Amman, Jordan
June 16, 2001

Below you shall find two reports on the sit-in that was held briefly and
disbanded forcibly by police at Amman International Airport today, Saturday,
June 16, to demand the release of Ibrahim Ghosheh, the official spokesperson
of Hamas, from the transit area of Queen Alia Airport where he has been
languishing for the last two days.

Ibrahim Ghosheh has been exiled to Qatar with three other Hamas leaders for
the last 22 months.  He holds a Jordanian passport, and has been involved as
a construction engineer in some of the most important water projects in
Jordan over the last few decades.  Yet he is now being denied entry into
Jordan in total violation of the Jordanian Constitution and the Human Rights
Declarations to which Jordan is signatory.   Read on..

Report One, by Ibrahim Alloush

Coming back from Qatar on Flight 404 on Thursday, June 14, 2001, I think I
was very lucky to have been seated by the lady at the ticket counter in
Qatar Airport right next to Ibrahim Ghosheh, the official spokesperson of
Hamas.

It is not just that the sixty-five years old man is full of so much
knowledge and experience, the few hours flight from Doha, Qatar, to Amman,
Jordan, went by like a breath.  That of course is true.  But more
importantly, I had the chance to learn in the pristine Arab skies some
things that turned out to be extremely relevant to the brewing crisis
between the regimes of Qatar and Jordan as the plane that carried us home
remains impounded till this moment by Jordanian authorities in Amman
Airport, forbidden to fly back to Qatar without Ibrahim Ghosheh, and
forbidden by Qatari authorities to fly back to Qatar with Ibrahim Ghosheh.
In the meantime, this Palestinian has set up CAMP in the transit area of
Amman Airport. It's like deja vu all over again: the story of a whole people,
the Palestinians, shinning through the personal tragedy of one man, and the
story of one man carrying in his suitcase the tragedy of a whole people.

Ibrahim Ghosheh told me that he was not coming back to challenge Jordanian
authorities.  To emphasize that point, he underlined the fact that he was
coming back alone, WITHOUT the other three Hamas members also exiled in
Qatar for the last 22 months.  He is simply a Jordanian citizen coming back
to Jordan, to his family.

Two, Ibrahim Ghosheh told me that he and the other three leaders of Hamas
expressed willingness to stay in Jordan without practicing any political
activity whatsoever.  He said although there are other Palestinian groups
more favorable to the so-called "peace process" engaging in political
activity in Jordan, Hamas leaders were willing to stay in Jordan only as
guests, even though they have Jordanian citizenships, without exercising
the constitutional right of political action. [The Jordanian regime has
alleged 22 months ago that it was throwing Hamas leaders out of the
country because they belonged to a non-Jordanian organization, Hamas].

Three, the deal between Qatar and Jordan whereby Qatar would receive the
four leaders of Hamas to alleviate the tensions between the latter and the
Jordanian regime was only TEMPORARY.  After 22 months of exile in Qatar,
'temporary' seems to have been spread too thin by the Jordanian regime,
turning it de facto into 'permanent'.  Ibrahim Ghosheh wasn't about to go
along with this interpretation of 'temporary'.  So he just bought a ticket
and came back home, without any prior official arrangements.

In the meantime, Ibrahim Ghosheh, who is taking medication for his blood
pressure and blood-sugar level [if memory serves correctly], has not been
allowed to meet with any members of his family, friends, or lawyers.

So today, in spite of dozens of security checkpoints on the road to Amman
International Airport, a few dozen activists made it through to stage a
sit-in right in the middle of the departure lobby.  At exactly 4:05 pm, the
activists who were able to make it through lined up and lifted signs saying:
"Release Ibrahim Ghosheh", "Citizenship is Constitutional Right, not
Patronage", and "Jordanians have the Right of
Return to their Country".

You shall find details of that sit-in in the report below.  However, before
you go there, please be aware that although some media outlets are trying to
portray today's sit-in as "Islamic fundamentalists causing trouble", you can
rest assured that most of those who staged the sit-in today where from the
nationalist/leftist camp in Jordan.  It
only lasted for about twelve minutes, but it delivered the message.

Later
Ibrahim Alloush

Report Two: A Sit-In for the Constiutional Rights of Jordaninans in Queen
Alia Airport, by Dr. Hisham Bustani

Saturday, June 16, 2001

Grassroots, Unions and Political activists have called today for a sit-in at
Queen Alia Airport outside Amman to protest the governmental violation of
the constiutional right of Jordanians manifested in their forceful
deportation and banning them from returning back to and entering their
country.

Eng. Ibrahim Ghosheh, a Jordanian citizen and one of four leaders of HAMAS
who were forcefully deported from Jordan to Qatar about two years ago,
arrived in Queen Alia Airport last Thursday's evening (June 14, 2001).
Jordanian authorities refused to let him in claiming that "it has previously
reached an agreement with them to stay in Qatar and not come back to Jordan
as long as they are in HAMAS!", he has been since held in the transit area
of the airport, with the Qatari Airline Captain refusing to transport him
back to Qatar saying "he has strict orders not to do so".

Returning to the activity of today: From the start of the 5km long exit
which leads from the Airport Highway to the airport itself, 4 police check
points were waiting for the activists, each one asking for identification of
passengers, and searching the cars.

Main opposition figures were not allowed to pass the first check point,
those included: Dr. Yaqoub Zayadin, Head of the Worker's Communist Party,
Laith Shubeilat, known opposition leader, Dr. Mohammad Al-Ouran, Member of
Parliament and Head of the Physicians Association, among others who started
their own sit-in at that site.

In the meantime, about 30 activists (including Dr. Ahmad Qadiri, Head of the
Dental Association) managed to pass the police check-points unnoticed,
assembled in the "Arrivals Lounge" inside the airport, and held up signs
saying: "Not allowing citizens into the country is un-constitutional",
"Airports are for travelling, they are not political prisons", "No for
violating constitutional rights of Jordanians" and "Let Ghosheh In". Many
people gathered around the activists, some of them putting in a word of
support and cheering up the demonstrators.

After 15 minutes, police forces stormed the lounge, forcefully pulled and
tore the signs, pushed the lot out of the building, and then escorted them
out of the airport. The hassled activists later joined the others who were
demonstrating at the first police check point. Half-an-hour later, the
demonstrators left the scene after forwarding their main message to the
regime: STOP THE VIOLATIONS OF CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF JORDANIANS.

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