Muslim Brotherhood Raising Jordan to Boiling Point
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
29 november 2011, Kislev 3, 5772
A growing reality of the nightmare of refugees from Iraq, from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and from Syria swarming across the borders to Jordan, along with the growingly influential Muslim Brotherhood, threaten the kingdom’s stability, researchers report.
“Within the Kingdom and across three of its borders, unfolding developments carry far reaching implications for the region in general and Jordan’s stability in particular,” according to Oded Eran of the Institute for National Securities Studies (INSS).
King Abdullah faced minor but unusual protests earlier this year, particularly from Bedouin and other Arabs who previously fled Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley during Arab-Israeli wars as well as under the PA regime.
Another ingredient in the boiling Jordanian pot is Iraq. “The U.S. final withdrawal from Iraq may cause anarchy there, which in turn will increase the flow of Iraqi refugees to Jordan,” Eran wrote.
“More than half a million people fled to Jordan in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, exacerbating economic demands and inflationary pressures,” he added. “Ongoing Sunni-Shiite tension may draw Jordan against its will into the conflict, as occurred in 2005 when a Jordanian suicide bomber killed 127 Iraqis in Hillah, mostly Shiites, approximately 100 km south of Baghdad."
The violence in Syria already has spread across the Jordanian border. Syrian soldiers shot at a girl fleeing to Jordan earlier this week, and Jordanian forces rescued her and shot in the air. Last week, Jordanian soldiers arrested a youth for allegedly for helping Syrians to buy arms, and he died in jail, prompting street protests.
Thousands of Syrian protesters have flooded Jordan, and the success of the protest movement may fan flames in the kingdom. The Muslim Brotherhood stands ready to help this happen.
Although Jordan would be pleased with Assad's demise if it weakens ties with Iran, “the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan has sided with the Syrian anti-government forces…puts King Abdullah in an awkward situation. The specter of Jordanian and Syrian Muslim Brotherhood cooperation no doubt raises concerns in the Jordanian palace.”
The monarch went so far as to say that “If I were in his [Assad’s] shoes, I would step down,” but after media reported that he was outrightly urging Assad to quit, the king backtracked.
Another huge threat to King Abdullah is the prospect of a Palestinian Authority unity government that would restore Hamas’s status in Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley.
Although Jordanian palace officials said that on the king’s recent visit to Ramallah, he discussed the proposal from a positive point of view, Eran noted, “A Fatah-Hamas joint platform of action, which may put an end to any prospect of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, would be viewed with great concern in Amman. The absence of any negotiations may drift into violent friction between Israel and the Palestinians with dire consequences for all concerned, Jordan included.
“The fear in Jordan of another wave of Palestinians fleeing a third intifada, in addition to fears from Syrian and Iraqi refugees, must surely cause sleepless nights in Amman.”
Jordan Cozies Up to Assad
May 13 2011, Iyar 9, 5771
by Gavriel Queenann
Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Al Bakhit on Wednesday telephoned his Syrian counterpart Adel Safar to discussed boosting relations between Jordan and Syria, the Jordan Times reports.
During the conversation, Bakhit stressed Jordan’s concern for Syria’s stability, expressing hope that calm will be restored in the Kingdom’s northern neighbor.
He also underscored Jordan’s confidence in the ability of the Syrian leadership to handle ongoing protests in the country in the best interest of Syria and its people.
Safar expressed appreciation of Jordan’s concern about the security and the stability of Syria, commending efforts to develop bilateral relations.
Safar said Assad's government is committed to implementing economic and political reforms President Bashar Asaad announced recently.
Bakhit's call comes as the United States and other western nations seek to isolate the regime of Bashar Assad, which has brutally sought to quell demonstrations calling for his ouster. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144122
Syria has been sharply censured by the International community for its repressive tactics vis-a-vis demonstrators. Sanctions have been imposed on some senior Syrian leaders. On Wednesday, Syria was also forced to withdraw its candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Also Wednesday, Assad's forces shelled residential neighborhoods in Homs, killing eighteen.
Some 750 people have been killed in the violent protests that have rocked the Alawite-run, Sunni-majority nation.
Jordan's motives for seeking to improve relations with Assad's regime as he brutally supresses his people remain an enigma.
Jordanian Columnist to PA: 'Right of Return' Unrealistic
May 11 2011, Iyar 7, 5771
by Chana Ya'ar
A Jordanian news columnist has politely advised the Palestinian Authority to abandon its demand for the “right of return” for Arabs who fled pre-state Israel during the 1948 War of Independence.
The PA has insisted that former Arab residents from more than half a century ago and their descendants, who today number more than five million, all be allowed to “return” to Israel as one of the conditions of a final status agreement.
But Dr. Fahd Al-Fanek, former board chairman of the Jordanian government daily Al-Rai, has written an opinion piece warning the PA that to insist on such a condition is unrealistic.
Al-Fanek urged PA officials in an article published in the Al-Rai to accept whatever peace plan that might be proposed by U.S. President Barack Obama, even though it is likely it will mean that “refugees” will be told to “return” to the nascent PA state, rather than to Israel.
“The realistic commentator is entitled to say that the Palestinian Authority's rejection of Obama's plan... means that the Palestinians will get neither a state nor the [right of] return – because the rejection of this paradigm does not mean that the Palestinians will [obtain the right to] return to [the lands] that have become Israel [ie: the 1948 territories],” Al-Fanek wrote.
“It seems that the Palestinian Authority has hope, however small, that the refugees' right to return to Israel will [actually] be realized. But a realistic analysis must recognize that the [refugees'] return is impossible under the framework of a peaceful resolution, since Israel has no intention of [relinquishing its identity] as a Jewish state...
“As for the distant future, as time goes on, the return [of the refugees] will be less and less feasible, even if it becomes a formal possibility. Even now, no Palestinian in the diaspora under the age of 70 is [actually] familiar with Palestine. Moreover, most of the Palestinian villages to which [the refugees] demand to return no longer exist, and most of the Palestinians living in the diaspora have received foreign citizenship and settled in their countries of residence.
“We still remember how dozens of senior Palestinian officials for whom Yasser Arafat obtained the right of return, and for whom a farewell [ceremony] was held at the [Allenby] Bridge, came back to Amman within two weeks!”