Not only Jordan, but
Egypt itself, and Arabs everywhere
where Islamists are still popular to different degrees, would be winners.
اضافة اعلان
The undisputable fact is that in our country's 100-year
history, never has a political opponent been executed or assassinated: a
regionally unmatched legacy of tolerance and acceptance of those who disagree
with the establishment. Such a legacy makes mediation on the part of Amman to
secure a pardon for
Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Egypt would come as no
surprise.
Twelve respected Islamist leaders are on death row and Egypt
will gain too little by executing them. On the contrary, the list of gains
seems endless. Eight years since President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi came into
office, Egypt is more stable, more accepted by the rest of the world, and has
more potential to reassume its leadership in the region.
It's high time for a national reconciliation, starting with
this act of amnesty. Cairo will extinguish coals before they get out of control
and the bigger sister and its people will always be thankful to Jordan and its
leadership if the latter leads efforts, maybe with international and regional
partners, to trigger a peacemaking process between the ruling establishment and
the largest opposition group.
This would all be at a time when Cairo is entangled in
life-threatening challenges, including the Ethiopia Dam, terrorism in Sinai
and, of course, regional turbulence, especially the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict. A national concord in the "Mother of the Globe", as Egypt
is aptly nicknamed, would make things easier for the leadership there to stand
up to face these challenges. With the Muslim Brotherhood's leadership accepting
the new reality, and because they are Hamas' ideological fathers, a new peace
push in the Middle East would gain new momentum, in favor of Arabs.
For Jordan, domestically, the Brotherhood, also the largest
opposition group, would be grateful. Whether we like it or not, the political
reforms His Majesty
King Abdullah is pushing for, boils down to the fact that
fences should be mended between the state and the group. His Majesty has
already picked members of the group to join the 92-strong Royal Committee to
Modernize the Political System.
Jordan is a good friend of Egypt and both are on the same
page on almost every issue of mutual concern. There is a strong possibility
that Amman's request would be met with acceptance, and, in that case, both
leaderships would gain more respect from their international partners that
reject the death penalty, including the EU and the US administration, let alone
the entire public opinion of the free world.
Jordan's Hashemite leadership is already popular among the
Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and the 1948 Palestinian community. Saving
the lives of Brotherhood leaders would take this popularity to a new level,
especially since Amman, as announced by Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi, was
in contact with Hamas during and in the aftermath of the Israeli aggression on
Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. And in a report by Jordan News days before that,
a Hamas leader said the group was open to restoring ties with the Kingdom, a
milestone that would give Jordan new leverage in regional politics.
Political gains are a legitimate goal for any country, but
for us in Jordan, it's about human life at the end of the day. His Majesty has
frequently cited this verse from the Holy Quran in his speeches: "… and if
any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole
people."
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Opinion & Analysis
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