In Jordan Town, Syria War Inspires Jihadist Dreams

By BEN HUBBARD
ZARQA, Jordan — Late one night, Abu Abdullah left his whole life behind.

Abandoning his wife, two children and a modest frozen foods business, he sneaked across the border to Syria to join an affiliate of Al Qaeda.

He thrived on the blasts and gunfire and relished the feeling of serving what he saw as a celestial cause. But his wife’s anguish soon persuaded him to return to this desert city, where he now longs for his days as an international jihadist.

“If I could go back and do it again, I would not come back,” he said. “Those were the best three months of my life.”

Here in the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who gained infamy for his bloody reign as the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq during the early years of the American occupation there, the increasingly sectarian war in Syria has ignited militants, inspiring the largest jihadist mobilization the city has ever seen.

Jordanian analysts and Islamists estimate that 800 to 1,200 Jordanians have gone to fight in Syria, more than double the number who fought in Afghanistan or Iraq. Though the fighters come from across the country, fully one-third hail from here, the most from any single area.

Most fighters disappear without telling their families, only to resurface across the border with the Nusra Front, Syria’s Qaeda affiliate, or the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, a Qaeda splinter group. While some are uneducated and poor, others have university degrees and leave behind jobs, homes, cars, wives and children for a cause they believe will bring them rewards in heaven.

For most, it is a one-way trip, either because coming home could mean jail time or because they die abroad. Every few weeks, a Zarqa family holds a “martyr’s wedding,” so-called because achieving martyrdom is not seen as a cause for sadness, but for gathering and celebration.

While analysts say Jordan’s stagnant politics and economy encourage marginalized, devout men to seek glory on foreign battlefields, Islamist leaders, fighters and their relatives describe decisions motivated by intense conviction.

Many fighters are driven by the Syrian government’s extreme violence and the sense that the world is doing nothing to stop it. At the same time, they see Syria as a launching pad for their project to erase the region’s borders, found an Islamic state and impose Shariah law.

“There is no such thing as Syria for the Syrians,” said Munif Samara, a doctor and prominent Islamist in Zarqa. “If there is Islamic land, it is our duty to implement Shariah.”

Mr. Samara, who knows many Jordanians fighting in Syria, said he would not discourage his own son, a dentistry student, from going to Syria if he chose to.

“How long do we live?” Mr. Samara asked. “Do I give him the world or do I give him the afterlife?”

To illuminate why local men fight in Syria, Mr. Samara arranged a meeting in his clinic between reporters and Abu Abdullah, who said that growing up in Zarqa, he had long been aware of jihad as a potential career path. Men he knew had fought and died in Chechnya and Iraq, and he began growing his beard as a sign of devotion after the death of Mr. Zarqawi in 2006.

After the Syria conflict started, gruesome images on TV and worries about spreading Iranian influence led him to jihad, he said, providing only his nom de guerre to avoid arrest by the Jordanian authorities.

Friends already in Syria put him in touch with a smuggler, who led him across the border at night with 16 other Jordanians, he said. All carried medical supplies, mostly pills and needles. He took only a spare pair of cargo pants and some extra underwear.

Over 30, he was in worse shape than his younger colleagues, so he performed poorly at military drills, he said. But since he had run his own business, he was put in charge of the group’s supplies, buying food for fighters and destitute Syrian families.

He called home often, and after hearing his wife complain that raising their two children alone was hard, and that his 8-year-old daughter was troubled by his absence, he said, he decided to return home.

The Jordanian authorities detained him at the border but released him a month later because they lacked evidence that he had been a fighter, he said.

Now, back in Zarqa, he said that he missed his old life and that the police watched him closely.

“Here you feel like you are in a small cage and can’t move,” he said.

His account could not be independently verified, but Marwan Shehadeh and Hassan Abu Hanieh, Jordanian experts on Islamic movements, said its details corresponded with the stories of other men who had fought in Syria.

In many cases, the fighters’ sudden departures deeply affect their families, leaving many torn between support for the cause and mourning their personal loss.

Sitting in his book-lined living room, one Zarqa father, Mohammed Abu Rahaim, proudly swiped through photos on his phone and spoke of his two sons who had joined the Nusra Front in Syria.

There was Hutheifa, 38, an athletic college graduate who left a wife, three children and a teaching job. One photo showed him in silhouette, wielding a machine gun. A video showed him adjusting the scarf over his face after a rebel victory.

“He disappeared suddenly, then called and said, ‘I am in Syria,’ ” Mr. Abu Rahaim said, recalling his son’s departure.

And there was Harith, 32, who also left a wife, three children and a steady job. One photo showed him with a rifle at his side, heating water on a wood fire. The next photo showed him dead, his bearded face protruding from a body bag. Mr. Abu Rahaim said he had been driving when the phone call came with the news. “I got out of my car and bowed to God,” he said, proud that his son had achieved the martyrdom he so desired.

Mr. Abu Rahaim, a professor of Islamic culture, said the family had often discussed “the affairs of the Muslims,” including the wars in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, but that Syria felt more personal. His wife’s family fled Syria in the 1980s during the government’s crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, and some of their relatives had been killed.

Like many others, he saw jihad in Syria as a noble effort to replace the countries created by colonial powers with an Islamic state. “Western countries allowed sects, misled groups and misled parties to rule the Muslims,” he said. “Will this last forever? Impossible!”

When news of his son’s death spread, hundreds of mourners came to the house for the martyr’s wedding. In a large tent draped with black flags, attendees listened to sermons, sang religious anthems and chanted, “Our path: Jihad!”

But Mr. Rahaim’s wife, Huda Wazan, cried as she spoke of her sons, recalling how attentive the younger had been to his infant daughter and how she had once hidden the elder’s passport to prevent him from quitting school for jihad. “You worry because the environment and the friends really impact the way these young men think,” she said.

While she believed it had been her son’s fate to die in Syria, she was still crushed by the loss.

“There are people who say it is a wedding for the martyr instead of a funeral, but I don’t agree with this,” she said. “It is a funeral for me.”

Rana Sweis contributed reporting from Zarqa.

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Jordanian Judge Killed by Israeli Soldiers at Border Crossing

By JODI RUDORENMARCH 10, 2014

JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers on Monday fatally shot a Jordanian judge of Palestinian origin at the Allenby Bridge after the man tried to seize a soldier’s gun and then threatened two soldiers with a metal bar, according to the Israeli military.

It was a rare instance of violence at the bridge, which links Jordan and the West Bank, and heightened tensions not only between Israel and the Palestinians but also between Israel and Jordan, a key player in the Middle East peace process.

The Jordanian foreign minister summoned the ranking Israeli diplomat in Amman, Jordan’s capital, for a reprimand and strongly condemned the shooting, demanding to see the results of an Israeli investigation into the episode. The Palestinian Authority called for an international investigation.

The Jordanian Ministry of Justice identified the man as Raed Zeiter, 38, a judge in the magistrates court in Amman who had moved to Jordan from the West Bank city of Nablus in 2011.

Col. Yaron Beit-On, who oversees Israeli forces in the Jordan Valley, told reporters that Mr. Zeiter came into the West Bank from Jordan on a bus carrying 30 people around 9:30 a.m. After soldiers completed a routine check of the bus, Colonel Beit-On said, Mr. Zeiter tried to grab one of their guns, and he succeeded in getting a four-foot metal bar with a mirror at one end that the soldiers use to check the underside of vehicles at the crossing.

“He shouted, ‘Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar,’ ” or “God is great,” Colonel Beit-On said. “When the soldiers understood they had no way to handle him, they used a gun and they shot him. They were in danger.”

He added that Mr. Zeiter was shot first in the leg and then again, but he did not yet know how many times.

Palestinian and Jordanian officials questioned the Israeli account, but Colonel Beit-On said it was based on interviews with witnesses, including the Jordanian bus driver.

Colonel Beit-On said that Israel had no record of political activity by or arrests of Mr. Zeiter while he lived in the West Bank. He said that Mr. Zeiter, a father of two, had been traveling alone with two suitcases, and that relatives had said that his 5-year-old son was in critical condition in a Jordanian hospital after being hurt in a recent accident.

Mr. Zeiter’s father, Alaa, 70, himself a retired judge, told Agence France-Presse that he was shocked by what happened and had not been aware that his son was traveling to the West Bank. “My son is peaceful and professional,” he said, according to the news agency.

The Allenby Bridge is the main point of exit for Palestinians who live in the West Bank, and it is jointly controlled by Israel and Jordan. It was closed for several hours after the shooting.

“We cannot remember what was the last time such an incident occurred,” said Gilad Noll, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Amman, outside of which anti-Israeli protests broke out later Monday, The Associated Press reported. “As far as we know, the attacker didn’t really leave the soldier any other option. The Israeli side has no reason for inflaming up the entire region by this type of incident.”

Later Monday in a separate episode, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli Army fire in the West Bank. A military spokeswoman said that Palestinians were hurling rocks at Israeli civilian vehicles on the road to the Jewish settlement of Beit El, and that Israeli soldiers opened fire. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the dead man as Saji Sayel Darwish, 20.

Rana F. Sweis contributed reporting from Amman, Jordan.

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Spectrum policy reforms

JOURNAL OF INFORMATION POLICY 3 (2013): 552-574.

SPECTRUM POLICY REFORMS: SUPPORTING DEMOCRACY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN JORDAN

BY RANA F. SWEIS, BENJAMIN LENNETT, † AND TOM GLAISYER‡

The true role of new communications technologies in the dramatic events of the “Arab Spring” in 2011 is still under discussion, but wireless communications were certainly used widely by activists and protesters. This article uses events in Jordan as a case study, and the authors argue that reform of that country’s spectrum licensing policies and speech laws is essential for future democratic progress and economic development. The authors combine research into Jordan’s emergent high-tech industry, and successful and equitable spectrum policies in the United States, to form a series of policy recommendations for the Jordanian government.

INTRODUCTION

Today, lip service to reform will not be enough… Action must be taken to appease an increasingly skeptical public. Arab governments should start by acknowledging reality and putting their countries on a track of political reform.1

It is difficult to have a conversation about the Middle East and North Africa without acknowledging the dramatic impact of the Arab Spring; not just for those states where existing governments have been overturned, but also in countries whose leaders are struggling to change in the face of a tidal wave of protests for further democratic reform. Though there are a number of competing and complementing theories as to what exact factors led to those dramatic events, modern communication technologies played a significant role. Activists and non-activists created content on their mobile phones and other devices and distributed it to their friends, families, and observers through online tools such as blogs, social media, and e-mail.2 According to Eltantawy and Wiest, online social media played a dramatic role in changing “the dynamics of social mobilization” in Egypt.3 “Social media introduced speed and interactivity that were lacking in the traditional mobilization techniques, which generally include the use of leaflets, posters, and faxes. For instance, social media enabled domestic and international Egyptian activists to follow events in Egypt, join social-networking groups, and engage in discussions.”4 Mainstream television and satellite channels then redistributed the online content. Thus, as Ben Wagner argues in the context of the Tunisian protests, “…television, a traditional medium, helped the Internet, a new medium, disseminate information about the Tunisian protests, because those who could not access YouTube could still watch Al-Jazeera.”5

At the core of this communications ecosystem is spectrum. Mobile phones, wireless Internet, and traditional over-the-air television and radio broadcasters all require access to spectrum to offer their respective communications media. This article examines current spectrum policies in the country of Jordan not to focus on disruptive revolutionary change, but to argue that reforming spectrum policy can help support stable democratic progress in Jordan and promote economic growth. In the 21st Century, spectrum is a vital component to creating a vibrant media and communication environment. Spectrum is heavily involved in enabling speech and communication, so the way in which nations determine who has access to spectrum and for what purposes it is used can substantially impact the content of news and media as well as citizens’ access to information and engagement in civil discourse and commerce.

Compared to other countries in the MENA (Middle East/North Africa) region, Jordan is in a unique position to make reforms to its current spectrum policies in order to not only support democratic reforms, but also to spur innovation and economic development. Jordan is already home to a promising number of Internet startups and innovators. As written by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times, Oasis500, an “Arab-owned high-tech accelerator” reminiscent of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, is headquartered in the capital of Amman and has helped seed “dozens of Arabic-content Internet start-ups.”6 Venture capitalists financed 66 technology companies in the region in 2011 compared to just 17 in 2010, according to a report released in 2012 by Sindibad Business.7 The investments made in 2011 created an estimated 450 jobs, while another 23 companies attracted financing in the first quarter of 2012.8 While the economic impact of the technology sector remains small, reforming spectrum policies to enable more robust and universal mobile broadband and wireless communications could help it grow further.

In this article, we suggest policies that would enable Jordan to more effectively utilize its spectrum resources to benefit democratization, innovation, and economic development. We first review the current rules around spectrum use in Jordan. What we find is that current broadcast policy and press and publication laws are restricting free expression and the development of both commercial and non- commercial news and information outlets. Moreover, there are limited opportunities for new innovators, entrepreneurs, and citizens to gain access to spectrum not just for broadcasting, but also to create new business models for mobile and wireless broadband. We evaluate Jordan’s current spectrum policies and propose reforms by drawing upon lessons learned in the United States. Despite substantial differences between the two countries, the U.S. has a long history of spectrum policy changes and reforms that could offer useful lessons for Jordan. Based upon the U.S. experience, the article offers practical reforms for Jordan’s current spectrum policies on the basis of four principles: transparency, access, competition, and openness. The proposed reforms focus on removing current limitations on news and political programming, lowering barriers to using spectrum for new innovators and citizens through greater license-exempt access, and requiring exclusively-licensed mobile operators to provide access to an open Internet.

Coupled with recommendations for spectrum reforms, this article argues that Jordan also needs to address fundamental problems with its press freedom and speech policies which impart a chilling effect on media and news content through both traditional broadcasting and the Internet, ultimately resulting in a negative impact on economic development. Reforming spectrum policy and minimizing restrictions on freedom of speech can foster a thriving media sector and technological innovation to support economic development.

OVERVIEW OF CURRENT SPECTRUM REGULATION IN JORDAN

In recent years, Jordan has liberalized its spectrum policies to expand the number of non-state- affiliated broadcast outlets as well as encourage the growth of mobile telecommunications services like 3G and 4G. The 2002 Audio Visual Law officially ended the government monopoly on broadcasting and established the Audiovisual Commission (AVC) to license and regulate private radio and television outlets. The law has resulted in the licensing of dozens of independently owned radio stations and regional satellite television stations. It is further expected that operations of the AVC will soon be placed under the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission.

