GAZA (Reuters) – The foreign minister in the Hamas-led Palestinian government said he was willing to travel to Jordan to defuse a crisis sparked by the arrest of suspected Hamas activists accused of plotting attacks in the kingdom….
“We are ready to visit Jordan now to defuse this crisis and to put an end to its negative consequences on the two peoples,” said Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar, who denied any involvement by Hamas.
“Our position remains unchanged: we have not been and we will never be a factor of tension or a security worry to any country especially Jordan,” Zahar, who is also a senior leader of Hamas, told reporters in Gaza. [source]
Hopefully the Jordanian government will respond in the positive. If it doesn’t then it will be committing a grave political blunder on its part, along the lines of Hamas refusing to come to Jordan to see the evidence when it was first invited to.
UPDATE:
Jordan tells Hamas to uncover hidden arms before political talks
â??The Jordanian government wishes first to receive a Palestinian government security delegation to examine and discuss the issue and be capable of uncovering more evidence as well as hidden arms that pose a threat to national security,â? Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying.
â??All of this must happen before any political contacts with the Palestinian government at the current stage.â? [Jordan Times]
The political ball is being bounced back and forth and I guess the Jordanian government is just a more experienced player. Either way I’m hoping this issue comes to a close sooner than later; there are more important things to tend to.
Meanwhile…
AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan’s historical ties with the Palestinians will not be shaken by a Hamas scheme to plot attacks in the kingdom, King Abdullah II said…
“What some members of Hamas did against Jordanian national security by smuggling weapons and explosives into Jordan will not affect whatsoever the historic relationship with the Palestinian brothers,” the monarch said.
“It will not stop Jordan from pursuing its national role towards them leading to their full rights, foremost of which is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state,” he said, according to Al-Rai government daily. [source]
In other interesting Hamas news…
JERUSALEM – Hamas edged toward recognition of Israel, a key international demand, in an agreement worked out by Hamas and Fatah leaders in an Israeli prison, mentioning a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza while refusing to renounce violence.
Israel refused to comment on the document on Thursday, and the Hamas leadership in Damascus were also silent â?? but there was little reason to believe either would welcome it.
Hamas leaders in Gaza and the West Bank have hinted they might abandon the group’s call for the destruction of Israel, but Khaled Mashaal, the Syria-based leader of Hamas, has rejected any suggestion of moderation. [source]
This is a late smart move by Hamas that puts the ball in the Jordanian field. If the government refuses to welcome Zahar this time it will lose another round in this political boxing game.
I have just read that Nasser Joudeh, spoksman of the Jordanian government was not impressed with Zahar’s proposal and he wanted a “security” delegation to visit before a “political delegation” to participate in the security discussions. Oops back to square one again.
The Jordanian governmnet is acting like a mutchoman (baltaji) who has a huge head that is so empty it need to be filled with rivers of apologies and kissing the beard ‘bos il liha’ in arabic, and back patting, and so on. When the Europeans found the Americans are breaking their laws by flying CIA flights through their air space, they did not freeze themselves into a pause out of which they knew they could not get out of.
In other words, the governmnet in Jordan is an idiot because it is posturing in a way that it cannot retreat. If Hamas does intend to cause trouble in Jordan I am sure it can increase the level of tension between Jordanians of Palestinian origin and those of Jordanian origin, and if it were as irresponsibly as the government in Jordan is (with its macho posturing) it can repeat 1970 quite easily (no in the military confrontation sense, but in many other methods of confrontation).
The art of politics is to never posture yourself in a position that you cannot retreat from when your interest dicatates that. The USA is refusing to adopt any posture towards Iran that it cannot retreat from, and has, despite the confrontations (even with the Soviet Union) always left a space for manueverability. I think this government is an idiotic one for solidifying its posture (justified or not) when Zahhar took an initiative.
It really is a stupid governmnet that does not know the ABCs of diplomacy (anyone remember Hani Mulqi and why he was kicked out? He insulted Saud Al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia, so much for a Foreign Minister).
I think Hamas is handling the situation very intelligently, and it offered to send Azahhar back it did it to put things back into its perspective.