ANTI-NORMALIZERS, ISLAMISTS ON THE DEFENSIVE

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) -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶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. -------------- COURT DEALS BLOW TO ANTI-NORMALIZERS -------------- ¶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. -------------- ISLAMISTS' BANE RETAINS POST IN CABINET -------------- ¶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. -------------- NEGATIVE RUMORS BEDEVIL MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD -------------- ¶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. -------------- LOW TURN-OUT MARKS PEACE TREATY PROTEST -------------- ¶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