Ammon News - Ammon - The Jordan Press Association on Friday called on Jordanian media outlets to boycott all news coverage of a member of parliament who reportedly visited Israel and attended a reception at Israeli President Shimon Peres' residence to celebrate Israel's "independence day," marking the 65th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe).
JPA President Tareq Momani on Friday called on media outlets to boycott MP Mohammad Asha al-Dawaymeh, citing his recent visit to the Israeli occupation entity and the MP's recent "stance" towards media outlets that revealed his visit.
Momani told Ammon News over the phone that JPA will provide "all legal means of the association" to support the news website, after MP al-Dawaymeh announced that he filed a law suit against the agency for publishing the news about his visit.
Da'em Center for Press Freedoms on Friday also announced in a press statement its support of Ammon News in the law suit filed against it by the MP. The Center called on journalists to stand against attempts to silence free media, and reiterated JPA's call to boycott coverage of al-Dawaymeh.
MP Retracts from Law Suit Against News Agency
MP al-Dawaymeh's lawyers said on Saturday that the MP retracted from his position to file a law suite against Ammon News Agency for publishing news about his alleged visit to Israel. The MP said on a program on a local Jordanian satellite channel Thursday night that he also filed a law suit with Amman's Public Prosecutor against the Islamic Centrist Party (ICP Wasat) for expelling him from the party's parliamentary bloc over his reported visit to Israel.
In response to al-Dawaymeh's allegation during the program that Ammon News attempted to "blackmail" him, the agency stressed that it welcomes the MP's resort to the judicial system, and will request testimonies from Jordanian officials, including staff of the Jordanian Embassy in Tel Aviv, to testify in the case.
The MP had admitted attending the reception on Tuesday at Peres' office, saying he arrived with an Arab Israeli friend of his.
Leave of Absence from Parliament
MP al-Dawaymeh had submitted an official leave of absence on Monday (April 15) from the Lower House of Parliament to be absent on Tuesday, April 16th, the first day of the MPs' deliberations on the government policy statement, claiming that he will be traveling to Saudi Arabia.
Al-Dawaymeh is reported to have travelled to the Palestinian occupied territories instead, crossing the border using a vehicle with a Saudi Arabian license plate.
Al-Dawaymeh reportedly obtained a permit from Interior Minister Hussein Majali to enter Israel with a Saudi license plate, and reportedly met with Jordan's Ambassador to Israel Walid Obeidat there.
Sources at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Ammon News that Al-Dawaymeh's visit was not facilitated by the Ministry, but rather by the Israeli Embassy in Amman.
Asked why he did not travel using a Jordanian license plate, Al-Dawaymeh told Ammon News earlier this week that his car "is being repaired," adding that the purpose of his visit was to defend the cause of Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque.
Centrist Party Expels MP
ICP had decided on Monday, April 22, to expel al-Dawaymeh from both the political party and its parliamentary bloc following a probe into his reported recent visit to Israel.
An ICP source told Ammon News that the deputy was subjected to questioning by the party regarding his recent visit to Israel, and attending a reception held by Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrating Israel's so-called "Independence Day," marking 65 years of the founding of Israel, considered the Palestinian Nakba of 1948.
Following a report published by Ammon News exposing that Al-Dawaymeh crossed over to Israeli territories last week using a vehicle carrying a Saudi Arabian license plate rather than a Jordanian one to attend Peres' reception, the Islamist Centrist Party launched an investigation into the incident.
ICP's Probing Al-Dawaymeh's visit revealed that Israeli partners of the MP in Spain planned his visit to Israel, and that the Israeli Foreign Ministry received the deputy at the Jordanian-Israeli borders last week.
ICP issued a statement on Monday stating that the party's parliamentary bloc met with ICP's political committee and decided unanimously to expel Al-Dawaymeh, citing his visit to the "Zionist entity" and his attendance of a reception and shaking hands with the "criminal" Peres, according to the statement.
"The Bloc and Political Committee voted unanimously to expel him considering that such acts violate the party's principles and foundations that reject all forms of normalization with the Zionist entity," the statement added.
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