A Jordanian lawyer has asked Israeli authorities for intervention after he was disbarred from the Jordanian Bar Association (JBA) for representing an Israeli kibbutz in a business dispute with a Jordanian company.
The controversy relates to the Jordanian private company 'Hijazi & Ghosheh Group', which works with meat and livestock (calves and sheep) exports. According to some Arabic media reports, Hijazi and Ghosheh export food and livestock to Israel through its Australia-based company LSS, which delivers the animals to Hijazi & Ghosheh’s quarantine station in the port city of Eilat.
Kibbutz Eilot, in Arava, entered into a business dispute with Hijazi & Ghosheh in 2020 after an Israeli court ordered the latter to pay the kibbutz one million shekels/$300,000 in debt. The attempts to collect the debt failed, so the kibbutz hired Ali al-Rashidat, who sent Hijazi & Ghosheh a letter of warning prior to filing a lawsuit.
However, the case was leaked to the media, leading JBA to disbar al-Rashidat for "corroborating with Zionist settlements."
Kibbutz Eliot has now sent official letters to Jordan’s ambassador to Israel, Ghassan Majali, Israel's ambassador to Jordan, Rogel Rahman, the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Prime Minister, and the Royal Court, urging them to reinstate al-Arshidat. The letters also request that the Jordanian government intervene to recover the money owed by Hijazi & Ghosheh.
Kibbutz Eilot asked the relevant Jordanian authorities to "rectify this injustice" and "ensure that attorney al-Rashidat is able to continue practicing law without discrimination or political pressure."
Al-Rashidat: 'The most basic right of any citizen is to have a lawyer'
In an exclusive interview with KAN, al-Rashidat said, “The most basic right of any citizen is to have a lawyer. In every country. I ask: if a Jordanian encounters a problem while in Israel, is it forbidden for him to have an Israeli lawyer? Of course not. Yet here in Jordan, the association sets itself up as both decision-maker and judge. They come to judge us and take away my professional license.”
He then told KAN, “I sent a letter to the Jordanian Minister of Justice - no reply. I contacted the Prime Minister by email - no reply. I reached out to the Royal Court - no reply. I reached out to you, and you’re the only one who answered me.”
Al-Rashidat told KAN that the incident demonstrates how the 1994 Israel-Jordan peace agreement is only "ink on paper" and is not put into practice.
He also claimed that fellow lawyers in the JBA contacted him to say they were forced to sign his removal under instructions from the chairman.
“I ask the government of Israel to intervene to resolve this matter because here in Jordan no one is intervening," he told KAN. "There is an urgent need for strong intervention, because the current situation means that the interests of Israeli companies and factories in Jordan will be severely harmed. I cannot recommend that Israelis invest in Jordan.”
The JBA has, however, doubled down on its categorical rejection of all forms of normalization, considering that "defending companies linked to the Israeli occupation constitutes a breach of national and ethical values," according to Jordanian media.
Interestingly, there are reports within Arab media that the head of the JBA - Yahya Abu Aboud - is a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Abu Aboud also spoke at a press conference of the Islamic Action Front earlier this year. The group is widely recognized as the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.