Jordan Times
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Ten Year Anniversary of the
Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
AMMAN — Ten years ago today Jordan made the historic move of signing a peace
treaty with Israel. But of the dreams and hopes that followed the signing, few
have become a reality and the “warm peace” that the late King Hussein and
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin sealed in 1994 has grown “cold,”
politicians and analysts say.
“When the peace treaty was signed, there were great hopes of stability and
prosperity for Jordan and the entire region. People believed in the option of
peace with Israel then. But what we have now is a cold peace,” said Lower House
Deputy Mamdouh Abbadi.
According to analysts, the history of events over the past 10 years and the
deterioration on the Palestinian-Israeli peace track have changed the
perceptions of Jordanians about achieving a just and comprehensive peace for the
entire region.
The sense of optimism and the hopes of reaping the much touted “fruits of peace”
have waned and begun to disappear, says one observer. “Peace means having and
showing good intentions as well as establishing a sense of security. But neither
have been felt,” independent Deputy Abdul Rahim Malhas, a former minister, says.
Analysts and officials insist that the strategic option of peace with Israel as
well as its survival hinge on a final settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. The 1994 Wadi Araba treaty was seen as complementing the
Palestinian-Israeli Oslo accords of 1993.
Officials have repeatedly warned that unless progress is made on the
Palestinian-Israeli peace process and both sides abide by the internationally
backed roadmap to the Middle East peace process — which envisages an independent
Palestinian state by 2005 — ties between Israel and Jordan will remain cool and
not reach their full potential.
The Jewish state's measures against Palestinians since the beginning of the
Intifada in 2000 have increased anti-Israeli sentiment in the Kingdom.
“There is no question what we are facing today is a difficult political
relationship,” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Prime Ministry
Affairs and Government Performance Marwan Muasher, a former foreign minister,
said in recent remarks to the media.
“It is clear that we cannot just pretend that nothing is happening with what is
going on in the West Bank... when we signed the peace treaty in 1994 we had
expected 2004 to be a totally different era in the Middle East,” Muasher said.
One month into the start of the 2000 Intifada, Jordan decided to hold off on
dispatching a new ambassador to Tel Aviv in protest against Israeli military
practices in the Palestinian territories. Today, Amman still has no envoy posted
to Israel.
Politicians believe that Israel's measures against Palestinians — the
construction of the separation barrier, the planned unilateral withdrawal from
Gaza and the heightened military incursions into Palestinian territories —
threaten to torpedo the entire peace process and the establishment of an
independent Palestinian state.
The current deadlock in the peace process has elevated concerns about Israeli
plans to force a Palestinian migration to Jordan. Fuelling those concerns was
the recent statement by a senior Israeli official that the disengagement plan
was meant to foil the establishment of a Palestinian state.
However, an observer said the peace treaty with Israel guaranteed that the
Jewish state would not adopt its formerly stated plans of transferring
Palestinians eastwards.
Muasher said that despite all the difficulties, the Kingdom has not regretted
making its strategic choice for peace with Israel.
An Israeli embassy statement marking the 10-year anniversary stressed that
relations with Jordan were vital and that Jordan was a cornerstone in efforts to
help achieve peace between Israel and its neighbours in the Middle East.
“Israel reaffirms that it sees strategic importance for the existence of
relations with Jordan and for that reason it seeks to develop bilateral
relations in all domains,” the statement said. It made reference to prospering
economic ties, saying that trade exchange jumped to $240 million in 2003 from
$13 million in 1996.
In similar remarks to The Jordan Times, Muasher said Jordan has regained all of
its rights from Israel, signed 15 bilateral agreements and that more than 50
plants currently operate at the Qualified Industrial Zones.
The five QIZs, under which Jordanian goods are produced with a minimum 8 per
cent of Israeli input, are granted free access to the US market. They are
regarded as the biggest and most tangible “fruits of peace.”
But the so-called “dividends of peace” are not felt at the public level, and
according to Abbadi, have been restricted to the very few who deal with
Israelis.
“The main aim behind the treaty is not about financial gains and economic
benefits, it is about achieving a just peace,” Abbadi said. “We do not seek
peace in exchange for a few dollars.”
Analysts agree that it has become more difficult for officials to persuade the
public on a peace process that has gone drastically off track.
“Optimism in receiving the dividends of peace plummeted, and the pro-peace camp
in Jordan went underground,” says Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies
at the University of Jordan Mustafa Hamarneh.
Following the assassination of Rabin, the attempted assassination of Hamas
politburo chief Khaild Mishaal by Mossad agents, the 2000 Intifada, as well as
the election of hardliner Ariel Sharon as premier and the ensuing violence, the
region plunged into greater frustration.
“Where are the benefits of the treaty if Israel refuses to release Jordanian
prisoners?” asks Malhas.
An estimated 25 Jordanians are being jailed by Israel on alleged political and
security charges. Another 18 are reportedly missing. Some of those detained are
held without trial, while others have been convicted for alleged involvement in
attacks on Israel before and after the peace treaty.
Staunch opponents of the treaty, the Islamic Action Front also issued a
statement saying the 1994 pact gives legitimacy to an entity “which usurps land
and paved the way for it to expand with US support.” The IAF charged that the
treaty “failed to achieve peace or prosperity” and warned against any
“compromising” of Palestinian rights to recover land occupied by Israel.
The Higher Executive Committee to Protect the Nation and Fight Normalisation —
which groups opposition parties, professional associations, activists and civic
society institutions — also issued a statement calling on the public to pressure
the government to scrap the treaty, because it “goes against Jordan's national
interests.”
The committee announced plans to observe the anniversary by staging an
anti-Israel sit-in at noon today and hoisting black flags as well as anti-Israel
banners.