Moderates Must Give up Moderation: Jordanian Press on Gaza

The USG Open Source Center paraphrases articles in the Jordanian press on the Israeli attack on Gaza. Jordan is one of only two Arab states to have a formal peace treaty with Israel, and its intellectuals clearly want the government to abrogate it. Worse, they have been driven by the images of dead children dug out of mosques in Gaza to advocate Jordanian violence against Israel.

‘Jordanian Press Says Israeli Operation in Gaza Will Not Achieve Security, Peace
Jordan — OSC Summary
Wednesday, December 31, 2008

. . . Yasir Abu-Hilalah writes an article in Al-Ghadd[Tomorrow] on page 26, in which the writer discusses the elements of strength that HAMAS has. He says that HAMAS has around 25,000 fighters, who need training and weapons. He says that the Israelis admit that HAMAS has grown more professional after its control of the Gaza Strip and managed to smuggle a large amount of weapons and explosives through tunnels. He adds that HAMAS has hundreds of male and female suicide bombers. Then, HAMAS has rockets, which constitute a “real force of deterrence” despite the fact that these rockets are not sophisticated . . .
Cont’d

Fahd al-Khitan also writes an article in Al-Arab al-Yawm on page 3, in which he says that “in light of what is happening in Gaza, Arab moderates should stop marketing illusions about peace.” He says that Jordan has done its utmost on the political and human level to declare solidarity with Gaza and condemn the Israeli actions. He adds:”We should conduct a profound review of the political discourse by rehabilitating a previous position, which the state had adopted; namely, supporting the right of the Palestinian people to resisting the occupation and not being satisfied by saying that negotiations are the only way for achieving peace because this path has failed to achieve anything since the peace processwas launched 17 years ago. This position should be translated into direct and public relations with the Palestinian resistance movements, alongside continuing official relations with the Palestinian Authority” . . .

. . . Amman Al-Arabal-Yawm in Arabic, an independent newspaper often critical of government policies, publishes an article by Chief Editor Tahir al-Adwan on page 20, in which thewriter criticizes the delay in holding a meeting for the Arab foreign ministers to discuss the “criminal Israeli aggression” on Gaza. The writer says: “Yesterday, while I was watching the news conference of the Palestinian president and the Egyptian foreign minister, I heard one statement from both men, which is (making efforts to stop the aggression), and I had thought that the president and the minister meant what they were saying because making efforts more than 36 hours after the start of the aggression was enoughat least to reduce the severity of the Israeli aggression. However, the reality of the situation is that while the news conference was in progress, the raids were escalating to the extent that Gaza appeared to be in a total holocaust. It is either that Israel is brushing aside the (efforts of its Arab friends) or that it hears about these efforts from news conferences only.” . . .

… Amman Al-Ghadd in Arabic, an independent Jordanian daily, publishes an article on page 32 by Samih al-Ma’ayitah, in which he says that “what is required is not only expelling Israeli ambassadors and closing the embassies, but also driving Israel out of all aspects of Arab life. I am talking here about a comprehensive Arab-Islamic course that drives out the Zionist entity, and all forms of relations with it, from the Arab-Islamic political, economic, and security life.”