“He was just shouting at soldiers but then one soldier decided to attack him, so they beat the hell out of him - riffle butt to the head”. - Israeli soldier, identified only as “A.”, on the beating of a mentally-handicapped Palestinian man by Israeli forces. “We were sent to look for firearms, but didn’t […]

Palestinian officials and analysts have linked the incident to the Jerusalem municipality’s eviction orders of more than 1,500 Palestinians living in some 180 houses in the East Jerusalem suburb of Silwan area. It will become the largest mass expulsion of Palestinians since the Israeli occupation in the 1967 war. [source
We’ve been hearing this for quite […]

A main headline today, as most of you might know already, is the opening of a trial for two Jordanian men who are accused of plotting to kill an Israeli business man who runs a QIZ factory in Irbid. The two men were not able to go through with it, but not before security forces […]

“There is no greater hypocrisy than a country that just 39 years ago, on Black September in 1970, murdered 10,000 of its Palestinian residents, dealing with international crimes today…Jordan will not be the one to teach Israel what combat morals are.” - Israel’s Internal Security Minister, Avi Dichter, expressing outrage at reports that Jordan planned […]

When it comes to the political landscape of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the only thing more insignificant than an American election is an Israeli election. The outcome of these campaigns, which seem to bathe in the limelight of the world stage, tend to have worse consequences for the Middle East almost every time. Both Netanyahu and […]

Sixty percent of Americans in the nationwide survey said they were sympathetic toward the Israelis, compared with 17 percent who supported the Palestinians, CNN reported today on its Web site. A recent European poll showed that 23 percent of French people said the Palestinian Hamas group was primarily responsible for the war while 18 percent […]

Photo Credit: NYT
I hate sounding cynical. But I’m trying to be realistic here. This is not to say I hate the guy. I don’t even know him. And to be fair, it’s still his first day on the job. But seriously. Looking at how people are reacting to this. Especially the more westernized Jordanians here. […]

How do you define a protest? In the past three weeks I think the word itself has found new manifestations in Jordan. Each one catered to an audience and each one catered to a need. Some chose to go out in to the streets and shout, some chose to light a candle at a vigil, […]

While watching the events in Gaza unfold these past few weeks, I am overcome with grief, and it has become even more dominant once the ceasefire was declared. In the next few days and weeks, Israeli elections will roll on while Gazans will spend this time digging the bodies of relatives out of the rubble. […]

This is the breaking news of the day over here. Naturally, the Jordanian military has denied Israeli claims that shots were fired at a border crossing from the Jordanian side. There’s no doubt in my mind that Jordanian military fired anything so much as a wad of bubble gum at the Israeli side. Israeli media […]

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A recent debate I participated in yielded the conclusive statement: “now is not the time for it.” It really got me thinking, whenever there is a crisis in this region, everyone socially is moved into one corner and an emergency circle is drawn. Anyone not in the circle must be punished, broken down, and brought […]

By now, most people in Amman have already heard about the protests near the Israeli Embassy in the Rabia area. Protesters erected tents a few days ago and have been there on and off ever since. Today, a march was organized way up the street, starting from the Days Inn hotel, will plans of passing […]

Electronic Intifada has a sample of the leaflets being dropped on Gaza encouraging its residents to snitch on any “terrorists”. They even called up the hotline to play a bit of a prank. The recording is actually worth listening to, and if you don’t understand the broken-Arabic you can read the transcript in English also […]

“If Israel continues its unjust offensive and continuously refuses to lift the blockade on the brotherly people of Palestine and the Gaza Strip, the House will call on the government to reconsider Jordanian-Israeli ties. This includes recalling Jordan’s ambassador to Israel and requesting Israel’s ambassador in Amman to leave the Kingdom” - Official statement issued […]

Whenever an event of this magnitude happens, which in this region is at least twice a year, there is always the feeling of an obligation to say something. To express something. Something emotional. Something heartfelt. Typically, anger. Yet all I tend to feel is instantaneous frustration. There are things in this life of which we […]