My daughter Suzan has just entered her 1st year at school starting 1st grade at the Rosary school in Marj Al Hamam. She wakes up at 6:00 a.m to have breakfast and some nagging and please for more sleep before we force her to school. She carries, and drags her heavy weight backbag to go to the bus which arrives at 6:45 a.m. Suzan spends about 7 hours at school spending 8 sessions and finishing at 2:30... [read more]

This is a remarkable journey to the exquisite flora of Jordan prepared by the innovative and multi-talented Jordanian designer and environmentalist Ammar Khammash. For those of you who have visted the network of protected areas and nature reserves managed by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) and the great Wild Jordan Center you will have encountered Mr Khammash's creative... [read more]

Today the Human Right Watch (HRW) have issued the strongest yet report on political human rights abuses in Jordan. The report entitled "Suspicious Sweeps: The General Intelligence Department and Jordan’s Rule of Law Problem" is a direct hit at methodologies and measures used by the General Intelligence Departments (GID) in interrogating suspects of "political activism related to Islamic extremism"... [read more]

One of the most important statements by the Pope in his notorious speech in Bavaria, apart from the quotation on Islam and violence, was his argument about the cliamed clash between Islamic theology and mind. In the pope's argument Islamic doctorine is rigid so that any "perspective" of life is based only on sacred texts and not rational thinking. The problem with this statement, is not that it... [read more]

This is a lovely article wrote by Mr Ammar Mango and published in today's Jordan Times, and I wanted to share it with all of you;   By Ammar W. Mango While most Ammanies dread the long line of waiting for humus or falafel, for example, to very few the waiting is a bliss in disguise. One of these people has even confessed to me that he loves having to wait more than the food he is in line for... [read more]

The Jordanian Parliament has endorsed a new legislation to prevent the "privatization of religious edicts" by controlling the edicts to official councils in Jordan which are directly linked to the governemnt. The proposed legislation would restrict fatwas only to a state-appointed council. Currently, the powerful Muslim Brotherhood movement and other smaller hard-line Islamic groups issue edicts... [read more]

Another package of economic aid has reached Jordan from the USA. This time it was a total of 25.0 M US $ from the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) that was released a few days ago. A press statement said that MCC's Board of Directors approved up to $25 million in Threshold Program assistance for Jordan. The program aims to strengthen democratic institutions by supporting Jordan's efforts to... [read more]

On the 5th anniversary of the Sep 11th attacks, the Independent ran a very grim record of the actual results of the war on terror launched by the USA and UK administrations, as well as terrorist acts and the figures were alarming. killed a minimum of 62,006 people, created 4.5 million refugees and cost the US more than the sum needed to pay off the debts of every poor nation on earth. If estimates... [read more]

What was shocking in Pope Benedict XVI speech in Germany is not the nature of his statements (or quotes) but it was the fact that they came from the highest and most sacred Christian reference in the World. This is a sign of danger. The Pope was talking about the linkages between religion and violence, which is a very legitimate case of argument, but he made grave mistakes in his approach. First... [read more]

It was very surprising to me not to see the transcript of King Abdullah's latest interview with TIME magazine translated into Arabic and making the headlines of dailies in Jordan. Usually such interviews would be translated officially by the Media unit at the Royal Court and transmitted by the Petra official news agencies to newspapers. This time it was only the summary of the interview published on... [read more]

Last week the Jordanian Parliament endorsed the controversial anti-terrorism law after a hasty discussion that took only two days. This endorsement occured despite the high tone of criticism by political parties, media, human rights activists and civil society. One of the major critical statements came from the National Center for Human Rights (NCHR( which has identified a series of violations of... [read more]

The most important added value of the Information technology revolution is that it provides access to news that does not make the news in the corporate controlled mainstream media. One of the most important sources of alternative media is the Project Censored organization, that follows and monitors the most important news and features that expose important facts that corporate media does not want... [read more]

In an exclusive interview with TIME magazine that will be published on Monday Sep 11th issue, King Abdullah II warned that the Middle East will be doomed to violence and conflict if the Palestinian problem is not solved once and for all by 2007. In the interview that was summarized by TIME here, the King said that he is becoming pessimistic for the first time regarding the region. The main points... [read more]

If there is one simple fact that we learned throughout the last few years which witnessed the increase in the frequency and devastating impact of terrorism, it is the fact that terrorism cannot be faught by security measures and relying on military and intelligence actions. In our Arab and Muslim society terrorism should be faught at the upstream level which is the mindset. This is easier said than... [read more]

The traditional tranquility of the Jordanian capital Amman was exploited today as a gunman opened fire on a group of foriegn tourists in the touristic jewel of Amman...the Amphitheatre. The results of this horrific crime was the killing of a British tourist and injuries to others who hold British, Australian, New Zealand and Dutch citizenships. This is a truely shocking event for all of us in... [read more]

I am calling on all Jordanian bloggers and visitors to our blogs to read this exciting blog www.terhaal.com dedicated to describing and displaying natural wonders of Jordan through stories on eco-tourism trips in our beloved kingdom. I have to say that I am currently "consuming" this blog as a hungry visitor, and I am enjoying each and every post. This blog is based on a collection of stories... [read more]

It seems that our Jordanian bloggers community is expanding both in quality and quantuty. I know that blogs are emerging on daily basis and it is difficult to keep track of them, but I wanted to mention some quality blogs that I like which are not listed on Jordan Planet yet. Of course this is "my list" based on links that I managed to track so if any Jordanian blogger does not find his/her blog in... [read more]

It is now only about 300 days before the end of the voting period for selecting the World's New Seven Wonders by a system of public voting (online and by phone) at the website of the "New Seven Wonders" foundation, supporting and organizing this contest. As we know, Petra-the majestic rose city in Jordan is one of 21 candidates for the list of new 7 wonders representing the most amazing structures... [read more]