However, most of the radio stations registered with AVC today offer entertainment-based content and shy away from political programming. This is due to several factors, including licensing fees, which are set somewhere between 25,000 and 100,000 Jordanian dinars (approximately $35,000 and $140,000 USD) depending on the license.9 In comparison to the United States, these fees are particularly high. The U.S. charges minimal regulatory fees to commercial broadcasters based on the size of the market and audience and exempts noncommercial broadcasters. For example, annual regulatory fees for radio stations do not exceed $11,500 and fees on broadcast television licenses range from as high as $86,000 for stations in the top ten media markets to just $12,000 for stations in lower-ranked markets.10 In Jordan, until August 2012 fees were 50% higher for radio and television stations that wanted to air news and political programming.11 Although this particular barrier has been removed, at least temporarily, would-be news broadcasters face an additional hurdle in that they must submit a schedule and description of content with their license applications.12 The current rules also give the government the ability to reject licenses without providing a reason.13 According to Daoud Kuttab, director general of Community Media Network, which runs Radio al Balad in Amman and the AmmanNet.net website, his applications for radio broadcast licenses for two stations were refused without explanation by the AVC.14 The first was in the city of Zarqa during 2006 and the other was in the Jordan Valley region during 2008. The case went to the Supreme Court of Jordan but Kuttab said, “They would still not give us a reason.”15

Independent journalists have also complained that loopholes in the Audio Visual Law favor state-run media and skew the playing field towards the detriment of private outlets. For example, the government has only given waivers of the fees to radio stations based in state universities, a government-controlled station in Amman, and a police-owned station, AMEN FM.16 AMEN FM has access to government-owned antennas and transmitters which cover the entire county while private stations do not have the same privileges. In addition, AMEN FM refuses to share traffic reports acquired from police helicopters with other stations.17 Stations such as Al-Balad Radio, a non-profit, community radio station, do not have access to such expensive broadcasting equipment and therefore can only reach a limited listening area.18 Nevertheless, since the Audio Visual Law was introduced in 2002, it has contributed to increased diversity and choice for listeners as well as to the establishment of the first community radio station, Al-Balad.

However, Jordan currently lacks adequate press and free speech protections and has media legislation that creates substantial obstacles in the development of a free and independent press. The Jordanian government has a history of interfering with the independent press in order to achieve certain standards of publication. In 1967, the government imposed regulations on the five existing independently-owned newspapers, requiring them to publish a minimum number of pages in each issue and for a minimum number of days each week.19 Additionally, much like the licensing process for radio and television stations, members of the press must be licensed and given specific credentials from the government.20 The government for many years imposed strict martial law which had significant effects on free speech and news publications.

In 1991, the Jordanian government reformed the most oppressive measures within the press and publications laws, but in more recent years, the government has increasingly implemented measures to restrict press freedom and free speech.21 For example, laws such as the 1998 Press and Publication Law restrict news and reporting critical of the royal family or the armed forces (for example), even if a broadcast license is in the hands of the journalistic organization. Article 7 of the law requires that journalists refrain from publishing anything that might incite violence or discord among citizens. The law includes fines of up to 28,000 dinars ($39,500 USD) for speech that offends religion, the prophet, or the government.22 Similarly, Article 37 prohibits the press from publishing anything that, among a long list of other prohibited activities, disparages the King and Royal Family, commentary that is harmful to the Jordanian Armed Forces, or content that incites strikes, sit-ins, or public gatherings in violation of the provisions of the law.

Although there is no evidence of publishers explicitly restricting their employees from covering certain topics, a great deal of self-censorship remains.23 According to a 2010 survey by the Centre for Defending Freedom of Journalists, journalists tended to avoid criticism of the armed forces (97%), criticism of the judicial authorities (90%), criticism of the security apparatus (87%), criticism of tribal leaders (85%), discussion of religious issues (81%), criticism of leaders of Arab countries (79%), and discussion of issues related to sex (76%).24 Since the Arab Spring began, however, the level of self- censorship has decreased, according to a study on the status of press freedom by the Al Quds Centre for Political Studies, an independent research center. In 2010, 94% of Jordanian journalists surveyed said they self-censored, but in 2011 self-censorship declined to 86%, a shift that could be attributed to the Arab Spring.25 Regardless of these improvements, journalists have reportedly been arrested or even attacked after the Arab Spring.26 In July 2011, the Committee to Protect Journalists called on the government of Jordan to prevent attacks on journalists who cover demonstrations and other forms of civil unrest.27 During a demonstration in Amman in July 2011, security forces beat 16 journalists wearing orange vests that identified them as press during a demonstration and planned sit-in that rapidly devolved into clashes between security personnel, government supporters, and demonstrators.28

Moreover, the Jordanian government announced a bill in August 2012 to alter the existing press and publications law to allow for more control and censorship of local news websites by forcing them to register with the government. The bill would have likely increased instances of self-censorship by making online news sites liable for all content, including reader comments. The proposals followed closely on the heels of the government’s approval of another amendment which would have required Internet service providers to block and censor websites carrying pornographic content.29 To protest these bills, over 150 websites in Jordan voluntarily went dark on August 29, 2012.30 Despite these protests, in early June 2013 the head of the Jordanian Press and Publications Department ordered the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission to shut down over 250 news-related websites.31

Although Jordanians have limited access to locally-produced news programming as a result of the above restrictions, nearly all of the 97% of the households in the Kingdom with a television set have satellite reception.32 Thus, political discourse about regional revolutions across the Arab world and beyond have surely reached Jordanian viewers. Networks like Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya, which broadcasted coverage of the Arab Spring, pose a challenge to local government channels in the region, including Jordan Television, which is government-owned and whose director is appointed by the Council of Ministers. Furthermore, the Internet has afforded independent radio programmers an opportunity to reach audiences beyond their limited broadcast area and to broadcast online when they are not given a license. As noted above, many Internet news sites have been censored by the nation’s telecommunication regulator. However, these actions seem not to have spiraled into government- mandated filtering of all web content, but have instead largely focused on news programming deemed inappropriate by the state.33

Wireless and Mobile Communications

Jordan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) was established to regulate the telecommunications and information technology sectors and is responsible for allocating spectrum for telecommunications and other services. The TRC generally follows frequency allocations as set by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) definitions. The TRC’s established spectrum allocation process for mobile and wireless services follows a spectrum market-based approach similar to that in many industrialized nations. The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT) notes in its 2007 Statement of Government Policy that the TRC leaves the market to decide who will be allocated spectrum and adopts spectrum pricing in accordance with market demand (using auctions where appropriate), and prevents the anti-competitive acquisition or hoarding of spectrum by dominant operators.34 While supporting the use of auctions, the TRC emphasizes that auctions should be held with simple, understandable, non-discriminatory, and transparent rules. No bidder should be permitted to hold more than one license and all available spectrum licenses should be utilized. It also states that the efficient outcome of the process can be described in terms of the licenses being awarded to those parties with the best and strongest business plans. As such, the bidding process for mobile spectrum is not a traditional auction of the spectrum to the highest bidder (as it is in countries like the U.S.), but rather includes an administrative selection process known as an award system. The decision is made based on the judges’ assessment of the bidder’s planned services, prices, and rollout speed and usually favors those bidders who might guarantee the lowest cost to consumers, invest the most in infrastructure, and stimulate innovation.35
According to the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, “there are now 24 individual licensees who are eligible to use spectrum, apart from broadcast licenses.”36 MoICT is responsible for regulation of telecommunications in Jordan, which had previously been managed by state-owned Jordan Telecom until 1995 (of which the government now owns 11.6% of company shares). In 1995, Jordan’s mobile sector started expanding when Fastlink (now known as Zain) became the first operator to provide mobile telecommunication services through GSM technology. In 1999 MobileCom (now known as Orange) was granted a license to provide mobile cellular service, and in 2003 Xpress was granted the first license to provide radio trunking services.37 A year later, yet another competitor, Umniah, entered the market and was granted a license to provide mobile telephone services. Additionally, in 2006, five companies were granted licenses for fixed wireless broadband provision.38

Fixed-line, mobile, and data services generate annual revenue of around 836.5 million Jordanian dinars ($1.18 billion USD), which is equivalent to 13.5% of GDP . In the mobile sector, Zain holds the largest share (39%), followed by Orange (36%) and Umniah (25%). Prices for basic mobile service have dropped in recent years, resulting in cellphone adoption in excess of 100%.39 Umniah has recently launched its 3G service,40 and Orange has been considering investing in upgrades from its 2G and 3G services to 4G services by 2015,41 after it was granted a 3G license by the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) in 2009.42 Additionally, the use of USB dongles for mobile Internet access has increased in recent years.

REFORMING JORDAN’S SPECTRUM POLICIES TO SUPPORT DEMOCRACY, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND INNOVATION

Reformed spectrum policies can encourage new innovators and entrepreneurs in the media, communications, and Internet marketplace as well as facilitate democratic discourse. In evaluating Jordan’s current spectrum policies and developing proposed reforms, we draw upon lessons learned in the United States. Despite differences between Jordan and the United States, the U.S. experience can offer examples of successful and less-than-successful spectrum policies that can help to inspire reforms in Jordan. In developing recommendations for spectrum reforms, we identify a set of broad principles and then propose more specific policy approaches to encourage a more vibrant news and media sector, increase Internet access, and spur new innovation and economic development in Jordan.

Principles for Spectrum Allocation in Jordan

The first principle we recommend is transparency with respect to the process of awarding licenses. We also insist that rules should be applied equally across services. For example, the Federal Communications Commission in the United States follows a standardized set of processes when determining the allocation of spectrum, there is an opportunity for public comment in most decisions, and the agency must provide justifications for every decision. Those decisions can also be appealed to the courts. By contrast, decisions related to the granting of spectrum licenses in Jordan appear to have no requirements for transparency, allowing the government to reject licenses without justification or public input.43

Secondly, we recommend that a diversity of actors, including non-commercial entities, should have access to spectrum with respect to both traditional broadcasting and wireless broadband. Edward Cavanaugh, writing about consolidation among radio broadcasters in the U.S., noted that “fewer owners… [leads] to fewer choices for radio listeners and hence reduced content diversity”44 – a perspective that can also be applied to spectrum policy. Moreover, as recent news and journalism industry challenges in the U.S. reveal, excessive reliance on a commercial sector to serve the information needs of a nation is problematic, so policies should encourage a diversity of business models including non-profit and community-owned broadcasting outlets. Similarly, open, license- exempt spectrum access technologies such as Wi-Fi can also allow for new entrants and community- owned or non-profit networks to provide affordable Internet access as well as serve as an alternative to large mobile network operators that have the resources to purchase exclusive licenses.

The third principle we propose is competition. This can be accomplished in several ways, but should incorporate policies that reduce barriers to entry for new companies as well as the allocation of exclusive licenses in a manner that prevents consolidation of licenses among a small handful of companies. Such policies may also include requiring interoperability of equipment and devices to enable customers to easily switch between providers. Other competitive policies such as open access requirements, wherein a provider agrees to allow competitors to lease capacity on their network for a reasonable fee, may be necessary to support robust competition.

Lastly, we recommend a fourth principle: openness. Openness requirements are particularly critical for mobile and wireless broadband services, where providers have proposed or taken action to block, limit or control what content, applications, and services users can access on their networks. Policies such as network neutrality or open Internet rules to prevent operators from interfering with or discriminating against Internet content and applications can be enacted to promote the free flow of information and ideas, and to maintain the Internet as a platform for innovation and economic opportunity. While network neutrality rules are often criticized for limiting the potential efficiency gains and profits for providers that could be associated with a discriminatory network, the overall social benefit of the Internet is maximized under a system of openness rules.45 In addition to the maintenance of non-discriminatory practices by service providers, the government should refrain from requiring operators to filter specific content or block websites on mobile and wireless networks. The principle of openness can be extended broadly to spectrum access and allocation to enact policies that promote open access to spectrum, such as license-exempt usage or opportunistic usage which allow for innovative new uses and business models.

PROPOSED REFORMS

Below, we develop specific recommendations for Jordan that draw upon the above principles, focusing on spectrum policy reforms that address the most predominant concerns in the country. As noted above, independent of spectrum regulation, there are significant challenges with respect to the content of media (whether through traditional broadcasting or the Internet) in states where the freedoms of speech and press are not legally protected or where there is a legitimate potential for government interference. The lack of protections can have a chilling effect on programming that hinders both speech and the development of a vibrant media sector. Furthermore, the recent amendments to the Press and Publications Law discussed earlier have had a chilling effect on free speech and the growth of online media in Jordan. Free speech and freedom of the press underpin a diverse and thriving media and communications sector; minimizing restrictions on speech and protecting journalists is as important as spectrum reforms for promoting economic development and democracy.
Lower Barriers for News and Political Programing by Radio and Television Broadcasters As previously noted, Jordan levies very high fees to obtain a broadcast license and, for a period of time, the fees were 50% higher for radio and television stations that wanted to air news and political programming. The overall effect was to prioritize entertainment programming and discourage news and political programming since it was more costly to both commercial and non-commercial outlets. Spectrum fees are quite common and used in many countries around the world.46 In contrast to Jordan, the U.S. does not currently levy any spectrum fees on broadcast licensees.47 This policy decision dates back to the 1927 Communications Act, which established a framework that has continued to shape thinking around spectrum allocation and broadcast media for nearly a century. In the act, the U.S. Congress granted broadcasters exclusive use of designated frequencies in exchange

for commitments to serve the public interest.48 Subsequently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was granted broad authority by the 1927 and 1934 Communications Acts in establishing and modifying the public interest commitments or obligations required of broadcasters.49 Whether this approach has met Congress’s aspirations to serve the public interest is certainly debatable, and over time, commercial broadcasters have wielded their influence at the FCC and Congress to weaken specific requirements or their enforcement. Currently, the remaining obligations expect that broadcasters will provide educational programming for children, local culture and community affairs programming, electoral campaign coverage and civic information, information during states of emergency, and access to those who are visually or aurally disabled.50
Some media advocates in the U.S. have proposed adopting spectrum fees for commercial broadcast licenses in an effort to secure revenues from valuable spectrum assets for the federal budget, and as a means to obtain a more direct benefit for the public interest from commercial broadcasters. For example, former General Counsel of the FCC, Henry Geller, has long argued that “broadcasters ignore the local public interest, that the ‘public trustee’ framework established in the 1950s is broken. [Instead] of trying to make broadcasters play by the rules we should just make them pay a reasonable fee to support public broadcasting.”51 Geller’s proposal would require a spectrum usage fee of five percent of gross advertising revenues on commercial broadcast television licensees.52
In Jordan, spectrum fees on broadcast licensees appear to be motivated largely by a desire to limit the number of outlets seeking to distribute news and information programming. As noted, previous spectrum licensing configurations had effectively prioritized entertainment content by assessing higher fees for outlets seeking to broadcast news and information. Although the higher fees for news broadcasting have now been cancelled, the barriers to entry for new broadcasters are still high, especially for broadcasting entities focused on more costly and generally less profitable news gathering efforts.
Whether lowering license fees is politically feasible remains unclear. Part of the challenge in reducing the licensing fees is that the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission is covered through the annual license fees that it collects and does not receive funding support from the general treasury.53 Thus, it seems the TRC requires high license fees in order to sustain itself. Although it is unclear how opposed the Commission would be to lowering the fees (and thus losing out on revenue), there is an alternative approach that could maintain the necessary revenue while improving the sustainability of non-commercial and news-oriented outlets: the TRC could collect a more modest upfront license fee and then collect an annual fee based upon a small percentage of advertising revenues. A five percent fee on gross advertising revenues could potentially raise more money for the TRC as well as limit the financial burden on licensees that emphasize news and information programming.

