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Medical Outreach in Jordan Tends to Its Neighbors’ Wounded
AMMAN — At a hospital in the hills of Amman, some patients have only one leg, others have no arms and most have been burned and scarred by exploding bombs. All have suffered complex injuries that require several operations, physiotherapy and psychosocial care.
The Amman surgical program, run by Médecins Sans Frontières, was originally set up in 2006 to treat casualties of the Iraq war. Médecins Sans Frontières renovated a floor of a hospital belonging to the Red Crescent in Jordan to house the program, which today has expanded to become a vital refuge for victims of the many wars raging in the region.
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Speaking Engagements
A list of speaking engagements through out the year will be featured here. You can learn more about upcoming events if you visit the ‘Latest Events’ page.
* University of Jordan. Guest speaker at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study abroad program in Jordan. July 2012.
*Mapping Digital Media Advocacy Summit in Istanbul. Presentation on Digital Media and Activism in Jordan. July 2012.
*International Center for Journalists and Jordan Media Institute “building a digital gateway for better lives”. Co-Media Trainer. June 2012.
*The Institute of International Cooperation of the German Adult Education Institution, dvv international panel discussion on the role of media in promoting adult education in Jordan. Panelist. May 2012.
*Leveraging Spectrum for Democracy: Securing the gains from the Arab Spring Conference at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. New York. Presentation on spectrum policy in Jordan. May 2012.
*Political elections and reform in Jordan. RTV Amman FM (Arabic Channel) 99.0. Guest Speaker on ‘Jadal’ program. April 2012.
*Media, business and societies: a platform for change. Aspen Institute, Italy. Speaker, “Role of Media in Mideast”. April 2012.
*Jordan Media Institute workshop. “Getting to the Story”. Guest lecturer. December 2011.
* Digital and Media Literacy: New Directions” organized by the Arab-US Association of Communication Educators (AUSACE) at the American University in Beirut. Presentation on Digital Activism in Jordan. October 2011.
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Jordan Treads Softly Amid Rising Protest
AMMAN — For four days in a row this week, youths hurled rocks at police officers, burned tires and damaged properties in the ancient city of Salt, thought to have been built in the days of Alexander the Great.
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Local tribal leaders and professional associations called for calm and condemned damage to property but also called on the government to address long-term grievances, including political detentions, rising prices and a lack of popular representation.
More than a year after the Arab Spring challenged the political status quo across the Middle East, leading to the regional rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the spiraling war in Syria, Jordan is facing a crucial test of whether a new electoral law can quell the rising clamor for meaningful political changes. -
Refugees in Jordan Return to Syria to Fight Against Assad
RAMTHA, JORDAN — Four Syrian women sat in a circle in a small apartment during the weekend, reminiscing about green fields and the homes they left behind months ago as their neighborhoods descended into violence and basic food supplies dried up.
The women took turns, too, narrating the last conversations they had with their husbands before the men left this impoverished Jordanian town and crossed back into the border city of Dera’a, a flash point early in the Syrian rebellion.
“My husband said it was his duty to go back and fight against the Syrian regime because the situation has become intolerable,” said Fatima, 28, as her three children and their cousins ran barefoot in and out of their dark, cramped living room. She asked that her family name not be used because of security concerns.
“I cried a lot when he left us but I always had a feeling my husband would return to join the battle,” she said. “There are others who also are returning.”
Her brother-in-law had returned to Syria recently, she said, leaving his wife and children behind.
Region-wide, of more than 60,000 Syrian refugees registered by United Nations relief workers, 74 percent are women and children.
The Jordan Health Aid Society, a non-governmental organization, said that of the 12,873 home visits it has made to Syrian refugees since January, nearly 500 households consisted of just women with their children.
While increasing numbers of Syrians, especially from cities like Homs and Dera’a, are fleeing into Jordan, young men are returning at a steady flow to Syria, some to fight against the forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
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Unrest Encourages Start-Up Funding for the Middle East
AMMAN — At a gathering of the Celebration of Entrepreneurship forum here this month, young Arab techies, some dressed in jeans, others in pinstriped suits, exchanged business cards and listened to advice from investors.
The goal of these would-be entrepreneurs: to start local businesses that tap into a rapidly growing market for Internet and mobile telecommunications applications. Investors from the region say they are ready to provide as much as $500 million as seed money for new businesses in Arab countries.
The key role played by social media in the Arab Spring political movement has helped to encourage the growth of online start-ups across the Arabic-speaking region. Young entrepreneurs say that creating businesses that employ people and contribute to social change can be just as revolutionary as marching in demonstrations.
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In Jordan, Protests Focus on Prices and Economy
AMMAN — As Jordanians celebrated their country’s independence from Britain 66 years ago this week, thousands of citizens came out to participate in the festivities. It was a shift from the more familiar scenes of strikes and protests, most recently over price increases imposed by the government.
The situation in Jordan, a monarchy, is more subtle than in some other countries. While there have been numerous protests, the political temperature has yet to reach anywhere near the levels that it did in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, whose regimes were ousted.
Jordanians seem to have a more focused approach toward surging prices of basic commodities, along with that of fuel and electricity. Labor unions are becoming an increasingly potent force, calling attention to bad work conditions and low income.
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50 Pieces of Wisdom From Novels
It’s time to scour the library for some inspirational tidbits from those smart author types.
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Read. Digest. Laminate.
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New media and new roles in the aftermath of the Arab Spring
The Aspen Institute talks to me about the changing role of the media in the ever-changing Arab region. Read full interview.
