Who’s Who in the Jordanian Opposition: Part Two

Who’s Who in the Jordanian Opposition: Part Two

Inspired by the Arab Spring, the Salafi-Jihadists of Jordan have been holding demonstrations in several cities. As citizens take to the street to demand political reform, jihadists have shown that they are large in number and defiant, though they do not operate as an organization. This article profiles twelve key figures in the Jordanian opposition and is split in two parts. The first part covered six individuals who are considered traditional opposition figures. This second part covers another six individuals who represent newly formed opposition groups.  

Moath Alkhawaldeh

Moath Alkhawaldeh is one of the founders of al-Hirak al-Shababi al-Islami (Islamic Youth Protest Movement, IYPM). The 28-year-old was involved in public activities in his youth and while he studied Computer Information Systems at Zarqa University, where he was member of the Pupils Association. [1]

Alkhawaldeh adopted Islamic political ideology, but argued that “the nature of political life in Jordan as well as the traditional political forces do not allow young people to work in the public political sphere; however, the Arab Spring was a turning point. We found ourselves, as young people, able and capable to change the political realities. We will not be just tools anymore, but effective and capable players to change.” 

Alkhawaldeh was appointed by his colleagues as a spokesperson while they were preparing a large protest at Amman’s Interior Ministry on March 24, 2011.  One man died and scores of others were injured at the demonstration as a result of clashes that erupted between pro-government and pro-reform protesters. The pro-reform protestors claimed that security forces turned a blind eye to the attacks against them (see Terrorism Monitor, May 5, 2011). Alkhawaldeh said that the “reaction of the Jordanian government [on March 24, 2011] came as a shock… pushing [protestors] to be more active in demanding reform.” 

According to Alkhawaldeh, the IYPM has not collaborated with other Islamic movements in Jordan, such as the Muslim Brotherhood. Although the Muslim Brotherhood is one of the biggest political movements in Jordan, Alkhawaldeh explained that “these traditional organizations are unable to react quickly to the Arab Spring, and they do not give the space for young activists to move. They are also engaged in a complicated relationship with the government and society alike.”

Alkhawaldeh presented seven demands on behalf of the IYPM:

• Activate the principle that “the people are the source of all authority” 
• Set a modern election law that represents the people’s interests and guarantees the election of both houses 
• Formation of a High Constitutional Court 
• Lifting of the security grip on political life 
• Enactment of economic measures that will reduce the burden on the citizens of Jordan 
• Reform of the tax system
• The creation of constitutional amendments that address these demands.     

Abdullah Mahhaden

The Jordanian government erected a fence around a major roundabout in Amman in July 2012 where the Jordanian Prime Ministry is located in order to stop protesters demanding political reform. Abdullah Mahhaden, a 25-year-old Jordanian activist, chained himself to the fence in protest. [2]

A few weeks later, Mahhaden was arrested alongside other activists. According to Mahhaden, they were charged with “attempting to undermine the regime.” [3] Mahhaden also was charged with carrying an unlicensed pistol at one of the youth protests (Gerasanews.com [Amman], September 11, 2012). Activists have argued that the government is overstating the case against Mahhaden. They even marched demanding his release. Mahhaden went into ten days of hunger strike in prison. King Abdullah II ordered the release of Mahhaden and the other activists in October 2012 (Albawaba.com, October 23, 2012).

Mahhaden graduated from the University of Jordan in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting and currently works as an auditor. His political activities, according to his own account, were limited until February 18, 2011, when he witnessed what he referred to as “pro-government thugs” cracking down on protestors in Amman:  “I thought our [country’s] strong security forces would arrest those thugs…everything was filmed.” Instead, the Jordanian security forces did not intervene as the pro-government thugs attacked protestors. Mahhaden described the incident as “a turning point in my life” and thereafter he began joining protests. Mahhaden asked, why “our [country’s] strong security services, which helped in killing al-Zarqawi and tried to recruit Hamma al-Balawi, cannot arrest a bunch of thugs? While they try a man who carries a [protest] placard under the charge of attempting to undermine the regime?” 

