· When did you start Leaders of Tomorrow? Dr. Sami Hourani founded Leaders of Tomorrow in 2007 when its first activity took place, a three-day conference “The Jordanian Society: Between East and West, Past and Future” that was inaugurated by His Exce
New media and new roles in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, conversation with Rana F. Sweis Jessica Carter – Mideast Flashpoints – 20/4/2012 Media, business and societies: a platform for change, held in Rome on April 15-16, 2012. Sweis i
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. Re
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 protes
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 no
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
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
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… Read more
AMMAN — 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 studen
Revolutions in the Middle East have been powered by young people using new technology. 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 pho
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 pa
AMMAN — 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 — scrap
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
(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,
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
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 necessar
“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,
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 issue
AMMAN — When Iraqi militias threatened Ghasswan Al Taee, 36, in 2006, he fled to Jordan. Five years later and with three children born here, his state of limbo has become a constant. Since 2003 an estimated four million Iraqis have fled their homes,
AMMAN — Ahmad Sami, 28, watched as cars passed by his makeshift tent, which he set up to sell watermelons. Mr. Sami’s business opens early and closes late and so, he said, he did not hear about the recommendations announced Saturday on reforming poli
AMMAN — With unrest continuing in Syria, violence between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and repression elsewhere in the region, Jordan is trying to walk a narrow path of managed reform. The balancing act is not easy.In the past week, a g
AMMAN — Jordan’s political reform movement has gone quiet in recent weeks after demonstrations in Amman and elsewhere that ended in violence. A protest March 25 in Amman left scores injured, opening fractures between groups opposing the government an
AMMAN — Some pleasant memories of Essam Ali’s Iraqi homeland still seep into his mind. He remembers the summer of 1985, for instance, when, surrounded by forests and friends, he trained in mime and pantomime in Mosul, Iraq, from dusk until dawn. Thro
AMMAN — Two weeks ago, Manal, 27, dressed in a black robe, walked slowly in a crowd of several hundred demonstrators — mostly men — carrying children, waving Jordanian flags or holding up homemade protest signs near the prime minister’s office. This
Even though children under sixteen are prohibited from working, some estimates put the number of children working in Jordan at 250,000. A deteriorating economic situation, apathy and no clear, operative government strategy is forcing more and more ch
On a warm summer morning in East Amman, a private school is turned into a makeshift food distribution centre. Brown boxes are placed on top of each other on long rectangular tables. Masoud, who fled Iraq in 2006, stood in line with dozens of other Ir
Here’s a feature I wrote regading Jordanian opinion and Obama. It was featured in 7iber.com 7iberDotCom — On a bustling street in downtown Amman, Farah Al Sayyad, 24, stares at a magazine showing American democratic presidential candidate Barack Oba
The key to understanding the hearts and minds of Arabs is through shiir, or poetry, their greatest art. The Iraq war and its aftermath fueled mixed emotions in the Arab world resignation, reflection, rage that are now being articulated in verse. “
Published in Living Well Magazine February 2009 AMMAN-Mohammad Abdul-Nabi, 23, was found hung in his home by his 14-year-old brother. The young farmer was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead upon arrival. He decided to end his life because
By Rana F. Sweis When Um Dia’a speaks, her eyes squint and her voice is barely audible. Upon recalling the story that landed her in Jordan’s Juweideh Correctional and Rehabilitation Center, she regurgitates it quickly. “It is a story of theft that tu
Somewhere Over On Rainbow – Published in Living Well Magazine Decades after it first opened, customers still flock to Awni supermarket on Rainbow Street in Jabal Amman. The shop owner, Mohammad Swenda, says for many years the neighborhood was q
Recently I met with Majed, an elderly Arabic schoolteacher in Amman, Jordan. Not long ago, he taught me Arabic, and we still meet occasionally to talk about the media in Jordan. He lives in a small clay mud brick house in Amman and has 10 children. H
