'Discrimination,' 'Hate' in Statements, Comments on JEA Elections

  • 2018-05-06
  • 12

AKEED -- The results of the elections of the Jordan Engineers Association (JEA), which took place on Friday, 4 May 2018, and in which the Islamic movement has been dislodged after maintaining a grip on its seats for 26 years, have stirred up a debate among political figures, activists, and commentators in the mainstream media and on websites and social media platforms over the past two days. The content has not been free from discriminatory statements or hate speech.

The results showed that the coalition of independents, nationalists, and leftists (Numou) won 7 out of 11 seats, including the president (Ahmad Samara Zoubi), and vice president (Fawzi Musid). In the wake of the results, Islamist MP Saud Abu Mahfouz criticized political currents and religious trends, alleging that they had helped remove the Islamic trend (Injaz), which had controlled the JEA for more than quarter of a century.

In a post on his Facebook page, carried by media outlets and electronic sites, Abu Mahfouz said: "The remnants of the left, of all types, are fully entitled to mobilize against the Injaz list at the JEA. The same applies to all secularists, liberals, followers of religious sects, old Fatah factions, new loyalists and disinterested followers, nationalists, Nasserists, Baathists, Freemasons, Occidentalists, irreligious people, and homosexuals. The number of those people cannot be underestimated."

Engineer Laith Shubeilat, a former MP, criticized the statements of Abu Mahfouz in a post on his Facebook page, carried by some media outlets, saying: "Enough! Enough! Enough! The statements of Saud Abu Mahfouz about the JEA elections are extremely deplorable." Shubeilat called for "regarding people as brothers in humanity who need a medicine that God has given us, and not insults, contempt, and derision."

Former MP Bassam Haddadin described Abu Mahfouz's statements as a "hysterical response" to their defeat in the JEA elections. He added: "I, a proud secularist and democrat, express my love and appreciation for the trend of believers everywhere. Our battle is not with Islam or Islamists. Rather, it is with merchants of religion and guardians of ignorance and backwardness, who are responsible for the stage of decadence and loss that has beset us."

Media activist Deema Alam Farraj reacted as follows: "A piece of advice to the Islamic movement from an Arab, Christian Jordanian. Reconsider your discourse. Rethink the way you bring up your grassroots. Work out your internal differences. Create an Arab Spring within the movement. Face the developments of the stage. Remove the leaders who have not changed in decades and who have prevented youth from advancing within the party and the group." She added: "The funny thing is that Abu Mahfouz accepts others only in times of elections. Abu Mahfouz: Do you remember when you entered a liquor store to seek votes? I wish to remind you that you admitted this incident."

Comments on Facebook have revived a picture posted by a website during the last parliamentary elections in September 2016. It shows Abu Mahfouz exiting a liquor store in the city of Zarqa. At the time, he reacted to the picture, saying: "Indeed, I entered to ask the owner of the store to vote. This person is a Jordanian citizen and has the right to vote. It is our right to ask him to vote for us."

Former Interior Minister Engineer Sameer Habashneh replied to Abu Mahfouz in a post on Facebook, carried by several websites. Habashneh said: "Is it reasonable, Sheikh, that, while you are supposed to be closer to God Almighty, you get so angry over a mundane matter to the extent of maligning people and questioning their conduct simply because those whom you support did not win in a syndicate? Our Sheikh: A person may get angry, but this should not make one falsely defame others. I suggest that you delete your post. By God, it does not befit our religion or your status. Please accept my sincere affection."

Under the headline "Detaining MP Saud Abu Mahfouz Within Hours; Party Headquarters in Zarqa Vacated," one website published the following story, without attributing it to clear sources, thus constituting a violation: "On the story of the post by Islamist Deputy Saud Abu Mahfouz, reports say that a number of persons and trends that were offended will file complaints against the MP against the background of his direct and indirect accusations." The website added that "he is expected to face charges of fueling regional and sectarian strife and others."

Social media sites have been rife with comments and replies, some of which contained insults, while others contained hate speech, whether by supporters or opponents of these statements. Deputy Abu Mahfouz later retracted these statements, saying: "I am not responsible for the debate that these statements have generated and the misunderstanding by some people."

Lawyer and rights activist Hala Ahed told AKEED that Deputy Abu Mahfouz used expressions that can be described as discriminatory, irrational accusations, falsehoods, and improper rhetoric, but they are not tantamount to hate speech since they did not contain incitement. They contained erroneous characterization. They confused concepts.

The government has recently introduced amendments to the Cyber Crime Law, which explicitly stipulate criminalizing "hate speech." This is despite the criticism it has faced over the definition in the amended law, which stipulated that hate speech is "every word or deed that fuels sedition; religious, sectarian, ethnic, or regional discord; or discrimination between individuals or groups."

Ahed added: "We see that individuals have taken sides in their comments on social media platforms, depending on their convictions and allegiances. The electoral battle is run according to political affiliations only (Islamists and non-Islamists), while it should be viewed from the angle of the interests of the profession, requirements of engineers, expected challenges, and achievements that each side can make if elected."

Asked if there is a clear legal violation in the statements of Deputy Abu Mahfouz, given that a news website reported that supporters of the Numou list intend to sue him, Ahed stressed that "although the statements contain irrational and improper accusations, I do not see a legal violation in them or a wrongful act against others, since they characterize a situation without including insults or defamation of a certain group."