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Jordanian Vote Reform Vexes Brotherhood
AMMAN — For Osama Hasoun, 23, protesting has become a weekly affair. Nearly every Friday afternoon, he prays at Amman’s popular Grand Husseini Mosque. Afterward, he carefully folds his prayer mat, puts on his black shoes and blends into the crowd.
Revolutions that began last year in Tunisia and spread across the region also sparked protests and strikes in countries like Jordan. Opposition groups have called for comprehensive political reform and greater popular representation but mostly stop short of demanding the ouster of the regime.
In an effort to respond to these pressures, the Jordanian government recently submitted a draft of a new election law to Parliament after appointing a national dialogue committee to overhaul the system. Once the new law is passed, elections are expected to take place by the end of this year. How the campaign unfolds will be a key test of whether the government is serious about reform.
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Creating Art as Witness to Arab Spring
AMMAN — As scenes of Arab street protests fill his television set, Abu Saqer, a petty domestic tyrant, panics at the thought of losing control of his household. His daughter wants to wear a brighter shade of lipstick. His son wants to join the protests.
Abu Saqer is the main character of “Al’aan Fhmtekom” (Now I Understand You), a play by the Jordanian journalist and writer Ahmad al Zoubi, inspired by the Arab Spring.
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Jordan Girds for Influx of Syrian Refugees
MAFRAQ, JORDAN — In this northern Jordanian town, just a few minutes from the Syrian border, tall water tanks can be seen from a distance and an empty lot is encircled with barbed wire. The refugee camp, still in the process of being prepared, has not been officially opened by the government but is indicative of the preparations being made as more Syrians are expected to flee the violence in their country.
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HuffPost Blog: Women After the Arab Spring
As Arabs attempt to find their voice and in some cases their political identity, social conservatism seems to be on the rise. Mothers, daughters, and sisters in more rural areas are being punished for the way they dress and for their livelihoods. But in countries with authoritarian leaders — Libya, Tunisia, Egypt — who ruled and punished their people for decades, unlocking patriarchy and oppression may take years of debate and social democracy — not only political democracy.
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Arab Spring Fails to Allay Women’s Anxieties
AMMAN — Like many Tunisians, Maroua Ben Salah, 23, never imagined that her life and her country would change so drastically in a matter of days… Read more
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Release Date Is Moved Up for Anthony Shadid Book
Anthony Shadid, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter who died on Thursday while reporting in Syria, was weeks away from embarking on a book tour.He was scheduled to return to the United States for a 20-city tour to promote “House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family and a Lost Middle East,” a book that has drawn critical praise in early reviews… Read more
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Syrian Refugees Paint Fearful Scene of Home
By RANA F. SWEIS
Published: February 8, 2012
RAMTHA, JORDAN — This impoverished Jordanian city across the border from Dara’a, Syria, has become a temporary haven for Syrians who continue to flee the violence that has swept their country.Residents and family members point out that it was the arrest and torture last March of more than a dozen schoolchildren in Dara’a for scribbling graffiti critical of President Bashar al-Assad that sparked the uprising against the Syrian regime.
Abu Hadi, 40, who used to work as a painter in Dara’a, arrived in Ramtha two months ago; his last name has been withheld for security reasons. His family, including his six children, has fled Dara’a but remain in hiding in Syria.
“I was wounded while assisting an injured protester and underwent surgery in a makeshift hospital,” he said. As a result of his injury, he suffers from the pain of having a metal rod in his leg.
“Syrian informers arrested the injured protester I was helping and he provided them with my name after being tortured so they began searching for me,” Abu Hadi said, as he sat in a rundown Ramtha mini-market owned by a Jordanian. “A day later I heard the protester who they interrogated was found in a garbage bin, his body dismembered and his eyes ripped out.”
“My wife called me and said they stormed my house, humiliated and threatened her and our children.”
The residents of Ramtha have strong tribal and family ties with people in Dara’a and some have taken shelter with relatives here. But others, like Abu Hadi, live in precarious conditions in cramped apartment buildings as they wait for the crisis to play out across the border. He reported major difficulties among the refugees in finding food and getting access to electric power.
The United Nations refugee agency has registered 3,063 Syrians in Jordan and says the number is rising. But this number does not reflect all the Syrians who have crossed the border, legally or illegally, since some do not register with the United Nations. Jordanian media have published several estimates, ranging from 5,000 to 15,000, but these cannot be verified.
The U.N. agency has pressed for an urban-based response to this refugee crisis, with the option of placing them in camps being a last resort.
On a visit to Jordan at the beginning of this month, the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, warned that the situation in Syria was deteriorating and said that the international community must provide aid to the refugees.
“We will support the Jordanian efforts in offering humanitarian aid to the refugees so that Jordan does not feel they are left out in facing this challenge,” he said in Amman during a press conference with Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
Abu Hadi, who is in regular contact with army defectors and activists who fled Syria for Jordan as well as with rebels inside Syria, said: “I saw many people who were killed, dismembered and injured in front of my eyes by the Syrian Army.”
“The violence has increased,” he added, “and includes torture and rape.” His claims could not be independently verified.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef, issued a press release this month mentioning reports of “children being arbitrarily arrested, tortured and sexually abused while in detention.”
Abu Hadi said activists and rebels had told him that protests against the Syrian Army would no longer remain peaceful, especially after the latest bombardments of the city of Homs in which scores of people have died.