Allow Open Access to License-Exempt Spectrum

Given the eroding dominance of broadcasting in the 21st Century and the convergence of media on broadband networks, the results of spectrum allocations will fundamentally shape the communications landscape. The impact of this changing landscape may be even greater in countries where frequencies allocated to over-the-air television are even more underutilized than in countries of the European Union and the United States. The transition to digital from analog television freed upwards of 100 MHz of spectrum in some nations; this could be even larger in MENA countries and could provide a boon for increasing access and innovation in broadband. Spectrum allocated to broadcast television is ideally suited for serving wide areas with mobile and wireless broadband. Thus, how Jordan allocates these incredibly valuable spectrum resources will have a significant impact on the state of innovation and access to communications in the nation.

Beginning in the 1990s, with advances in wireless communications and mobile phones, the U.S. replaced a comparative hearings model for the licensing of spectrum with competitive auctions in which the license is given to the highest bidder. The statute providing authority for the FCC to organize spectrum auctions did not specify the extent to which auction revenues should direct federal spectrum policy, only instructing the FCC to “pursue the public interest” and forbidding them from “merely equating the public interest with auction revenue.”54 But even as recent spectrum auctions have resulted in billions of dollars for the federal treasury, the United States has seen competition suffer greatly and consolidation increase in the absence of competition policies. Currently, two companies, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless, control over 75% of spectrum licenses auctioned since the 1990s.55 Although regulators blocked AT&T’s attempted acquisition of T-Mobile in 2011, both Sprint and T-Mobile, the third and fourth largest providers, are struggling to keep up with the two leading providers. Compared to the two market leaders, T-Mobile, Sprint, and smaller regional and rural providers are facing a spectrum crunch as data consumption has substantially increased, limiting their ability to scale up their networks.56

Substantially increasing the amount of license-exempt access to spectrum has also been proposed as a way to increase competition in mobile and wireless broadband in the U.S., while also increasing the capacity of networks to keep up with consumer demand for bandwidth.57 License-exempt access to spectrum has become a critically important driver for new technologies and broadband connectivity because they offer an open and level playing field. Typically, spectrum is allocated on specific frequency bands that are granted to users who maintain exclusive rights to the use of the frequency. In the practice of license-exempt spectrum access, rather than establishing a hierarchy of rights and limiting access, spectrum is considered more of an open space, available to all but with established norms or rules for use (i.e. equipment standards).

The benefits of license-exempt spectrum include more efficient use through spectrum sharing (i.e. more traffic can be carried), reduced barriers to entry for new providers, and greater experimentation and innovation.58 Originally, license-exempt spectrum allocations such as the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands in the U.S. were considered “junk bands” with limited value and few possibilities for viable use. However, as digital radio technologies developed and the importance of inter-device connectivity grew, this license-exempt spectrum allocation provided an essential open platform to support applications that had not been previously anticipated.
In the U.S. and around the world, license-exempt spectrum in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz ranges is heavily utilized by Wi-Fi capable devices such as home wireless routers, laptops, and smartphones. In addition, mainstream cellular providers in the U.S. like AT&T and Verizon regularly use Wi-Fi to augment their own mobile broadband service offerings and offload smart phone data traffic from their mobile networks.59 Wi-Fi equipment is also utilized in the U.S. by small, mostly rural-based wireless Internet service providers (WISPs) and to build community wireless networks by local governments or NGOs that provide affordable or free wireless Internet access. Indeed, license- exempt access has been critical to providing Internet access in most rural communities where WISPs and other entities that do not have access to the capital to purchase spectrum at auction make widespread use of the open spectrum without paying any licensing fees.

Among the most recent innovations that license-exempt spectrum has provided is the increasing and rapid advance of mesh wireless networking. Rather than relying on a centralized build-out and hierarchical architecture, mesh networking allows users to literally build the network organically over time as devices connect to other devices to create a web of connectivity.60 This in turn lays the groundwork for a network that encourages community and civic uses by creating a community-level intranet. Intranets are common to businesses, where computers connect to share Internet connectivity, printer, and file server access via a local area network (LAN). In a mesh network, devices across the community can be connected to form a community wide-LAN or intranet that allows users to communicate to other local users on the network, create and share content, and design local applications and services to run on the intranet.61 For example, the Athens Metropolitan Wireless Network in Greece “has created dozens of services and applications for its members. These include an auction site wBay; a search engine Woogle; a channel for user-created content wTube… weather reports for each Greek island; and webcams that broadcast traffic, among other applications.”62

Similar to license-exempt use is opportunistic use. Advances in smart or cognitive radio and software- defined radio technologies have fundamentally expanded the options available to increase use of spectrum. This especially holds true for use within vacant or unused spectrum, often referred to as “white spaces,” where smart radios can rapidly scan and process spectrum usage in real time, identify unused frequencies, and utilize these frequencies rather than leaving them fallow.63 In November 2008, the FCC opened these vacant television channels to license-exempt wireless devices.64 These devices are required to employ signal-sensing technologies and a geo-locational database to automatically detect occupied television frequencies and other protected users in the band.65 Currently, the Federal government in the U.S. has exclusive rights to substantial amounts of spectrum, much of it only used sporadically.66

The challenge for Jordan and other MENA countries is to reallocate the spectrum freed up by transitioning to digital television in a manner that maximizes the efficient use of spectrum and, in doing so, enable innovators and new services to emerge. The policy of the TRC is to leave the market to decide who will be assigned spectrum allocation. Auctions are no panacea and can lead to overpricing, speculative bidding by entities looking to flip licenses for a quick profit, and can give an inherent competitive advantage to big players with financial strength to out-bid smaller players or new startups.67 Policymakers should utilize a broad set of spectrum allocation options to promote both competition and continued innovation. In order for this to occur, access to the airwaves for license- exempt and opportunistic use must be firmly established. To truly take advantage of the potential of license-exempt spectrum to spur broadband connectivity and innovation, Jordan needs to reform its regulatory requirements to streamline and eliminate any hurdles that could make it difficult for new startups or communities to utilize existing allocation of typically license-exempt spectrum. In Jordan, the TRC permits users to utilize typically license-exempt Wi-Fi on a personal basis without any specific requirement. However, some providers that use spectrum to provide Internet access must go through the agency and pay a licensing fee. One immediate reform would be to eliminate any TRC licensing fees for providers using Wi-Fi technologies and operating on open spectrum such as in 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. Second, Jordan should embrace leading-edge models for opportunistic spectrum access such as wireless devices and equipment using the vacant TV channels currently being developed in the U.S. and U.K. In order to enable flexibility in the future to create the space for these new technologies, Jordan should also focus on time-limited, exclusive spectrum licenses. Thus, rather than giving exclusive spectrum licenses for mobile providers in perpetuity, clearly establishing shorter renewal timelines of five years would give the TRC the ability to repurpose the spectrum for new and advanced models of usage as wireless technologies rapidly evolve.

Maintain an Open Internet on Mobile Broadband Networks

Since the exclusive allocation of spectrum to users such as mobile broadband operators involves a tradeoff between a commercial entity’s interests and the public’s access to the use of that spectrum, it is justified to require exclusive licensees to serve the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Low barriers to entry have been the key to much of the Internet’s success in bringing new voices and more conversation into the public sphere, and the creation of new media platforms and services in a market in which individuals and organizations have been able to experiment and innovate with new technologies and reach audiences on an equal footing. Broadcasting requires a certain scale of operation, whereas an open Internet can enable a world in which programming can reach households on terms similar to any large and established commercial content provider.

Internationally, mobile providers have often demonstrated a desire to dictate the content and applications that are available over their networks, contributing to the proliferation of “walled gardens” of competing Internet application stores with gatekeepers, tied to specific devices and networks that look vastly different from accessing the Internet via PCs in the wired world. These corporate-controlled “walled gardens” undermine the Internet’s openness, and risk creating a world in which new innovators and non-commercial entities would simply be unable to afford the price of a ticket on the networks that carry the world’s communications.68 There is a long and unfortunate history of gatekeepers consistently leveraging their market power to prioritize profit and commercial interests over the public interest when there is a lack of regulatory protection.

68 Federal Communications Commission (United States), In the Matter of Further Inquiry Regarding Two Under-developed Issues in the Open Internet Proceeding, Comments of the Center for Social Media, GN Docket No. 09-191, Oct. 12, 2010, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www.cmsimpact.org/sites/default/files/documents/pages/csm_comments_before_fcc.pdf. The present paragraph is adapted from these comments from the Center for Social Media to the FCC.

After a number of years of debate, the FCC enacted open Internet requirements in 2010 for U.S. broadband providers that included three basic rules: 1) transparency with respect to a provider’s network management practices; 2) no blocking of lawful content, applications, services, or non- harmful devices; and 3) no unreasonable discrimination in transmitting a lawful network over a consumer’sbroadbandInternetaccessservice.69 However,itweakenedtherulesformobilebroadband operators, only requiring that operators disclose their network management practices, and not to block “consumers from accessing lawful websites… [or] applications that compete with the provider’s voice or video telephony services.”70 The decision to loosen the rules for mobile operators was not without its share of dissenters at the FCC; Commissioner Michael Copps noted in his concurring opinion, “…the Internet is the Internet, no matter how you access it, and the millions of citizens going mobile nowadays for their Internet and the entrepreneurs creating innovative wireless content, applications and services should have the same freedoms and protections as those in the wired context.”71 Thus far, abuse of the flexibility of the rules by mobile operators has been limited, but there are a few key examples of discriminatory behavior. For example, most operators continue to charge extra money and make it difficult to access free tethering applications that allow consumers to connect another device, such as a laptop, to their smartphone to access the Internet. In 2012, AT&T Wireless blocked subscribers’ use of Apple’s FaceTime application and other video calling applications over the provider’s mobile network; only allowing them to be used over Wi-Fi connections.72 After significant public pressure and the threat of a potential investigation by the FCC, AT&T agreed to allow use of the applications over their LTE mobile network.73

Particularly in Jordan, where many residents are increasingly relying on mobile Internet access through USB dongles provided by mobile operators, and nearly 42% of all cellular phones are smart phones,74 open Internet requirements on wireless broadband networks are the first line of defense in promoting a level playing field for new Internet startups as well as access to diverse media and information. Orange, which currently controls a third of Jordan’s mobile market, has pushed the boundaries even in more regulated European nations with respect to discriminating against specific applications. In a number of markets where it is the dominant provider, Orange charged for use of Skype and other VoIP services that utilize the Internet.75 Without regulatory protections to prevent market abuses and protect an open marketplace where consumers can access all content and applications, network providers have a strong incentive to increasingly monetize scarcity on the network. Current spectrum licenses in Jordan are subject to any instructions or decisions issued by the TRC.76 Thus the TRC has the ability to impose conditions on licensees, including open Internet requirements that prevent them from blocking or limiting access to particular Internet applications and services that consumers access over their networks.

Relatedly, Jordan should not impose any censorship or filtering requirements on mobile providers. Even in the limited context of blocking access to pornographic websites, which has been discussed in Jordan as well as other MENA countries, it is important to be cautious.77 The use of filtering technology is a slippery slope that can lead to more widespread applications that limit individuals’ access to information or have a chilling effect on telecommunications carriers and other platform providers. By imposing such a requirement, the government will make providers liable for the behavior of users on their network that will inevitably lead providers to overzealously filter and block other applications, content, and services.78

Filtering on the basis of content type is extremely difficult to do without also blocking access to legitimate uses of the network. Moreover, it further empowers Internet providers to abuse their filtering obligations to block legal applications, services, and content that could directly compete with their existing offerings. If the infrastructure is already in place to filter pornographic content and sites, then it can be easily expanded to filter other content and sites that are not favored by a mobile provider. The more providers are required to exert greater control over the flow of information on their networks for other purposes, the more incentive they have to further tighten that control to the detriment of the open Internet.

CONCLUSION

Jordan is at a moment of opportunity to take advantage of advances in mobile communications and Internet technologies to support a burgeoning technology sector in the MENA region. Spectrum policies are a critical component of this and will be a key factor in the creation of an environment that encourages innovation and economic development. By reforming its current policies to increase transparency, access, competition, and openness, Jordan can maximize the value of its spectrum resources and ensure that new Jordanian entrepreneurs, creators, and innovators have an opportunity to flourish.

The Arab Spring, as well as the introduction of faster Internet, access to social media, community radio, and access to worldwide television stations through satellite, have given Jordan the rationale to accelerate the work on media reform that could ultimately contribute to the country’s hope of a more open and healthy political system and increased economic investment. Media and communications play a vital role in providing information to the public, improving governance, and spurring innovation. The reforms recommended herein may be challenging, but they are essential to truly enabling Jordan to be a full participant in the information revolution.

