Between Jordanian and Israeli Intelligence

by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem

This article aims to show just how absurd and trivial the Arab intelligence agencies are, and how they work continually to manufacture enemies for themselves and for the regimes that shelter them. I am a political and social activist, and Jordanian intelligence once had me expelled, along with five of my colleagues, from the University of Jordan, and confiscated my Jordanian passport. Israel has arrested me repeatedly, and so has the Palestinian Authority. I have faced a great deal of harassment and continue to face it, and Palestinian intelligence once opened fire on me and hit me with four bullets.

Part of my strategy in my work is not to draw members of my family into my activities, even by talking about them. I do not want any of them to know what I am doing, so that they will not become an easy target for the intelligence agencies. If any of them wishes to be active, he or she may do so without involving me or informing me, for the same reason.

It is strikingly noticeable that Israel has never asked any member of my family about anything concerning me, whereas the Arab intelligence agencies, foremost among them Jordanian intelligence, do. Israel has arrested me four times, banned me from travel over the years, placed me under house arrest, and so on and so forth. My wife and I once applied for a laissez-passer travel document from Israel; my wife received approval, while I did not. The Israelis never once summoned my wife or interrogated her, nor summoned any of my children. Palestinian intelligence, however, broke into my home while I was under arrest, without judicial authorization, and rifled through the contents of my office.

As for Jordanian intelligence, it does not let a single opportunity pass without harassing my wife, my relatives, and my friends. One day, someone asked me over the phone for articles and research papers, promising to pay a thousand dollars in return — he was one of the very few who actually pay. We agreed, and I asked him to give the money to one of my relatives in Jordan. It so happened that Jordanian intelligence arrested this person on the charge of belonging to Fatah – Revolutionary Council. This person confessed that he had sent me a thousand dollars through one of my relatives. My relative suffered greatly at the hands of Jordanian intelligence as they interrogated him on the grounds that he had ties to Sabri al-Banna (Abu Nidal). Neither I nor my relative knew anything about this person’s organizational affiliation. It appears the file was then referred to Israel, such that it now refuses to issue him a permit to visit us in Tulkarem.

About fifteen years ago, my wife took our children on a visit to Jordan. She found her name on the list of those barred from entering Jordan. At the Damiya Bridge, they told her that the children, being minors, could cross, but that she had to turn back. I contacted some friends in Jordan, and they secured her approval to enter, on condition that she appear before intelligence. She spent an entire day waiting at the intelligence department. In the end, they asked her about her husband and his activities, and asked her to cooperate with them — that is, to become a spy on her own husband. I am always careful not to let her know anything with a political or security dimension. She does not, by the way, know about this article, and she may only find out if she decides one day to visit Jordan, courtesy of Jordanian intelligence.

When I was in Jordan, the intelligence officer who met me the first time accused me of belonging to Hizb ut-Tahrir; in the second meeting, he accused me of belonging to the Communist Party. In front of my relative, he accused me of belonging to the Revolutionary Council group; in front of my wife, he accused me of belonging to the Popular Front – General Command; and in front of some friends of mine, he accused me of belonging to Fatah al-Intifada. An intelligence service searching for a political and organizational affiliation.

My wife then decided to travel to America to visit our son, who had been away from us for five years. We contacted Jordan and found her name at the border crossing point. Note that the American consulate had granted her a travel visa, and Israel raised no objection to her passage. She had to meet with intelligence. She waited a long time, and the meeting lasted half an hour; they asked for her cooperation if she wanted help from intelligence in having her name removed from the banned list. She traveled. On her return, they stopped her at the airport and asked her to report to intelligence. Given her insistence that she would be leaving quickly for Palestine, they returned her passport to her after interrogating her at the airport.

This is a summary of various stories, and a description of a backward security mentality that will certainly lead to serious security problems from which every party and every group will suffer. The other Arab regimes are no better off.

So that Jordanian intelligence may rest easy, let me tell them that organization is necessary in order to rid ourselves of Israel and of the Arab regimes, and that when I find the right organization, I will not hesitate to join it. I believe in the unity of the Arabs and Muslims, and I believe in the unity of the Jordanian and Palestinian peoples, and I will fight to preserve that unity. My niece is married to a fine Jordanian man, and my cousin is married to an authentic Salti Jordanian woman. Intelligence agencies will not divide us, and the deeds of troublemakers will not split our ranks. We will remain one loving, steadfast people, and God willing, the peoples will triumph over every apparatus of repression and tyranny.

And what does Jordanian intelligence think of my divorcing Umm Muhammad after twenty-five years of marriage, so that their minds might finally be at ease?

Source: Translated from the original Arabic, “بين المخابرات الأردنية والإسرائيلية” by Dr. Abdul-Sattar Kassem.