In Abu Hadi’s view, civil war has begun in Syria, and will likely worsen even if the Assad regime falls. “Now at the checkpoints they look at your I.D. to see who you are,” he said. “Being Sunni or Shiite or Alawite can determine whether you live or die.”
Many Syrian refugees in Ramtha remain fearful of speaking about their experiences, fearing for their safety and for family members they left behind. Only when other refugees or local Jordanians whom they trust persuade them of the importance of revealing their current living conditions in Jordan and what they witnessed before they left Syria do they agree to speak.
Abu Qusay, 29, and his family arrived here recently from Homs and live in together in a one-room hovel. His three sons, all under the age of 4, looked subdued and unresponsive, and Abu Qusay, who also declined to give his family name, said that the eldest one sleeps nearly all day.
“If the boys heard anyone knocking on the door before we came here from Homs they would be terrified because they would think it’s the Syrian Army,” he said. “Now all we do is watch the news together and think about how we will survive economically.”
His wife, Um Qusay, 25, said life had become unbearable in Homs as gunfire and shelling became constant. “Leaving the house to buy bread meant we could die on the way,” she said.
Abu Samir, 45, another Syrian refugee in Ramtha who would did not want his family name published, recounted how he had been wounded by Syrian Army soldiers who stormed Dara’a early in the uprising last spring.
He said it was 1 a.m. when he awoke to the sound of gunfire and saw hundreds of soldiers surrounding his neighborhood. Young men began calling to each other from windows and rooftops to come out witness the violence taking place. Abu Samir said he was wounded as soon as he stepped outdoors.
“I believe that several of the snipers were Iranians and from Hezbollah,” he said. This claim could not be verified, but several refugees and former rebels said the snipers did not speak like Syrians and wore green bandanas, a hallmark of Hezbollah. That evening, while Abu Samir was still recovering from his wounds, a local radio station announced that he had died.
“I was traveling abroad for work, exporting vegetables to the United Arab Emirates, and after appearing on a television interview three months later I became a wanted man by the Syrian forces,” he said. Now he lives in Ramtha, where he continues to export vegetables and meets with other refugees and rebels fleeing the violence across the border.
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Jordan Struggles to Protect Children
By RANA F. SWEIS
Published: January 25, 2012AMMAN — A year ago, a video surfaced of a 6-year-old boy, Ahmad al-Saket, standing in front of a large classroom chalkboard crying, shaking and pleading for mercy. A teacher carrying a wooden stick in her hand is scolding him in front of other students for writing the number nine incorrectly.The video went viral, and sparked a fierce debate.“A lot of students hate school because of her and I also hate school,” Ahmad said in an interview published in the newspaper Al Arab al-Yawm shortly after the incident.
The video went viral, and sparked a fierce debate.
“A lot of students hate school because of her and I also hate school,” Ahmad said in an interview published in the newspaper Al Arab al-Yawm shortly after the incident.
A survey in 2007 by the United Nations Children’s Fund, or Unicef, found that more than half of Jordanian children were physically abused or exposed to violent behavior by their parents or teachers.
“After the study was published there was real commitment brought on the issue and awareness was raised on the plight of children across the country,” Dominique Hyde, the Unicef representative in Jordan, said in an interview in Amman.
More recent nationwide surveys have not been conducted, but the number of reported cases of child abuse is rising, experts say, reflecting factors that include growing economic hardship and poverty, increased awareness among abuse victims, social acceptance of corporal punishment and a legal system that condones some forms of domestic violence.
“It’s not like a vaccination,” Mrs. Hyde said. “Having an immunization campaign across the country is not easy — but it is, compared to reducing child abuse in all its forms.”
In 2011, nearly 70 percent of Jordan’s population was aged under 30. Of that group, 37 percent were 15 or younger.
Residents in Amman and Zarqa, the two largest cities in Jordan, said they perceived poverty and unemployment as the main cause of violence in their communities, according to a study published last year by the Information and Research Center of the King Hussein Foundation, a part of the National Task Force for Children.
The unemployment rate in Jordan is on the rise. It was 11.8 in 2010 and 12.1 percent last year, according to the department of statistics, and the United Nations said in a briefing last year that it considered poverty one of the biggest challenges facing Jordan.
This month, King Abdullah declared that the economy remained a main focus for comprehensive government reform and development efforts.
“The economic situation is one of several stress or risk factors that together may lead to child abuse,” said Zeina Abu Innab, manager of psychosocial counseling services at the Jordan River Foundation, a nonprofit organization that also runs a child protection program, including a help line.
Despite some progress in the well-being of children across the region, income and gender inequities remain, keeping many children in a situation of poverty and vulnerability. The Unicef study from 2007 found that at least one in eight children in Jordan was financially exploited, most often by neighborhood adults.
“The first victims of poverty are children,” Mrs. Hyde said. “In all countries when you see an economic downturn, the first people to get effected are children and it can affect education, health and a variety of different aspects of a child’s life.”
In addition to economic factors, social attitudes that condone verbal and physical abuse as a form of discipline have endured. The study found that more than half of parents believed that it was sometimes important to use corporal punishment to maintain discipline at school and more than 80 percent believed hitting was justifiable when a child refused to perform an assigned task.
After the national survey on the prevalence of violence against children was released, a campaign called “Ma’an,” meaning “together,” was started to reduce child abuse by teachers. A year after the start of the campaign, designed to reach all public schools, there was an 11 percent drop in physical violence at schools, Mrs. Hyde said.
