I am sorry for this whole discussion.

You didn’t call me a traitor, I exaggerated.

Finally I urge you to look up the meaning of traitor in a dictionary I will not let you pass this by me, I did not call you traitor and I will not let you put words in my mouth.

What’s next, attacking an artist whose grandfather may or may not have at one time drank a cup of coffee in a cafe where a Jewish traveler was passing by at the time?

You are a legend.

I definately don’t wish palestinians or arabs to extinct, I am one of those, and a very proud one of my arab roots.

When saying that anyone had let his people down, in other words he is a traitor. Nevertheless, it doesn’t matter what we think of each other as individuals. In addition, who lets his people down, is someone with a level of importance to his people and thats not in my case. But I do represent a segmant of the arab world, that you can not deny.

I base my conclusion on history by observing conflicts and their ends, the strategists always won their case.

On a social, economic, cultural, scientific level: If you can not really realize that we are in a very bad shape and need to change our reality, there is nothing to discuss here.

I wonder if the jordanian artists association had any evidence before it ruined the whole thing by telling everyone to boycutt the festival, I personally think it should apologise for the whole thing and le the festival be, its pretty disturbing to watch the festival get killed before it was even born, and the murderes are jordanians themselves…

thank you for the label..
Am supposed to accept that am a traitor now..

who fails to evolve, extincts..
who sustains, preserves..

I never believed that we are a herd! We started this conversation respectfully and I wish to continue in that fashion. We do not need to accuse each other.

When people gather around an idea they are not fully aware of, yes its a herd like. Be it us or anyone else. I urge you to get some opinions from boycotting people and be entertained with reasons (some think that PRO4 -the jordanian DJs- are representing the israeli company, whereas no Israeli company is there. another misconception between Jews, Israelis, and zionists.

the boycotting people do not represent the entire jordanians and I am the one to come out of no where, some events were sold out, others with moderate demand, and others got cancelled.

I do not think that palestine is tibet, am palestinian myself and most of my family reside there either in 1948 Palestine or 1967 Palestine. And yes opinions of peace and normalization are just as much as the militias members or supporters thereof.

I see failure patterns between Syria, Hizbullah, Hammas, and the unions included. Advocacy and speech while acts are just paragmatic. If they oppose the other half opinions they are heros, if others oppose them they are zionists.

I think we will be extinct in the coming 50 years if continue to act like this. What do they have to pass to the next generations other than the boycot? who is giving the criteria of applicable boycot? almost every dominant company in any industry is an imperial or zionist? what do you have to do about that? whats the exception there? who says what to do? the answers are the highest decimal vocal start issuing the mandates, he said lets fight Israel, we have to follow…

I believe that we are deeply ruined in almost every aspect of our lives, we need to work on the rebuild and prosperity for the coming 50 years at least before considering anything. If that is through peace and normalization with Israel, so be it. Then if we are that confident, why are we so afraid to open up and absorb? while radiants of knowledge are not really flowing from our part of the world and yet fixed on closing.

You wish me to fail in my attempt, I respect your opinion.
Can’t wish you the same… you already did!

As I have already indicated, I was discussing the taboo of anti-normalization in Jordan, and I am not with the fiasco around the Festival. I am sorry to deviate from the topic of Nas’s post but I have seen that people in Jordan do not view Normalization as an important issue in Jordan , and this is my concern and, again, Ahmed, you emphasize my point.

With all due respect to your opinion about Jordanians, why do you treat the average Jordanian as a brainless individual ” who wants to demonstrate something they don’t know what is exactly” as you put it. I usually hear this from Zionist propaganda outlets how they believe in the herd mentality of the Arabs, it seems that if you call someone something long enough they will believe it….

As for not being anti-Israel, It is up to you individually to stop defining yourself as anti-Israeli, and it is also up to you to try to encourage people to stop being anti -Israeli, I will hope you fail and i hope you fail miserably. As far as I am concerned I want no part in a country or a people that considers it ok to stand by and be neutral towards the atrocities being perpetrated in a neighboring country (Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon),this is not Tibet. Let me not even talk about people in Jordan who think Israel is a cute lil’ democracy, those people….. #$%^&* them.

