A law governing the National Human Rights Center in Jordan has been held up in the Jordanian Parliament after heated debates over a clause related to Israel. The draft legislation included a provision forbidding relations between the Center and "the Jewish Entity" (the old style way Arabs got around saying "Israel"). Islamists insisted vehemently on keeping this in the legislation, while regime backers argued just as vociferously that the clause contradicted Article 10 of the 1994 peace treaty with Israel. Al Jazeera quotes Mohammed Daoudiya, a prominent member of the government, as warning during the Parliamentary debate that the clause would harm Jordan's image and would cause the international media to unleash a campaign against Jordan for being "anti-Semitic." The Jordanian newspaper Al Arab Al Yawm adds that the controversial contacts between several Jordanian Members of Parliament and the American embassy (which I wrote about yesterday) had to do with this issue. As of now, the Parliament has not been able to call a vote on the question.
Not much to comment on here, this is just an FYI kind of posting. That, and just to say that Jordan could really use an effective National Human Rights Center. Will allegations of anti-Semitism because of a clause in the legislation really hurt Jordan's reputation more than, say, public revelations about Jordan's detention facilities?
Hmmm...the Egyptian government just resigned en masse. What's up with that, Abu?
Posted by: paper tigress | June 17, 2004 at 06:09 PM
good question. let you know tomorrow when i'm in the office!
Posted by: the aardvark | June 17, 2004 at 06:23 PM