US embassy cable - 02AMMAN7312

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 007312 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2012 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, JO 
SUBJECT: THE GOJ, PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, AND 
ANTI-NORMALIZATION: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY? 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR EDWARD W. GNEHM.  REASONS: 1.5 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (C) SUMMARY.  Since the middle of November, the Jordanian 
Government has stepped up pressure on professional 
associations to reform, with PM Abul Ragheb aggressively 
championing the view that the associations should tend to the 
needs of their members instead of engaging in political 
activism on controversial subjects.  The issue of compulsory 
membership in professional associations is once again a hot 
topic of discussion among professionals we talk to.  In 
addition, a November 28 decision annulled the latest 
committee elections of the Jordanian Engineers' Association 
(JEA) and a GOJ-appointed caretaker committee called for new 
committee elections to be held in February.  Although the GOJ 
released three anti-normalization committee leaders from a 
six week "interrogation", it made clear that 
anti-normalization activities are illegal and will not be 
tolerated.  The PM told a meeting of the presidents of the 
professional associations that their complicity in organizing 
anti-normalization committees and/or activities is unlawful. 
 
 
2.  (C)  Street reaction is mixed.  Many professionals 
support Abul Ragheb's position and also criticize compulsory 
membership in the associations, but point to lack of 
parliamentary elections (and of strong political parties) as 
the ultimate reason for the associations' growing influence 
in the political realm.  Cynics (of which there are many) 
suggest the GOJ is simply desperate to blunt the influence of 
Islamists, whose supporters currently sit at the helm of the 
most powerful of the professional associations.  END SUMMARY 
 
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BACKGROUND:  HOW THE PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS GOT TO WHERE 
THEY ARE 
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3.  (C) Professional associations in Jordan first emerged in 
the 1950s.  The associations were given wide latitude by the 
GOJ to regulate their respective professions.   As political 
parties were not given legitimacy in Jordan until 1989, the 
professional associations assumed the role of surrogate 
political vehicles for their memberships.  According to Raiq 
Kamel (protect), a leftist former council member of the 
Jordan Engineers' Association, the associations were 
dominated by leftist, pan-arabist leaderships until 1967. 
Since then, Islamists have slowly but surely come to dominate 
the leadership of the major professional associations 
(engineers, lawyers, pharmacists, doctors, and others). 
Currently, the leadership of the majority of the professional 
associations consists nearly exclusively of Muslim 
Brotherhood members and/or Islamists. 
 
4. (U) The anti-normalization "committee", established in the 
mid 1990s, sprung from the ranks of the professional 
associations (primarily the engineers' association) as a 
small group opposed to relations with Israel following the 
signing of the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty of 1994.  The 
"committee", which has no official standing in Jordan as a 
society or organization, has since grown in size and 
influence, particularly since the breakdown of the peace 
process in September 2000.  It has staged protests and 
activities at the professional associations' complex in 
Shmesani, and has used "blacklists" of professionals as its 
primary weapon of intimidation. 
 
5.  (C) All professionals must pay dues to their respective 
professional associations in order to obtain, inter alia, 
professional licenses and/or business registrations.  As the 
associations have become increasingly vocal politically, 
compulsory membership has not sat well with a number of 
professionals, political whose views do not coincide with 
those of their association.  Former Minister of Health Zaid 
Hamzeh (protect) has consistently railed against compulsory 
membership in the doctors' association.  In an October 
meeting with PolOff, he complained that a) many, if not most, 
doctors do not subscribe to the political message carried 
forth by the current leadership and b) the association has 
done less and less over the years to regulate the medical 
profession, thus neglecting their GOJ-mandated 
responsibility.  Hamzeh noted that turnout at the doctors' 
association elections is less than 20 percent on average, 
indicating apathy and disorganization among the moderate 
majority of members.  According to Hamzeh, this is what 
allows the organized Islamists the ability to win the 
elections and operate the association for their political 
ends. 
 
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ABUL RAGHEB LEADS CHARGE 
AGAINST ASSOCIATIONS 
------------------------ 
 
6.  (C)  In November, PM Ali Abul Ragheb led a vocal call, 
covered in the local press, for the professional associations 
to reconsider their manifestations from regulatory bodies to 
political machinery.  In subsequent conversations with 
embassy officials, Abul Ragheb, an engineer by training, has 
articulated his point of view with passion and at length. 
Media columnists supportive of the GOJ have rallied to the 
cause, with Al-Rai running a feature story December 9 on 
unemployment among pharmacists, dentists, and engineers.  An 
accompanying photo of the Professional Associations' Complex 
ran with the caption "By setting aside political activities 
and by occupying themselves with the true concerns of the 
profession, the professional associations would be able to 
reduce unemployment." 
 