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Footnotes

• Freelance journalist; lead researcher in Jordan for the Open Society Institute-sponsored Mapping Digital Media Study; journalism instructor, Yarmouk University, Jordan.† Senior Research Fellow; Open Technology Institute, New America Foundation.
• Principal, Democracy Fund; former Director of the Media Policy Initiative, Open Technology Institute, New America Foundation.
• Nick Russo, research associate at the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, also contributed to this article.
• 1 Marwan Muasher, “How to Achieve Real Reform in the Arab World,” Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2011, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/01/AR2011020105708.html. Muasher is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Jordan.
• 2 Ilhem Allagui and Johanne Kuebler, “The Arab Spring and the Role of ICTs,” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 1436
• 3 Nahed Eltantawy and Julie B. Wiest, “Social Media in the Egyptian Revolution: Reconsidering Resource Mobilization Theory,” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 1213.
• 4 Ibid.
• 5 Ben Wagner, “’I Have Understood You’: The Co-Evolution of Expression and Control on the Internet, Television and Mobile Phones during the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia,” International Journal of Communication 5 (2011): 1298.
• 6 Thomas L. Friedman, “Jobs@Arabia.com,” New York Times, May 8, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, h t t p : / / w w w . n y t i m e s . c o m / 2 0 1 2 / 0 5 / 0 9 / o p i n i o n / fr i e d m a n – j o b s a t a r a b i a d o t c o m . h t m l .
• 7 Sindibad Business, “Investment Report in Internet & Technology Start Ups in the Arab World: 2012 Update,” report (2012), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://content.argaam.com.s3-external-3.amazonaws.com/c68c550e-97be-40a0-8b06- 0313f2fa77a6.pdf.
• 8 Rana F. Sweis, “Unrest Encourages Start-Up Funding for the Middle East,” New York Times, June 6, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/world/middleeast/unrest-encourages-start-up-funding-for-the- middle-east.html
• 9 Conversion calculated at CurrencyConverterRate.com, http://www.currencyconverterrate.com/usd/jod.html (conversion rate: 1 USD = 0.708 Jordanian dinar). See also Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “Arab Political Systems: Baseline Information and Reforms – Jordan,” white paper (2008), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, w w w . c a r n e g i e e n d o w m e n t . o r g / fi l e s / J o r d a n _ A P S . d o c .
• 10 FederalCommunicationsCommission(UnitedStates),IntheMatterofAssessmentandCollectionofRegulatoryFeesforFiscal Year 2013 et al., Report and Order, MD Docket No. 13-140 et al., Aug. 12, 2013, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2013/db0816/FCC-13-110A1.pdf.
• 11 Audio Visual Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), “World Broadcasting for Community Radio Praise Amendment to Broadcasting Licenses,” regulatory document, AmmanNet, Aug. 16, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://ar.ammannet.net/news/168220#.UEZf-NZlRcT. According to Daoud Kuttab (founder of Radio Balad and AmmanNet), the government cancelled these fees in August 2012.
• 12 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), “Jordan Telecommunications Market Development,” report, July 24, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.trc.gov.jo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=339&Itemid=506&lang=english.
• 13 Committee to Protect Journalists, “Attacks on the Press 2003: Jordan,” report, Mar. 11, 2004, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://cpj.org/2004/03/attacks-on-the-press-2003-jordan.php.
• 14 See http://ar.ammannet.net/; or http://ar.ammannet.net/news/category/english.
• 15 Personal interview with Daoud Kuttab, April 2012.
• 16 Daoud Kuttab, “Jordan’s Lack of Appreciation of Public Service Broadcasting,” Menassat, Sept. 23, 2009, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.menassat.com/?q=en/news-articles/7216-jordans-lack-appreciation-public-service- broadcasting.
• 17 Freedom House, “Jordan: Freedom of the Press 2010,” report (2010), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2010/jordan
• 18 Al-Balad Radio, “About Us,” accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://en.ammannet.net/?page_id=111.
• 19 Thomas F. Brady, “Press Law Shuts Jordan’s Papers; 3 Reorganized Publications Due to Appear Tomorrow,” New York Times, March 26, 1967.
• 20 Department of State (United States), Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Jordan: 2004,” report, Feb. 28, 2005, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2004/41724.htm.
• 21 Associated Press, “Jordanian Cancels Most Martial Law Rules,” New York Times, July 8, 1991, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/1991/07/08/world/jordanian-cancels-most-martial-law-rules.html.
• 22 Fairouz Abu-Ghazaleh, “Senate Passes Press and Publication Law,” Jordan Times, Aug. 18, 1998.
• 23 Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, “Impunity: Media Freedom Status in Jordan, 2011,” report (2011), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.cdfj.org/look/PDFs/Media%20Freedom%20Status%20in%20Jordan%202011- EN.pdf.
• 24 Center for Defending Freedom for Journalists, “On the Edge: Media Freedom Status in Jordan, 2010,” report (2010), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.cdfj.org/look/PDFs/Media%20Freedom%20Status%20in%20Jordan%202010- EN.pdf.
• 25 Al Quds Center for Political Studies, “Status of Press Freedom, 2011,” report (2011), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.alqudscenter.org/uploads/Alquds_Center_Study3.pdf, 27.
• 26 Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, “Impunity: Media Freedom Status in Jordan, 2011.”
• 27 Committee to Protect Journalists, “CPJ Calls on Jordan to Prevent Attacks on Journalists,” report, July 18, 2011, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.cpj.org/2011/07/cpj-calls-on-jordan-to-prevent-attacks-on-journali.php.
• 28 Ibid.
• 29 Reporters Without Borders, “Dismay After Government Approves Repressive Media Bill,” Aug. 30, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://en.rsf.org/jordan-dismay-after-government-approves-30-08-2012,43300.html.
• 30 Eva Galperin, “Jordanians Protest Internet Censorship Law with SOPA-Style Blackout,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, Aug. 29, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/08/jordanians-protest- internet-censorship-law-sopa-style-blackout.
• 31 “Access to Jordan News Websites Blocked: Press & Publications Crackdown Launched,” Al Bawaba, June 2, 2013, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.albawaba.com/news/jordan-websites-ban-496269.
• 32 Figures can be found at Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Department of Statistics, http://www.dos.gov.jo/dos_home_e/main/index.htm.
• 33 Mohammad Ghazal, “Internet Freedom Activists See Bad Precedent in Drive to Censor Porn Sites,” Jordan Times, May 1, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://jordantimes.com/Internet+freedom+activists+see+bad+precedent+in+drive+to+censor+porn+sites-47555.
• 34 Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), Statement of Government Policy 2007 on the Information and Communications Technology and Postal Sectors, regulatory document (2007), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.moict.gov.jo/enus/policiesandstrategies/statementofgovernmentpolicy2007.aspx.
• 35 Oxford Business Group, The Report: Jordan 2009 (London: Oxford Business Group, 2009), 93-96.
• 36 Personal interview with Yara Abdel Samad, 2012. Samad is Policies and Strategies Director at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
• 37 “XPress Launches Radio Trunking and Mobile Telephony Services in Jordan,” Al Bawaba, June 9, 2004, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.albawaba.com/business/xpress-launches-radio-trunking-and-mobile-telephony-services-jordan. The service offers subscribers the ability to instantly communicate with a single individual (one-to-one) or with a group (one-to-many) through the push of a button – a sort of integrated, digital “walkie-talkie.”
• 38 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), “A Chronology of the Telecom Sector Development 1921-2008,” accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.trc.gov.jo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&itemid=507&lang=english.
• 39 Oxford Business Group, 95-96.
• 40 “Umniah Prepares for 3G Launch,” TradeArabia, April 25, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www .tradearabia.net/news/IT_216541.html.
• 41 Mohammad Ghazal, “Orange Preparing to Provide 4G Services After 3 Years,” Jordan Times, Mar. 14, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://jordantimes.com/orange-preparing-to-provide-4g-services-after-3-years.
• 42 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), “A Chronology of the Telecom Sector Development 1921-2008.”
• 43 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), Telecommunications Law No. (13) of 1995, Official Gazette No. 4072, Jan. 10, 1995, accessed Dec. 12, 2013,h t t p : / / w w w . t r c . g o v . j o / i m a g e s / s t o r i e s / p d f / t e l e c o m u n i c a t i o n % 2 0 l a w . p d f? l a n g = e n g l i s h .
• 44 Edward D. Cavanaugh, “De-Regulation of the Air Waves: Is Antitrust Enough?” Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development 17, no. 1 (2003): 68.
• 45 Barbara van Schewick, “Network Neutrality and Quality of Service: What a Non-Discrimination Rule Should Look Like,” white paper, Center for Internet and Society, June 11, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, h t t p : / / c y b e r l a w . s t a n fo r d . e d u / d o w n l o a d s / 2 0 1 2 0 6 1 1 – N e t w o r k N e u t r a l i t y . p d f.
• 46 Benjamin Lennett, Tom Glaisyer, and Sascha Meinrath, “Public Media Policy, Spectrum Policy, and Rethinking Public Interest Obligations for the 21st Century,” policy paper, New America Foundation, June 21, 2012, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://oti.newamerica.net/sites/newamerica.net/files/policydocs/PublicMedia_Spectrum_Paper_1.pdf.
• 47 Ibid.
• 48 Ibid.
• 49 Ibid.
• 50 Benton Foundation, “Citizen’s Guide to the Public Interest Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters,” report (2005), accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://benton.org/sites/benton.org/files/citizensguide.pdf, 4.
• 51 Quoted in Mark Lloyd, “Forget the Fairness Doctrine,” Center for American Progress, July 24, 2007, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/media/news/2007/07/24/3348/forget-the-fairness-doctrine/. See also Henry Geller, “Geller to FCC: Scrap the Rules, Try a Spectrum Fee,” Current.org, Oct. 30, 2000, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://current.org/wp-content/themes/current/archive-site/why/why0020geller.shtml.
• 52 Henry Geller and Tim Watts, “The Five Percent Solution: A Spectrum Fee to Replace the ‘Public Interest Obligations’ of Broadcasters,” Spectrum Series Working Paper #3, New America Foundation, May 2002, accessed Dec. 12, 2013, http://www.newamerica.net/files/archive/Pub_File_844_1.pdf, 12.
• 53 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), Frequency Use and Planning Policy, Issued Pursuant to Board of Commissioners Decision No. 4-19\2008, Mar. 9, 2008, accessed Dec. 13, 2013,http://www .trc.gov .jo/images/stories/pdf/Frequency_use_and_planning_policy.pdf?lang=english.
• 54 Ellen P. Goodman, “Spectrum Auctions and the Public Interest,” Journal of Telecommunications and High Technology Law 7 (2009): 354.
• 55 Stacy Higginbotham, “Verizon’s Spectrum Deal with Cable Is the End of Broadband Competition,” GigaOM, Dec. 2, 2011, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://gigaom.com/broadband/verizons-spectrum-deal-with-cable-is-the-end-of- broadband-competition/.
• 56 Sinead Carew, “Wireless Carriers Eye Solutions to Spectrum Crunch,” Reuters, May 11, 2012, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www .reuters.com/article/2012/05/11/us-wireless-smallcells-idUSBRE84A12G20120511.
• 57 Michael Calabrese and Benjamin Lennett, “Mobile Data Demand and the Need for Increased Spectrum Access,” policy paper, New America Foundation, Oct. 2009, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www .newamerica.net/files/CalabreseLennett_MobileDataDemand.pdf.
• 58 Jon M. Peha, “Spectrum Management Policy Options,” IEEE Communication Surveys 1, no. 1 (2008): 6.
• 59 Ibid.
• 60 Laura Forlano, Alison Powell, Gwen Shaffer, and Benjamin Lennett, “From the Digital Divide to Digital Excellence: Global Best Practices to Aid Development of Municipal and Community Wireless Networks in the United States,” policy paper, New America Foundation (2011), accessed Dec. 13, 2013,h t t p : / / w w w . n e w a m e r i c a . n e t / s i t e s / n e w a m e r i c a . n e t / fi l e s / p o l i c y d o c s / N A F % 2 0 M u n i c i p a l % 2 0 a n d % 2 0 C o m m u n i t y % 2 0 W ireless%20Report.pdf.
• 61 Sascha Meinrath and Victor Pickard, “The Rise of the Intranet Era: Media, Research and Policy in the Age of Communications Revolution,” white paper, New America Foundation, Feb. 20, 2009, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/rise_intranet_era.
• 62 Forlano, Powell, Shaffer, and Lennett, 41.
• 63 Mark McHenry, “Dupont Circle Spectrum Utilization During Peak Hours,” white paper, New America Foundation and The Shared Spectrum Company (2003), accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www.newamerica.net/files/archive/Doc_File_183_1.pdf. Some analysts suggest that at any given time the majority of the current spectrum could be technically considered a “white space.”
• 64 Federal Communications Commission (United States), In the Matter of Unlicensed Operation in the TV Broadcast bands et al., ET Docket No. 04-186 et al., Second Report and Order and Memorandum Report and Order, Nov. 14, 2008, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-260A1.pdf.
• 65 Steven K. Jones and Thomas W. Phillips, “Initial Evaluation of the Performance of Prototype TV-Band White Spaces Devices,” OET Report FCC/OET 07-TR-1006, Federal Communications Commission, July 31, 2007, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-275666A1.pdf.
• 66 Victor W. Pickard and Sascha D. Meinrath, “Revitalizing the Public Airwaves: Opportunistic Unlicensed Reuse of Government Spectrum,” International Journal of Communication 3 (2009): 1052-1084.
• 67 Al Tamimi & Company, “The Introduction of 3G in Jordan,” Nov. 2008, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://archive.newsweaver.com/altamimi/newsweaver.ie/altamimi/e_article001290090.html.
• 69 Federal Communications Commission (United States), “The Open Internet,” accessed Dec. 13, 2013, h t t p : / / w w w . fc c . g o v / g u i d e s / o p e n – i n t e r n e t .
• 70 Federal Communications Commission (United States), In the Matter of Preserving the Open Internet, Report and Order, GN Docket No. 09-191, Dec. 23, 2010, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC- 10-201A1_Rcd.pdf, 55.
• 71 Ibid., 142.
• 72 Carrie Mihalcik, “AT&T to Open Mobile Video Chat for All Customers,” CNET, May 20, 2013, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57585381-94/at-t-to-open-mobile-video-chat-for-all-customers/.
• 73 Steven Musil, “AT&T Reportedly Begins Wide Cellular Support for FaceTime,” CNET, June 17, 2013, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57589748-94/at-t-reportedly-begins-wide-cellular-support-for-facetime/. 74 Jawad Abbassi, “Insights into Arab Consumers Broadcast and Online Consumption Habits,” presentation at the Joint ITU-AICTO Workshop on Interoperability of IPTV in the Arab Region, Sept. 20-21, 2011, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www .itu.int/dms_pub/itu-t/oth/06/5B/T065B0000060043PDFE.pdf.
• 75 Russell Shaw, “Vodafone and Orange are Blocking Skype and Similar Services,” ZDNet, Apr. 25, 2007, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www.zdnet.com/blog/ip-telephony/vodafone-and-orange-are-blocking-skype-and-similar- services/1564; Andy Weir, “Microsoft Pushing Operators to Open up Skype Access in UK,” Neowin.net, Nov. 302011, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-pushing-operators-to-open-up-skype-access-in- uk.
• 76 Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan), Frequency Use and Planning Policy.
• 77 Mohammad Ghazal, “Ministry Issues Free Anti-Porn Software in Response to Filtering Demands,” Jordan Times, July 29, 2012, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://jordantimes.com/ministry-issues-free-anti-porn-software-in-response-to- censorship-demands.
• 78 Bobbie Johnson, “Crazy: Orange Censors All Blogs, Not Just GigaOM,” GigaOM, June 11, 2012, accessed Dec. 13, 2013, http://gigaom.com/europe/orange-censors-all-blogs/.

Putting Saddam Hussein back in the frame

When Saddam Hussein fell, we Iraqis were disoriented. For all our lives, he had always been there. His image was everywhere,’ says photographer Jamal Penjweny, whose series Saddam is Here depicts Iraqis in everyday locations covering their faces with pictures of the former dictator. ‘His image was in the cities where we live, on the walls of our schools, on our money, everywhere. Then he vanished. So taking a picture with Saddam was breaking a taboo that was created after the fall of the regime.’ Penjweny, a former shepherd, will show his work in the Iraq pavilion at the Venice Biennale (Welcome to Iraq, 1 June to 24 November).

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Jordan’s Schools Buckle Under Weight of Syrian Refugees

October 6, 2013 by RANA F. SWEIS

AMMAN, Jordan — Yusra Shinwan, 44, and her four school-age children arrived in Jordan in June, refugees from the Syrian civil war. Her husband, a school librarian, chose to stay behind after being told he would lose his job if he left.

More than half a million Syrians were registered with the U.N. refugee agency in Jordan at the end of last month, most of them women and children. School–age children from 5 to 17 years old make up 35 percent of the Syrian refugee population in Jordan.

