US embassy cable - 04AMMAN8868

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 008868 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/28/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, KISL, JO 
SUBJECT: ANTI-NORMALIZERS, ISLAMISTS ON THE DEFENSIVE 
 
REF: A. AMMAN 08794 
 
     B. AMMAN 08793 
     C. AMMAN 07862 
     D. AMMAN 07619 
     E. AMMAN 06771 
 
Classified By: CDA David Hale for Reasons 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C) A Jordanian court declared illegal an anti-normalizer 
boycott of a member of parliament.  Rumors of corruption are 
plaguing Islamists, whose push to oust the Interior Minister 
failed (in fact, may have saved him).  A sit-in protesting 
the peace treaty with Israel drew a smaller than expected 
crowd.  End Summary. 
 
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COURT DEALS BLOW TO ANTI-NORMALIZERS 
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2.  (U) The Jordanian Higher Court of Justice declared "null 
and void" October 22 a decision by the Jordan Engineers 
Association (JEA) to refuse to invite JEA member and MP Raed 
Qaqish (Christian East Banker - Balqa, 1st Dist.) to any of 
its events in retaliation for Qaqish's appearance on Al Hurra 
to debate an Israeli official (ref E).  The court ruled that 
the JEA action, based on a recommendation by the Professional 
Associations Council (which is dominated by 
anti-normalizers), did not abide by proper legal procedures 
for disciplinary matters and was not stipulated in the JEA's 
bylaws.  Qaqish publicly praised the court's ruling as a 
victory for "the sovereignty of the state of law" and said he 
was considering filing lawsuits against the JEA and its 
individual leaders for falsely accusing him of advocating 
normalization with Israel and slandering his reputation in 
the press. 
 
3.  (U) JEA President Wael Saqaa told the English-language 
daily Jordan Times that despite the court decision, the JEA 
would continue to urge its members to fight normalization 
with "the Zionist enemy" and to deny invitations to any 
member who "normalized" with Israel.  "This is the direction 
we are following at the association and if I am violating any 
law, let them try me," Saqaa said defiantly. 
 
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ISLAMISTS' BANE RETAINS POST IN CABINET 
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4.  (C) As reported previously, Interior Minister Samir 
Habashneh has advocated taking a hard-line stance against 
Islamists and anti-normalizers, sometimes coming into 
conflict with Prime Minister al-Fayez, and others in a 
divided cabinet, who prefer to take a more conciliatory 
approach (ref C).  Habashneh was outspoken in his opposition 
to the JEA action against Qaqish (ref E), and was one of the 
driving forces behind the GOJ's controversial roundup of 
unlicensed mosque preachers (ref D).  (NOTE:  The Ministry of 
Islamic Affairs has announced that it will hold a conference 
for Muslim preachers in November that will produce a 
"charter" for permissible sermons.  End note.)  Meetings 
between Habashneh and MPs of the Islamic Action Front (IAF) 
reportedly deteriorated into shouting matches, leading the 
IAF to publicly request that PM al-Fayez dismiss "provocative 
ministers." 
 
5.  (C) British Ambassador Christopher Prentice told Charge 
October 17 that during a recent private conversation with 
former Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, Muasher told him that 
King Abdullah was upset at Habashneh for not being a "team 
player" and for alienating other ministers, but did not want 
to remove Habashneh from the cabinet or reassign him to 
another post lest the IAF interpret such a move as a sign of 
government weakness.  Consequently, Habashneh retained his 
job as Interior Minister in PM al-Fayez's reshuffled cabinet 
announced October 24 (ref A), and can be expected to closely 
heed the King's call to crack down on oppositionists.  A 
clearly smug Habashneh told Charge on October 28 that he had 
every intention of keeping the pressure on the IAF, but that 
he recognized there needed to be "balance" so that national 
freedoms were protected. 
 
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NEGATIVE RUMORS BEDEVIL MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD 
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6.  (U) On October 17, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) accepted 
the public resignation of Dr. Ali Hawamdeh, former IAF MP and 
director of the Islamic Hospital until 2002, from its ranks. 
The MB tried to downplay the resignation, saying that members 
had the "freedom to withdraw at their convenience," and 
refused to comment on Hawamdeh's motives.  In his resignation 
letter, part of which was published in the local Arabic 
press, Hawamdeh cited health reasons for his decision to 
resign, but also stated his hope that the MB would "make 
right the issues that are the main topic in private settings 
within the (MB)," and asked for God's forgiveness if he did 
anything wrong in his "efforts to make things right" at the 
MB and the IAF. 
7.  (C) Hawamdeh's resignation sparked rumors of possible 
corruption within the MB, particularly related to its 
charitable activities, or of a divisive power struggle 
between "hawks" and "doves" inside the leadership.  An editor 
in Arabic-daily Al-Rai wrote an op-ed piece October 19 on 
accusations of Islamist corruption and said Hawamdeh's letter 
of resignation was "an open invitation" for the government to 
take a closer look at what prompted Hawamdeh to leave the MB. 
 
 
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LOW TURN-OUT MARKS PEACE TREATY PROTEST 
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8.  (C) Attendance at a sit-in held October 26 to protest the 
tenth anniversary of the Jordan-Israel peace treaty (ref B) 
disappointed the sponsors.  The Jordanian Public Security 
Directorate told RSO that only 150 people -- representing 
Islamist groups, trade unions, and left-wing opposition 
parties -- participated in the peaceful protest on the steps 
of the Professional Associations building.  (NOTE:  The fact 
that it is Ramadan undoubtedly contributed to a lower 
turn-out.  End note.)  After the symbolic burning of an 
Israeli flag, speakers delivered fiery tirades against 
Israel.  Hussein Majali, head of the Jordanian Bar 
Association, declared that the treaty was "not legally 
binding on us," and said it was the duty of Jordanians to 
"carry out armed struggle" and to "fight the (Israeli) 
occupation of Palestine." 
HALE