The Jordanian Communist Party (JCP; ar, الحزب الشیوعی الاردنی, ''al-Hizb al-Shuyu'i al-Urduni'') is a
communist party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of '' The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
in
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, founded in 1948. Its current
general secretary
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
is Dr. Munir Hamarana. It publishes ''al-Jamahir'' (, "The Masses").
History
In June 1951, the Palestinian communists in the
West Bank
The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
, then organized in the
Palestinian National Liberation League, joined JCP. During the years to come the main stronghold of the party was in the West Bank, and the party leadership was predominantly Palestinian. Prior to the merger into JCP, the Palestinian communists had opposed the annexation of the West Bank by Jordan. However, in 1951, that policy was reversed and JCP recognized the West Bank as part of Jordan.
The main leaders during the initial period were
Fu'ad Nassar
Fu'ad Nassar ( ar, فؤاد نصار, born 1914 in Nazareth), was a Palestinian communist leader. Nassar became associated with the anti- colonial struggle in 1929. He joined the Palestinian Communist Party and was in charge of the military activ ...
, Fahmi al-Salfiti and Fa'iq Warrad. The party gained influence amongst urban intellectuals in
Nablus
Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a populati ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. In particular, the party developed a strong position in the
Salfit
Salfit ( ar, سلفيت) pronounced "Salfeet" is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, and the capital of the Salfit Governorate of the State of Palestine. Salfit is located at an altitude of , adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Ariel. ...
village outside of Nablus, from where many prominent JCP leaders hailed. Other areas in which the party was active were
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ar, رام الله, , God's Height) is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank that serves as the ''de facto'' administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusale ...
,
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital of ...
and amongst refugees near
Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gover ...
. The main party organ was ''al-Muqawamah ash-Shabiya'' (, "People's Resistance"), a monthly publication.
The party faced harsh repression from the Jordanian state. On December 29, 1951, Fu'ad Nasser was arrested. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. In 1953, a legislation was passed that ordered forced labor for JCP cadres. However, the party continued to work in a clandestine way.
The party built up mass organizations, such as the Democratic Youth Association and the Peace Partisans. In May 1954, it formed the National Front, through which the party took part in the
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
that year. In that election the National Front won one parliamentary seat, Abd al-Qadir Salih from Nablus.
The party reached the peak of its influence in 1956–1957, following the
Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
and during the mobilizations against the Anglo-Jordanian Treaty. In the
1956 elections, the National Front won three seats. Salih retained his seat, and Fa'iq Warrad won in Ramallah and Yaqub Ziyadin won a seat in Jerusalem. Following the elections, there was a brief opening for the party. Salih was appointed as Minister of Agriculture in the government of Nablusi. Prisoners, like Fu'ad Nassar, were released from jail. The party press could be circulated openly. Its main opponent at the time was the
Ba'ath Party
The Arab Socialist Baʿath Party ( ar, حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي ' ) was a political party founded in Syria by Mishel ʿAflaq, Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn al-Bītār, and associates of Zaki al-ʾArsūzī. The party espoused B ...
, which also sought to make inroads amongst the secular sectors.
The opening would however become very short. In January 1957,
Hussein of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...
harshly attacked the party and the communists were accused of collaborating with
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. Ziyadin and Warrad were arrested by the government after having their parliamentary immunities removed. They were sentenced to 19 and 16 years' imprisonment respectively. The party activities nearly halted, except for internal cadre schooling and publication of ''al-Muqawamah ash-Shabiya''.
In the mid 1960s, the
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nat ...
estimated the party membership to be approximately 500.
At the same time, the party suffered from internal divisions. The acting General Secretary in
Amman, Fahmi al-Salfiti led the
right wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, authori ...
sections of the party. He favored collaboration with the
Hashemite dynasty. He vehemently opposed guerrilla struggle and expressed a will that King Hussein would take the leading role in the struggle against Israel. The al-Salfiti fraction supported
Resolution 242
United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967, in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. It was adopted under Chapter VI of the UN Charter. The resolution was spons ...
of the
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...
. Al-Salfiti was opposed by the exiled leadership, led by the party general secretary Fu'ad Nassar.
After the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Jun ...
(5–10 June 1967), the party organization in the West Bank was led by Na'im al-Ashhab, Sulayman al-Najjab, 'Arabi 'Awwad and later, Bashir Barghuti. In the West Bank, the party started publishing ''al-Watan'' (, "The Fatherland"). Under al-Ashhab's rule, the West Bank communists remained cautious of armed struggle, claiming that it was premature under existing conditions. However the changed political scenario in the West Bank would force the local activists to review their stands. The pro-Jordanian positions of the party and its ambiguity towards the armed struggle were becoming more and more problematic. The West Bank communists moved closer to the Palestinian liberation movement. By 1973, the West Bank communists supported the formation of an independent Palestinian state of the West Bank and
Gaza. These developments strained the relations between the West Bank communists and their formal leadership in Amman.
In exile, Fu'ad Nassar built up an armed militia for the Palestinian communists, the al-Ansar Forces, in March 1970. In theory the al-Ansar Forces would remain under the supervision of the JCP, the
Syrian Communist Party
The Syrian Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي السوري, translit=al-Ḥizb aš-Šuyūʿī as-Sūrī) was a political party in Syria founded in 1924. It became a member of the National Progressive Front in 1972. The party spli ...
and the
Iraqi Communist Party
The Iraqi Communist Party ( ar, الحزب الشيوعي العراقي '; ku, Partiya Komunista Iraqê حزبی شیوعی عێراق) is a communist party and the oldest active party in Iraq. Since its foundation in 1934, it has dominated the ...
. In practice, the group would not play a major role, largely due to the passivity and betrayal of the JCP. By 1975, the structure was disbanded.
In 1975, the West Bank communists split in two separate organizations. The pro-Salfiti branch formed the Palestinian Communist Youth Organization. The group which remained in JCP was reorganized as the "Palestinian Communist Organization", which achieved autonomous status within JCP.
On February 10, 1982, after much debate, the Palestinian Communist Organization was separated from JCP. The
Palestinian Communist Party was constituted as a separate party, merging the JCP branch in the West Bank and the Palestinian Communist Organization in
Gaza.
The JCP remained "illegal" until 1993.
In May 2006, the party organized a "Unity Conference of Jordanian Communists", merging sectors that had left the party.
[http://www.rezgar.com/debat/show.art.asp?aid=64056] However, the main splinter group, the
Jordanian Communist Toilers Party, did not attend.
References
External links
*
{{Middle East communist parties
1948 establishments in Jordan
Communist parties in Jordan
Formerly banned communist parties
Political parties established in 1948
Political parties in Jordan
Secularism in Jordan
International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties