VZCZCXRO9112
RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHDH RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHAM #2216/01 2741325
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
R 011325Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6048
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 AMMAN 002216 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/02/2019 
TAGS: PGOV KISL KDEM KJUS JO
SUBJECT: THE BATTLE OVER JORDAN'S ISLAMIC CENTER SOCIETY 
 
REF: A. 06 AMMAN 5222 
     ¶B. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH - "SHUTTING OUT THE CRITICS" 
        (2008) 
 
Classified By: Ambassador R. Stephen Beecroft 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (S/NF) Summary:  The Islamic Center Society (ICS) was the 
charitable wing of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood (JMB) 
until it was seized by the government in 2006.  Legally 
questionable corruption allegations against members of the 
ICS board allowed the government to appoint a "temporary" 
board that has run the organization ever since.  The takeover 
stripped the JMB of its politically effective patronage and 
services network.  Subsequent Islamist complaints about the 
government administration of ICS charities may have some 
basis -- the organization is reportedly running short of 
cash.  In spite of frequent missives from the JMB urging the 
government to return the ICS to Islamist control, contacts 
within the movement tell us only a broader political deal 
with the government could make this happen.  In the absence 
of such a deal, the ICS will likely remain in legal limbo. 
End Summary. 
 
The Islamic Center Society 
-------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C) The Islamic Center Society was founded in 1963 as the 
charitable wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan.  One of 
the largest NGOs in the country, the ICS takes care of over 
20,000 orphans, runs 55 schools, and has over 3,500 
employees.  The flagship charitable concern of the ICS is the 
Islamic Hospital in Amman, which in turn oversees more than 
thirty smaller clinics.  The ICS has large property holdings, 
largely as a result of bequests and zakat donations 
(charitable donations required of all Muslims) over the 
years.  Islamist press statements have put the value of ICS 
assets at over 1.5 billion dollars. 
 
Hostile Takeover 
---------------- 
 
¶3.  (S/NF) In 2006, the Ministry of Social Development 
dissolved the ICS board of directors and brought charges of 
financial corruption against several board members under 
orders from Prime Minister Ma'arouf Al-Bakhit (Ref A).  It 
has been widely recognized since then that the charges were 
political in nature and were used as an excuse to liquidate 
the ICS board for political reasons.  None of the corruption 
cases have been followed through to completion -- a small 
number are still being appealed, others have been reported in 
the media as not moving forward due to lack of evidence, and 
some have not been filed by prosecutors in the hopes of an 
out of court settlement.  The lack of movement on ICS 
corruption cases has been criticized by Human Rights Watch 
and other activist groups (Ref B). 
 
¶4.  (S/NF) The corruption cases gave the government legal 
authority to appoint "temporary" directors to manage the 
society's operations in the absence of an elected board. 
While the government takeover brought in a new management 
team, the legal mandate caused by the corruption allegations 
did not extend to the ICS general assembly, which in normal 
circumstances selects the board of directors.  The ICS 
assembly, still dominated by members of the Muslim 
Brotherhood, has been effectively sidelined in its oversight 
role over the organization since the 2006 government 
takeover. 
 
¶5.  (S/NF) Bassem Al-Umush, a one-time member of the Muslim 
Brotherhood who broke with the group in 1997, was appointed 
by then-PM Bakhit to head the temporary administration of the 
ICS in 2007.  At the request of the government, Umush changed 
the ICS bylaws to expand the general assembly's membership 
from 350 to 500 members.  This allowed the 
government-controlled board to appoint a wave of new 
pro-government members into the general assembly in an effort 
to water down Islamist influence, even if the ICS eventually 
was taken out of government hands by the courts.  Many of 
these newly appointed general assembly members are reportedly 
part of the Islamic Center Party, a pro-government political 
party which features several former JMB stalwarts who broke 
with the party in the 1990s.  According to Umush, some in the 
Bakhit government wanted to make even more radical changes in 
the organization's leadership structure and bylaws which 
would permanently change the nature of the institution.  When 
Umush refused to implement those changes, he was forced out 
after only seven months on the job. 
 
The Takeover's Impact 
--------------------- 
 
 
AMMAN 00002216  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶6.  (C) The Islamic Center Society was a key part of the 
Islamists' political strength before it passed into 
government hands.  Beyond the use of ICS facilities and 
personnel to dispense patronage and services to its target 
populations, the JMB used the ICS as an employment agency for 
its supporters.  Even though the connections between ICS 
jobs, ICS services, and the political goals of Jordan's 
Islamists were rarely overt, it was widely acknowledged in 
Jordan that medical care in the Islamic Hospital or a job in 
an ICS charity came with the expectation of a vote for the 
Islamists at election time. 
 