“Parents believe that hitting their children will instill fear and prevent them from wrongdoing,” said Mohammad Shobaki, a consultant psychiatrist. “Children spend most of their time at home or at school and if they’re exposed to violence it will effect their development in every way,” he added.
The legal and social systems set up to protect children against family violence sometimes fail, as in the case of two boys, Yazan and Qusai, who died in 2009 as a result of severe physical abuse by their families.
“We are talking about cases that could have been prevented if the system worked,” said Hani Jahshan, a forensic pathologist at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine. In December, he served as chairman of Jordan’s first national conference on violence against children.
In both of the boys’ deaths, he said, “it was revealed that there was an error either in the system itself or lack of communication between the stakeholders and the police.”
Mohammad Meqdady, family programs manager at the National Council for Family Affairs, said that “even if some institutions do their part, others are not aware of it and it causes repetitive procedures, lack of information sharing and delays in general.” The council itself was established to create clear roles and encourage cooperation between institutions working to combat family violence.
Similarly, legal gaps hinder the protection of children. Article 62 of the Jordanian penal code recognizes the use of disciplinary beating of children by their parents.
“Even though Article 62 was modified, it needs to be removed all together,” said Mr. Jahshan, the forensic pathologist. Amendments to Article 62, proposed last year, are pending approval in the upper and lower houses of Parliament.
The office of Mizan, a nongovernmental organization that provides legal aid and representation in court cases, has also recorded a rise in the number of inquiries and cases involving family violence.
A child-protection law passed in 2008 does not explicitly make domestic violence illegal. The law specifies punishment for abuses against children, and conviction for the rape of a child aged under 15 can carry the death penalty. But gaps remain in a legal system that allows for lenient sentencing in child abuse cases, particularly in cases involving family. The penal code gives judges the ability to reduce a sentence when the victim’s family does not press charges.
Meanwhile, Ahmad al-Saket, whose maltreatment was caught on video, still attends the public school where he was subjected to abuse by his teacher, according to his father, Radwan al-Saket.
The teacher became the subject of an investigation by the independent National Center for Human Rights in Jordan.
“Although the teacher is no longer there,” Mr. Saket said, his son “is still frightened and sometimes I have to push him to go to school.”
The school “remains in bad shape, but I cannot afford to move him and I have nine other children to take care of as well.”
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Digital Media Empower Arab Youth
Revolutions in the Middle East have been powered by young people using new technology.
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Young people, who make up 30 percent of the region’s population, have played a dominant role in protests and political upheaval by documenting events with cell phones, the Internet and social media… Read full article -
Investigating Truth in Midst of Arab Spring
Contrary to the saying that truth is the first casualty of war, the Arab Spring has overwhelmingly broken a barrier of fear that has presided over the Middle East for decades. Most people in the region are demanding nothing but the truth they also participate by disseminating the news. Some reporters are investigating the truth.
For the past few years, I’ve looked forward to a few days where inspiration and truth collide at the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalists Conference Nearly 300 investigative journalists from across the Arab world have been meeting to share tools, present work methodologies, network and listen to… Read more
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In Jordan, a Struggle for Gender Equality
By RANA F. SWEIS
Published: November 30, 2011AMMAN — For eight years, Nima Habashna has been garnering online support for the rights of Jordanian women to pass on their citizenship to their non-Jordanian spouses and children.When the Jordanian government — in response to the Arab Spring — scrapped an article in the Public Assembly Law requiring consent to hold rallies, Mrs. Habashna took her cause offline and onto the streets. Over the past few months, she organized several protests outside Parliament, the Royal Palace and the prime minister’s office.
When the Jordanian government — in response to the Arab Spring — scrapped an article in the Public Assembly Law requiring consent to hold rallies, Mrs. Habashna took her cause offline and onto the streets. Over the past few months, she organized several protests outside Parliament, the Royal Palace and the prime minister’s office.
As in many other countries in the region, Jordanian law grants nationality only to a person whose father holds citizenship. As a mother of six children who is married to a Moroccan, Mrs. Habashna is the only Jordanian citizen in her family.
“No one in my family objected to my marriage, but after I got married and had children, I discovered the laws begin to fight you,” she said during an interview as two of her daughters sat nearby.
Despite recent constitutional amendments this fall, many women and human rights advocates assailed the broken promise by an appointed committee to include the word “gender” in Article 6, concerning equality of all Jordanians: “There shall be no discrimination between Jordanians as regards to their rights and duties on grounds of race, language or religion.”
Rashida Manjoo, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women, said, “The explicit prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sex and gender in the Constitution would not only give women a practical tool to challenge inequality more effectively, but would also serve to educate and raise awareness among Jordanian society as a whole.” Ms. Manjoo just concluded a visit here as the first independent expert charged by the U.N. Human Rights Council to monitor violence against women.
The first time Mrs. Habashna told her supporters she would be protesting in Amman, she expected several women to join her. “Nobody showed up except my daughters, and when I called some turned off their cellphones,” she said. “Others told me their husbands didn’t permit them to join.”
But a barrier of fear has been lifted in Jordan as the number of protests increased in the region. Many of Mrs. Habashna’s female supporters now join her during protests. Some have received threatening messages, however, warning them to stop their campaign or face punishment. “We received letters to frighten us,” she said, “but I guarantee you, we will not remain silent.”
The struggle for women’s rights is an example of the challenges Jordan faces as it implements reforms promised by the government in response to popular demands and the Arab Spring.
