ANTI-NORMALIZATION CAMPAIGN IN JORDAN HAS LASTING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006119

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2013
TAGS: PGOV KISL PHUM KPAL IS JO
SUBJECT: ANTI-NORMALIZATION CAMPAIGN IN JORDAN HAS LASTING
IMPACT


Classified By: Ambassador Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)

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Summary
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1. (C) The effects of an Anti-Normalization Committee,
disbanded over two years ago, linger. One remnant of its
campaigns to discredit Jordanians who supported relations
with Israel is the ongoing legal case filed by one of its
targets, Jordanian businessman and self-proclaimed peace
advocate Tariq al-Hammedi. Al-Hammedi's lawsuit against the
former head of the Committee and Islamic Action Front (IAF)
member Ali Abu al-Sukkar charges that the anti-normalizers'
smear campaign in 2001--which branded al-Hammedi an Israeli
"collaborator"--bankrupted him and his reputation. The
latest hurdle facing the case resulted from Abu al-Sukkar's
election to Parliament in June and resulting constitutional
protection from legal prosecution. The judge in the case has
since requested the Justice Ministry to lift this immunity,
but the case remains in limbo: the Justice Minister says he
forwarded a request to consider the matter to Parliament, but
the Speaker claims no such request has been received.
Al-Hammedi has appealed for U.S. support. This case is an
example of the continuing presence of anti-normalizers in
Jordan, and of the difficulties ordinary Jordanians have
endured for openly supporting Jordan's unpopular peace treaty
with Israel. End Summary.

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Despite Crackdown, Anti-Normalizers' Legacy Lingers
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2. (SBU) The Jordanian Professionals Union formed the
Anti-Normalization Committee in 1995 in an effort to
consolidate anti-Israel sentiment and pressure the Jordanian
government to retract its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. Ali
Abu al-Sukkar, a member of the IAF, the political arm of the
Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood, headed the committee. The
group gathered steam after the second Palestinian intifadah
erupted in September 2000, capitalizing on growing
anti-Israeli sentiment among many segments of Jordanian
society. In early 2001, the committee began publishing lists
naming suspected Jordanian "normalizers" i.e. collaborators
with Israel, including individuals, companies, and even some
schools. The lists, which appeared in the Jordanian press
and regularly in mosques and public gathering areas, were the
main tool the committee used to pressure the Jordanian public
to boycott listed people and companies. In addition, several
individuals named in the lists told us at the time that they
began to receive anonymous threats after their names
appeared. After the Committee published several such
lists--including one naming two secondary schools to which
elite Jordanians send their children--the government declared
the Committee illegal and arrested its members, including Abu
al-Sukkar.


3. (C) One target of the campaign, Jordanian businessman and
self-proclaimed peace advocate, Tariq al-Hammedi, appeared on
several of the lists. More than two years later, he says he
continues to suffer the effects of the Committee's smear
campaign. Al-Hammedi told us all his pro-peace achievements
have been squandered as a result of the anti-normalizers
campaign against him. Al-Hammedi boasts a resume of
peace-oriented activities, including an unsuccessful bid in
1997 for Parliament on a peace platform, and helping to
organize peace-promoting camps for Jordanian, Palestinian,
and Israeli youth. As a gesture of support for the 1994
peace agreement, he renamed his restaurant the Palace of
Peace. In September 2000, just before the outbreak of the
intifadah, he launched a newsletter called Sawt As-Salam
(Voice of Peace).


4. (C) He says he has suffered severe financial losses and
has been personally threatened for his pro-peace stance. He
blames the Committee's actions for bankrupting his restaurant
business. He said once his name began appearing on the
lists, his customers dwindled. It also forced him to publish
his newsletter in Ramallah, because no Jordanian publisher
would grant him access to their printing presses. With the
exception of the Safeway food store chain, no retailer would
sell his newsletter, and he ended that venture as well. He
claims he received telephone threats and was personally
accosted after his name appeared on the Committee's lists.

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Legal Case Faces Continual Obstacles
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5. (C) Determined to fight back, al-Hammedi brought a libel
lawsuit against Abu al-Sukkar in 2001, which drags on today.
Meanwhile, Abu al-Sukkar was elected in June 2003 to Jordan's
Lower House of Parliament, and thereby granted immunity from
legal prosecution. Initially, Abu al-Sukkar complied with
the court's orders, appearing before the court to answer
al-Hammedi's charges just before Parliament's regular session
opened this summer. However, on the advice of his attorneys,
Abu al-Sukkar has refused a second summons citing immunity
from legal prosecution, according to a press report on
September 3. The judge in al-Hammedi's case has since
appealed to the Justice Minister to request that Parliament
consider lifting Abu al-Sukkar's immunity so that he can
appear before his court. According to the law, however, Abu
al-Sukkar's immunity from prosecution can be lifted only if
two-thirds of MPs vote in favor. The Justice Minister said
he forwarded the request to Parliament, while the speaker
says no such request has been received. The case remains in
limbo. Regardless of their views on the case at hand, in an
vote MPs will be strongly influenced by their personal
interests in protecting the principle of their immunity.


6. (C) Al-Hammedi says that after a hearing in July 2001, the
Jordanian Bar Association--a member of the Professional
Unions--disbarred his Jordanian lawyer after branding him a
"normalizer" for taking al-Hammedi's case. The Bar also
threatened disciplinary action against any other lawyers who
would take al-Hammedi's case, according to al-Hammedi. Abu
al-Sukkar, on the other hand, is represented by the chief of
the Bar Association.
Al-Hammedi says he attempted to contact the American Bar
Association seeking legal help, to no avail.

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Desperation Drives al-Hammedi to U.S. Embassy's Door
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7. (C) Despite press coverage of the lawsuit, al-Hammedi has
not gained local support. When he contacted the
newly-established Jordanian Human Rights Center for
assistance, they advised him to pursue his case in court.
His written appeals to the highest levels of the Jordanian
government, including King Abdallah, Queen Rania, and Queen
Noor, have gone unanswered. He complained that when the GOJ
disbanded the Anti-Normalization Committee in 2001, it should
have assisted the victims of the campaign, since he had
suffered financial and personal losses as a result of his
strong and vocal support of his government's peace stance.


8. (C) Al-Hammedi says his lack of options and feeling of
helplessness have brought him to the U.S. Embassy for help.
In several meetings with Emboffs since August 25, al-Hammedi
claims that he does not seek financial compensation for his
situation, only moral support from the United States. He
notes that the United States backs peace activists in Israel
and Palestine, but feels that the plight of those in Jordan
has not received similar attention. He clearly hoped we
would ensure the GOJ is aware of his case.

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Comment
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9. (C) Given the negative atmosphere in the region and
Parliament about the status of Israeli-Palestinian situation,
as well as personal motivations of MPs to preserve maximum
protection for their immunities, a two-thirds vote in
Parliament to lift Abu al-Sukkar's immunity is improbable,
and the house's leadership is unlikely to test the matter and
risk a visible symbolic blow to the government's policy on
normal relations with Israel.
GNEHM