The country’s public school system, already overstretched and overcrowded, is struggling to cope. Aid agencies and officials are warning of a “lost generation.”

After one night in the Zaatari refugee camp, Mrs. Shinwan and her children moved to a small apartment in the industrial city of Zarqa, northeast of Amman.

At the start of the school year on Aug. 28, she tried to register the children in two public schools near her new home. At both, she said, the principles told her to wait until a double shift system could be put in place, with one set of students attending in the morning and another, mostly Syrian, in the afternoon. She is still waiting.

“My 13-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter look around and see people their age going to school and they feel left behind,” Mrs. Shinwan said.

“I fled for their safety, but now they are restless and angry,” she said. “They are telling me they are wasting their education and their future. They want to go back to school in Syria.”

In practice, that is not an option for many. The international aid organization Save the Children said this summer it estimated that more than a fifth of schools inside Syria had been destroyed or made unusable since the conflict started, affecting the education of 2.5 million youths.

In Jordan and Lebanon, aid agencies are warning that Syrian children who do not attend school are at increased risk of abuses including child labor and early marriage.

Jordan’s Ministry of Education announced earlier this year that it was trying to eliminate double shifts at schools to improve the quality of education.

Now, it has been forced to backtrack, to try to accommodate both the influx of Syrian refugees and nearly 35,000 Jordanian and expatriate children who have transferred, mostly for financial reasons, from private to public schools this year.

Double-shift teaching not only puts an added strain on teachers, it also wears out school infrastructure, whether furniture, bathrooms or computers.

“Jordanian parents come to me and complain about the drop in the quality of education for their children,” said Abdullah Al Khattab, governor of Mafraq, a district near the border with the largest concentration of Syrian refugees.

The influx has brought a boom for some Mafraq businesses, like real estate, restaurants, or market stalls. But the pressure it has put on services and utilities like education and water supply have stretched the district’s resources to their limits.

“My town is struggling to keep up with the numbers of Syrians because of the pressure on natural resources but also the lack of funding when it comes to education,” Mr. Khattab said.

More than 81,000 Syrian refugee children are enrolled in learning programs in Jordan, according to Unicef. The big number poses a challenge, but so does low attendance, especially at the Zaatari camp, which is home to nearly 23 percent of the Syrian refugee population.

“The focus has been on registering children,” said Curt Rhodes, international director of Questscope, an organization aiding social development in the Middle East. “It has not been on how to help them stay in school.”

There are almost 30,000 school-age children in Zaatari, of whom about 15,000 have been enrolled in the camp’s three schools, according to Unicef. But actual attendance at the end of September was barely 2,000, Mr. Rhodes said.

Low attendance rates reflect multiple problems: a lack of security for children — especially girls — walking to school; the disruption of normal routines in families leading transient lives; and the development of a vast unregulated economy that attracts some children to work instead of attending school.

Jordan’s minimum age for working is 16 but in Amman and in rural areas it has become increasingly common to see Syrian children illegally working on construction sites, in the fields, or as day laborers to support their families. The government estimates their number at 30,000 and the International Labor Organization says the number is rising.

Given the enrollment difficulties faced by people like Mrs. Shinwan, “education outside of the school needs to be focused on as well,” said Mr. Rhodes, whose organization offers informal education and mentoring programs for refugee children. “Without education, children will so quickly lose everything and a sense of who they are. They’ll just have the war.”

“When you grow up without an education it reduces the ability to form civil trust and that means they are heading for conflict,” he said.

Michele Servadei, Unicef’s deputy representative in Jordan, sounded a similar warning.“You can look at it through a security perspective,” Mr. Servadei said. Children out of school are at risk of being abused, exploited and “can end up being recruited by armed forces or groups inside and outside Syria,” he said.

Mr. Servadei said Unicef is trying to combat that risk by offering Syrian and Jordanian families small cash grants of about $45 a month on the condition that they enroll working children in school. “We monitor their attendance and if they drop out, we stop the cash assistance,” he said. “For now we have a target of 2,000 children in urban areas.”

For people like Mrs. Shinwan, such programs may not be enough. Living outside the refugee camp — as does more than 70 percent of the Syrian refugee population — she is paying $300 a month in rent. Now, after four months, she said, she can no longer afford it.

“I can’t go to the camp,” she said. “It’s not a place I want to raise my children.”

“If they can’t go to school here and I can’t pay the rent, I might end up going back to the war in Syria.”

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The Regression of Human Rights in the Middle East

Huffington Post Blog
By Rana F. Sweis

With a high death toll in Syria, intensified sectarian strife across the region and a sharp rise in conservatism, it’s easy to forget why the Arab Spring actually began.

From autocratic regimes to deteriorating press freedoms to consistent corruption, the Middle East was, for the most part, decaying.

The past decades in the Middle East saw a decline not only in literacy and culture — Arabs comprise almost five percent of the world’s population, but publish just 1.1 percent of its books, according to the U.N.’s 2003 Arab Human Development Report – but it is also the consistent regression in human rights.

When Mohammad Bouazizi set himself on fire in December 2010, it was in protest against injustice, harassment and humiliation. In Egypt, 28-year-old Khalid Said died while in police custody. It was the brutality and abuse inflicted upon him that inspired many to take to the streets. Even in Turkey, an economically prosperous country, it was aggression against protestors that prompted outrage across the country.

Even so, human rights issues have taken a back seat as the region continues to face unprecedented change. Despite protests waning, divisions plaguing opposition movements and violence intensifying, one of the biggest challenges facing the Middle East today is the declining state of human rights and the silence of so many democratic governments across the world.

From Qatar to Tunisia, artists such as poets, musicians, bloggers have been imprisoned since the revolutions.

“The willingness of new governments to respect rights will determine whether those uprisings give birth to genuine democracy or simply spawn authoritarianism in new forms,” noted Human Rights Watch in its 2013 world report on challenges for rights after the Arab Spring.

“Turning a blind eye to repression may be politically convenient but it does enormous damage to the quests for rights-respecting democracies.”

Dozens of social media users have been jailed in the Gulf for posting comments on Twitter.

“I see freedom of expression as a release valve: people have those thoughts, people have those concerns, they want to articulate them and when a government takes an approach (such as jailing dissidents), what you’re really doing is forcing those concerns and debate internally, it doesn’t go away,” said Ross LaJeunesse, global head of Google’s Freedom Expression project.

After 16 years of free and unfettered access to the Internet, Jordan blocked nearly 300 news websites this month and enforced an amended press law to regulate online content. And still despite the uplifting of a public assembly law, speech related crimes or simply participating in protests could send you to State Security Court, a special body that has jurisdiction over crimes considered harmful to Jordan’s internal and external security — involving drugs, terrorism, weapons, espionage and treason.

In Egypt, 20 organizations announced the decline in the status of human rights in Egypt since Morsi took office last year — police beatings, torture, military trials and lack of accountability.

Earlier this year, an Egyptian prosecutor charged Bassem Yousef, a comedian whose satire brings relief to many Arabs bombarded by constant images of war and violence, of maligning president Mohammad Morsi.

Morsi’s office claimed the show was, “circulating false news likely to disturb public peace and public security and affect the administration.”

For many decades, Arabs were denied a platform for expression and in turn they were plagued by internal fear and self-censorship. There is no doubt, after the Arab Spring, an internal barrier of fear was lifted.

I see this during labor strikes and protests, in art exhibitions and plays that tend to push previous boundaries but where it will all end remains unclear.

Western democracies continue to send a message to people in the Middle East: Security and stability trumps human rights issues. But if there is any lesson to be learned from the Arab Spring, it is indeed that human rights is security.

This post is part of a collaboration between The Huffington Post and The Aspen Institute, in which a variety of thinkers, writers and experts will explore the most pressing issues of our time. For more posts from this partnership, click here. For more information on The Aspen Institute, click here.

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As Syrians Flee Conflict, Their Way of Life Follows

June 6, 2013
By RANA F. SWEIS
AMMAN — Two months ago, the most famous ice cream parlor in Damascus set up a new outlet amid the fast-food joints, stalls selling plastic household goods and offices lining Al Madina Al Munawara Street, a traffic-snarled road in Amman.

The original location for the ice cream shop, Bakdash, which is more than 100 years old, is in the Al Hamidiyah Souk, one of the oldest and largest markets in Syria.

As violence rages across the country, it is not only helpless refugees who are leaving for Jordan, but also skilled laborers, proficient builders and prominent chefs. “Business is dead in Damascus, and it’s going from bad to worse,” said Muhammad Abed, who worked at Bakdash in Damascus before he settled in Amman about a month ago.

“I was sent by Bakdash to come and work here, and it’s nice to see our product being sold in Jordan, because it always reminds me of home,” he said, as he rolled ice cream on a bed of crushed pistachio nuts.

Khaldoun Abbabneh, who manages the Amman shop, said it employs some Jordanians but the majority of the workers are Syrians. That includes Mr. Abed, the main ice cream beater: Using a large wooden paddle Mr. Abed vigorously churns the ice cream, made from boiled milk, sugar, vanilla flour, salt and choice pistachios, to soften and mix it before putting it in a large open freezer and serving it to customers.

Before the uprising began, more than two years ago, Jordanians were regular visitors to Damascus and other cities. They were lured by fine restaurants and eating places, along with affordable, high-quality fabric design stores and a shared social culture. The distance from Amman to Damascus is barely 175 kilometers, or 110 miles, by road.

Now, “Jordanians are no longer going to Syria because of the violence there, but we are offering the same atmosphere when it comes to the taste and the simple wooden chairs we bought from Damascus,” Mr. Abbabneh said.

“I used to visit Syria many times a year and always admired the theme and ambiance of their restaurants,” said Ibraheem Shokerat, owner of Areej Al Sham, one of several Syrian restaurants that have sprung up in Amman.

Areej Al Sham, meaning fragrance or sweet smell of Syria, has been designed — by a Syrian architect — to resemble an old Damascene home, with a small fountain in the middle, high ceilings that can open to the sky in summer and black and white wall tiles.

“I have the same kitchen staff I would have if I opened an excellent restaurant in Syria,” Mr. Shokerat said, “and that was important to me.”

“Before the uprising in Syria, it would have been impossible for these skilled Syrians to agree to come here and to accept the salaries we are offering them,” he added: “But the war changed everything.”

The United Nations has registered nearly 400,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan as of June 3, with another 83,000 awaiting registration. The government puts the number of refugees at 513,000.

After a sharp drop last week, the inflow picked up again this week, and is now running at 1,000 to 2,000 daily, according to U.N. officials.

In a country that was already short of natural resources and facing economic challenges, the refugee flow has created resentments, especially among Jordanians living in the north of the country, where most of the refugees are living, and trade with Syria has been hit hard.

Many refugees live in grim, overcrowded apartments, where their presence, intermingled with the Jordanian population, has strained school classrooms, infrastructure and health services. Local residents, once welcoming, accuse the refugees of taking their jobs and blame them for rising rents.

Still, whatever the economic benefits, the war presents daily business challenges. For Bakdash, which continues to make its ice cream in Damascus before transporting it in refrigerated trucks across the border, a worsening of the violence could force the closing of the Amman parlor. “We are not removed from the conflict,” Mr. Abbabneh said. “The trucks are already being delayed in delivering the ice cream from Syria and, so, we are forced to buy larger quantities for fear we will run out.

“In the future, the war will basically determine whether we have ice cream or not.”

For Mr. Shokerat, the owner of Areej Al Sham, there are other reminders of the conflict.

“What happens in Syria affects my employees who have families back home,” he said. “At one point at least four of them couldn’t communicate with their relatives because of the violence in their cities, so last month they decided to take a risk and return home.”

“You lose some really great employees but at the same time you understand the struggle,” he added. “Some of the ingredients also come straight from Syria, so, of course you can bring some aspects of Syria to Jordan. But at the end, you can’t separate yourself or your business from what is happening in that country.”

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Resentment Grows Against Syrian Refugees in Jordan

RAMTHA, JORDAN — A few months ago, boxes of tomatoes, lettuce and cucumbers blocked the entrances to shops in a bustling market in Ramtha, close to the Syrian border.

Shop shelves were lined with boxes of cigarettes, and there were so many containers of goods from Syria that a storage facility was opened in the middle of the market.

Today the shops, owned by Jordanians, are closed, the streets abandoned. A main border crossing, where goods were being transported to this impoverished town, has been officially closed.

“Jordan’s economy has been devastated because of the lack of trade toward Syria going north,” said Andrew Harper, head of the United Nations refugee agency in Jordan.

Syria’s unpredictable conflict is increasingly raising tensions among Jordanians as the economy continues to suffer, and resentment toward Syrian refugees is growing.

Jordan has drawn waves of refugees in the past, but this wave is particularly difficult. The impact of the Syrian conflict has been most felt in the north, which relies heavily on trade with Syria. Jordanians in Ramtha also have strong tribal and family ties with people in Dara’a, birthplace of the Syrian rebellion.

“The main market has turned into a ghost town and all that is left is resentment and anger,” said Sami al-Mugrabi, a Jordanian who owns a small shop in the market.

Last year, he offered tea to Syrian refugees walking by and would listen empathetically to their stories of the cities and homes they had left behind.

“No more,” he said. “We welcomed them, even in our homes, but Jordanians are suffering to find work, classrooms are crammed, hospitals can barely cope, newlyweds can’t find homes to rent, and we no longer feel like we should be the ones to suffer because of them.”

Jordanian visitors to his shop — a doctor, a border guard, a businessman and an unemployed youth — echoed his resentment.

About 450,000 Syrians refugees are registered or awaiting registration in Jordan, according to the United Nations, and 1,000 to 3,000 people continue to arrive daily.

International financial support for refugees — and for the Jordanian government — does not necessarily reach the average Jordanian family.

“What we need to do is to provide not only support at the refugee camps, communities and on the government level but also alleviate the pain for the average Jordanian family,” Mr. Harper said. “They just cannot be expected to be absorbing the consequences of the international community’s ineffectiveness in Syria by themselves.”

In a recent poll conducted by the Center for Strategic Studies, a research institute at the University of Jordan, in Amman, 70 percent of Jordanian respondents said they opposed allowing more Syrian refugees into the country.

The United Nations has predicted that there could be up to 1.2 million refugees in Jordan by the end of the year — equivalent to a fifth of the country’s population.

“There is a lot of pressure on Jordan,” said Amer Sabaileh , a political analyst at the university. “The Jordanian public seems to always pay the price when it comes to the conflicts in the region — including Iraq, Palestine and now Syria.”

Analysts warn that Jordan faces other real challenges, apart from the refugee crisis. In November of last year, serious protests erupted in the capital and other cities, after the government’s decision to increase prices of fuel and cooking oil.

“Generally, Syrians are not to blame for Jordan’s chronic shortage of water or rise in electricity prices that is expected to take place in the summer,” said Manar Rachwani, a columnist and editor at Al Ghad, an independent daily. “In fact, protests against the rise of prices in Jordan took place before the Syrian crisis even began.”

