About the Recent Swine Flu Outbreak in Jordan

It's all in the newspapers by now, 13 teenagers have come back with swine flu from a camp in Ajloun, the largest number of people to contract the disease at once so far. I know a couple of people who were at the camp so I have a second-hand account of the events.

Firstly the camp, organized by Christian churches, takes place each summer and a couple of times throughout the year, and most of the participants are about 16 or 17 with older leaders and supervisors present as well. After the camp ended on Friday, two of the participants tested themselves after coming down with the symptoms and were found positive, so all those who took part in the camp were brought to the Prince Hamza Hospital, and those with a temperature of 38 or higher were quarantined and had samples taken to be tested. The results take about a day to come out.

From what I heard, the parents and those who were kept at the hospital were very disappointed with the way things were handled. The hospital is not well-equipped, conditions are far from sanitary and the section where they stay is very understaffed, with only one doctor and two nurses. The parents struggled to find a doctor to answer their questions. It makes me wonder if we really are as ready to handle an influx of cases should they happen as the Ministry of Health has been saying.

Contrary to what's being said in the newspapers, there weren't any participants from the UK, and only one from the US and one from Lebanon, and both tested out negative, so till now the source of the outbreak is still unknown. And with 6 new cases discovered today, I doubt the disease can be contained any longer.

Anyhow, Tamiflu was distributed to those who tested out negative and their families as a precaution, and those who do have swine flu are quarantined and prohibited from seeing anyone for the next 5 days. They're all doing fine though, they've got their laptops, DVDs and cards to entertain them! If you're going to go down with swine flu you might as well end up with your friends, I suppose!

7amdella 3al salameh to all.

Free Hugs in Jordan!

Yes, yes, I'm a terrible blogger I know it. But this I just have to blog! Remember this video? It's one of my favorite videos ever. Well apparently the Sunny FM people got one of their employees to dress up in a ridiculously stupid costume and carry the Free Hugs sign around different places in Jordan, just like Juan Mann, the man who originally started the campaign. I kinda wish I would've bumped into them, but man what's with the costume?



But Jordanians, you need to get better at the hugging business. Maybe what we needed was a free cheek-kissing campaign. Now that we would be good at! Anyway kudos for Sunny for thinking this up! And for the brave dude who went around Jordan offering hugs. Maybe the purpose of the costume was protection against being beaten up? Kidding, kidding, we're very friendly people. Most of the time.

Earth Hour In Jabal Amman

Yesterday I joined the candlelit march across the Rainbow Street in Jabal Amman and I must say I thought it was really nice. People gathered up at Wild Jordan Cafe where they were showing Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth", then at 8.30 the switch was turned off -really, there was a switch to turn the light off the entire street- and people walked around the street a couple of times with their candles and gathered back again at the Cafe till the lights were turned back on. The Minister of Environment Khaled Irani was also there and he walked along with the crowd.

Although the weather was pretty cold, and keeping the candles lit was almost impossible, the scene from Jabal Amman with the lights turned off and with the ambiance of the candles was beautiful. Maybe overall, it didn't provide the awareness it ought to have, but I think given it's our first year doing this, it wasn't so bad. Baby steps, I suppose.

I couldn't take any pictures (the grainy one on the right is the best thing I could take with my mobile camera), but I'll post if I receive any.

Earth Hour 2009: Turn Your Lights Off!

• Where?

Amman

• What?

Turn your lights off

• When?

Today from 8.30 till 9.30 PM

• Why?

To raise awareness about Global Warming, Amman is one of the participating cities in the global campaign Earth Hour. Several streets in Amman will be turning off their lights.

There will also be a candlelit march in Rainbow St. in Jabal Amman at 8.30.


The irony is that I have two electric circuits exams tomorrow. Ugh.

Stop Getting So Offended

Ah, just another boycott, this time against Alghad newspaper. I woke up today to find several invitations to a facebook group calling for the boycott of Alghad for publishing the Imad Hajjaj cartoon shown here.

[Cartoon shows Abu Mahjoob welcoming and baptizing Tony Blaire with filthy water in the baptism site, with the minister of water on the other side announcing that the contaminated waters did not affect the drinking water and were rerouted to the Jordan River.]

The cartoon spurred the catholic union to send a letter to Alghad's editor denouncing the cartoon because of the "hurtful insinuations it carries that offend not only Christians, but every good-willed citizen", also mentioning that this isn't the first time they've been offended by a Hajjaj cartoon.

This in turn caused Hajjaj to post a clarification on his website, that the caricature was not in any way a mockery of Christians or their traditions, but a sarcastic commentary of how the minister of water and irrigation announced that the water contaminated by Israel was disposed of in the Jordan river just a few days after the opening of the baptism center with Tony Blair attending the ceremony.

