Activists in Jordan have put the state “on trial” for a $15 billion gas deal it is aiming to conclude with Israel.
Dozens of organizations — including trade unions and political parties — have gathered under the Jordanian Campaign to Stop the Zionist Gas Deal, a coalition that was formed in December by several popular movements that began campaigning against the proposed deal in early September last year.
The deal is being negotiated by the state-owned National Electric Power Company and a consortium led by US giant Noble Energy. If implemented, it would involve the extraction of more than 300 million cubic meters of natural gas from the Israeli-controlled Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.
On 5 September, members of the public took the Jordanian government and the state-owned company to task at a popular tribunal.
Among the charges considered were that the deal would involve funding Israeli terrorism, threaten Jordan’s national security and aid war crimes against Palestinians.
After concluding that the proposed deal would violate Jordanian anti-terror law and the country’s penal code, the tribunal declared it null and void.
Although summons were delivered to the offices of the prime minister and the national company ahead of the recent tribunal hearing, they failed to send representatives. more
Comments
Post a Comment