Mahhaden and his colleagues formed a hirak (protest movement) in the capital Amman. He described it as “a political movement but not a traditional one. All political trends are represented in our movement. We work on brainstorming and action-based demand for political reform.” Mahhaden stressed that their demands are “centered on restoring dignity for Jordanian citizens inside and outside the country.”

Moeen al-Harasis

While the slogan “the people want to topple the regime” has been the main message of the Arab uprising since 2011, the Jordanian opposition, in their protests, preferred an alternative slogan: “the people want to reform the regime.” This changed, however, in November 2012, when protests erupted in Jordan against the increase in fuel prices that followed the lifting of government subsidies. Some factions in the Jordanian opposition now embraced the slogan of the Arab uprising and chanted “the people want to topple the regime.” The Tafaileh neighborhood of Amman was among the first places to hear it in some of the biggest protests in Jordan. 

Moeen al-Harasis is among the founders of the movement and is the spokesman of the “Freemen of Amman Movement,” an umbrella group for various protest movements located in Amman. Although al-Harasis adopts Ba’ath political ideology, he is unhappy with the traditional parties “whether they are nationalists or leftist or Islamists, because they are more interested in foreign issues than local politics.” He said that the Freemen of Amman Movement was born, therefore,   “in order to educate people of their rights.” [4]

Al-Harasis, who was jailed with other activists from September to October 2012, says that “our aim is to restore the [Jordanian] state in terms of power and resources. There should not be any will upper of the people’s because absolute power corrupts absolutely… we aim to educate people in Jordan, with their all various backgrounds and with the simplest language, about their rights and that corruption is linked to the head of the regime.”

Khalid Kalaldeh

Khalid Kalaldeh, who is a practicing physician, was one of the founders of the “Jordanian Social Left Movement” in 2007 and was its first Secretary General until 2011. Kalaldeh said the movement was formed to confront what he called the “neo-liberal economic policies” taking place in the country. The issue of privatizing state assets created anger among many Jordanian political forces.

Kalaldeh suggests his movement is not a Marxist organization, but rather an umbrella for all people who are interested in socio-economic issues such as “health, education, work and housing.” [5]

The Jordanian Social Left Movement is calling to form a special court for investigating corruption in big cases, especially those linked to what he referred to as “privatization and asset-selling cases.” Like many newly emerged protest movements in Jordan, Kalaldeh believes that “traditional parties have a very hierarchical structure,” which he thinks “is not suitable for this time.”

Kalaldeh’s movement has taken active part in other protest movements in Jordan since the Arab Spring started. Kalaldeh was chosen as a member of the National Dialogue Committee that was established by the monarch in 2011 in order to seek ways to activate political reform. The Jordanian Social Left Movement, which is actively involved in unions as well as university associations, was an active part in the Jordanian protest movement.

Kalaldeh says that his movement “maximizes the values of citizenship, freedom and justice… we believe in the existence of a class of influential [people] who have made obscene wealth at the expense of the citizen.”    

Ahmad Oweidi Al-Abbadi

Ahmad Oweidi al-Abbadi is widely considered an ultra-nationalist. He is the chairman of a small right-wing group called the Jordanian National Movement, which he founded in 2006. Al-Abbadi is a retired police officer and holds a Ph.D. in Political and Social Studies from Cambridge University. He was a member of the Jordanian Parliament between 1989-1993 and 1997-2001. [6]

Al-Abbadi is known for his controversial opinions on one of the most sensitive topics in Jordan: the Jordanian-Palestinian issue. Al-Abbadi was imprisoned in 2007 for two years on three charges: harming the state’s dignity, slandering officials and violating laws governing e-mail practices. The charges followed an e-mail al-Abbadi sent to former U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid that claimed an "exponential rise in corruption levels" among Jordanian officials. [7]

As part of the Arab Spring, al-Abbadi and 35 other tribal figures in Jordan signed a statement criticizing the King’s economic policies and demanding him to return farmlands rumored to have ended up in the hands of the Queen’s family. The “36 Movement” also criticized Queen Rania (who is of Palestinian origin) for using her post to facilitate business for her own family. The statement strongly condemned the high level of corruption in the state. [8] The significance of the statement is that it came from tribal members who have historically been core loyalists to the monarchy in Jordan.

