AMMAN (Reuters) – Jordan said on Wednesday that Hamas had tried to recruit activists for military training in Syria and Iran to stage possible attacks in Jordan and said it had found new weapons that included Iranian rocket launchers.
Government spokesman Nasser Joudeh told reporters details of the plot were revealed during interrogations of 20 Hamas militants arrested by security forces last month. [source]
Rocket launchers? Detonators? Jordanian recruits? Training in Iran and Syria? Woah. Dude.
Tomorrow confessions of the 20 militants will be shown on national television. I guess the government is trying to gain some credibility amongst the people. So why is it that the general population doesn’t believe the claims? Frankly I don’t know. The majority of the population is Palestinian and pro-Hamas, so that probably has something to do with it. But just as important is the government’s approach. If this story turns out to be true, which my best guess says it eventually will, people will still not believe it.
I think the Amman Bombings changed very little in our society, at least in my opinion. Jordanians were suddenly woken in the middle of the night to learn that there were in fact foreign elements which sought to hurt them or their national interests. They went out and protested in anger. This lasted for about a month. Very rarely has the government played the 11/9 card to remind people of how it is; probably because itâ??s not healthy to have a society living in constant fear.
But this of course makes it harder for people to remember when the time does call for it. The government is still damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t. It made some obvious wrong moves lately in dealing with this story. Its not only credibility issues but communication issues as well. The government has always had difficulty communicating anything to the general public, or at least it does it in a way that screams â??mistrustâ??. The original Zahar trip should not have been cancelled and they should’ve waited until they had enough evidence to provide to the people because you are dealing with a population that requires more convincing than the norm. You canâ??t go about doing it in weekly payments; cash up front is a better method.
Why does Hamas have more credibility than the government? Arab governments and the Arab street are constantly at odds with each other. Jordanian ties and relations with Israel or America are not accepted by the overwhelming majority of the population, although mind you the overwhelming majority of the population reminds me of the monkey in the cage who doesn’t ask where the pellet comes from. Hamas on the other hand has been fighting the good fight. It’s a case of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham fighting for the attention of the masses.
Maybe we’ve just developed the habit, or rather tradition, of not trusting the government. Mix that in with the fact that we are living in a social state of denial. It’s not that we think we live in a safe country, I mean we could have a situation where bombs are being dropped from the sky and people would still raise an eyebrow if the government said the culprits were some group the people support. It’s just the government planting weapons and hiring actors, taping their confessions, all to distract the people from the real issues: rising fuel prices.
I’ll be interested to see what information is revealed in these confessions but I know for a fact less than 1% of the people will change their minds. The first thing they’ll say is “tortured”, take my word for it. Indeed, there are lessons to be learned from the best concerning the government’s credibility (or lack there of), but there are also lessons to be learned concerning the denial of the people.
A government with little to no credibility with its people, and a people living in denial.
A match made in political heaven.
who knows.
time will tell I suppose.
I hope that it is a lie. No need for terrorism to spread
I think It is a weird story . Hamas Members (Alleged ) Iranian Arms and the training is done in Syria . wow ! kill 3 birds with One stone . do they really think people are that Stupid ?
The Jordanians have done the fabriating before (Laith Sheibilat and the German Adnan hussein as the fake Witness with the fake beard )
The israelis and the US are putting too much Pressure on the Jordanian and he just cant say no . even to save his own people reputation But then we know about the special relationship of his Father , or was it his granfather and GOlda Meir and their secret Meetings ..
nesreen, can you forward me those “top secret” CIA files you’ve been reading? also you can feel free to disagree about the politics and the history and whatever, but on this site I don’t condone slander, especially targeting the King.
thanks
nas
the Info about Leith shbeilat and the Disguised German Iraqi Adnan Hussein was aired on Al Jazeera , Al Alam and Also Lebanese Channel ANB . apparently Germany was not amused by the fabricated story too.
The secret Meetings of The Late KIng with Golda Meir Dressed as a Arab woman , I heard it from Uri Avnery on TV > How the King was more interested in adding the Westbank to Jordan and never believed in A Free palestinian state . (google might help)
I know the Jordanian People are very good , very Helpful to the palestinian cause , I heard that the Jordanian Muslim brotherhood is helping too (and they dont believe the Fabricated stories too) But unfortunately the Hashemites , as well as most Arab leaders have shown nothing but Loyalty to the zionists and Americans.
Many Groups (who opposed to make peace with israel in Jordan) have been blamed by the Government to plan Coups and other scary things to keep them under control and to gag them better .
nasreen, I find it strange that you have no real historical evidence to back up any of these claims as I’ve heard them before from many people who have based it on nothing more than it being “a well known fact”. They all say there are documents to prove it and suprisingly I’ve never seen any of these documents. So here you are saying the Hashemites conspired with Israel and your main source ironically is Uri Avnery! do you see the contradiction?
Either way this is besides the point of my post.
I actually I trust Uri Avery More than certain people in Jordan. Uri has the guts and courage to stand with the Palestinians and Visit Arafat when he was Besieged and He has condemned more than once the violence , very loudly , on his Website the violence of the IDF . Unlike Some people who are happy to Meeting zionists in Amman and Washington and urge Palestinians to cool down when there is a tragedy.
If the Arms smuggling did really happen i would have expected the Jordanians to act like true brothers . that is , Meeeting Mr AL Zahar and then Discuss the arm Smuggling and solve the problem between them instead of Causing this Uproar to justify the Cancellation of the Visit . take the example of USS lIberty Shot by the israeli a few years back during which quite a few US soldiers died , the US knows who is behind such attack but So far kept the documents Classified and closed the Case , to protect their friends and allies . we know the full scale of the Israeli spying on the ship but the US acted like a true Ally and kept its mouth shut . But Arab unfortuantely are ready to Fabricate stories to hurt their own people , and score more points with the zionists , and hopefully get more US Aid Too. All of them Make me sick . and i have given up on finding honest people who would truly care about us , about the Arab nation. they are all selfish , all they want is power money , thrones and the Blessings of America . I wish we had more honest people to care about us so we can move forward to the twenty first century like everyone else. but the way it is suit them just fine . Unfortunately .
Salam
Nes .