and let me become a scapegoat," stated Qaqish. 
The New Reformist bloc in Parliament (of which Qaqish is a 
member) met late in the evening August 11 to determine their 
next course of action, and planned to speak August 12 with 
Lower House Speaker Abdul Al-Majali (who has been away). 
 
 
------- 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
11.  (C) Anti-normalization forces continue to test the 
government's willingness to confront them.  Qaqish, who seems 
to relish some aspects of his "celebrity" status, provided 
anti-normalizers an opportune vehicle as he is not closely 
associated with the government and has made several enemies 
in Islamist circles.  Habashneh's failure to take action to 
back up his warning to the professional associations runs the 
risk of emboldening the anti-normalizers further, especially 
since Habashneh has chastised them before with no real 
consequences (see ref a).  Khader's ill-conceived statement 
may not reflect GOJ thinking; she has a habit of providing 
uninformed, off-the-cuff answers to the media.  But it will 
probably encourage Qaqish's detractors to continue their 
campaign.  As Qaqish argued to us, it may take a gesture by 
the King, rather than by a government increasingly perceived 
as ineffectual, to rein in those fighting normalization. 
12.  (C) This incident illustrates how the highly 
politicized, Islamist-influenced professional associations 
are regaining some of their former preeminence in the absence 
of a more representative, aggressive Parliament.  Jordan's 
professional associations, which historically filled a 
political vacuum left by the absence of legal parties, now 
appear to be trying to exploit the political vacuum left by 
an unimpressive and constrained Parliament.  Since the 
associations traffic in the most extreme anti-U.S., 
anti-Israel and anti-reform rhetoric, the regime is likely to 
move quickly to quell signs of renewed association activism. 
 
 
Please visit Embassy Amman's classified web site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/ or through the 
Department of State's SIPRNET site. 
HALE