According to al-Abbadi some of the originally dictated sentences were removed before publication because some members of the 36 Movement considered the sentences as “crossing the line.” Al-Abbadi was upset by the removal of some sentences but al-Abbadi’s positions are considered extremely radical among the majority of tribal Jordanians. Many Jordanian tribe members formed other hirak (protest movement), also in opposition to the government’s policies; their demands are not much different from what is stated by the 36 Movement (Gerasanews.com, July 25, 2012). [9]   

The Jordanian Tribal Movement stresses the necessity to form a united Jordanian identity in a country which is divided between Palestinian-origin citizens and Jordanian tribes that have historically had uneasy relations. The tribal protest movements state that Jordanians must support the struggle of Palestinians for the liberation of their land and their desire for the establishment of a Palestinian state (Jordantribalmovement.wordpress.com). 

Salaman al-Maaytah 

Salaman al-Maaytah is a retired major general who served in the Jordanian army as well as in the Public Security service. [10] He is a member of the Higher National Committee of Retired Servicemen (HNCRS), which issued a statement in May 2010, before the Arab Spring, calling for a fight on corruption, protection of the constitution, an end to the inheritance of higher posts in the country and the legalization of the “disengagement decree” (the 1988 decision by King Hussein to sever legal and administrative ties with the Palestinian West Bank). 

Al-Maaytah says that the Jordanian retired servicemen represent a very influential force in Jordan and if they were not divided by some people and services in the regime, they would be equal to, if not stronger than, the Muslim Brotherhood.” 

The military has always been loyal to Jordan’s monarch and is dominated by tribal Jordanians, therefore the opposition positions they hold were remarkable and their role increased after the Arab Spring. 

Al-Maaytah says that the demands of the HNCRS include amending the constitution, a fight against corruption, the restoration of all powers to the people and the determination of the identities of both Jordanians and Palestinians, with guarantees for the latter of the right to return. Al-Maaytah believes that some actors in Jordanian political life are serving a foreign agenda geared toward making Jordan an “alternative homeland” for Palestinians.

Conclusion

Corruption in the government and intervention by Jordan’s security forces in the state’s political life has played a major role in mobilizing opposition movements. While it is true that the opposition movements in Jordan, as in other Arab states, were inspired by the Arab Spring, it is also notable that the Jordanian opposition movements came as a reaction to the weakness of the traditional political entities in Jordan. The King is taking steps toward political reform but Jordan’s opposition movements are not satisfied and will continue to put pressure on the monarch for their demands to be met.

Notes

1. Author’s phone interview with Moath Alkhawaldeh, London, February 21, 2013.

2. To see more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUBs02D1iAA.

3. Author’s phone interview with Abdullah Mahhaden, London, February 21, 2013.

4. Author’s phone interview with Moeen Alharasis, London, February 22, 2013.

5. Interview with Khalid Kalaldeh, Amman, September 19, 2011, Available at: https://www.arabjo.net/index.php.

6. To see more: https://www.jordannationalmovement.com.

7. “Who is Dr. Ahmed Owedi?” Ejabat, November 17, 2009, Available at: https://ejabat.google.com/ejabat/thread?tid=4e4a3e2be1cfb8c9&pli=1.

8. Ejjbed, June 12, 2011, Available at: https://www.ejjbed.com/viewPost.php?id=28229&sec_id=1; See the full text of the statement at: https://www.watnnews.net/NewsDetails.aspx?PageID=29&NewsID=36921.

9. To see more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt8Ubs-dy9c.

10. Author’s phone interview with Salaman al-Maaytah, London, February 26, 2013.