All thanks for the Jeeran team who have translated this article which was originally posted in my Arabic blog).   Marwa’s brutal death awakened thousands of angry Arabs and Muslims around the world. Marwa Sherbini was a 32 year-old Egyptian pharmacist, wife of a PhD student in the renowned Max Planck Institute, pregnant and mother of a 3 year-old. She was viciously stabbed to death in a courtroom... [read more]

One of the most disappointing decisions taken by the previous government was its refusal to grant Radio Al Balad a license to open a community radio for women in Jordan Valley. The decision is totally against all values and principles of media freedom always promoted by the King and by the government itself sometimes. The community radio station was a symbol of a fantastic voluntary work by rural Jordanian... [read more]

A continuation of the Alexandria declaration in 2004. In my opinion, this section on social reform should be the biggest priority for any reform effort in the region   Third: Social Reform   30- Recognizing that the Arab community as a whole possesses great social and cultural resources, it is time to make maximum use of these resources to establish a viable, cohesive Arab society that... [read more]

Human Rights Watch got it right this time. Instead of campaigning for the sake of Al Qaeda terrorists held in Jordan the HRW has finally tackled the real issues that are necessary for creating a civilised and modern political society in Jordan by criticising the regressive drafts of the public assembly and non governmental organizations laws currently discussed by the Parliament. I agree and... [read more]

I have been waiting eagerly for some of the Christian Jordanian bloggers to shed light on the recent controversey about the deportation of 27 evangelical activists from the country and the subsequent media "campaign" that was launched in favor of the decision and against it. Remember that the issue was first raised by the Compass Direct, an evangelical Christian news service. I have only read a concerned... [read more]

According to a report by Al Arab Al Yawm newspaper, Jordanian Prime Minister Ma'rouf Bakhit had a stunning revelation in last evening's Cabinet meeting. The outraged PM accused some ministers of "providing journalists with information about the activities of the government and its other ministers through the political salons in which ministers and journalists interact. He added that he has "recordings"... [read more]

I have always considered my self to be a patriot Jordanian, who carries a lot of love and respect for my country and an uncompromising level of defence and protection of its reputation in response to criticism. However I felt and for the very first time in my life to be ashamed of being a Jordanian when I read a horrific story last week of a father who molested his two daughters (6 and 7 years... [read more]

I have received a message from the Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA) announcing the launch of their 2nd youth essay contest on "Civil Rights in The Middle East". I hope some of the readers here will be interested in participation. Here is a summary of the message describing the contest.   Hands Across the Mideast Support Alliance (HAMSA) has re-launched the "Dream Deferred" Essay... [read more]

Yesterday marked the first anniversary of the horrific terrorist acts that rocked Amman and its traditional tranquility, leaving behind 60 martyrs and changing a wide array of our feelings, laws, convictions and daily practices.   The three crimes committed by suicide bombers from Al Qaeda have changed a lot of the previous state of consciosness about terrorism and how to recognize it and face... [read more]

During the five decades ranging from the 50s to the 90 the masses of Jordanian students and their institutional representatives and political parties tried relentlessly to establish the long-awaited dream of having a unified Students' Union in Jordan but ended up in the 90s with the scattered student councils that were further stripped of power with the appointment rather than election of 50% of its... [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]

The Government will have its hands full in trying to restrict the damage caused by the Amnesty International (AI) report on torture in Jordan that was released two days ago. The report, available online at http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE160052006  Is a bone-shivering account of torture cases, that seem to be systematic in our country. Moreover, it claims that Jordan is becoming a... [read more]

Many Jordanian bloggers were fast to document and comment on the stormy New York-based National Labour Committee’s (NLC) report on violations of foreign workers’ rights in Jordan. Among the bloggers posting on the issue were Tololy, Khalaf, Natasha, Khader, moi, and some expats bloggers including Amanda The government's reaction has been stuttering. The Minister of labor made a crucial mistake when... [read more]

When angry ordinary muslims took to the streets to protest the silly and insulting cartoons published by the Danish newspaper Jyllandes Posten for the prophet of Islam and the spiritual inspiration of almost 1.0 billion people, Mohammad (PBUH) we heared an endless list of lectures on "freedom of expression" from European and American writers, politicians and intellectuals.   I have to admit,... [read more]

Here comes again the report all Arab government united in their hatred of! The annual "Human Rights Watch" report for 2006 exposes the arab governments and their violations of human rights.   The press release from HRW states that :" New evidence demonstrated in 2005 that torture and mistreatment have been a deliberate part of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism strategy, undermining... [read more]