Since 2011, there has been a series of labor strikes and small but regular protests to back demands for changes in the country’s electoral law to balance the representation of urban and rural areas more fairly. There have also been demands for the creation of an electoral framework that supports credible party political development and for a serious crackdown on corruption.

“The south is in a desperate situation right now and resentment in the north is growing, so it is clear there are tensions,” Mr. Sabaileh said.

Just last week, in the city of Maan, south of Amman, there were clashes between local residents and security forces over violence that had erupted at Al-Hussein bin Talal University, which left four people dead and dozens injured.

Some warn that a prolonged crisis across the border may distract the government from implementing comprehensive restructuring. In coming months, meanwhile, water shortages are likely to increase and the government is expected to raise the price of electricity.

“If politicians are going to say it’s because of refugees, it’s inevitable that we will witness some sort of violence and anger against the Syrians here,” Mr. Rachwani said.

Sandwiched between two civil conflicts, including Iraq to the west, Jordanians continue to express fears of violence spilling over their borders.

A few Syrian rockets have landed in Jordan and some residents continue to hear the sound of gunfire and shelling in the distance. A Jordanian soldier was killed in October last year in clashes with militants trying to cross the border from Jordan into Syria, according to the Jordanian government.

“The conflict is very close, therefore the status quo in Syria is a disaster for Jordan,” said Mr. Rachwani. “There are real fears and threats, so the longer the conflict drags on, the stronger the extremist groups become.”

Spillover effects from the U.S.-led war in Iraq still reverberate in the kingdom. The Iraq war also drew militants from around the world, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who led an insurgent group, Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, and was killed by an airstrike in 2006.

Mr. Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the triple suicide bombing against hotels in Amman in 2005 that killed 60 people.

Increasingly, regional and local media have been reporting that some Jordanians have been crossing illegally into border towns to join Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian militant group that has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda.

There have also been claims by the Jordanian jihadist movement that some 500 Jordanians are fighting alongside extremist groups within Syria. At least 33 have been confirmed dead.

Although the government attempts to be cautious in its policy toward Syria, that is becoming more difficult as the conflict continues. Jordan’s geographic position and weak economy can leave it squeezed between competing interests in the region.

The Jordanian public, at the same time, has expressed opposition to foreign intervention in Syria.

Last month, the U.S. secretary of defense, Chuck Hagel, announced that the United States would be sending 200 troops to Jordan, a close U.S. ally, to help contain the violence. In response, a few thousand Jordanians across the country demonstrated against the deployment.

“We want the bloodshed to end, but we don’t want to see a foreign intervention in Syria and we don’t want to see American troops on our land,” said Ruweida Hassan, a member of the Jordanian Women’s Union who joined a group of demonstrators last week in central Amman.

“At the end, we blame the Arab dictators and their unjust rule, which have brought us to where we are,” she said. “But the conflict in Syria is being exploited by many countries and the people always end up paying the heavy price.”

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Tribal Clashes at Universities Add to Tensions in Jordan

By RANA F. SWEIS APRIL 24, 2013
AMMAN — They may begin with a slur, a passing glance or an accidental shove: Student brawls that turn into tribal confrontations have become an increasingly worrying phenomenon on university campuses across Jordan.

Already tested by tensions between “East Bank” tribes and ‘West Bank” Palestinians, and contested by pro-democracy activists, the country’s authorities now must respond to rising inter-tribal hostilities among the young.

“Tribal violence at universities is reaching an alarming level,” said Mohammad Nsour, a lawyer and associate professor at the faculty of law at the University of Jordan. “It has reached a level where we are reminded of the sectarian violence in Lebanon and Iraq.”

With 264,000 students enrolled in public and private universities, according to the ministry of higher education, the descent into tribalism threatens to undermine both the rule of law and Jordan’s respected academic institutions.

Nearly two years ago, academics and social experts drew up a comprehensive strategy to combat campus violence. Their report found that failures of law enforcement had enabled a hard core of troublemakers to incite repeated disturbances with impunity.

“You have to enforce the law, even ruthlessly,” said Hasan Barari, professor of international studies at the University of Jordan and a political analyst. “But there is no will.”

“At the university level, there are certain things that can be done that can mitigate the phenomena, and no one is doing that,” he added.

Nearly 40 major fights have taken place this year at universities across the kingdom, according to data reported this month by Thabhtoona, a national campaign for students’ rights. That compares with 80 such outbreaks all of last year, 61 in 2011 and 29 in 2010.

Mr. Nsour said admission policies have contributed to campus violence. Universities had been obliged to accept exceptionally underprivileged students, refugees and some unqualified students supported by the Royal Court, he said, seeding the ground for future trouble.

These students “cannot cope academically, but they still feel they can violate the system because they were not accepted based on merit,” he said. “They become frustrated and take it out on other students.”

There is a deep concern that tribal tensions in the universities will turn into a wider societal problem.

Lacking natural resources to build the economy, the government has consistently focused on developing its human potential. The literacy rate among Jordanians aged 15 to 24 stands at more than 90 percent, according to the World Bank. Jordan’s higher education system is highly regarded throughout the region.

Yet, with nearly 70 percent of the population under age 30, and unemployment mainly affecting the young, the country faces a major social and economic challenge. According to the World Bank, 25.6 percent of 20-to-24-year-olds are unemployed, of whom more than half hold a secondary certificate or a higher level of education.

Since the start of 2012, there have been some 50 protests by unemployed youths, according to Labor Watch, a local nongovernmental organization.

“This is the second consecutive year that we are suffering from violence across university campuses,” said Mustafa Al Adwan, secretary general at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, “and it is not only in a certain area or type of university, it is a nationwide problem.”

The death of an engineering student, Osama Duheisat, 21, in a tribal brawl this month at Mutah, a public university in the impoverished southern city of Karak, spilled over into widespread protests outside the campus.

“Sometimes we think it’s a social phenomena and not only related to universities,” Mr. Adwan said. “After a brawl between two students the problem extends to the areas surrounding the university.”

Hundreds of students across several universities held rallies last week to protest violence on their campuses, holding large photos of Mr. Duheisat, who is believed to have simply been a bystander at a brawl that ended in classes being suspended for two days.

Mustafa, 20, a student who did not want his last name used because he feared retribution, said he recently found himself in the middle of a fight at his university.

“I was as far away as possible from the fight that took place between two young men and it suddenly grew, became tribal and many people became involved,” said Mustafa, whom his professor described as an exemplary student.

“That same day, I was sitting in class and then a young man entered our classroom before the professor arrived,” he said. “A student pointed at me and said, ‘He is originally from the north.”’

He said the man dragged him outside the classroom, then assaulted him.

“I had nothing to do with the brawl between the two students, but it was retribution and revenge between tribes from the north and the south,” he said. “They found someone from the north in the classroom, and that was me.”

No measures had been taken against the person who assaulted him, who remained on the campus, he added.

Mr. Adwan, the education ministry official, said: “Our youth, who represent our future, are increasingly finding it hard to accept the other. What will this mean for our society in the future? We need to seriously resolve this issue. It is time to implement the laws.”

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Turkish Policy Quarterly: Digitization in Jordan

By Rana F. Sweis and Dina Baslan

The Jordanian government has made pledges in the past to implement political, economic, and media reforms. Although some of these reforms have taken a step backwards, digitization and enhanced access to information and news has contributed to political and social activism in society. Jordanians have created communities and contributed to “digital and social activism,” making an impact through active public participation. Due to Jordan’s geographical location and weak economy, however, the country will remain vulnerable to external shocks and regional unrest.

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Jordanian Activists Struggle On

By RANA F. SWEIS

AMMAN — When the Arab Spring started, Safwan al-Ma’aytah, 30, posted photos of himself online, wearing black sunglasses and carrying large signs calling for political and economic reforms.

Today, he and other members of Jordanian opposition movements say they are increasingly disillusioned by economic hardship and by regional violence across the border, especially in neighboring Syria.

Mr. Ma’aytah even stopped protesting for a while this year — but he was back on the streets last Friday in the southern city of Karak, where the government continues to face significant economic and political challenges, not least from the country’s Bedouin tribes, the historical backbone of support for the monarchy.

Also last week, an Islamist-led rally in Irbid, north of the capital, ended in violence after activists clashed with pro-government loyalists and police.

Among the factors stirring up fresh anger in the streets, demonstrators and analysts point to comments attributed to King Abdullah II, in an interview published by The Atlantic, an American news magazine, on March 18.

In the interview, the king was reported as criticizing a wide range of Jordanians, including tribal elders — whom he reportedly dismissed as “old dinosaurs,” leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, and members of his own family.

A press release issued by the royal court said the king’s comments had been taken out of context, but did not deny the accuracy of the quotes.

“The tribes have long been the backbone of the regime and they have sacrificed their lives for this country, so it is hard to understand why the king would make such comments about them,” said Basil Okour, a writer and founder of Jo24, an online news Web site.

After two years of regional turmoil, the steam had appeared to be going out of Jordanian activists’ demands for political and economic change.

“At the beginning we had a list of demands about the types of reforms we wanted to see as a youth movement,” said Mr. Ma’aytah, who belongs to the national youth movement, Hirak. “It was mostly about demands for more freedoms, economic opportunities and an end to corruption,” he said in an interview. “But over the months, the movement has become weaker, our demands were not being met and employment opportunities are scarce. We are wondering if we have accomplished our goals.”

Jordan’s overall unemployment rate stands at 12.5 percent, and youth unemployment is double that, according to the Department of Statistics.

“The biggest challenge right now for Jordan is economic, but also there are external and internal factors that will determine the stability of Jordan in the near future,” said Oraib al-Rantawi, director of Al-Quds Center for Political Studies, an independent Jordanian research institute.

The conflict in Syria has sent more than 470,000 refugees across the border, straining scarce resources even further. Egypt’s political instability and violence elsewhere in the region have added to the disillusionment, leading some Jordanians to question whether the revolutions that swept the region have produced any winners so far.

Still, protests continue, including among the tribes, despite the fact that their support for the monarchy has been repaid with a disproportionate share of well-paid and prestigious posts in the army and administration.

“We are extremely worried about the political direction and the state of the economy in the country,” said Sheik Adel al-Mahameed, a tribal leader in the historically restive city of Ma’an, where several riots have taken place in the past two years. “We feel we are neglected here in Ma’an, even by the monarchy,” he said.

For Mr. Rantawi, of the Al-Quds Center, the king’s comments, and the reactions they have elicited, reflect a growing sense that the political leadership of the country has lost its way.

“The regime and the government are facing a credibility problem among Jordanians, who are growing increasingly apathetic,” Mr. Rantawi said.

“There is a deep loss of confidence right now between the government, the regime and the people.”

“Many Jordanians would generally agree with the king’s statements in the Atlantic article,” criticizing conservative supporters as obstructing reform, he added. “However, the way that the king said these words to the outside world was not appropriate. These are topics and debates that we should be having internally.”

The king’s comments equally offended Islamist opponents in the Muslim Brotherhood, which he reportedly labeled a “Masonic cult,” run by “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

Nimer al-Assaf, deputy secretary general of the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, said, “We don’t believe such words would be said by the king.”

“But if it’s true, then we believe a big mistake was done,” he added, “because we are part of this country.”

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A New Liberty Sweeps Through Jordan Radio

AMMAN — As the sun rises over the Jordanian capital, the problems of the day start to stream in to Radio Fann. In the studio, producers scramble to keep up with calls and e-mails from listeners complaining about issues like water shortages and bureaucratic failures.

In a country where the news media are traditionally hemmed in by authoritarian legislation and self-censorship, such call-in shows are now able to address political topics and human rights issues that were unmentionable in public before the Arab Spring.

Hani al Badri, 45, is host of Wasat al-Balad, a two-and-a-half-hour live broadcast for people who find nowhere else to turn. The producers not only field their calls; they ring government officials on-air to try to resolve the issues raised.

“The show has two main roles,” said Mr. Badri, who also writes a newspaper column in Al Ghad, an independent daily. The radio show is “a platform for freedom of speech, but it’s also a place where Jordanians expect their problems to be solved.”

The morning talk shows are popular in a country where local municipalities are weighed down by bloated bureaucracies and inadequate budgets, despite a plan in 2005 to increase their efficiency.

Even this week, public workers across the kingdom have been on strike demanding better pay and benefits. And although more people than expected voted in parliamentary elections last month, Jordanians weary of fuel price increases are bracing for more economic hardship this year.

With a population of just over six million, Jordan is a relatively poor country with almost 14 percent of its people living below the poverty line, according to the Department of Statistics.

“There is a lack of accountability by public officials,” Mr. Badri said, “so we bring them on the show and present them with a clear problem at a specific location. We try to solve the caller’s problem on the spot, if we can.”

Still, some Jordanians have accused the radio hosts of courting acclaim by publicly highlighting the government’s failures to provide basic services, Mr. Badri said. And sometimes, government officials would rather avoid dealing with the media, although over time they have come to appreciate the opportunity to present the government’s views to a wider audience, he added.

On Jan. 14, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met with directors of Jordan’s radio stations and presenters. Mr. Badri, who attended the meeting, said he took the opportunity to share a few of the concerns of his listeners: Whether to cancel the test that determines whether a student can attend university; what the repercussions will be of the prime minister’s decision to keep daylight saving time in force throughout the winter.

Daoud Kuttab, the founder and general manager of Radio Balad and AmmanNet, the first online community radio station, said radio had significant influence in Jordan. “Radio is extremely accessible and it is a democratic instrument,” he said. “You can listen to the radio at home, in the car or on your phone and anybody can call in. It is available 24 hours a day and it is free of charge.”

In 2002, the Jordanian government approved a law that ended its monopoly on broadcasting, resulting in the licensing of dozens of privately owned radio stations.

Still, “the media scene in Jordan, as it is in many Arab countries, is dominated by government-owned media,” Mr. Kuttab said. “For many years the government had a monopoly in media and in many ways they still do.”

Radio Fann, for example, is still owned by the Jordanian armed forces. Another, Amen FM, is owned by the police. Before the Arab Spring, most radio stations played primarily music.

AmmanNet, an independent station, changed the format of its morning show — “Tallet Subeh,” which means “Morning Glimpse” — from trying to solve social problems to building political and social awareness by profiling political candidates or analyzing new laws.

“Our show is now less service-oriented because we found the long-term impact is limited,” Mr. Kuttab said. “There needs to be institutional changes and obviously the popularity of these morning talk shows continues to reveal flaws in the system.”

One reason Mr. Badri’s radio show succeeds is his willingness to discuss issues that have a direct impact on listeners’ daily lives.

On a recent program, for example, he discussed the price of cooking gas cylinders which has increased 50 percent since the government cut public subsidies three months ago.

Callers have also complained about traffic violations and the cost of real estate. Others call to weigh in on current events.

Humor and Arabic pop songs are used to lighten long discussions as Jordanians make their way to work or school. In between conversations, a D.J. chooses lyrics from Arabic pop songs that echo complaints from listeners. When a caller said he felt neglected by the government, the background music was a love song about abandonment.