Pursuing her fight, Mrs. Habashna, 53, decided to create a Facebook page, called “My Mom Is Jordanian and Her Citizenship Is My Right.” The page had nearly 3,000 members before it was hacked this month. Mrs. Habashna said, “This issue is supposed to be about human rights and equality, but it has become politicized.”
In a small country that is home to more refugees per capita than almost anywhere in the world, demographics, identity and political divisions — real or perceived — play a crucial role in the citizenship debate.
Unlike other refugees who are considered “guests” in Jordan, Palestinian refugees were granted citizenship after the occupation of the West Bank from Jordan by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Today “a Palestinian woman can marry a Jordanian man and get citizenship, and her children will automatically become Jordanian,” said Nermeen Murad, executive director of the Information and Research Center at the King Hussein Foundation.
Nearly two years ago, the Information and Research Center began a study of the social and economic impact of citizenship laws for Jordanian women married to foreign men. In 2009, it revealed that there were nearly 66,000 such couples in the kingdom.
Since Jordanian men, by law, can marry non-Jordanian women who are then granted citizenship, “There’s not equal treatment,” Mrs. Murad said during an interview with JO, a local cultural and social monthly magazine.
There are a large number of Palestinians who are married to non-Jordanians, she added, but “a lot of them are Egyptians, and there’s increased fear among East Bank Jordanians of a lot of Iraqis and Syrians.” East Bank Jordanians fear they may become a minority.
As unrest sweeps the immediate region — with protests in Egypt, stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and civil strife in Syria and Iraq — Jordan finds itself in a precarious position.
Local newspapers have been covering the plight of Syrian refugees. King Abdullah II said in a recent interview with the BBC that Jordan would keep its borders open for Syrians who flee here. “We’ve had lots of refugees come into Jordan historically — not that that makes us very comfortable, but we have to open our arms,” the king said.
The number of Syrians in the kingdom, though relatively few so far, may further sharpen the nationality debate.
Still, there are calls and protests here for comprehensive political reform, including from women’s movements, opposition groups and human rights organizations. At the same time, there are those who remain resistant to change. The monarch calls them “the old guard” — those who fear a loss of political and demographic clout.
Sawsan Zaideh, a journalist and talk-show host at AmmanNet, a community radio station, said, “I believe the members of the royal family do want to give more rights to women, but there is political pressure and interests that unfortunately seem to stand in the way.”
“There is a political reality that dictates the debate on women’s rights,” she added. “There are conservative tribes who are the backbone of the regime, the Islamic Action Front — the biggest opposition party — and a general patriarchal society the government finds difficult to go against and can’t afford to lose.”
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Jordanians Seek Reform, but Protests Are Few
AMMAN — Alaa Khalil, 42, has been selling T-shirts and sweaters on a busy pavement in central Amman for 30 years. Al Husseini mosque is just a five-minute walk from his wooden tables and untidy mannequins. The mosque has been a focus point of nearly all the demonstrations here since the Arab Spring began.“I just work day and night,” said Mr. Khalil as he watched passersby. “I don’t follow the news or care anymore because some Jordanians have been protesting for political and economic reform for months and nothing has really changed.”
Although youth groups announced plans to protest in favor of reform this week, a few staunch supporters of the regime showed up instead, carrying photos of the king and signs denouncing calls for a constitutional monarchy…
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Searching for Arab Democrats
(Image ‘Arab Protests’ by Brain Stone — Twitter: @Brian_Stone860
As I watch the Arab Spring, I recognize the road ahead will be long and difficult. While many Arabs are calling for democracy, the region continues to lack democrats, a key component for any political, cultural and social revolution.
Two years ago I interviewed Khaled AlMajali, director of the Jordanian correctional facilities for a story on prison reform. He mentioned the difficulties he faced in persuading officers that the notorious prison system needed reform and that it was not only necessary but also noble. “Every time there is change, there is struggle and resistance,” explained AlMajali. “Otherwise it is not really change.”
I never grasped the significance of his struggle until today. The Arab Spring, though too early to judge, will not succeed without simultaneously working on creating social democrats if we want to see a more prosperous, pluralistic and promising Middle East.
I realize many Arabs across the region watched in awe and supported vehemently young Arabs peacefully protesting against injustice. For several days and weeks, it seemed like the whole Arab world was united; our way of life and political systems were no longer tolerable.
Although political systems remain to be the core problem, the education system, economic divide, cultural outlook and even social relationships need to be examined as we look forward. Going to the ballot is meaningless without transparent and policy-based elections. As we have learned, it is not enough for Iraqis to show a purple index finger to the cameras or for Arabs to vote in rigged and tribal elections.
I grew up in Jordan always thinking that comprehensive reform was in fact the only way a country can survive and become part of the international community. I now know, like AlMajali, that not everyone believes in reform.
Arab governments have continued to enforce a system of education that praises rote learning and memorization rather than analysis and critical thinking. The key to change, explains Marwan Muasher of the Carnegie Endowment, is reforming an education system dependent on obedience and one that views pluralism and diversity as a threat.
Governments have prevented non-governmental organizations and community leaders from becoming politically active and powerful, fearing their own demise. They have also prevented the press, through direct and indirect means, to act as a watchdog.
Ironically, these were all political steps taken by Arab governments to prevent the very thing we are witnessing today.
In the aftermath of the toppling of at least two regimes so far and demonstrations taking place across the region, what do we hope to achieve? What kind of society do we want to live in? What role will religion play in the already religious judicial system? Do we want to truly embrace democracy?