هذا الرسم لا يستهدف من قريب أو بعيد الإساءة للديانة المسيحية وأتباعها. ومن المهم هنا التأكيد على القضية الأساسية التي يبرزها الكاريكاتير وهو إعلان وزير المياه أن جميع المياه الملوثة قد تم التخلص منها في نهر الأردن بعد أيام من تدشين معمودية مغطس نهر الأردن بحضور السيد توني بلير. أي أن حل مشكلة التلوث كان بتلويث النهر المقدس الذي يتعمد فيه الحجاج المسيحيين من كل العالم، وهذا ما يرفضه رسام الكاريكاتير شكلا وموضوعا.

The cartoon was posted yesterday and already 3 groups have been created calling for boycotting the newspaper and Imad Hajjaj, created by people who, I'm sure, have no idea of the underlying meaning of the cartoon. The sensitivity of people when it comes to anything bordering religion is unbelievable. You do not object the fact that what you regard as a holy site is being pumped with sewage but a cartoon offends you? Seriously save your energy and outcries for bigger things, like oh I don't know, drinking sewage and radiation infested water.

[On a completely unrelated note, this is the 100th post on this blog!]

Are You Prepared?

Can't wait to hear radio stations refer to snow as الزائر الأبيض (the white visitor)

Or to watch JTV for that one time a year when your satellite dish has accumlated snow and doesn't receive any other channels.

Or to watch everything come to a halt regardless of whether it actually does snow. The anticipation of snow is enough to do that here.

Or to call the electric company 15 times a day to get them to send someone to fix that wire across the street.


I love this time of year!

On This November 9th

I remember how 3 years ago, over 60 lives were lost and many more were left to suffer to this day. While terrorist attacks in neighboring countries have happened before, nothing could have prepared us for the shock. It's not the same when it hits home. The disbelief that even Jordan, with all it's mighty intelligence was not immune to the sick, brainwashed terrorists who claim religion as their motive.

I remember the strong feelings of patriotism that seemed to have been awakened in everyone, the anger and incomprehension that united us.

You will not be forgotten.

Bloody Murder

Is it me, or are murder stories in Jordan becoming more and more common? Everytime I open the newspaper there seems to be a new murder in the headlines, each one more violent and shocking than the next. 

So I took a look at the archives, and over the last 10 days the following took place: 

• A 61-year old shot his 17-year-old daughter to death in an "honor crime" in Al Balqa. Upon questioning, the father said his daughter allegedly confessed to having consensual sexual relations. A source said he saw the victim's family members congratulating each other after the murder.

• A 44-year-old man murdered his married 42-year-old sister by strangling her with a "dishdasheh" (the traditional robe), in yet another so-called "honor crime". The victim, who has been living alone for the past 5 years because her husband is in prison, was murdered because "she would often leave the house without her family's approval". The victim became the 15th person killed for an honor crime since the beginning of the year. You think we'll be able to reach our yearly average of 20? 2 more months to go!
  
  
• A body of a man in his thirties was found stabbed in the King Abdullah Gardens. The suspect, who confessed, reportedly killed his friend over 200 JDs. 
  
  
• The body of a newborn baby was found attached to a tree in Wadi Il Seer. I don't know what to say about this one. This is just beyond despicable and sick.

• A chopped up body turned up in Marka in Amman. The police apprehended the suspect, an Egyptian worker for the victim in his factory, who killed his boss for refusing to give him a raise, and them disassembled the body into four parts to facilitate moving it.

• A man was sentenced for 10 years in prison for poisoning his neighbor unintentionally. The man wanted to kill his father by poisoning his tea, but a number of neighbors happened to drop by and drink the tee. Ah the irony.
  

Not to mention the multitudes of car accidents and hit-and-run accidents which seem to have become everyday news by now. Are we becoming a more violent society?

What Your Tax JDs Are Paying For

مجلس الوزراء قرر في الجلسة التي عقدها قبل اسبوعين منح اعفاءات جمركية لسيارات اعضاء مجلس النواب. وبموجب القرار فان آلية حصول النواب على الاعفاء ستكون بالحصول على كتاب بهذا الخصوص من دائرة الجمارك اعتبار من اليوم للتوجه لشراء ما يرغبون من انواع السيارات.وحصل نواب في المجالس النيابية السابقة على اعفاءات جمركية فيما حصل نواب المجلس النيابي الرابع عشر على تسهيلات جمركية ومالية فقط للحصول على سيارات

[Source]

As if a JD2460 a month salary is not enough, now our lovely Parliament members are entitled to duty free cars, all paid for by us, the naive Jordanians who helped elect them in the first place. And to do what? To go and throw water and juice cups on each other. Great. Long live democracy.

