----- Original Message ----- From: "Rami Elamine" <relamine at yahoo.com> To: <noaid2israel at yahoogroups.com> Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 2:22 PM Subject: [noaid2israel] Fwd: [adcsfboard] Fwd: Pro-Intifada Demonstration Crushed in Downtown Amman
Except for the editorial comments about antisemitism which I find problematic (I must be one of those "self-alienated and westernized Arabs") I think this is a very useful report and assessment. If people in the middle east but esp Arabs keep relying on their bankrupt leaders than the Palestinians aren't going to get anywhere in their intifada. Demonsrations like this, unfortunately, are crucial to the success of the intifada.
ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822
> To: adcsfboard at yahoogroups.com
> From: Tawfic Abdul-Fattah <tawfic at MentalRiots.com>
> Date: 3 Aug 2001 09:44:57 -0700
> Reply-to: adcsfboard at yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [adcsfboard] Fwd: Pro-Intifada Demonstration Crushed in
> Downtown Amman
>
> Subject: Pro-Intifada Demonstration Crushed in Downtown Amman
> From: "AZAR Association"
> Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2001 14:14:08 +0000
>
> Pro-Intifada Demonstration Crushed in Downtown Amman:
>
> Amman, Jordan
> August 3, 2001
>
> It is true that during the time of the uprising ONE PRACTICAL STEP IS
> WORTH MORE THAN A DOZEN REVOLUTIONARY PROGRAMS. But what is a practical
> step in the field of action if it doesn't take us one step closer
> towards victory?!
>
> Still, there are benefits and lessons to be drawn even from bad
> practical steps in the time of the uprising, and what happened in
> downtown Amman today, especially in connection to Jordanian opposition
> parities, is one
> such experience replete with lessons.
>
> Background:
>
> On the eve of July 31, 2001, a gathering made up of the leaders of
> Jordanian opposition parties and the Unions of Professional Associations
> resolved to
> demonstrate in support of the Aqsa Intifada in downtown Amman after
> Friday Prayers in Al Husseini Mosque. The call for the demonstration
> came after
> the Jordanian regime insisted on banning any Jordanian protests in
> support of the Intifada, including the banning of an impromptu march
> that almost
> departed from the complex of the Union of Professional Associations in
> Amman towards the Prime Minister's Office on the eve of July 31.
> Subsequently,
> official calls were issued to the public by the leaders of the
> opposition parties and the professional unions to join the demonstration
> on August 3,
> 2001, after Friday Prayers in al Husseini Mosque in downtown Amman.
>
> A Fickle Opposition:
>
> However, after a nightly meeting with officials of the Jordanian
> Government on August 2, 2001, it seems that the leaders of the Jordanian
> opposition, including Islamist, Arab Nationalist, and leftist party
> leaders, bowed before government pressure and intimidation thus agreeing
> to call off the Friday march on August 3.
>
> The newspapers this morning carried the news of the cancellation of the
> demonstration in support of the Intifada all over the front pages.
>
> But whether these opposition leaders care to know it or not, they have
> shed on the street today a great deal of whatever credit they had left,
> for bowing down meekly before pressure during the momentous events in
> the West Bank and Gaza which reverberate so closely to Jordan.
>
> A Crackdown on a Spontaneous March:
>
> The opposition leaders failed the people, but the people did not fail
> Palestine. As soon as Friday prayers were over in Al Husseini Mosque,
> hundreds gathered and started chanting: "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar!"
> (God is Greater, God is Greater!). A street storm was brewing.
> Thousands began to pour in to join in a moment of true freedom. With
> the exception of very few second rank leaders from the Union of
> Professional Associations, there were no leaders what so ever in sight.
> The protest was totally leaderless
> and disorganized. Even the independent activists who took the lead in
> the protests that occurred at the beginning of the Intifada in October
> and November had a rather weak showing.
>
> The whole thing did not last a few minutes, maybe ten, maybe fifteen.
> The people were getting ready to move. Three individuals emerged in the
> fray to lead. Then, the attack began. An army of undercover policemen
> and special anti-riot troops launched their onslaught at the heart of
> the protest from several directions. Dozens of police and anti-riot
> jail vehicles surrounded the field isolating the people who were coming
> in from outside from the hundreds who were at the core. Then the
> beatings began. Several young men
> were dragged away to an unknown destiny. Chases were taking place
> between the alleys. Several protestors were beaten senseless to the
> ground. I saw one of those being whisked away into safety by a
> by-stander who dragged him unconscious into a cab. As far as the
> oppressors were concerned, the protestor had the right to remain silent.
>
> After about another round of clashes, only the shell of the protest
> remained. Chairs and batons were flying around. Protestors on the sides
> were yelling at the security troops: "Ya Yahoud, ya Yahoud" (You Jews!
> You Jews!).
>
> [Self-alienated and westernized Arabs who think that is "anti-semitic"
> should feel free to come down to one of the protests to tell that to the
> protestors directly if they feel so strongly about it : ) ]
>
> Some of The Lessons of the Botched Spontaneous March:
>
> 1) The leaders of opposition parties and the unions disappointed the
> people yet one more time. They should not complain if the people don't
> jump at the push of a button the next time around they issue a call for
> a demonstration, especially if they do so after obtaining approval from
> the regime.
>
> 2) An uprising or even a protest cannot last very long without some kind
> of leadership or organization sustaining it. Without such organization
> and
> leadership, the protest takes the form of one solitary Arab citizen
> against the whole oppressive apparatus. Surely spontaneous eruptions
> are signs of life, but they do not make political headway.
>
> 3) They were not ready to protest two days ago. The people were ready
> today. Yet even the independent activists missed the opportunity to
> turn this into a massive protest as in the onset of the Intifada in
> October and November. Instead of sitting back and complaining that the
> people are not doing anything about Palestine, the activists should keep
> their fingers on THE PULSE OF THE STREET.
>
> 4) What remains missing in the revolutionary camp is leadership and
> organization. The problem is inherent in the elites, the intellectuals
> and the activists, not in the people's willingness to make sacrifices.
>
> 5) The Zionists' secret weapon in the Arab World is the Arab regimes.
> Zionists may fool western public opinion into thinking that they are
> fending
> off three hundred million Arabs because they are so good at war. The
> truth, however, remains that without the protection Arab regimes render
> to the Zionists, the latter would become ground beef. What the Arab
> World needs, therefore, is a good revolution. More specifically, the
> Arab World needs a good radical grass-roots movement with a principled
> leadership and superior organization. Any attempts to search for
> solutions to the Arab dilemma should start with those premises in mind.
>
> Later
> Ibrahim Alloush
>
>
>
>
> -------------------------------------------
> American Arab Anti Discrimination Committee
> San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
> 522 Valencia Blvd San Francisco, CA 94110
> (415) 861-7444 adcsf at hotmail.com
> -------------------------------------------
>
>
>
>
>
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