¶7.  (C) According to Umush, the government takeover of the 
ICS caught many JMB members off guard as they were using the 
organization as a way to avoid taxation.  By signing over 
property and other assets to the ICS as charitable donations, 
members of the JMB lowered their tax bill.  Yet there was an 
implicit understanding that members would still be able to 
use these assets even after they had technically passed into 
legal possession of the ICS.  When the government took over 
the organization, many JMB members effectively forfeited 
large amounts of property which appeared on the ICS asset 
sheet. 
 
A Sore Point 
------------ 
 
¶8.  (C) The undetermined fate of the Islamic Center Society 
is an ongoing source of tension between Islamists and the 
government.  The subject is a mainstay of press releases and 
interviews that come from JMB and IAF officials.  In July, 
IAF Secretary General Ishaq Farhan told the Al-Dustour 
newspaper that while he supported anti-corruption efforts, 
the case of the ICS amounted to "prosecuting an institution." 
 In a June interview with Islamist daily Al-Sabil, Farhan 
said that the organization was the victim of "political 
targeting" by the government.  Privately, JMB Shura Council 
member Ruhail Gharaibeh told poloff that most Jordanian 
Islamists see the ICS takeover as part of a regional campaign 
by Arab governments against Islamist-affiliated charities. 
He predicted that the Islamists would continue to raise the 
issue in the public arena, but would gain little traction 
with the government until Jordan's underlying perspective on 
political Islam changed. 
 
Is The Government Running The ICS Well? 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C) Islamists frequently complain that ICS operations 
have suffered under government administration.  In 
particular, the JMB often mentions a decline in quality of 
care at the Islamic Hospital, along with a rise in prices. 
Farhan has said that the increasing cost of care has caused 
the Islamic Hospital to "lose its message...to the extent 
that a patient would practically find no price difference 
between going to the Islamic Hospital or any other hospital." 
 In a July press release JMB head Hammam Sa'id said that the 
government administered ICS was transforming the Islamic 
Hospital into a business rather than keeping it as a 
charitable organization. 
 
¶10.  (C) According to Umush, the Islamists have a point on 
rising prices, but fail to take into account the context of 
health care in Jordan.  Umush claims that for years, the 
Islamic Hospital operated on the low end of both quality and 
price.  Since the government takeover, services and 
infrastructure at the hospital have improved, necessitating a 
rise in prices to account for increased costs. 
 
¶11.  (C) Umush agreed with Islamist critiques of the 
government's financial management of the ICS.  JMB chair 
Sa'id has publicly raised questions about financial 
management of the ICS and its "lack of liquidity" while IAF 
MP Hamzah Mansour told the Jordan Times newspaper in June 
that "financial records and reports are rubber stamped by the 
new management despite irregularities."  Umush said that the 
ICS will face financial insolvency unless its operating 
strategy changes in the near future.  While the assets of the 
ICS are extensive and valuable, the operating expenses for 
ICS facilities are growing rapidly.  Rather than invest the 
organization's revenue into capital improvements, Umush said 
that the government-run board has chosen to buy new 
properties which will incur larger maintenance costs in the 
future. 
 
Will The Islamists Ever Get It Back? 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶12.  (C) The general consensus among our contacts is that the 
Islamist movement will never regain operational control of 
the ICS in the same form as before the takeover.  Changes to 
the organization's management structure are unlikely to be 
 
AMMAN 00002216  003 OF 003 
 
 
reversed, especially in light of government attempts to 
further dilute the strength of Islamist representation in the 
general assembly.  The official JMB line is that the status 
quo ante should be restored, although contacts within the 
movement tell us that they have little hope that this will 
ever happen.  Islamist contacts believe that the ICS will 
only be removed from government control in the context of a 
package deal in which the Islamist-government relationship is 
fundamentally redefined. 
 
¶13.  (C) In spite of the surface level stalemate on the 
status of the ICS, informal proposals are occasionally traded 
between the government and the JMB.  Contacts within the JMB 
tell us that the government has periodically offered to 
return the ICS to them, but often with unpalatable strings 
attached.  As recently as two months ago, the government told 
the JMB that they would release the organization from 
government control in exchange for changing the structure of 
the executive board so that it was split evenly between 
Islamists and government representatives.  The Islamists 
refused that formulation, and continue to hold out for a 
better deal. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶14.  (C) The ICS has turned into a valuable bargaining chip 
for Jordan's government.  ICS services were a key part of the 
Islamists' appeal before the takeover -- they served as an 
alternative to inefficient state-run institutions and proof 
that the JMB was more adept than the government in meeting 
popular needs.  Without the ICS at its disposal, the JMB has 
few avenues to deliver the patronage and services that 
average Jordanians expect from their politicians.  While 
there seems to be little incentive for the government to 
return the ICS back to the Islamists in its original form, 
there are also few indications that the government intends to 
formally and permanently absorb the ICS into its existing 
health and charity network either.  In the absence of a 
concrete plan to reconcile Islamist political control over 
the ICS with the government's political concerns, the 
organization will likely remain in legal limbo. 
Beecroft