“When the show first began, we told government officials that it’s better they respond to caller requests and go on the record,” said Mr. Badri, who hosted the show for nearly a year. “Some officials now realize the power of the media because ordinary citizens have found an outlet to hold them accountable.”

Mr. Badri said he worried less about censorship these days, and more about the lack of access to information the public has a right to know.

“For now we will continue to put pressure on officials,” he said, “and talk about taboo issues as well.”

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An Injection of Modernity Revives Arabic Calligraphy

AMMAN — Etched on ceramic plates or carved into glass cups, Arabic calligraphy designs, using a centuries-old art form that plays with the curves and horizontal lines of Arabic script, are gaining popularity across the Middle East.

Scripts can decorate objects made from a range of materials, including acrylic glass, wood, clay, stone and copper. The availability of diverse materials, and the use of new color schemes and modern styles are reviving this tradition and in the process helping to create a sense of cultural identity.

“There is a lot of interest in Arabic calligraphy, particularly when it comes to the more edgy and modern interpretations,” said Samar Habayeb, the chief executive of Silsal, an upscale design house in Amman that has incorporated Arabic calligraphy in most of its collections.

“We are moving along with the times and incorporating Arabic calligraphy on a variety of products in modern ways,” she said.

One of Silsal’s more popular collections is named Tarateesh, Arabic for “splash,” and inspired, Ms. Habayeb said, by the drip paintings of the American artist Jackson Pollock.

The collection is designed with bold Arabic letters, standing alone or elegantly joined, surrounded by splashes of bright color.

In the Arabic language, the way letters are written changes according to whether they stand alone or occur in the middle or at the end of a word. Short vowels, represented by a set of marks above or below letters, are sometimes used in calligraphy for design purposes.

An emphasis on geometric patterns and calligraphy was born of Islam’s denunciation of figurative images. Figurative depictions, especially those of prophets, are still shunned, particularly by followers of Sunni Islam.

Poems and proverbs are popular subjects for calligraphic designs: Most Arab poetry, written in classical Arabic, is understood by all literate Arabs, transcending dialects and regionalisms.

Naqsh Design House, also in Amman, known for its contemporary minimalist style, has incorporated Arabic calligraphy in its paintings, handbags and accessories. Some include the words of Arab poets like Mahmood Darwish or Gibran Khalil Gibran.

Verses by the Lebanese-American poet Elia Abu Madi spread across 10 paintings that cover Naqsh’s walls. The verses speak of how well one should live, rather than how long. The polychromatic letters are painted vertically, horizontally and even upside down. An emphasized word in the poem is enlarged using a bright color.

“It has become a modern art form that attracts people from all over the region and at the same time emphasizes an Arab identity,” said Shireen Abu Dail, 34, who founded Naqsh with other members of her family nearly two years ago.

A decade of rapid changes in the Middle East has raised the interest of international curators in the region, with attention to Islamic art and calligraphy. Calligraphic work has emerged dealing with religious, political, social, and even cultural issues.

There is a visible struggle to create a contemporary Arab cultural identity through artwork, including calligraphy, said Saleh Barakat, the founder of Agial Art Gallery in Beirut and an expert in modern Arab art.

“The Middle Eastern artist is fighting internally to convince his or her own people of the importance of art and externally by trying to get the West to acknowledge and validate his or her work,” Mr. Barakat said in a lecture this month in Amman.

Silsal’s ceramics have been featured at the British Museum in London in an exhibit on the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj. A high-quality handmade ceramic bowl or plate, with a calligraphic design, can take several weeks to make.

Considered luxury items because of relatively high prices, collections from some local design houses have found a market outside Jordan. Other producers of simple, crisp designs in more colloquial Arabic that are less expensive have also found an export market.

Lara Kawash, 40, does not own a gallery or a design house but her sentimental word choices, use of bright colors and affordable prices have built her a following as far afield as Egypt.

Items that Ms. Kawash and her partners have designed and produced at her small workshop in Amman include a set of tea glasses in striking colors, engraved with the Arabic words tea and mint, as mint tea is a popular drink across the Middle East.

“We try to relate to the customers and use simple colloquial Arabic,” said Ms. Kawash, who sells through various outlets and on the Internet. “Most importantly, I try to make the words relevant to the product, words that also have universal meanings.”

Some items include popular song lyrics. A large flower vase, for example, reads: “I will only buy these flowers for my love.”

The rising popularity of calligraphy carries the risk that it may become too fashionable — and eventually go out of style.

“There is a lot of competition with other designers since now everyone is doing this type of art,” Ms. Kawash said. “To advance, you have to always have your own style, but to survive you also need to do something very unique.”

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A New Liberty Sweeps Through Jordan Radio

By RANA F. SWEIS MARCH 6, 2013

AMMAN — As the sun rises over the Jordanian capital, the problems of the day start to stream in to Radio Fann. In the studio, producers scramble to keep up with calls and e-mails from listeners complaining about issues like water shortages and bureaucratic failures.

In a country where the news media are traditionally hemmed in by authoritarian legislation and self-censorship, such call-in shows are now able to address political topics and human rights issues that were unmentionable in public before the Arab Spring.

Hani al Badri, 45, is host of Wasat al-Balad, a two-and-a-half-hour live broadcast for people who find nowhere else to turn. The producers not only field their calls; they ring government officials on-air to try to resolve the issues raised.

“The show has two main roles,” said Mr. Badri, who also writes a newspaper column in Al Ghad, an independent daily. The radio show is “a platform for freedom of speech, but it’s also a place where Jordanians expect their problems to be solved.”

The morning talk shows are popular in a country where local municipalities are weighed down by bloated bureaucracies and inadequate budgets, despite a plan in 2005 to increase their efficiency.

Even this week, public workers across the kingdom have been on strike demanding better pay and benefits. And although more people than expected voted in parliamentary elections last month, Jordanians weary of fuel price increases are bracing for more economic hardship this year.

With a population of just over six million, Jordan is a relatively poor country with almost 14 percent of its people living below the poverty line, according to the Department of Statistics.

“There is a lack of accountability by public officials,” Mr. Badri said, “so we bring them on the show and present them with a clear problem at a specific location. We try to solve the caller’s problem on the spot, if we can.”

Still, some Jordanians have accused the radio hosts of courting acclaim by publicly highlighting the government’s failures to provide basic services, Mr. Badri said. And sometimes, government officials would rather avoid dealing with the media, although over time they have come to appreciate the opportunity to present the government’s views to a wider audience, he added.

On Jan. 14, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour met with directors of Jordan’s radio stations and presenters. Mr. Badri, who attended the meeting, said he took the opportunity to share a few of the concerns of his listeners: Whether to cancel the test that determines whether a student can attend university; what the repercussions will be of the prime minister’s decision to keep daylight saving time in force throughout the winter.

Daoud Kuttab, the founder and general manager of Radio Balad and AmmanNet, the first online community radio station, said radio had significant influence in Jordan. “Radio is extremely accessible and it is a democratic instrument,” he said. “You can listen to the radio at home, in the car or on your phone and anybody can call in. It is available 24 hours a day and it is free of charge.”

In 2002, the Jordanian government approved a law that ended its monopoly on broadcasting, resulting in the licensing of dozens of privately owned radio stations.

Still, “the media scene in Jordan, as it is in many Arab countries, is dominated by government-owned media,” Mr. Kuttab said. “For many years the government had a monopoly in media and in many ways they still do.”

Radio Fann, for example, is still owned by the Jordanian armed forces. Another, Amen FM, is owned by the police. Before the Arab Spring, most radio stations played primarily music.

AmmanNet, an independent station, changed the format of its morning show — “Tallet Subeh,” which means “Morning Glimpse” — from trying to solve social problems to building political and social awareness by profiling political candidates or analyzing new laws.

“Our show is now less service-oriented because we found the long-term impact is limited,” Mr. Kuttab said. “There needs to be institutional changes and obviously the popularity of these morning talk shows continues to reveal flaws in the system.”

One reason Mr. Badri’s radio show succeeds is his willingness to discuss issues that have a direct impact on listeners’ daily lives.

On a recent program, for example, he discussed the price of cooking gas cylinders which has increased 50 percent since the government cut public subsidies three months ago.

Callers have also complained about traffic violations and the cost of real estate. Others call to weigh in on current events.

Humor and Arabic pop songs are used to lighten long discussions as Jordanians make their way to work or school. In between conversations, a D.J. chooses lyrics from Arabic pop songs that echo complaints from listeners. When a caller said he felt neglected by the government, the background music was a love song about abandonment.

“When the show first began, we told government officials that it’s better they respond to caller requests and go on the record,” said Mr. Badri, who hosted the show for nearly a year. “Some officials now realize the power of the media because ordinary citizens have found an outlet to hold them accountable.”

Mr. Badri said he worried less about censorship these days, and more about the lack of access to information the public has a right to know.

“For now we will continue to put pressure on officials,” he said, “and talk about taboo issues as well.”

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In Jordan, Progress in Small Steps

By RANA F. SWEIS

AMMAN — The political turmoil in the Middle East over the last two years has not been kind to Jordan’s king, Abdullah II, who has faced domestic protests and public discontent.

Still, the king scored a tactical victory over his most serious political challenger, the Muslim Brotherhood, in last week’s elections for the lower house of Parliament. Voters largely ignored the Brotherhood’s call for an election boycott, an outcome that appeared to offer respite to the beleaguered monarchy.

Instead of being a nonevent, the elections produced a 56 percent turnout, nearly four percentage points higher than the 2010 parliamentary elections.

The high participation followed promises by Abdullah to consult Parliament, for the first time, in choosing a new prime minister. Jordanians hope this will lead to a more open political system.

“The Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan have been dealt a blow,” said Osama Rantesi, deputy chief editor and political columnist at Arab Al Yawm, an independent daily newspaper. “Protesters coming out in their support have been decreasing, their rhetoric seems less appealing two years after the Arab Spring.”

Jordan’s election results coincided with a wave of deadly violence in Egypt, which is led by a Muslim Brotherhood veteran, President Mohamed Morsi, as that country marked the second anniversary of the start of the protests that forced Hosni Mubarak to step down as president.

Revolutions that began in Tunisia in December 2010 and spread across the Middle East have also inspired small but persistent protests and labor strikes in Jordan. The chaos and violence in neighboring countries have dampened the debate about reform and the protests in Jordan. Last year, there were fears of serious political upheaval. Opposition leaders have held back for fear that change might be worse than an unsatisfactory status quo.

“Jordanians think change in the region right now means chaos, instability, civil war and destruction — they are asking, ‘Is there any other way?”’ said Oraib al-Rantawi, director of Al-Quds Center for Political Studies.

Two days after the elections, the Muslim Brotherhood canceled a planned protest without explanation. The movement still insists that it has not suffered a setback and that the turnout figures, along with the whole voting procedure, were rigged.

“This is a fabricated election process because the electoral law itself is flawed and we were right in boycotting the elections,” said Murad Adayleh, an executive committee member of the Islamic Action Front, the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. “We will continue on the same path of protesting peacefully until our demands for a more representative government is met and against widespread corruption.”

Despite these claims, it seems clear that the Jordanian government, which offered a package of constitutional changes in response to opposition demands, has won some breathing room.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Abdullah described the election turnout as a success and said the next step would be to build political parties, based on political positions, to compete in future elections.

He also promised to reach out to the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan but claimed that the group was “not a serious problem whatsoever” and had the weakest standing of any other Muslim Brotherhood organization in the Middle East.

In another setback for the Muslim Brotherhood, more moderate Islamic candidates who decided to run for Parliament, despite the calls for a boycott, won 17 seats out of 150. Most of the seats in the newly elected house went to tribal leaders, government loyalists and independent businessmen. But a few small political parties, many of them formed just before the election, also gained a foothold in the assembly.

AmmanNet, a local community radio station, reported this week that the more moderate Islamists who did well in the elections intended to form a parliamentary bloc that could one day compete for grassroots popular support against the Brotherhood.

“These elections were done to reinvigorate the political legitimacy of the regime and it largely succeeded,” said Mr. Rantesi, the editor and columnist.

Despite the election outcome, the king still faces other problems.

This year’s budget deficit, for example, is projected to reach about $3 billion. It will likely require austerity measures and price increases of the sort that last year provoked Jordan’s most serious demonstrations since the start of the Arab Spring.

Jordan’s geographical position also makes it vulnerable to external shocks. A flood of refugees from Syria, exceeding 300,000, is also straining the government’s limited resources and the rate of youth unemployment is almost double the overall unemployment rate, which is 13 percent.

Still, the voter turnout shows that Jordanians are willing to give the government a chance to deliver on its promises of a more participatory political process and to deal with the weak economy.

The new lower house will also have the highest percentage of women in Jordan’s history: about 13 percent.

“The Jordanians came out and voted to test the regime’s will for political reform,” Mr. Rantesi said. “By voting, they are saying there will be no more excuses to slow down the reform path and this may be the last chance for them.”

Still, other analysts say that the outcome of the elections shows more that tribal and national origins continue to trumps considerations of policy or party affiliation. The new house, like previous ones, remains an assembly of individuals rather than parties, and one that continues to favor the so-called East Bankers, or tribal Jordanians, over the urban, largely Palestinian, population.

“I wouldn’t have voted if it wasn’t for my cousin, and I don’t think anything will really change,” Suleiman Jraisat, a businessman, said as he stood outside a rural polling station on election day near a small crowd.

In the coming days, Parliament will submit a list of names from which the king has pledged to chose the prime minister. The prime minister will name his cabinet. But in a further display of democratic process, the chosen executive will seek parliamentary ratification through a vote of confidence.

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From Journalism to Writing Fiction Books

How do you move from being a journalist to writing fiction.

“I was asked recently to talk to some people about how I moved from journalism to fiction, and wrote a piece to try and gather my thoughts. Here follows my longest-ever blog post – a personal account of what led to the publication of The Painted Bridge in 2012 and this year the forthcoming publication of my second novel, working title Magic for the Living.”

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Syrian Refugees Strain Resources in Jordan

Syrian Refugees Strain Resources in Jordan
By RANA F. SWEIS
Published: January 2, 2013

MAFRAQ, JORDAN — Shaking with fear, Abu Abdel Hadi tripped and fell three times in the dark as he fled across the desolate desert from Syria into Jordan.

The 65-year-old was clutching his grandchildren, intent on shielding them from snipers who often lie in wait along the border. But that night the family — 19 members in all — made it safely through the danger zone.

Now all they dream about is going back. While they wait, they are housed in a tiny, freezing apartment with no windows, cracked walls and worn carpets piled on top of one other.

Their most recent threat: frigid winter weather. The temperatures are down to 0 degrees Celsius (32 Fahrenheit) at night, and prices of basic commodities, including gasoline and electricity, are rising.

“We suffer from the cold and we are poor here but we are safe,” said Abu Abdel Hadi, whose last name is being withheld for safety reasons. “When we came here we thought we would stay one week, maybe one month, but it’s been six months and now we learn to live with the uncertainty.”