You start your post by declaring that Israel will be defeated and thrown into the sea, and then you complain about the exclusivity of anti-something-ness. well if your assuming that because I want justice for the Palestinians then I automatically will condone genocide of Israelis then your mistaken. Justice for one people does not have to mean injustice for another people (that’s the Israeli interpretation). The whole point of being anti-Israeli at this time is because of the fact that they have denied Palestinians justice, when and if they do the right thing then we can and we will live in peace. However what is happening now is that we are moving towards normalizing with a racist, fascist, murderous entity regardless of its people’s ideology or religion.Its really simple at a humanistic level

Let me get your last point straight, your answer to reactionary Arab mentality is to normalize with Israel? Is that your exit strategy from this conflict. Is this what will stop your decline? Good Luck.

my point was that we have to stop defining ourselves as the anti israelis.

Israel in my own opinion will be defeated and thrown to the meditranean. Thats not the question, its why, how, and when which we all as arabs have endless opinions and schools of thought in that regard.
The problem is exclusiveness and the labels that all anti-something bodies have like a giveaway for every different opinion.

When a french company owned by a zionist runs a certain role in organizing a Jordanian festival: 1.Dumbness of government that does not take majority’s feel into consideration.
2.An easily irritated public that wants to demonstrate something they are not sure what is exactly.

The government holds responsibility for a bad choice and thats a result of many reasons we discuss day and night (corruption, legitimacy, poor parliment, elections, parties,…etc) but no excuse to those who turn for self destruction mode just for a counter attack.. between this and that, the country fails on all levels.

If we are not aware on how things had changed from the early settlements of foriegn jews in Palestine (almost 120 years ago), and having no strategy but the counter/reflex/anti one then we have nothing to pass to next generations, to go for another 100 years or maybe 200 to get Palestine back. We are only declining more and more.

Al that can be said was already said. However, it feels like Jordanians thrive on rumors. The lack of transparency by our government is the main cause of all problems, including the deliberate undermining of the Jordan Festival. What we need, and I keep typing this everywhere, is real TRANSPARENCY and implementation of our CONSTITUTION.

I kindly ask the government to assume we are educated creatures who belong to the human race, and initiate proper communications with us.

Until then,

Shake well before consumption.

The article talks about the lawsuit filed by Princess Alia bint al-Hussein’s husband against the company that supplies American military forces in Iraq with fuel through Jordan.

“Mr Al-Saleh’s suit says he essentially brokered Sargeant’s contract by arranging the approval and cooperation of the Jordanian government, using his “connections and influence.” The lawsuit alleges that Al-Saleh arranged for the Jordanian government “to issue a letter of authorization to IOTC.” Al-Saleh’s lawyer, Jonathan Frank, said, “Were it not for my client, they would not have been able to get that letter.””

This is just hilarious because it could be the first time in history where someone files a lawsuits in which he shamelessly admits to some sort of corruption (errrr…connections and influence) in the process.

Either way, the congress has opened an investigation in the case, but the MSNBC story contains other gems like:

“Although Jordan is not an oil-producing country,…, the Pentagon had insisted that fuel be brought in through Jordan.”
I can think of at 20 reasons for that…none of which make sense.

“Al-Saleh says he also arranged a deal with a company owned by the Jordanian Army which ensured that oil could be offloaded at a Jordanian port ‘without interference, bureaucratic or otherwise.’ So in essence a Jordanian Army-owned company was operating as a subcontractor in the IOTC deal.”
And I always thought that the Jordanian Arab Army was a burden on the country’s resources. It is good to know that it does serve a purpose after all.

Focus People!

People like to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

What’s the point of going all the way to Jerash to see a singer that can perform the same concert in any other location inside Amman?

Cool! I’ll have to try it sometime soon: while the Jordanians are in their trance, I’ll be able to pick their pockets! Oh, but it looks like the Jordanian Parliament beat me to it…

Alas… no one in that circus in that creative!

Sadly I think this is merely the result of the stupidity of the organizers, Min of Culture, Min of Tourism, JTB, the local press, and a whole slew of dumbass people with shitty communication skills and more than a bit of laziness when it comes to events that touch the public. And the choice of Jordan Festival for branding – is that lame or is that really lame? The plan changed, someone forgot to communicate and enroll the community. People felt left out, they got grumpy, found something to latch on to. The end.

And all these people in opposition – where the hell have they been over the years? In frigging hibernation waiting to lunge out like this? What have they been doing? What have they been creating? What amazing experiences have they been developing? How many people’s lives have they been touching?! Who the hell gave them the right to piss in my Cherios?!

