AKEED, Aya Khawaldeh

The question of leasing Jordanian land in Al-Baqura in the northern Jordan Valley and Al-Ghamr in Wadi Araba to Israel, according to the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement signed in October 1994, has resurfaced in the media. This happened as the deadline approaches for either party to inform the other party of its wish not to renew the lease for 25 years, which ends in October 2019. The deadline to do this is one year before the expiry of the lease (October 2018).

In a TV interview, former Prime Minister Abdelsalam Al-Majali said that some land in Al-Baqura was owned by Israel. This has stirred up a debate, centering on the truth of this information, especially since it came from Al-Majali, who then headed the Jordanian delegation to the Jordanian-Israeli peace talks.

Many local and Arab media outlets carried Al-Majali's statements. During a seminar at the Applied Science University in 2014, Al-Majali had stated that the Jordanian-Israeli peace treaty gave the Israelis rights of ownership and use in Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr for 25 years and that they would return to full Jordanian sovereignty after the end of the period.  

Reacting to Al-Majali's statements, former Information Minister Taher Al-Adwan wrote an article headlined "Land of Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr: We Were All Asleep." He spoke about the details of the agreement, the provisions that pertain to these pieces of land, and the circumstances surrounding its signature by the Cabinet at the time. He also spoke about how the government and the official media had a monopoly over it and about the water wells that are used by the Israeli side. Al-Adwan provided several reasons that make the Israelis' ownership of Jordanian land void, as he stated in his article.

One news website published a story headlined "Haddadin Chimes in on Al-Baqura, Al-Ghamr: This is Shameful." The former water minister, Engineer Mundher Haddadin, who was a member of the Jordanian delegation that negotiated the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, denied what Taher Al-Adwan said about the wells and the nature of Jordanian sovereignty over the land of Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr. However, the news website did not explain the source of the statements. It did not say if it had interviewed Haddadin or obtained this information from his page on one of the social media sites.

Answering a question by a number of deputies about Al-Majali's statements, Ayman Al-Safadi, minister of foreign affairs and expatriates, said that "the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement has annexes" and that "Al-Baqura is Jordanian land, but it has property owned by Israelis since 1926."

Coinciding with a parliamentary memorandum adopted by a number of deputies to urge the government to regain the land of Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr, activists have launched a campaign under the heading "Our Land: National Campaign for Reclaiming Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr" on social media sites. They called on the government to inform the occupation about the Kingdom's intention to reclaim the two areas before the abovementioned date.

The noticeable thing about the stories and reports carried by local and Arab media is that they were not comprehensive so as to provide sufficient information about the debate to readers. Also, they did not go to specialists to clarify the issue and explain its numerous facets.

In general, the question of the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement has always come up in the local media. In December 2017, a parliamentary memorandum called for issuing a draft law to cancel the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement (Wadi Araba Treaty) in the wake of the U.S. declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

A news website reported that Prime Minister Hani Al-Mulki confirmed, during a session by the Lower House of Parliament on 28 November 2017, that the leasing of the land of Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr was contained in the body of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. He refused to comment on the question of the deputies regarding reclaiming the land. A local TV station reported that Al-Mulki pledged to regain the land of Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr after the expiry of the lease.

Based on what is published in the media, there is confusion when talking about the area of Al-Baqura and the part that was occupied of it, as well as the part that was regained and the area of the land that is leased to the Israeli side under the agreement. Some stories and articles used generalizations and said that the entire land of Al-Baqura was leased, which is untrue.

On 25 October 2017, a local website published a documented study under the headline "Will Jordan Reclaim Al-Baqura and Al-Ghamr From 'Israel' Next Year?" The study, which was published on the 23d anniversary of the signing of the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement, explained the history of Al-Baqura in the northern Jordan Valley and Al-Ghamr in Wadi Araba and what the agreement stipulated regarding these two areas.

In October 1994, Jordan and Israel signed a peace agreement, according to which Jordan regained 560 donums out of 1,390 donums occupied by Israel in 1950. The two sides agreed to place 830 donums under a special regime, according to which it would be leased to Israel for 25 years. The lease would be renewed automatically for the same periods, unless a one-year prior notice of termination is given by either party.

As for Al-Ghamr, it had been inhabited by Israeli farmers throughout its occupation. Israel demanded keeping it under the pretext that it was a "natural extension" of the Tzofar border settlement. Besides, there are 1,000 donums that are already cultivated. Consequently, it has been placed under the same special regime according to which land in Al-Baqura has been leased, in line with the provisions of the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement.

In a statement to AKEED, writer Nabil Gheishan said that "the government is mainly to blame for not clarifying the question of Al-Baqura. I covered the withdrawal of the Israeli occupation army from Al-Baqura and the raising of the Jordanian flag, but we did not hear a single word then about this story. Today, after the passing of 24 years, we learn that 830 donums are owned by Israelis."

Gheishan adds: "Information was received from abroad then that Jordan had leased Al-Baqura to the Israelis, while the government of Abdelsalam Al-Majali denied this and kept the information from the citizens and public opinion leaders, including journalists."

He noted that the local media has so far not offered anything except personal opinions. Daily newspapers have not made an effort to clarify the matter, unlike some satellite stations and local websites.

For his part, Oraib Rantawi, director general of Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, told AKEED that "the local media lacks information. It has failed to provide details of the story to the public, including facts about when ownership of this land passed to Israelis and how much of it is owned by Israelis."

Local media outlets, according to Rantawi, were satisfied with reporting positions on this issue. Some of them downplayed it, while others merely republished the government story. None of them made investigative efforts to look for information, dig up documents, and meet with the people who negotiated and signed the agreement.

He added: "The story came as a surprise to everybody. It was a shock to public opinion. I think that even MPs do not have any information about it. Today, the media has a responsibility to direct public opinion and raise this issue so as not to renew the lease."