About 80 percent of Syrian refugees across the region are not housed in camps, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Many of them live in grim apartments along narrow dirt roads, blending in with poor Jordanians.

Jordan has drawn waves of refugees in the past, but this one is particularly severe. The flood of refugees is straining the limited resources of the Jordanian government and aid agencies, though agencies say they are also trying to steer funds to poor Jordanians. Foreign assistance is only trickling in, leaving many in need.

It is challenging to distribute aid to refugees who are scattered across urban areas. While the total number of registered refugees or those awaiting registration with the U.N. agency in Jordan is more than 150,000, many others have not been counted.

“We are trying to expand the registration and roll out assistance to the urban refugees in the region, but of course a lot of the attention goes to the camps,” Panos Moumtzis, the U.N. regional coordinator for Syrian refugees, said in an interview.

An estimated 40,000 Syrians are living in the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan. The camp is not far from areas where most of the urban refugees are concentrated.

The United Nations has appealed for $1 billion as the refugee crisis has grown across the region. The appeal is based on estimates that as many as one million Syrian refugees will need help in the first half of 2013.

In countries like Lebanon, which is sheltering more than 90,000 Syrians, there are no camps for refugees; they live in villages and cities.

“We want to focus on the community outreach where we hire refugees who become community workers to identify problems and vulnerabilities,” Mr. Moumtzis said. “We need them to help us find the most vulnerable and tell them what kind of support they can find.”

The International Catholic Migration Commission, which works to help refugees and internally displaced people, has found that the vast majority of urban Syrian refugees in Jordon have no income and rely heavily on humanitarian aid.

The group says that one in three households of Syrian refugees has more than eight members. Children younger than 18 make up more than 50 percent of the refugee population.

Annika Hampson, a commission official, said: “A lot of the Syrian refugees living in urban areas have been evicted because they couldn’t pay rent anymore, so some have gone back to the refugee camp and others have gone back to Syria. They had no choice.”

When the conflict in Syria first started, many Syrians took shelter with relatives in Ramtha, a Jordanian border town, but with their own economic conditions increasingly tough, Jordanians are becoming wary of taking in yet another long-term wave of refugees.

For families, like Abu Abdel Hadi’s, who fled with only the light clothes they were wearing, the winter has been especially harsh.

When they first arrived, in scorching temperatures, there was no refugee camp or organized system of support. Like many other Syrians who arrived in Jordan in spring or summer, they lived in a makeshift holding facility for the Syrian refugee community in Ramtha before settling in their apartment.

“We received aid money for rent. That is why we are able to stay here in this apartment. But we make sure that any other costs are very low,” Abu Abdel Hadi said as his wife and family members sat across from him.

While he recalled the shelling they had left behind in the Syrian city of Homs, his grandchildren ran barefoot around the room. The large number of children living in one household and the lack of financial support put them in the category of extremely vulnerable families who are eligible for financial aid — in his case, the cost of rent is covered for the next few months.

“Now, we never use heat and we hardly use water or electricity, because I can’t afford it,” he said. “I just keep telling my family we are here because we need to be safe for now and that’s all.”

Despite plans by aid organizations to help at least 50,000 urban refugees, with monthly cash assistance for the most vulnerable families, a large number will be left out because of the rising numbers of Syrians fleeing across the border each day.

Other urban refugees said that they were not receiving any assistance and that rent was their single greatest expense.

The U.N. refugee agency plans to increase the provision of one-time emergency cash assistance grants to help cover urgent needs like clothing, fuel for heating and rental payments. The majority of those seeking such emergency assistance in Jordan say they have been threatened with eviction and need help paying the rent.

At the Zaatari camp, trailers have been set up to begin housing some of the families who are living in tents.

“The plan at the moment is to help over five million people by 2013. That’s a quarter of the Syrian population being uprooted,” Mr. Moumtzis said. “It is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world right now, so we need an urgent financial response.”

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How to edit your story for accuracy

12/10/12
by Rana F. Sweis

As a reporter, you must gather information and interview sources quickly, then explain what you’ve learned concisely and clearly. Once that’s done, it’s tempting to ship the story to your editor or hit “publish” on your blog.

Resist that temptation. You need to do one more thing to ensure your story contains only accurate, unbiased and verified information: edit your story line by line.

Investigative reporter Nils Hanson shared his advice for line-by-line editing at the recent Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ) conference in Cairo. More than 200 journalists and academics, mainly from the Middle East, attended the conference, which included training sessions and networking opportunities with international investigative reporters and trainers.

Hanson, who reports for the popular Swedish TV news station SVT, and is a member of ARIJ’s board, offered these tips for editing for accuracy:

Have your address book and notes handy

Make sure your list of sources and their contact information, as well as notes from your interviews, are close at hand. There may be facts you will need to double-check as you edit.

Keep an open mind

“Are you hit by tunnel vision? That’s the big trap,” Hanson said. Tunnel vision is the tendency to hold on to a certain belief even when evidence points elsewhere. Reporters sometimes do this without realizing it, Hanson said, so stay open-minded when reporting and editing your story.

“Listen to the skeptical, examine the expert and question the victim,” Hanson said. Think of the recent BBC scandal, in which an alleged sex-abuse victim admitted to wrongly accusing a former politician of attacking him. “Can victims prove their allegations?”

Examine each fact

Ask yourself if there is essential information missing and if all assertions are grounded in fact. Mark each fact, name, figure and quote in your story, and then verify it. “Watch out for overstatements, such as ‘everybody says’ or [that] they haven’t done anything,” Hanson said.

Verify all data, including statistics. “Even data presented by interviewees must be verified,” he says.

Evaluate your sources and decide if you need more interviews

Do your sources make conclusions that others might criticize? Point that out.

Reporters need to make sure they talk with many people, including those they don’t like or who don’t like them. They should also include people who are controversial or who may seem a bit odd—or just wrong—to the reporter.

“Did the people criticized in your story have a chance to reply to all serious criticism aimed against them?” Hanson asked.

“Look at the overall picture and check if it is unbiased or if it is written in an accusatory tone,” he explained. “Who or what could give a different picture?”

Protect sources and check copyrights

Make certain that a source you have promised not to identify will not appear in published documents or in photos or video. Also examine graphics and copyrights, including logos and statistics revealed in charts or graphs.

Check your gut

After examining your report line by line, Hanson says to ask yourself two final questions. First, ask yourself, “Are you troubled by anything?” If the answer is affirmative, be honest with yourself and your editor about what that is.

Finally, ask yourself, “What might generate criticism?” Don’t automatically take those parts out. Instead, address those critiques in your story.

If you follow these steps, you’ll be much less likely to need to issue a correction—or to regret publishing the story at all.

Rana F. Sweis is a freelance journalist and media researcher. She writes mainly about political reform, refugees and social issues in the Middle East. She is also the lead researcher in Jordan for the Open Society Institute-sponsored Mapping Digital Media Study. You can visit her website and follow her on Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Rogue Sun Media, used with a CC-license

Jordan Talks of Reform, but Old System Holds Sway

AMMAN — On Nov. 13, Amer Tubeishat joined several thousand demonstrators in central Amman to protest rising prices.

As Mr. Tubeishat, a senior program officer at a nonprofit organization, walked away from the crowds, he was thrown into a police wagon and introduced to a frightening new world, where he had no access to a lawyer for three days, was prevented from using the telephone and was handed over to the State Security Court. Twenty-two days later, Mr. Tubeishat was released on bail and, in a gesture he finds surreal, invited for lunch with King Abdullah.

Jordan’s State Security Court is a special body that has jurisdiction over crimes considered harmful to Jordan’s internal and external security — involving drugs, terrorism, weapons, espionage and treason, but also speech-related crimes, including insulting the king.

The court did not drop the various charges against Mr. Tubeishat, including being part of an unlawful assembly and attempting to subvert the regime. He has no idea whether or when the state will resurrect those charges — the case is ongoing — and seek to try him in the future.

Revolutions that began last year in Tunisia and spread across the Middle East also inspired small but persistent protests and labor strikes in Jordan. Opposition groups have called for comprehensive political and economic overhauls, but most of them have stopped short of calling for the ouster of the king.

“For three years Jordanians have been protesting, but they were not being sent to the State Security Court for doing so until recently,” said Nisreen Zerikat, a human rights advocate and lawyer. “The cases that are referred to the State Security Court, in my opinion, deal mostly with people who have expressed their opinion.”

She added, “We had hundreds of protests since the Arab Spring and people were not detained, so you have to conclude that some people are being targeted.”

During the protest in November, against a 54 percent increase in prices for cooking gas, two officers and a civilian were killed, according to the police.

Last week the king ordered the release of most of the demonstrators detained last month who were not involved in the violence.

“The way that the king has handled his opposition has been with a more soft or mild oppressive measures,” said David Schenker, director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute. “He has not provided the riot police with bullets. This has helped him avoid the cycle of killings that has engulfed other authoritarian states during the Arab Spring.”

In response to the Arab Spring, the Jordanian government scrapped an article in the Public Assembly Law requiring consent to hold rallies.

“When the government announces in the media that they accept peaceful protests and then use the claim of ‘illegal assembly’ against them at the State Security Court, this means there is a big gap between what is being said and what is taking place on the ground,” Ms. Zerikat said.

Mr. Tubeishat, along with scores of other demonstrators, has been placed in legal limbo, facing a bewildering array of laws and procedures that allow the state to keep people in indefinite detention and saddle them with a criminal record that may be difficult to erase.

Both Human Rights Watch and the local National Center for Human Rights released statements last month denouncing the detention of more than 150 protesters, most of whom were charged with “illegal assembly,” “slandering the monarch” and “subverting the political regime.”

Brig. Gen. Muhannad Hijazi, attorney general for the State Security Court, said during an interview last week: “State security courts exist in many countries in the world, including in the United States, and these courts face criticism from human rights organizations and advocates because of their military affiliation.”

“We are working according to the Constitution,” he added, “and free speech is legal within the limits of the law.”

The report by the National Center for Human Rights, which received little attention here, includes interviews with detainees who said they were beaten and abused at police stations before being sent to the State Security Court.

Some of those who arrived there said they were denied lawyers and a medical examination, guaranteed by law, according to the report.

But General Hijazi said protesters signed documents that stated the charges against them and their right to an attorney. “If there is any proof of violations and we receive them, we would investigate and take action,” he said.

In an effort to respond to public pressures, last year both houses of Parliament and the king approved dozens of constitutional amendments strengthening the rule of law, fostering the role of the judiciary and establishing a constitutional court. They also approved an election law that would increase the number of seats allocated for political parties in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament.

Despite promising widespread constitutional change, Jordan continues to detain demonstrators under laws that are almost 60 years old. The 1954 penal code allows provincial governors to hold suspects indefinitely if they are considered a “danger to society.”

Nine protesters from the November demonstrations have been held under these provisions. The National Center for Human Rights says that 11,000 people were held last year in administrative detention.

Dissent has been on the rise in Jordan this year, with anger directed at surging prices of basic commodities, along with that of fuel and electricity. Labor unions are becoming an increasingly strong force for calling attention to dismal working conditions and low pay.

A poor country with 14 percent of the population living below the poverty line, which is $2.60 a day, and high unemployment, particularly among the young at nearly 25 percent, Jordan is also facing external shocks, including hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees who fled their homes and crossed into the country.

“The violence in Syria is paradoxically stabilizing the kingdom,” Mr. Schenker said. “The people in the kingdom are not coming out to protest more because they worry about chaos.”

During his detention, Mr. Tubeishat said he lost 5 kilograms, or 11 pounds. As soon as he was released, he returned to work, but said his time in detention has left him with mixed feelings.

“The most profound realization for me is the extremely tight security grip that still exists in this country,” he said. “I am focusing now on building awareness.”

Six days after his release, Mr. Tubeishat and a few other activists were invited to lunch with the king.

“I was standing in front of the State Security Court, but a few days later I was meeting with the king. It was a bit surreal,” he said. “We told him what happened to us and he said this needs to end, so I really hope there is action and follow-up.”

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A Parched Jordan Places Hopes in Reservoir

AMMAN — Jordanians took to the streets this summer to protest water shortages and disruptions. Some demonstrators burned tires and blocked roads while others carried empty plastic gallons in the street symbolizing the scarcity of water in their homes.

Jordan is the world’s fourth-poorest country in terms of water resources per capita, according to the World Bank. According to U.N. data, 80 percent of Jordanian territory is desert and only 5 percent of its land is considered arable.

In late summer, the government Water Authority had to hire guards to protect main water wells and infrastructure in remote regions against the theft of pumps and other parts.

“Every village and city in Jordan right now is only receiving water once a week,” said Basem Telfah, secretary general of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation. “Some provinces are receiving water once every two or three weeks.”

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Women’s Rights at a Standstill in Jordan

AMMAN — On a warm day late last month a crowd filed into a white tent outside the royal palaces in Amman to hear a much-anticipated speech by King Abdullah II on the country’s political future.

Although the invitees included various dignitaries — former politicians, tribal leaders, journalists, even Islamists — they included only a few women: and when the men interrupted the speech to chant loyalty slogans, those few seemed to disappear from sight entirely.

In his speech, the king encouraged participation in the elections, which are expected in January, and spoke about street protests, saying calls for overthrowing the regime were “regrettable.” He said that “every individual in this society is part of this regime.” But he failed to mention the current struggle for women’s rights in Jordan, which he has mentioned in the past.

Since popular uprisings swept the region, the Jordanian government has stated that political and economic reforms are key to the country’s future stability and prosperity. Yet, despite the formation of numerous committees and commissions, there has been little emphasis on women’s issues.

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Arab Women Turn to Crafts as a Source of Employment

AMMAN — Through their eight years of marriage the husband of Suzan Qouqas would not allow her to work, even though she had studied to become a pharmacist. A year ago, she found herself divorced, with three children and no career. At first, Ms. Qouqas, 34, who lives in Amman, found solace in baking desserts and selling them to neighbors and friends. Then one day Ms. Qouqas stumbled onto a Facebook page called Sitat Byoot, or Women of the Home, an online start-up created two years ago by Saeed Omar, 34, as a marketplace for Arab handicrafts created by women.

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Jordan Struggles to Absorb Refugees

ZAATARI, JORDAN — In Zaatari, one of the largest camps for Syrian refugees in the Middle East, hundreds of girls sat this week in makeshift school tents provided by Unicef. In one, third graders were learning basic addition and subtraction. In the next tent, fourth graders brushed up on their Arabic vocabulary.

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Interview With Global Thinkers Forum

I chaired a panel as part of a conference held bevy the Global Thinkers Forum. Flip to pages 18 and 19 and read an article I wrote for the conference programme booklet.

Jordan Limits Protests, and Internet, as Tensions Simmer

AMMAN — Jordan has been rocked by the shock waves running across the Middle East, and tensions are still simmering.
Last week, about 200 protesters gathered at a traffic circle in the heart of Amman. Watched by police forces, they demanded the release of dozens of activists who were arrested a few days earlier and charged with opposing the regime, slandering the royal family and violating security.

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