Dancing in the dark

Yesterday a group calling itself the “follow up committee for the Jordanian national forum” issued a statement on the targeting and arrest of the MP’s of the Islamist movement. The “Jordanian national forum" is a grouping of Islamist, Arabist, leftist opposition movements. It is ironic that they have decided to use a nationalist cloak, as they have historically dismissed Jordanian nationalism as fake and the Jordanian state as an illegitimate product of western imperialism. Now they have decided to use a nationalist cover. Interesting.

Anyway, I found out about this statement after reading two opinions in Al Rai attacking it and its authors. The original statement was not published in Al Rai (lame) and so I found it on the IAF website.

The statement starts with a political context introduction. It states that in this time of American Zionist conspiracy on the Arab and Islamic nation, in which the tools of globalization and its tools such as the WTO, IMF, the World Bank, stock exchanges, banks and money laundering; and at a time of its [globalization] greatest success in liquidating the ownership of the people and loading the peoples with debt, and linking it with globalized imperialism, confiscation of the peoples will and distorting its consciousness, and destroying its cultural, religious and thought structures, converting the people into consumer markets after depriving them of their humanity, destroying entire nations and imposing materialism over all other spiritual and moral values; and in this time in which Iraq is being destroyed and the Palestinian issue is being liquidated and Sudan is being divided, and insistence on dividing and ripping the limbs of the Arab nation, leading to self destruction as a result of the Amero-Zionist-globalization alliance led by Christian Zionists, controlling the sources of energy, money, weapons, media, and transnational communications technology (I think that you get the picture).

Anyway, because of this nasty situation, the statement says that

1. The Mujahidin are fighting back state terrorism.
2. Their success is reviving hope in the nation (ummah)
3. Arab regimes are trying to save their master (the US) from its dilemma.
4. The Jordanian government is supporting the American invasion of Iraq and stands against the armed struggle in Palestine (again suggesting that the government fabricated the Hamas weapons case), and placed itself in the front lines in the battle against terrorism.
5. The Jordanian government is confiscating people’s freedoms (which explains how they can issue this statement without facing repercussions).
6. The arrest of the four deputies is designed to destroy the “nationalist movement” that is not in line with government subservience to American and Zionist designs.
7. The government is afraid of the IAF popularity, and its failed policies can only be covered up by targeting the Islamist movement.
8. Our nation is moderate and not a nation of terrorists.

The statement goes on to demand that Jordan become the staging ground to repulse the invaders (in Iraq and Palestine). More immediate demands are to release the deputies, stop bothering Hamas, abrogate the peace treaty with Israel, try the officials who created this crisis, stop support of the US in Iraq, support liberation movements anywhere in the Arab and creating a “national salvation government”.

So, the behavior of the MP’s is not an issue (no need even to mention Abu Fares’ statement), and Hamas’ smuggling weapons is not a problem (since we should become the staging ground for liberation). We should take upon ourselves a task that richer and more populous Arab countries would never dream of. Why? It seems to stem from a deep rooted hostility to Jordan. I still can’t get over their gall of calling themselves nationalists.

Honestly, I can’t believe that anybody can write such a thing anymore with a straight face. I mean, Zionism, globalization, imperialism, the World Bank, conspiracies, and subservience. How many buzz words can be fit into one document? And who honestly wants to convert Jordan into the staging ground for the liberation of the ummah? Not anybody who could honestly call himself a “nationalist”. Why would somebody calling for bringing harm on his country call himself a nationalist?

The opposition would do well to read opinion polls. People don’t want anymore of this sloganeering drivel.

A Jordanian proverb goes “’Ala bal meen yalli bturgusi bil itmeh”, on whose mind could you be on if you dance in the dark. Nobody cares. Please try to become real nationalists, rather than trying to simply use the nationalist cover.