Bab El 7ara Mania

Silly me, I thought it couldn't get any worse than the obsession with the notorious Noor and Muhannad. But we sure take our entertainment very seriously.

Attempting to recreate the famous show, a group of youngsters renamed two areas in Tla'a il Ali, Amman into "7aret Shaker" and "7aret al Bostan" after the tv show Bab il 7ara, and then ignited a fight between the two "7aras" that was broken up by the police.

Now I understand the show's popularity with the older demographic: the nostalgia towards old values and traditions in a modern society now, but I really wonder why so many young people find it appealing. I mean, even my 11 year-old cousins were avid followers of the show.

But like Noor, this show's popularity will also remain a conundrum that baffles me. Oh well.

Here We Go Again!

The past week, head of the Royal Court, the very controversial Bassem Awadallah was once again under attack, this time for his alleged involvement in a human trafficking case that led to a lawsuit. I say once again because back in May, Awadallah was also viciously attacked by Parliament member Nariman Roussan for the land sales issue, who went as far as to compare him to Israeli spy Eli Cohen. And well, if you thought she won't be making another appearance amidst the chaos, you were highly mistaken.

This time, Roussan had questions for the government regarding an Independence day celebration that was aired on Jordan television. Apparently she is angry over cameras' focus on Awadallah during the event, and also because she's wasn't shown on television while greeting the King. The government sent her a detailed response saying that the cameras' positions are not determined on who will be standing in front of them, and that while a number of attendees (including Roussan) were coming in, one of the cameras encountered an error, which is why she wasn't shown on television. But she remains unconvinced.

Following what happened with writer Nahed Hattar, she may want to consider toning down her attacks on Awadallah a bit. See in the same week Hattar went on TV and attacked Awadallah, he also "resigned" from his post at a bank, stopped writing in his column in the newspaper and then suffered a health crisis that put him in the hospital. One of the commentators suggested that next news piece will read "Roussan suffers unfortunate car accident"!

You gotta love Jordanian politics.

Matrix Aborted!

Hilarious Hajjaj cartoon about the recent developments with the investment company Matrix.

Jordan's Gender Equality Campaign

Yesterday I got the chance to join Gender Equality campaigners in Al-Wakalat Street as they walked around talking to people on the street about the campaign, asking them questions about equality and handing out stickers, posters and pins. I even got to walk around with my very own writing board and talk to some people. This campaign was started by a group of young Jordanians to raise awareness about women's rights.

Here's what I noticed. Equality is such a broad subject, and the term itself has a different meaning for each person. For some it may mean having equal opportunities as to education and work, while for others it means women being able to do whatever they want without society pressing down on them. While most of the people I talked to agreed that we need to have equality in general, when you ask specific questions, like does your husband help you in household chores, or do you allow your wife to work late, they would say no.

So my thoughts would be to focus on one side of the argument, for example the injustice against women in the constitution itself, like the citizenship law or punishment for honor crimes. Because to change laws you need to change mentalities, and this is how we can start.

Bravo to all you campaigners for taking matters into your own hands and raising awareness about a very important subject! They saw something, didn't like it, and decided to do something about it. You have restored my faith in our youth. And special kudos to Dina Liddawi and Lulwa Kilani, organizers of the campaign. Join the facebook group for news and updates on upcoming events.

Preparations for the Announcement of Tawjihi Results

So Tawjihi results will be out tomorrow. For those of you unfamiliar with Tawjihi, it's the Jordanian general secondary examination that determines students' university and major options. And everyone, EVERYONE, will find out your mark if you're a Tawjihi student.

Firing guns and use of fireworks -since their discovery in Jordan a couple of years ago- have become traditional celebratory festivities. Not to mention the convoys of honking cars with people sticking out the windows, of course. Which is why you should make sure you have the following if you intend to go out at all tomorrow:

• bulletproof vest
• earmuffs
• traffic police on speed dial
  

Good luck to Tawjihi students, I wouldn't want to be in your shoes. As for non-Tawjihi students, bil salameh.

P.S. Who knows, maybe they'll make use out of Friday's eclipse for some early fireworks ;)

We're Never Going To Be Civil, Are We?