Democracy is a way of life. Social democrats understand and respect an individual’s rights while simultaneously recognizing the concept of citizenship. Until we begin the fundamental process of creating a ‘culture’ of choice, ownership, leadership, critical thinking and creativity, we will not succeed in achieving comprehensive reform.
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The View From Jordan
The country of Jordan is sometimes called a mosaic. It is literally home to one of the oldest mosaics in the world, including the famous Holy Land map. Symbolically, it is also home to many different people who fled war and turmoil in the region. Its stability and hospitality over the years welcomed refugees from Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon and even Sudan. It’s a temporary workplace for migrant workers and students, including 500,000 Egyptians and others outside the region. It’s a country of nearly six million people. It’s also a country that struggles with identity, including political and social identity.
When three suicide bombers struck Amman and killed over 60 Jordanians in 2005, there was no doubt people in Jordan were united, both in the way that people do when such a tragedy strikes and in protest. But it is also a country that has witnessed civil unrest in its history and where the notion of citizenship is trumpeted by tribal affiliations, country of origin or even personal interests. In fact, that seems to be what Jordan does not share with Egypt or Tunisia. What we see on our television screens are Egyptians united (for now) in their discontent at the lack of political and economic reform as well as police brutality and humiliation. Jordanians in such a case would be split in their allegiances but not their grievances — between their discontent with the status quo, their love for their land and suspicion of what others, even in their own society really want to see if serious political reform is implemented.
Sometimes people say Amman is Jordan; half the population lives in the capital. Amman is where infrastructure development and investments mostly have taken place. For Jordanians who have not traveled outside of Jordan, Amman is also the place where East meets West, culturally. However, it is hard to ignore the other half of the population. Some Jordanians, who live outside of Amman, commute daily by public transportation to work in large grocery stores, malls, telephone companies, banks, non-governmental organizations, café’s and restaurants. What they see is another world, different from theirs: Young students who attend universities and others who have traveled abroad on a grant. They meet customers and colleagues who speak about future plans, opportunities they hope to seek if they work hard or find the right person to help them.
Jordanians living outside of Amman return to their homes feeling more frustrated. They feel discouraged. They understand what they don’t have. They continue to believe that where they are born defines who they are. If they don’t know the right people, they are stuck. If they do badly on a mandatory high school exam, their future is bleak. They feel split between family obligations and their newfound individualism and ambition. Of course, some in Amman also feel this but it seems more profound to those living outside.
However, Tunisia and Egypt have sparked an amazing yet cautious sense of hope in young people here. A Jordanian friend of mine who works in Egypt and joined protesters in Tahrir Square recently posted a status update on his Facebook page: “Am I the only one who cannot sleep at night? I leave the television switched on all night on the news, so that even if I doze off I know this isn’t just a dream.” Jordanians from all walks of life agree that the status quo cannot remain. Economic grievances, including the price of petrol and tomatoes, became the talk of the town this year. Last year, a joke went around town that a famous Jordanian comedian was presented with an award. At the ceremony he posed with a box of tomatoes because it became such a hot commodity.
Discontent and apathy in the electoral system turned off a lot of voters in Amman during the last parliamentary elections. In other cities there was a higher turnout; they vote mostly for better civil services in their towns, not politics per say. A friend of mine who just returned from conducting a training workshop for children in the city of Petra said tribes there had a list of grievances — most wanted better services, including a recreational center for their children. “A small girl came up to me,” recalled my friend. “She told me: Please don’t go, we want you to teach us. We hate our school and we are so bored here.” My friend looked away and then announced, “The town is dead. They have nothing to do.”
There have been numerous reports in the western media equating Jordan with Tunisia and Egypt. It’s an exaggeration. There were nearly a thousand people scattered in the kingdom during a protest I attended last Friday. Indeed, Jordan is like a mosaic. The big picture is clear. The list of grievances heard in Egypt and Tunisia are also heard here: lack of political reform, limited freedom of expression, failed economic reform, high unemployment rate.
Nevertheless, when we examine the situation carefully in Jordan, it is difficult to see a united consensus of what exactly reform would mean or what democracy would entail. Will it include a return to the National Agenda Reform? Will it include a change in the press and publication laws? Abandoning the vague anti-terrorism penal code? Imprisonment for writings or speeches that undermine national unity, incite others to commit crimes, sow the seeds of hatred and division in society, disrupt society’s basic norms by promoting deviation, spread false information or rumors, incite others to destabilize or organize demonstrations or strikes in contradiction to the law, or commit any act which undermines the dignity and reputation of the state. If democracy is also an evolving culture, will society be willing to move forward and also work to support societal reform? Will reform in the education system, based on memorization and rote learning, be implemented?
Last week, the newly appointed prime minister announced familiar steps to improve Jordan. There were also pledges made in the past but they have not been implemented: Greater press freedom, less corruption, political reform, more jobs and transparency. Today Jordanians seem to be waiting. If implementation fails this time around though, I doubt they will remain quiet.
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American Military Interventions In Post 9/11 World
A year after the September 11, 2001 attacks on Washington and New York, former President Bush’s national security strategy was clear: US interests triumph all else and international institutions would not hinder military actions deemed necessary. Therefore, when contemplating humanitarian interventions, the US would weigh the potential benefits–in terms of foreign lives saved–against the likely costs to the United States. Even if US strategic interests intertwine with internationally accepted humanitarian criteria for humanitarian interventions, it may have consequential effects on the notion of the ‘responsibility to protect.’
