Hamas in Amman

Each January, the U.S. Department of State issues an annual list in which it publishes the names of organizations it classifies as “terrorist” and countries that support of terrorism. In the year 1993, Hamas was added to the list of terrorist organizations; it remains on the latest list issued on Jan. 27, 2012. As for the countries in support of terrorism, Syria remained on the Department of State’s list, and the report lists the following reasons:

President Bashar Assad spoke openly about the Palestinian organizations’ right to resist Israel. Damascus hosted various Palestinian leaders, including Hamas leaders. Damascus allowed Khalid Meshel and his assistants to reside in Syria, and it supplied security guards to accompany his car during the parade. Syria allowed Khalid Meshel to freely move throughout the country and to hold a press conference in Damascus.

Those on the Department of State’s list must suffer legal, political and economic consequences imposed by the U.S. and Europe on everybody who deals with these organizations. It is obvious that Western governments crossed their boundaries in looking after their interests in order to defend Israel’s ambitions. The West chose to conflate terrorism with the right to self-defense and the right to defend the country, so they criminalized everyone who rejects Zionist ambitions of expansion. On the other hand, Western countries tied their assistance and their commercial, technological, military and economic dealings to conditions pertaining to the degree of security cooperation and fighting terrorism. As for the countries that do not meet these demands, they are accused of supporting terrorism and find themselves economically, scientifically and even militarily blockaded.

Syria still pays the price of Western sanctions, but it was able to ward off many negative effects of the embargo due to the self-sufficiency policy followed by Damascus. This policy led to the shrinkage of Syrian debts and independence of the country’s economy from outside assistance. Can Jordan, burdened with assistance, pay the price for Meshel’s visit to Amman and reconciliation with Hamas?