Almost a week after the Tafileh Tech tribal violence, which put the university's president in the hospital, and involved a party of 16 firing bullets at a former MP's house, another incident of tribal violence rears it's ugly head, only this time in Kerak. After a ferocious fight between two families, the parties ended up at the SAME hospital causing the fight to reignite, and about 100 people started using knives, batons (ganwat), sticks and rocks to assault each other. Patients in the hospital had to be taken out for their safety and a lot of damage was done to the hospital's emergency department. The police eventually controlled the disturbance and took the second batch of injuries to a different hospital this time.

And now the same, old ridiculous play will repeat itself, when "distinguished leaders and academics" of one tribe will ask the other for a truce (most likely forced by someone), and the whole thing ends with no consequences for those who initiated the fight. Not as long as you know a guy who knows a guy. Nobody would have the guts to get in a fight if they didn't know a bigshot in the first place.

And so the vicious cycle continues. Doesn't matter how modern we seem, we really still have a mentality from the middle ages.

Fixing Journalism in Jordan

Recent events, such as the alleged McCain allegations (which some people are still convinced with, apparently) and the Jordan Festival normalization 'suspicions' that came very close to cancelling it, have revealed serious incompetence on the part of the press. The journalists are blaming the government's lack of transparency for the spread of rumors. This may have been a factor, but there's more to it than that, I'm sure.

Maybe it's because in Jordan, journalism, as a career, is not thought very highly of. The mentality that compels our high-achieving students to become doctors or engineers is still very much alive. Or maybe it's because we only used to have access to government-owned newspapers for a long time, then suddenly became exposed to online media with all its candor, which led some people to abuse it. Or maybe it's because journalists were not acquainted with journalism ethics in the first place.

Whatever it is, there have been recent steps to improve the situation. The Council of Higher Education has raised the admission average to the faculty of journalism in Al-Yarmouk University from 65% to 70%. King Abdullah has created a private fund for providing proper training for journalists to improve journalism in Jordan and push it a step forward. News websites are vowing to adhere to the standards set by the union.

Controlling media in Jordan is definitely not the answer, especially when it comes to online media, simply because it cannot be done. You ban one website, another's going to pop up the next day. It's about reintroducing ethics and standards. It's about education.

The Jordan Festival Fiasco

With a number of artists backing out from participating (yes boys, Elissa too), the Jordan Festival has proven to be a failure already. The whole controversy started when someone announced (based on what, I don't know) that a French company by the name of Publicis, that was in charge of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations, is organizing the festival.

According to the company's spokesperson, however, Publicis is neither organizing the Jordan Festival, nor has organized any anniversary celebrations for Israel. While the company's CEO, Maurice Levy, is in fact a self-proclaimed Zionist who participated in the celebrations, then again his company has organized a number of events in Jordan, including the most recent Nobel Prize Laureates Convention and the World Economic Forum in Petra.

So what's all the fuss about? Forget Rousan who wants to boycott the festival because of its financial implications on the Jordanian citizen, if no proof was found on the festival's association with normalization, then why are people still set on boycotting it?

The government, of course, was absent from offering clarifications to counter the accusations, and this isn't the first time. Remember the McCain episode? There's still a lot of ambiguity about the whole incident, simply because nobody remembers any officials providing explanations. Now the situation is repeating itself, and whatever they say at this point is hardly going to change people's minds. Too little, too late.

Maybe they'll cancel the festival to cut their losses, I don't know. Our economy seems to be suffering one blow after another.

Nude Protests: Finally!

After being issued a 30 JD ticket, a Jordanian bus driver began taking his clothes off in protest. The police officer insisted on giving him the ticket, despite the driver's promises that he had forgotten his licences at home.

The comments on the news piece were mostly sympathetic with the driver, seeing as life in Jordan is becoming more expensive by the second. My favorite comments:

معنا مجال هللأ نضحك على الخبر.. بس اخرتنا كلنا نخلع ملابسنا

لو إنو السائق بنت وعملت هيك,أكيد الحكومة مارح تخالفها 30 نيرة..كان أعطتها 70 نيرة !!! صح

منذ كنت طفلا اتذكر بانه كان هناك برنامجا اتابعه تدور احداثه في الغابة ويدعى(طرزان)حيث يروي قصة بطل يعيش داخل الغابة فكان دائما اقرب مايكون خالعا لملابسه حين يتجول في الغابة فلم يكن في وقته محروقات لاديزل ولا بنزين يعتمد عليها للانتقال من شجرة الى اخرى فكان يعتمد على الحبال الطويلة للوصول للمكان الذي يريد وبالتالي لم يكن هناك شرطيا يقف ليخالف (طرزان)لتجاوزه حدود السرعة او عدم اعطاء الاولوية للقرود و العصافيرالتي تملا الغابة فطرزان كان خالعا لملابسه دوما دون وجود هموم تدعوه لذلك