Throughout the 1990s, experiences such as Rwanda, Kosovo and East Timor among others built a momentum towards the idea that governments had a “responsibility to protect” people suffering in complex humanitarian emergencies. However, according to experts like Thomas Weiss, author of ‘Military-Civilian Interactions’, the September 11th attacks and subsequent US led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, led to two world organizations: “The United Nations, global in members; and the United States, global in reach and power.”
The primary purpose in a humanitarian intervention must be ‘right intention’–to halt or avert human suffering, despite other motives intervening states may have. But the debate after September 11th, shifted to the right to intervene-to protect the intervening country’s people from a threat seen to be originating from another country. The debate shifted to self-defense. Samantha Power, author of ‘A Problem From Hell’, writes that since the September 11th attacks, the “U.S. government is likely to view genocide prevention as an undertaking it cannot afford as it sets out to better protect Americans.”
Security Council resolutions have authorized the use of armed forces led by US-led coalitions, rather than under the command of the UN. In a humanitarian intervention, the intervening states have the responsibility to rebuild. Since September 11th, none of the US interventions taken were primarily called humanitarian interventions, despite clear complex humanitarian emergencies. But Weiss points out the US led invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq, turned primarily humanitarian. In 2002, a planned operation against Iraq began to surface. The Bush administration called on the UN to enforce its resolutions on Iraq or risk ‘irrelevance’. But military intervention without a UN mandate raises questions over a country’s motives and capabilities to rebuild in the post-conflict period. The implication of such a reality has also posed a dilemma for the notion of ‘neutrality’ once forces are deployed on the ground and raises concern among independent aid agencies.
With the initial absence of aid organizations in Afghanistan, because of inadequate security on the ground, the military took on the role of humanitarian assistance. But this type of assistance left the Afghan people confused between cluster bombs and aid packages, which threatened civilians. As the invasion of Iraq and the fall of Baghdad loomed, the UN headquarters was bombed. The looting of UNICEF offices, prompted staffers to evacuate. Margrat Hassan, head of CARE International was kidnapped then shot to death. Humanitarian aid became one of the first causalities of war. The ‘peace-building’ efforts have been hindered by ‘security measures’ led by the US today in Iraq. Some supporters of humanitarian interventions argue that invasions like Iraq–and humanitarian interventions should be distinguished and are in fact not the same.
However, interventionist supporters must also realize that the aftermath of Iraq’s invasion may be a good indicator of the complexities of any future humanitarian interventions that may arise if a multi-nation effort is absent, including strong support for the UN. When referring to humanitarian intervention in terms of ‘reasonable combination’ of both US strategic interests and internationally accepted criteria, it must be better defined. Romeo Dallaire, wrote in a New York Times op-ed entitled, “Looking at Darfur, Seeing Rwanda” that despite receiving more news coverage than the Rwandan genocide, “Western governments are still approaching it [Darfur] with the same lack of priority. In the end, it receives the same intuitive reaction: What’s in it for us? Is it in our ‘national’ interest?”
Despite Iraq being a non-humanitarian invasion, the notion of humanitarian intervention at this point has fostered a sense of unpredictability about U.S. responses. It has undermined the confidence of would-be coalition partners as well as the deterrent threat of intervention. The first casualty of these actions has been eroding domestic confidence and support for intervention. Dallaire wrote in the same New York Times op-ed, “Powerful nations like the United States and Britain have lost much of their credibility because of the quagmire of Iraq.” As a result, ‘right intention’ may be only one of the principles that will be primary in future humanitarian interventions, even if the US justifies the humanitarian intervention for strategic reasons, or a ‘little bit of both’, due to its significance.
It is safe to conclude that few Americans believed that the threat of terrorism could affect them directly until September 11, 2001. And it is true, in general, complex humanitarian emergencies are affecting neighboring countries–creating ‘bad neighborhoods’–and threatening the globe as in the case of Sudan, Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Somalia shows how events in a place of little or no apparent strategic interest can have enduring effects. During the current Iraq war, statistics have shown that about twenty five percent of ‘foreign’ fighters detained are from Africa, especially from East Africa. Conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories–a humanitarian complex emergency–have affected the Middle East region for decades. “Citizens victimized by genocide or abandoned by the international community do not make good neighbors, as their thirst for vengeance and their acceptance of violence as a means of generating change can turn them into future threats,” warns Power.
However, on the whole, despite the events of September 11th, the international community faces many of the same problems that it faced in the 1990’s: Civil wars, failed or failing states and other humanitarian disasters around the globe. Several hundred thousand people a year continue to lose their lives directly to war as well as to war related famine and disease. Almost 90 percent of the dead are innocent non-combatants. In a more global world, there are implications across the planet. But non-intervention or intervention for purely strategic reasons may disregard the Western argument that democracies protect and promote human rights.
Does this mean that naturally, in most cases, every humanitarian intervention would be strategic? That may be true in some cases and that is an advantage to those who argue for a combination of both strategic and internationally accepted humanitarian criteria for interventions. The Rwandan genocide destabilized the entire Great Lakes region and it continues to do so today. It created massive refugee camps in eastern Congo and triggered a cycle of warfare in much of central Africa. But the international community has generally failed to come up with rules on how and when to intervene, and under whose authority. And these debates will not go away. Yet, it is imperative to understand that a humanitarian intervention is unique in its core mission–the responsibility to protect, to prevent, to react and to build.
