 |
|
A boycott poster produced by qawem.net, an anti-normalization website closed by the Jordanian government
|
AMMAN,
October 16 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A senior Jordanian
government official has called for the dissolution of committees
linked to trade unions that are opposed to the normalization of ties
with Israel, the press reported Wednesday, October 16.
“These
committees must be dissolved because they cause huge losses for the
national economy estimated at millions of dinars and harm Jordanian
interests,” Minister of State for Political Affairs Mohammad Adwan
said.
“The
anti-normalization committees linked to some trade unions are illegal
and their activities are a flagrant challenge to Jordanian laws,”
said Adwan, who is also government spokesman and information minister.
Adwan
made the remarks to Amman dailies after a weekly cabinet meeting late
Tuesday as trade unions began to set up defense councils for three
labor leaders jailed since October 7 for anti-Israeli activities.
The
secretary general of the Jordanian engineers’ union, Ali Abu Sukkar,
as well as union members Mayssarah Malla and Badi Rafayeh were ordered
held for a renewable period of 15 days a day after their arrest in
Amman.
State
prosecutor Mahmoud Obeidat of the military state security court
accused the three men of “membership of an illegal organization”,
in reference to their membership in an anti-Israeli normalization
committee.
Judicial
sources said the three published leaflets opposed to normalization of
ties between Jordan and Israel, which have been bound by a
peace treaty since 1994.
Their
union has demanded their release and vowed in a statement to
“boycott those dealing” with the Jewish state, in reference to
Jordanian firms that do business with Israel.
But
Adwan insisted that the peace treaty with Israel was “legal”. He
stressed that the companies targeted by the unions “operate with 100
percent Jordanian capital, workers and production” and were expected
to export to the United States 500 million dollars worth of good this
year.
Interior
Minister Koftan Majali echoed Adwan’s comments in remarks carried on
the front pages of Amman daily newspapers including Al-Rai
and Al-Dustur.
The
authorities would deal firmly with any illegal trade union activities,
he warned.
Most
of Jordan’s trade unions and opposition parties, including
Muslim groups, have repeatedly called on the government to sever ties
with Israel and expel its ambassador from Amman.
The
ministers added that the anti-normalization committees slander
individuals and companies in nearby friendly countries which may
negatively affect the Jordanian economy, Al-Dustur said.
They
said that the Jordanian-Israeli treaty is immune by law and is given
priority from among other laws and that the activities of these
committees are illegal and could be considered as ‘intellectual
terrorism’, the paper said.
In
April, the Jordanian government blocked a website that called people
to resist normalization with Israel and to boycott American products.
The site issued a booklet in which they instruct demonstrators on the
right way to deal with the security officers who will try to come in
their way during a demonstration they were organizing against the
Israeli embassy.
The
site, which was set up by Jordanian students, was still closed down as
this article was being written.
On
April 28, the boycott office affiliated to the Arab League held a
three day meeting in Damascus, Syria and decided to include a number
of international companies which deal with Israel to its boycott list.
There
were participants from 19 countries to the meeting, while three
countries, which have diplomatic relations with Israel (Jordan, Egypt
and Mauritania), were absent.
The
Boycott Office was established in the Arab League in 1951 and
established every six months a list of Israeli companies which must be
directly boycotted as well as a list of international companies which
deal with Israel which should be boycotted indirectly.
After
the start of the peace process in 1991 between the Arabs and Israel,
most Arab states have refrained from the indirect boycotting.
In
the final communiqué of the Arab Summit which was held in Beirut in
March 28, the meeting heads of state stressed the importance of
activating the Boycott Office in order to force Israel to carry out
the international agreements and the Madrid Peace resolutions and to
withdraw from all Arab lands occupied on June 4, 1967.
|
|
Palestine:
Sharon To Meet Bush To Discuss
U.S. Attack on Iraq
Peres Defends Oslo, Says
Far-Right's Blindness to Bring Catastrophe
Hezbollah to Retaliate
"Within Minutes" If Israel Hits Water Project
Five Israelis Injured In A Bus Shooting
Israel Abducts, Then Releases, Top Palestinian Muslim Official, Ekrima Sabri
Iraq:
Chirac Against One U.N.
Resolution, Denies Iraq’s Link to Al-Qaeda
All Iraqis Vote For Saddam,
Opposition Cries Foul Play
Bush’s Campaign Against Iraq
May Lead to His Impeachment
On Wheelchairs, Iraqi Handicaps
Vote for Saddam
Egypt Celebrates Rebirth of
Ancient Alexandria Library
Bali Blast Heinous, Terrorist
Crime, Say Al-Azhar Grand Imam, IWL
Lebanon Inaugurates Wazzani
Project Despite Israeli Threats
India To Cut Troops From
Pakistan Borders
U.S. Army Set To Join
Washington Sniper Hunt
U.S. Boycotts Lebanon’s Water
Project Opposed By Israel
CIA Trapped in Its Own Game in
Indonesia: Analysts
Jordanian Officials: Committees Against Normalizing With Israel “Illegal”
Pakistani Islamic Alliance To
Nominate Scholar For PM Post
|
|
|
|
|
|