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COURT ANNULS ENGINEERS' ELECTIONS, 
NEW ELECTIONS IN FEBRUARY 
---------------------------------- 
 
7.  (U) On November 28, the High Court of Justice annulled 
the April elections of the Jordan Engineers' Association 
(JEA).  The court decision came after a number of association 
members protested the elections because they were held before 
new amendments to JEA bylaws were published in their Official 
Gazette.  The court annulled the elections, and appointed a 
caretaking committee that announced on December 4 that new 
JEA elections would be held in February.  Note:  The 
Islamists won all ten seats in the annulled April elections, 
and have held a majority of JEA seats for more than ten 
years. 
 
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ANTI-NORMALIZATION COMMITTEE LEADERS 
RELEASED, GOJ WARNS AGAINST FURTHER ACTIVITY. 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
8.  (U)  In late November, the GOJ released three members of 
the anti-normalization committee (and members of the Jordan 
Engineers' Association) after holding them since October 3 
for "interrogation".  The three members, which included head 
of the anti-normalization committee Ali Abu Sukkar, were 
detained for distributing anti-Israeli posters on school 
grounds.  The PM told a meeting of the presidents of the 
professional associations that their complicity in organizing 
anti-normalization committees and/or activities is unlawful. 
The Islamic Action Front issued a statement calling the GOJ's 
stance "a violation of the public rights in resisting the 
threats on the Zionist enemy on Jordan." 
 
9.  (C)  On December 3, PolOff met with Ousauma Melkawi 
(protect), former member of parliament and attorney.  Melkawi 
criticized the professional associations and the 
anti-normalization committee.  All professional associations 
have been granted the right to regulate their professionals 
by the GOJ, he said.  Thus, the GOJ has the right to step in 
if the associations are not performing the tasks delegated to 
them by the GOJ.  As for the anti-normalization committee, 
Melkawi called it "unethical."  "Everyone in Jordan has the 
right to a lawyer.  But if I, as a lawyer, represent an 
Israeli businessmen who is here as a result of our peace 
treaty, the anti-normalization committee will attack me, and 
the JBA (Jordan Bar Association) can suspend me from the 
practice of law."  Melkawi cited the case of Dr. Ahmad Zobi, 
an attorney currently barred from the practice of law because 
of his "contact" with Israelis.  Melkawi also pointed out 
that the anti-normalization committee's "intimidation 
tactics" are violating Jordanians' right to association.  "A 
Jordanian businessman can lose his business by associating 
with Israelis.  We have a peace treaty with Israel. 
Therefore, the anti-normalization committee is infringing on 
our right to do business." 
 
10.  (C)  For Melkawi, the solution to the issue of 
professional associations is parliamentary elections, 
followed by legislation calling for reform of the 
associations, including the removal of the mandatory 
membership requirement for professionals.  Melkawi believes 
that if the GOJ passes a temporary law stripping the 
professional associations of the mandatory membership 
requirement, the incoming parliament will be under too much 
pressure from the outset to deal with it.  There must be a 
new parliament, and they themselves must pass new laws 
governing the professional associations, he said. 
 
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COMMENT 
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11.  (C) The tension between the professional associations 
and the GOJ is nothing new, but the GOJ appears to be more 
serious about confronting long-standing issues surrounding 
the associations (and the anti-normalization committee) than 
at any time in the recent past.  Cynics (primarily of the 
Islamist variety) say the GOJ is merely attempting to mute 
the voices of opposition.  With the extended delay of 
parliamentary elections, residual anxiety from Ma'an, and 
regional tensions, this conclusion resonates well among the 
economically marginalized. 
 
12.  Cynicism aside, the mandatory membership requirement for 
professionals, many of whom do not agree with the political 
agenda of their associations' leadership, would be a 
legitimate issue for the GOJ to confront.  Addressing the 
"blacklist" intimidation tactics of the anti-normalization 
committee is also a reasonable and expected concern for the 
GOJ.  In the long-term, Jordanians will need more healthy 
political vehicles through which they can express themselves. 
 Many here believe that parliamentary elections, and the 
rehabilitation of political parties, will go a long way 
towards this end. 
GNEHM