Differences over Syria unrest deepen 'crisis' of Jordan's political elite

By Thameen Kheetan

AMMAN - Divisions have surfaced among Jordan’s elite over the ongoing unrest in the northern neighbor Syria.

Many writers, academicians and activists have engaged in a series of tit-for-tat statements, reflecting conflicting positions on street demonstrations in Syria, which President Bashar Assad described as part of a foreign “conspiracy”.

Several Jordanian figures and groups have denounced the northern neighbor's Baath regime for “crimes and oppression” against civilians who demonstrate calling for democracy and freedoms.

Others, however, voice fears that such a conflict in an Arab country that has backed Palestinian and Lebanese resistance movements against Israel would affect the region’s balance of power in favor of Tel Aviv.

A group of 72 writers published a statement on news websites criticizing what they described as the “silence of the administrative commission” of the Jordanian Writers Association (JWA) over the news from Syria, where over 1,200 people are reported to have been killed by security forces since the eruption of protests some three months ago.

The association, for its part, voiced “surprise” over the resignation of three of its leading members, insisting that it stands against the “oppression and cruelty that is being practiced against the Arab people in Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya”.

For JWA President Soud Qbeilat, “Jordanians follow what is happening in Syria with concern,” because, he said, Syria has openly adopted anti-Israeli positions and any threat to this country will automatically tilt the balance in Israel’s favor.

“People are with democratic change in the Arab world, but when it comes to the Syrian issue, we are talking about the fight against Israel,” he explained, charging that the US and its allies in the region are taking advantage of the unrest to pressure Damascus “to bow to Israeli interests”.

He said some of those who criticize the JWA have “suspicious” positions and relations with the West.

“If the Syrian regime goes, the alternative is the unknown,” noted Qbeilat.

But for the other camp, a natural alternative is one that guarantees public freedoms, maintaining, at the same time, the will of people in resisting the “Israeli threat”.

Division, no division

“There is a clear division,” remarked renowned cartoonist Imad Hajjaj, who has drawn several caricatures denouncing Assad and supporters of his regime.

One of his drawings earlier this month in Al Ghad daily depicted a group of people representing the “role of intellectuals” lining up to shake hands with a blood-handed dictator.

“I am very much frustrated by the role of some intellectuals… who have attempted to polish the image of the [Syrian] regime and cover up for its crimes using unacceptable excuses,” Hajjaj told The Jordan Times.

But a researcher at the University of Jordan’s Center for Strategic Studies, Mohammad Abu Rumman, who has also taken the side of Syria’s popular uprising, does not see “any substantial division” inside the local elite circles on Syria.

“Only a handful of writers say they are with the Syrian people but against the ‘conspiracy’… What conspiracy is bigger than suppressing the people?” Abu Rumman asked.

The analyst, who is also a leading columnist at Al Ghad, was one of several figures who launched a campaign to boycott a dinner last month hosted by Syrian Ambassador in Amman Bahjat Suleiman to explain his country’s stance regarding the unrest.

“What is alarming is not their position on Syria, but their position on democracy in general,” Abu Rumman said, adding that “it is unacceptable that you call for democracy here but stand against it there”.

The writer said Damascus’ stance in support of the resistance in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon was “good”, but warned that the Syrian regime “will not be able to succeed in the battle with Israel when it continues to crackdown on its people”.

“This limited group of people have failed the test of democracy,” noted Abu Rumman.

Young activist Firas Mahadin, who is a member of the March 24 Youth Coalition that calls for political reforms and more freedoms in Jordan, insisted that speaking in favor of Syria is a matter of opinion that should be respected.

The self-proclaimed nationalist filmmaker explained: “It is a matter of different points of view, but some groups just do not accept the others’ opinion.”

Stressing that he, too, calls for democracy in Syria, Mahadin alleged that what is currently happening is a “sectarian-based” movement that aims to “dismantle the state in Syria in a way that serves Israel”.

Media professor at Al Hussein Ben Talal University in Maan, Bassem Tweisi argues that the Jordanian elite is treating the Arab Spring on the basis of their different ideologies.

“This explains the double standards in certain cases.”

“The Kingdom’s political elite is incapable of formulating a democratic and political discourse to replace the existing ideological one,” he remarked, adding that this “will further deepen the elite’s crisis”.

21 June 2011

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=38704.