The only losers in this baseless stunt are the artists whose gigs get canceled, and the vendors providing event support, and the audiences hungry for experiences.

So, if the issue is about the “Organizing Firm” then why not to find another one!? If this is a “Country’s Festival” why can’t it be a joint effort between all Jordanians who want to help?! If the Artists Association is incompetent to launch such an event then why not train them to be so?! I mean come on….. A company owned by someone called Levy is going to be cheaper than the Lebanese trainers or supervisors? The Jordanian government has to change its attitude toward such concerns! If the majority wants something, then work on it before the whole thing becomes a disaster and end up like another Jordanian restaurant on a tourist’s attraction spot!

It is only at those times when the Jordanian government can work on its relationship with people, when it would take the practical effort to prove to the people that it’s out there for them, for their concerns and for their happiness, playing the big brother rule all the time is getting old and boring!

Its not just this instant but when anyone talks about “the boycott”, or “anti-normalization” they are ridiculed and ran out the door, this is the danger here, not whether the Jordan festival was organized by publicies or not…..the government has been able to ridicule any such initiatives because, unfortunately , the incompetence of the opposition and the professional associations damaged this cause beyond repair at least in Jordan

Batir….Saya3a is when someone knows that a lowlife like Levy has a hand in anything and they still choose to partake in that thing whether it is an event an Ad campaign or whatever, this is pure saya3a, and yes, if they do not think this is an issue then they need someone like Amr Diab to teach them patriotism and a lot of other things such as dignity.

and thanks to Mr AL Sholi who eloquently demonstrates my concerns

true Israel is not responsible for the issues you mentioned, but Israel was, IS and will continue to occupy Palestine, they will continue to posses nuclear weapons, causing environmental and political instability in the region, they will continue to take a big chunk of Jordan’s share of water resources (so does Syria) they will continue to kill civilians destroy homes and insult Arabs ……, a short time ago i was criticized on this blog for suggesting that we should prioritize our issues and I was told that there is no right time for a just cause ( we were discussing gay rights in Jordan at the time)..now the question is have we any dignity to refuse to normalize with such an entity? are any of these causes just in our view? why dont we rise up and tackle them? why dont people practice what they preach?
Looking at it from the narrow angle, are you OK with the fact that Israel still holds Jordanians captive without legal justification? and still takes more than its fair share from the water resources? Is peace worth more to us than our country’s strategic and national interest?

This new record that the “MODERN YOUNG AIRAB” is playing today (aka being brainwashed)..”oh don’t blame Israel for all of our problems” ..it does not just makes me sick..it totally clears my intestines.
Israel is here precisely for that purpose ….it has been propped up for so long for exactly that purpose, to act as the American agent in the region, and it will continue to do so until that agent is not necessary anymore…..

So I agree with most of you that it is sickening to throw accusations around about the crime of normalization but I disagree with most of you as well about the fact that this is not a serious issue.

I hope that there are liable contracts between the government and the singers so that to hold them accountable to an approporiate fee if they ever back down. I personally will boycott those singers who would boycott the Jordan Festival.

If the pharmacists stop using doctor bribery to get their company’s products selling well would be much beneficial than claiming dignity.

If the engineers would do something about all the defects in the whole building codes and start backing up energy less consuming designs.

If the journalists just focus on having clean elections and receiving votes less or equal to members total and not more! before advocating for liberty and democracy.

if artists and writers just amuse us with their works rather than advocating about others works.

if all pan arab societies, and groups focus on getting some real arab cooperation rather than blaming Israel for everything.

if the MPs start to act like ones..

To hell with them all, I want to attend all events just to prove that this is not a “Jordanian Aspiration Agreed upon thing” -Athlajat sodoor jmee3 al ordinion- and stop using the word Israel to hide rooted deficiencies and lack of valued importance.

Nas your assumption of Jordan Artists Association being marginalized and thus made all this big issue… is something i feel is to high extent possible… unfortonately whenever an entity or someone is ignored in the process of a big event that could be successful they start crisizing it and trying to make it fail… instead of encouraging it…. I’m personally not so impressed by the program nor the artists in the Festival to say the least…. but at the end of the day… who cares what i think… probably the demand market will prove my artistic taste doesnt flow with the majority! or i’m out of their target segment to start with!