M I D - E A S T R E A L I T I E S - COLLUSION ACROSS THE JORDAN

Avi Schlaim, Collusion Across the Jordan Continues

A review from Mid-East Realities, 31 May, 1997

MER - "The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan" masquerades these days as a pseudo-democracy in an attempt to molify both Arab and Western public opinion -- most especially tourists and businesmen. It reality of course Jordan is both a monarchy and a police-state; as anyone who opposes the King's policies and Hashemite control quickly finds out through visits from the secret police and to the dungeons that have long served the regime.

COLLUSION ACROSS THE JORDAN, by Professor Avi Schlaim at Oxford University, should be must-reading again these days. This epic book is essentially the detailed secret history of Hashemite-Zionist collaboration and collusion earlier this century - a mostly hidden and secretive alliance that resulted in the dispossession of the Palestinians and the triump of Israel in dominating the region.

Most of the most outrageous Jordanian-Israeli collusion -- and it has been expanding in recent years -- takes place behind the scenes of course. Plus there is considerable unter the table American "encouragement" and payments to the Jordanian regime for its willingness to play such a central role "peace" cum "domination" process.

Even today -- as Israel repeatedly continues to violate international laws, U.N. resolutions, and its own "peace" agreements -- essentially pushing the Palestinian onto shrinking ghettos surrounded by the Israeli army -- the Hashemites continue to expand their collaboration with the Zionists. And by doing so the Hashemite actually encourage the worst aspects of Zionist ideology by confirming their ability to separate the Arab regimes from one another as well as the ease with which Israel can continue to play Hashemite domination off against Palestinian nationalism.

Amazingly, Minister Ariel Sharon and his Jordanian counterparts are right now moving quickly to establish a rail link between Jordan and Israel, one that will allow Jordan to use Israeli Israeli Meditterean ports and further encourage Western and Jewish tourism to Jordan. No matter what the Israelis do to the Palestinians, no matter how many Arab League resolutions call for boycotting Israel, the Hashemites persist, collecting as much in money, arms, and i.o.u.'s for the future as they can.

The following recent Reuter's report, also exposes just one small element of the ongoing Hashemite-Zionist collusion whose history of treachery runs so deep:

GAZA, May 24 (Reuter) - Jordan has handed over to Israel a Palestinian whose wife carried out a shooting attack last month at a crossing between the kingdom and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, his lawyer said on Saturday.

Lawyer Hassan Abu Ahmad said Iyad Abu Libdeh, a Palestinian living in Amman but originally from the self-ruled West Bank town of Tulkarm, was arrested by Jordanian intelligence after his wife Souna opened fire at the Allenby Bridge crossing.

Two Israelis and an Arab were wounded in the April 13 attack, which came against a backdrop of Palestinian anger over Israel's building of a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel in 1967. The woman was taken into Israeli custody.

"The fact that he is a Palestinian and was handed over by the Jordanian Intelligence to the Israelis but not to the Palestinian Authority raises serious legal questions,'' Abu Ahmad, an Israeli Arab, told Reuters.

"It is illegal. Abu Libdeh should have been handed over to the Palestinians and not to Israel,'' he said.

Abu Ahmad said the Jordanians interrogated Abu Libdeh and when they found they could prove nothing handed him over to Israel on May 13. Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994.

"I visited him in an Israeli prison on May 21. He has strongly denied charges of aiding and training his wife...He is being tortured and deprived of sleep for long periods of time,'' the lawyer said...

Jordanian embassy officials in Israel and Israeli Prisons Authority officials were not available for comment. A spokesman for Israeli occupation authorities in the West Bank said he did not know the case.

5/31/97

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