Maha, a friend of mine and frequent commenter on the Black Iris, told me a story the other day that had me in stitches. It also had me reanalyzing my mental health just at the sheer fact I would laugh at a story so morbid. Then again, Maha could narrate The Exorcist and make it […]

It will be kind of interesting (at least for me) to see if the average citizen has the ability to play a role in holding other members of society and even governments accountable for their actions. Especially in the absence of any efficient and independent mechanism for political accountability in Jordan. Consider it another 7iber […]

A few of the stories I found interesting these past few days:
- UnIslamic Ringtones: A top Islamic body in Saudi Arabia has hosted a stormy debate on controversial issues, including the use of Koranic verses as mobile phone ringtones, newspapers reported Monday. “The scholars were divided on the use of verses from the Koran […]

I use the word “debate” with extreme caution and reservation. It was more like six panelists telling everyone their life story, introducing what little platform they have, and then answering questions that have no relevance to their (potential) future position in Parliament.
Suffice to say it was quite an absurd ritual.
First of all, with […]

It’s been three weeks since I started attending the World Affairs Council meetings, and it’s safe to say I’ve grown a bit attached to the place. The first meet saw the discussion of the Annapolis summit, while the second was about domestic energy. This week was probably everyone’s favorite topic these days: the elections. So […]

Roundabouts, crossroads and traffic lights are the most common venues for posters and banners.

Traffic Sign reads: “Dead End”.
Stand-up posters can not exceed 1.5 meters in height, and 1 meter in width. Posters and/or banners must be placed 4.5 meters above the ground level, where there are pedestrians or cars passing beneath them.

“All Jordanians […]

A very interesting article in the New York Times today discusses briefly the unfolding road to the elections on the 20th. What I found interesting was something that I also found to be true: “liberals in Jordan have set aside demands for political freedom”, in light of rising Islamist groups in the region, particularly Hamas […]

Yesterday, as everyone knows, was the second anniversary of the Amman bombings. I decided to join the caravan of cars that that traveled from the Martyrs of Amman Park, to all three hotels that were targeted, and then back. Earlier in the day, Prince Ali planted an olive tree at the park to honor the […]

“How do you expect us to report on the credibility of elections when civil groups are not permitted to observe vote casting and ballot counting?” - Samih Sunukrut, secretary general of the Arab Organisation for Human Rights. The Jordanian Coalition for Civil Society Organisations announced on Tuesday it would drop a plan to monitor parliamentary […]

The topic this week was surprisingly about prices and energy. I say surprisingly because the Jordan Business team has just finished a major cover story on inflation in the country, which essentially questions the government’s statements on the topic, and the measures they’ve taken (or lack thereof) to curb it. I have to admit that […]

Knowing my love for political discussions and political sittings, my boss let me tag along to a “salon seyasi” at the World Affairs Council. I don’t believe “salon seyasi” has an actual English translation but it is basically an informal get together, meet-up, or forum, where people sit around the perimeter of an open room […]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, there are more food poisoning cases. After fish, water and shawarmah (several times), humus is suspected by officials, to be the latest culprit.

Health Minister Salah Mawajdeh told The Jordan News Agency, Petra, that final results are expected to be out in […]

The Jordan Center for Social Research has conducted another poll, about 6 months after its first horrifying one. As before, I’ll run down the results as mentioned in a Jordan Times article, to spare you the excessive reading.
According to the poll:
- 64.8% of Jordanians see the Kingdom as generally being on the right […]

Yesterday, on my way to work, the middle-aged taxi driver initiated an explicit elections conversation with me. Making a passing comment about the suddenly increasing “vote for me” banners around town I was prompted to ask him whether he’d be voting for anyone:
“a3othoo billah!”
“leish?” (why?)
“Because all these guys are sons-of-a-bitches! They take our votes […]

Parliamentary elections are officially up and running now. The first two days of candidate registration saw 916 names and as Lina points out, 15.8% of which are women. That’s a pretty decent percentage in my case, considering that the majority of that number are from fairly conservative cities like Irbid and Kerak. Although it’s yet […]

The Jordan Times today has an interesting article on former MP Nariman Roussan who won her seat in the 14th parliament through the women’s quota. Apparently (and allegedly) Roussan, who was president of “Al-Awn Society for Helping Widows”, used the charity’s funds for “campaigning purposes”, or in layman’s terms: bribes. The Society’s building was also […]