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Jordan charges 16 terrorists in plot to attack Israel, US embassies in Amman |
| By: Associated Press |
| Published: August 28, 2005 |
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Jordan's writers union said Sunday that it was boycotting a weeklong international poetry festival over claims an American citizen allegedly holding an Israeli passport was allowed to participate, a charge vehemently denied by organizers.
Festival chief Munir Meziyed said the US citizen at the center of the controversy -- who is believed to be a Native American - had not even traveled to Jordan after pulling out of the Odyssey Dream International Literary Festival, which started Friday.
The boycott by the Jordanian Writers Society, which comprises hard-liners opposed to Jordan's 1994 peace treaty with Israel, underlines how deep anti-Israeli sentiment runs in some segments of Jordanian society.
Mohammad al-Mashayekh, spokesman for the writers society, said the body was "boycotting the festival in view of Israeli participation and the secrecy shrouding the financing of the event."
When asked what information he had proving the American poet identified as Shawki Bani Ami held an Israeli passport, al-Mashayekh said he had none, adding only that "his name is Israeli."
US and Israeli embassy officials, who declined to be identified further in line with embassy practice, both said they had no information about an Israeli passport holder being among the list of American participants in the festival, being held in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
But Meziyed, himself a poet, said the man in question was a native American and that the influential writers union was trying to wreck the festival with its false claims.
"The society has accused us of normalizing cultural ties with Israel" he said. "Jordanian poets pulled out of the event under pressure. We want to be open to the others, other cultures and people."
One of 15 Jordanian poets ignoring the boycott call and taking part in the festival described the union as "prejudiced and biased."
"They are living in the Dark Ages and this position does not reflect Jordanian society as a whole," said poet Nael Ahmed Youssef.
The Writers Society is one of 13 professional Jordanian associations dominated by Muslim and leftist political groups long suspicious of Israel's peace intentions and opposed to Jordan's normalization with the Jewish state.
Roughly half of Jordan's population is of Palestinian families and their descendants displaced in two wars with Israel since 1948.
American poets participating in the event also expressed disappointment and bewilderment over the boycott.
"It puts a real black spot on the voices that could be here," said Cheyenne Indian poet Lance Henson from Oklahoma. "I would invite dialogue even now that the conference has seemingly been destroyed by what happened."
Meziyed hoped the festival would still be a success despite the boycott call, which has been followed by numerous members of the hard-line writers' guild.
"We don't want a dialogue of tanks and warplanes, neither do we seek political statement," he said. "We wanted this cultural event to succeed."
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