On Thursday, Jon Stewart hosted two interesting guests on The Daily Show, Israeli-Palestinian peace activists Anna Baltzer and Dr. Mustafa Barghouti. The episode seemed to draw an angry response from a Pro-Israel crowd so I’m reposting this letter written by Baltzer in hopes that those who read it will help spread it. The content is […]

“As we work with Arabs and Israelis to expand the circle of peace, we take inspiration from what Jordan and Israel achieved fifteen years ago, knowing that the destination is worthy of the struggle.” - US President, Barack Obama on the 15th anniversary of the Jordan-Israel peace treaty. Monday, October 26, 2009. [source]
After all that […]

AP PHOTO - Laith Shbailat, a prominent Jordanian opposition figure, is seen at a hospital in Amman Sunday Oct. 25, 2009, after he was attacked Sunday morning by unidentified assailants. Shubeilat says Sunday’s early morning attack followed a televised interview he gave to an Arab satellite channel, in which he accused the government of corruption […]

In a recent annual report on press freedoms by the French-based rights organization, Reporters Without Borders, Jordan improved 16 spots this past year to rank 112th out of 175. In the context of the rest of the region, I would argue that these “improvement” have very little to do with any visible on-the-ground improvements in […]

Likely to be one of the most important documentaries of the past decade, Food Inc is a terrifying tale of how the food we consume is produced. From the seed and the pesticide that garnishes it, to the crop, to the animal, the slaughterhouse and the grocery store shelf. Food Inc. is not for the […]

REUTERS PHOTO - A man looks at Jerusalem city through binoculars on the Syagha-Madaba city mountains, 30km southwest of the capital Amman, October 23, 2009, during a trip organized by the Jordanians Engineers Association. The “Return Journey to Al-Aqsa” trip, in which engineers and their families gathered at the heights of Syagha to look down […]

A new fatwa has been issued in Jordan by the country’s official fatwa-making body (it’s akin to making sausages, you don’t want to see how that’s done either) that has made chatting between two sexes haram, or, forbidden. I thought that was a rather interesting piece of news. Their “reasoning” seems to be centered on […]

AMMAN — A Jordanian man was charged on Sunday with premeditated murder after allegedly stabbing to death his 22-year-old daughter because she became pregnant outside wedlock, police said.
“The father and his brother took the girl on Saturday to a doctor because she suffered stomach pains, and everybody was surprised to learn that she was six […]