US embassy cable - 02AMMAN3958

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 003958 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, KPAL, IS, JO 
SUBJECT: Travel Restrictions for Palestinians Crossing 
Jordanian border-Feeding Public Concern Over a Possible 
Transfer 
 
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Summary 
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1.  Tales of West Bank Palestinians stuck at the Jericho 
border crossing have been prominent in conversations 
throughout Jordan in recent weeks.  Rumors and anecdotal 
reports of thousands stranded - some for over a week - 
waiting either for Israel to lift the curfew so they can 
return to their villages, or for Jordan to admit them, have 
triggered conflicting emotions for many here, focused 
largely on the question of whether Israel intends to 
engineer a large-scale transfer of Palestinians, and how the 
Jordanian Government should respond.  End Summary. 
 
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Palestinian border crossing: Old New Problem 
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2.  Jordanian officials are evidently nervous about the 
image solidifying in the public imagination of Palestinians 
suffering at the hands of insensitive Jordanian border 
officials, and have issued a statement reiterating Jordan's 
open bridge policy.  Minister of State for Political Affairs 
Mohammed Adwan stated on July 10; "The open bridges policy 
remains our national strategy to help strengthen the 
steadfastness of the Palestinians." While numerous press 
reports claim the Jordan has limited the number of 
Palestinians allowed to enter the country to 350 a day 9 
(from 3000 in the past), officials deny taking such measures 
and claim that the number admitted on a daily basis is 
around 1000.  Priority is given to medical cases and the 
rest are investigated for "precautionary measures" to make 
sure that Palestinians who visit Jordan will return to the 
West Bank.  The Minister of Interior has announced publicly 
"We will not accept any transfer of Palestinians into 
Jordan."  Here in Jordan, there is a strong consensus among 
both Palestinians and Jordanians that West Bank Palestinians 
would remain on their lands and not repeat the tragedy of 
prior refugee flows in 1948 and 1967.  Both Palestinians and 
Jordanians fear that Sharon's ultimate agenda is the 
wholesale transfer of West Bank Palestinians to Jordan. 
 
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What it means for Palestinians: Vignettes of opinions 
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3. "This is an old new problem" according to Fawzi Samhouri, 
Director of Jordan Society for Citizen Rights, a prominent 
human rights group. The problem started last year when the 
Jordanian Ministry of Interior issued new procedures to 
Palestinians wishing to visit Jordan. The procedures limited 
the reasons for travel to humanitarian reasons. After a rush 
of criticism, debate died. Now, however, "there is a feeling 
that Israel wants to push the Palestinians out, and there 
are rumors of transfer. . .This is making Jordanians very 
nervous". 
 
4. Dr. Nitham Assaf of the Amman Center for Human Rights 
believes that talk of a transfer is irresponsible-on the 
part of the government or the chattering classes:  "From a 
human rights perspective, Jordan should be facilitating 
entry and not creating additional barriers." He feels that 
Jordan is using people's fear of transfer to suppress 
freedom of movement. "If transfer is a real threat, then why 
not close the borders. If Jordan wants to support the 
steadfastness of the Palestinians, then they should allow 
them entry to regain their strength in order to go back and 
stand strong in the face of the occupation." This to him 
looks like "a war from two sides on one people." 
 
5. For another Jordanian intellectual, the truth of the 
matter remains unclear. The Arab media, he believes is 
acting irresponsibly by trafficking in rumors and blame. He 
states that no one knows the truth, "all we know for a fact 
is that there are people stuck on the border, Jordan blames 
Israel and vice versa." On the one hand Jordanian officials 
carefully state that the number of arrivals equals that of 
the departures, and on the other they issue contradictory 
statements about "precautionary measures" to stop a 
transfer. The same contact opined that "it is too premature 
to create havoc - as no one knows the real story." 
 
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And It All Comes Down to the Transfer Questions 
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6. Many Embassy contacts say that Jordan should open its 
gates as long as the number of arrivals equals the number of 
departures.  One Palestinian contact said "90 percent of 
those who leave, do so for pressing medical needs, education 
for their children, or transit via Jordan, 10 percent leave 
for pleasure." Jordanians of Palestinian origin have family 
ties and would like to welcome their relatives, however many 
trans-Jordanians have expressed fear that history will 
repeat itself. One trans-Jordanian stated "In 1948 we had 
refugees running from the occupation, in 1967 we had a flood 
of humanitarian refugees, and in 1991 we had returnees who 
were expelled from the Gulf, and now what? Transfer?" 
 
7. A Jordanian intellectual explained what all this means to 
him:  "This is part of the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank 
that  has gone on since 1967." He believes that only  severe 
hardship  cases  should be allowed to  leave.  On  the  same 
issue, a Jordanian woman feels torn: "If my cousin from  the 
West  Bank  wants desperately to visit me, then I can't  say 
no, but I know in the larger picture, everyone has a cousin! 
If everyone acted on their emotion, then we let Sharon win." 
 
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Comment 
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8. Jordanians from all walks of life fear that the long-term 
plans   of   Israel   threaten  Jordanian  and   Palestinian 
identities. Transfer is on every ones mind. 
 
Gnehm