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Defining Democracy
“Town meetings are to liberty what primary schools are to science; they bring it within the people’s reach…” — Alexander de Tocqueville, from Democracy in America.
On a typical weekday, an ordinary woman from Hempstead, New York taught me an extraordinary lesson on the meaning of democracy. I sat in awe, staring at an elderly American woman with a colored knitted wool cap who could barely walk. She went up to the podium and demanded a playing slide be placed for children in her neighborhood. Of course, it wasn’t so much the request that left me speechless but the notetaking, the nodding, the necessity of being heard by decision-makers, representatives and citizens of that town, who acknowledged her request. For a moment, this old lady’s voice was heard.
It is true that the ‘culture’ of democracy is not always fully practiced in America. Evidence suggests music was played at ear-splitting levels to “humiliate, terrify, punish, disorient and deprive detainees of sleep” during interrogation. Moreover, Farmingville, Long Island was a scene of the highly publicized racist stabbing of 37-year-old Ecuadorian immigrant, Marcelo Lucero. However, there is a search for truth, discussion and debate–a ‘culture’ that promotes this. There can be no truth, or even a search for truth, without free discussion and related freedoms of inquiry of thought and opinion.
Although the word ‘reform’ is heard in countries like Jordan, a deep gap remains between what is said and what is seen. Despite being a small Middle Eastern country that continues to live up to its reputation as a mediator and a safe haven between its troubled neighbors, the ‘culture’ of democracy must include profound moments for ordinary citizens. Representation must be as memorable as the town hall meeting I attended.
The fifth Parliamentary elections will be held in Jordan this November. In the absence of true political reform and understanding of political choice and accountability, Jordanians may vote for a relative from their tribe, despite knowing little about a candidate’s policies or values. And for some voters, who are mostly apathetic, a small portable heater is all a candidate needs to win their vote. Policies are lost in a meal of rice, pine seeds and meat that triumph over a candidate’s vague policies or lack of coherent messages. Parliament does not represent the people if the people do not vote on values and public policies.
It is difficult to see signs of true reform in this year’s elections and I hope that Jordanians will look beyond the banners that dress the city. It’s not that I don’t understand the importance of choice. In fact, I have voted in nearly every election, so far. Nevertheless, I am wholeheartedly disenchanted with an elected Parliament that votes to put journalists on trial and a Parliament that cancels sessions because not enough elected officials bother to show up. The latest lassez-faire approach by Parliamentarians led to its own demise; the King dissolved it a few months ago. Since 2001, hundreds of temporary laws imposed by the government were implemented in Jordan. Some promoted economic liberalization and women’s rights that have benefited the country, while others such as the 2001 Public Gathering Law–if a permit is denied for a gathering, it cannot be appealed–have effected civil liberties. However, moderates admit that an elected Parliament would not have passed the progressive laws. The government in the past drafted liberal press and publication laws, yet the elected Parliament demanded the arrest of journalists based on so-called ‘press crimes’.
A democratic ‘culture’ creates an understanding of an individual’s rights while simultaneously recognizing the concept of citizenship. A former government official recalled a story of an elderly colleague who told him offhandedly, “I hope to become a minister and after a week they can fire me. I don’t care. I will always be known as a minister and people will always have to respect me.” He eventually became a minister. At an ‘Honor’ Killings conference held in November by a local research foundation, a Parliamentarian raised his hand to speak. He read off some notes. His voice becoming louder, angrier while ignoring the studies being presented, he finally dismissed the whole concept of a conference on ‘honor’ killings. As he was storming out, a member of Jordan’s forensic team stood up and said, ‘Don’t you want to listen to a reply to your comments? You just want to speak but not listen?’ The Parliamentarian walked out.
I am, in general, an optimistic person. Optimism is a much better choice. The Middle East, however, remains stagnant and stubborn, reckless and reclusive. And there is a fine line between optimism and denial: the difference between cleaning the dirt, and hiding it. Until we begin the fundamental process of creating a ‘culture’ of choice, ownership, leadership, critical thinking and creativity, we will continue hiding the dirt. In the absence of such cultural traits, I have come to conclude that work ethics cannot be acquired on the job. Democracy is an evolving culture. It begins at home–choosing activities, respecting other opinions, food preference. It evolves at school–creativity, critical thinking, analysis.
What is our political culture? I try hard to search for this ‘culture’ of democracy. It is scarce and sporadic like an unfinished work of art. It may be in a 140 character tweet with a #JO for Jordan, a literacy program for street children or in the excitement of a talented violinist. It is seldom seen in a big place here. Sometimes, I wonder if we will reach a point where the meaning of democracy is not only political but also cultural, intertwined in the decisions we seek and make in our relationships and activities. When we hear that democracy is a journey, I believe this is the journey of which they speak. Elections are not. They are the end results, and much is lost in between. When I look back at that winter day in New York, I realize it was a silent epiphany for me. For Americans in the room, it was politics as usual. It was already embedded in their daily life.
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Jordanians Debate Role of Press
AMMAN — A few days after police attacked journalists covering a pro-reform demonstration here in July, injuring more than a dozen and breaking cameras, the Jordan Press Association held a protest sit-in to denounce the attacks.
King Abdullah II issued a statement condemning the attack and rejecting official restrictions on press freedom. Still, unsatisfied, hundreds of people showed up at the association’s headquarters to condemn the violence and demand less government interference in the media.
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