JORDANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER RE-OPENS DEBATE OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 001520 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAL IS JO SUBJECT: JORDANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER RE-OPENS DEBATE OVER CITIZENSHIP OF PALESTINIAN-ORIGIN CITIZENS REF: A. 08 AMMAN 1466 ¶B. 08 AMMAN 705 Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: Jordanian Interior Minister Nayef Al-Qadi disputed in a June 24 interview recent critical speeches by former ministers that the citizenship status of Palestinian-origin Jordanians was under review. Nevertheless, in recent years, the security services have reportedly engaged in a systematic policy of downgrading the citizenship documentation of Palestinians living in Jordan. This policy was allegedly abandoned during the tenure of the previous Royal Court Chief, himself a Jordanian of Palestinian origin. Qadi denied that citizenship downgrades have resumed, but made it clear that he supported the central idea behind such a policy. His comments may mark a return to uncertainty in the Palestinian community about their relationship with the Jordanian state. End Summary. The Question of Citizenship for Palestinian-Jordanians -------------- -------------- ¶2. (C) There are several gradations of citizenship for Palestinians in Jordan. Those who fled from Israel proper in 1948 are full citizens with no need for additional documentation. Palestinian-origin Jordanians who came to live on the east bank of the Jordan River in 1967 are entitled to full citizenship (with a full validity passport) if the MOI determines that they reside in Jordan. They are only given the equivalent of permanent resident status (with limited validity passports which do not imply citizenship) if they are said to reside in the West Bank. In recent years, Jordan's security services have quietly implemented a policy of downgrading the citizenship documentation of Palestinian-origin Jordanians when they cross borders or renew their passports. MOI has confiscated the identity documents for a number of Palestinian-origin Jordanians and altered their citizenship status by claiming that they reside full time in the West Bank rather than in Jordan. The National Center for Human Rights (NCHR) and activist groups have recorded hundreds of citizenship documentation downgrades in recent years, but the true scale of the problem is largely unknown as the Ministry of Interior has not publicly provided available statistics on the issue. (Note: For a detailed treatment of this issue, see Ref A. End Note.) ¶3. (C) The practice of citizenship documentation downgrades was forcefully disputed by Palestinian-origin former Royal Court Chief Bassem Awadallah during his tenure in office (2007-2008). Awadallah intervened behind the scenes with then General Intelligence Director Mohammed Dahabi to halt the practice. NCHR and activist contacts confirmed to us that they saw far fewer cases involving citizenship of Palestinian-origin Jordanians during Awadallah's tenure. They speculated upon the February 2009 cabinet reshuffle, however, that the appointment of Interior Minister Nayef Al-Qadi would likely mark a return to the policy of citizenship documentation downgrades. Qadi is known as a hardline defender of tribal East Banker interests and is said to fear the political encroachment of Jordan's Palestinian majority. ¶4. (C) The issue of citizenship was recently re-opened by several parallel speeches critical of the documentation downgrades given by former ministers. Former Interior Minister Rajai Dajani (who designed the documentation system when Jordan implemented its disengagement from the West Bank in the late 1980s) raised the issue in a June speech which mentioned specific numbers of Palestinian-origin Jordanians who have lost their full citizenship status in recent years. (Comment: Dajani has always been critical of how the disengagement decision has been implemented by subsequent Interior Ministers, but there is little indication of why he chose to speak out now. End Comment.) Former Prime Ministers Abdulrauf Rawabdeh and Ma'arouf Al-Bakhit added to the recent focus on Palestinian identity by giving speeches in which they criticized the government's inability to heal the internal divisions between Palestinians and East Bankers. Interior Minister's Denial and Conspiracy Mongering -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In response to the speeches of former ministers, Qadi conducted an interview on June 24 with opposition daily Al-Arab Al-Yawm. Despite numerous media stories and court cases which seem to confirm the existence of downgrading citizenship documentation for Palestinian-Jordanians, Qadi categorically denied that the Interior Ministry is involved in any such practice: "There has been no withdrawal of AMMAN 00001520 002 OF 002 citizenship from any citizen, no matter his roots. I challenge anyone to say that the Interior Ministry has withdrawn his Jordanian citizenship." Nevertheless, Qadi made it clear that he opposes any expansion of citizenship rights for Palestinian-origin Jordanians, couching his opinions in the rhetoric of preserving the right of return. Qaid said that he was "against Palestinians assuming Jordanian nationality at the expense of their own country and cause." ¶6. (SBU) Qadi called the news reports and court cases about the issue a "systematic campaign" by Israeli agents in Jordan to "tamper with the home front due to Jordanian support for the Palestine question." When asked why be believed Israel was to blame, Qadi said that he was "informed by some centers" and "heard some lectures on Israeli policy." ¶7. (C) The Interior Minister also attempted to link the stories about downgrading of citizenship documentation for Palestinian-Jordanians to the ongoing campaign by women's groups to allow Jordanian women married to foreigners to pass citizenship to their children (Ref B). Most of these women are married to Palestinians of Gazan extraction who are only given Jordanian "laissez passe" documents and have no access to government services in Jordan. Hardline East Bankers like Qadi see this women's equality issue as an attempt to further bolster the Palestinian majority in Jordan at the expense of East Bankers, although he publicly cites "security and political" concerns. Press Reaction -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Qadi's interview has sparked renewed attention and debate in the Jordanian media about citizenship documentation downgrades. The Al-Ghad newspaper published a report on June 28 citing Interior Ministry statistics which indicate that the documents of 2,732 Palestinian-origin Jordanians were downgraded between 2004 and 2008. (Note: Year by year statistics were not published. End Note.) Government spokesman Nabil Al-Sharif did not deny the statistics, calling them "a matter of rectifying the status of some of our Palestinian brothers." Qadi, however, said that publication of the statistics amounted to a "vicious attack whose objective is to distort the facts and serve the Israeli agenda." Online media stories about the citizenship issue have received a large number of comments from Palestinian-origin Jordanians and East Bankers who support the downgrading of citizenship documents. ¶9. (C) Prominent columnist Fahed Al-Khitan, who frequently acts as a proxy apologist for East Bank hardliners, commended Qadi's stance on citizenship in a June 25 Al-Arab Al-Yawm article. Khitan asserted that critics are focusing on downgrades of citizenship documents when in fact there are more cases of upgrades for full time residents of the West Bank. Without revealing the source of his numbers, Khitan stated that 513 Palestinians received full citizenship rights while only 190 Palestinian-origin Jordanians were downgraded since Qadi took office. Khitan admitted that "humanitarian considerations" cannot be ignored when it comes to citizenship for Palestinians, but also asserted that Jordan "should not ignore the political consequences" of accepting the settlement of Palestinians in Jordan, either. ¶10. (C) Comment: His strident comments about Israeli interference aside, Qadi's views on the ultimate status of Palestinians in Jordan strike a chord with many East Bank conservatives who are keen to retain the privileges of power. The downgrading of citizenship documents for Jordanians of Palestinian origin is a controversial tactic that Jordan's government has never publicly acknowledged. Still, it is widely discussed and feared in the Palestinian community. For Palestinian-origin Jordanians, Qadi's statement is a clear signal of his support for the revival of citizenship downgrades. End Comment. Beecroft