Comments on: King Prohibits Jailing Of Journalists

By: Ibby

Ibby — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 07:00:00 +0000

Mohammad: “I think this indicates a dysfunctional democratic process”. There is no democratic process, dysfunctional or otherwise. We do need democracy and freedom of speech. Unfortunately at the moment freedom of speech is a joke and democracy, judging by the last election is an embarrassing farce.

If we were to look at Nas’ blog topics as a survey of what is important to Jordanians – the assumption being that the more important topics will prompt more people to place comments – we would find that lesbians are twice as important to Jordanians as freedom of speech.

By: Mohammad

Mohammad — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:34:09 +0000

I don’t think Jordan is ready to criticize the King, and I can live with that for now. But why does reform have to come from above? why does the King have to declare this rather than the parliament enforce it? It seems backwards. I think this indicates a dysfunctional democratic process. Freedom of speech and democracy are not the same thing, and we need both.

By: Hareega

Hareega — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:15:18 +0000

what if someone wrote an article criticizing the king?

By: Nas

Nas — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 18:02:07 +0000

mossab: ditto!

mohanned: sorry man, it caused a technical error but i’m working on bringing it back.

By: Mohanned

Mohanned — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:06:46 +0000

Naseem, where is the comments widget? It made it easier to check back..

By: Mohanned

Mohanned — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:46:33 +0000

Same was said about political activism in universities, but nothing happened there, it even got worse..
Also do you remember the elections? Fair?

BTW observer, if they loosen up, the main issues they will tackle will be relegious and social in nature.
Poor arab: this is called the red line they always talk about, you know state security court and such with qade7 maqamat 3olia(Ifeel that I am living in the ottoman empire)..

By: Mosaab

Mosaab — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:45:26 +0000

just mentioned this and your blog on SPIN
you’re good, naseem, real good.

By: The Observer

The Observer — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:27:35 +0000

Excellent! so journalist should start loosing up!

By: mo

mo — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:31:38 +0000

hasnt he said that before?

By: Nas

Nas — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 09:50:19 +0000

Marwan: as do i Ibby: that would definitely be a good litmus test. The Poor Arab: well as you know, talk is very cheap, especially in the arab world. so the only way to find out is to write up that article and publish it. best of luck on your endeavor!

By: The Poor Arab News Service

The Poor Arab News Service — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:22:01 +0000

So, If i write an article about the royal family’s lavish life style and their excessive spending,which off course,all this expenditure comes out of the poor Jordanian people pockets ,will my article see the light in one of the dailies,let alone being sent t jail and off course tortured by the king’s tools such his notorious Mokhabarat???????

By: Ibby

Ibby — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:06:25 +0000

I hope this is sincere and not the usual hot air we have come to know and love. One easy way to test this is to see if they shut down Al-Jazeera’s offices next time they criticize anything in Jordan.

On a related note, did anyone watch the final episode of Al-Jazeera’s “Shahid 3ala al 3asr” recently with the guy who used to be head of the Mu5abarat? It was the funniest thing I saw in a long time. The man was saying, amongst other things, that once a decision is taken, disagreeing with this decision is akin to challenging the sovereignty of the country. See the link below for the transcript – most amusing:
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3434B7BC-1BF5-4B16-8008-55177A21CF70.htm

By: Marwan

Marwan — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 07:45:40 +0000

It is a step forward. I hope we will see more constructive journalism now.