I’ve probably never seen a subject matter kept so hush-hush in Jordan as this controversial statement that was very recently released. No one is reporting about it. No one is writing about it. Many are talking about it. Because of course, many have access to Al-Jazeera, which seems to be the only one saying anything […]

The government floated a bill yesterday to amend the Public Gathering Law. The (temporary) law, which came about during the Abul Ragheb government back in 2003, basically bans the hosting of any public events (specifically marches, rallies, demonstrations), without getting approval from the governor 3 days prior to such an event. Also, the law makes […]

I didn’t intend to blog about this as I was invited to go but preferred to spend my Thursday night more lucratively, especially with all that branding that eventually just turned me off on the whole event. However, due to the misadventures of a few friends who begged me to blog about it, I feel […]

The other night I was having dinner at Chili House by the 7th circle. Everyone was hooked on the game between Germany and Portugal on the screen. And while sitting outside my friends and I noticed this beat up white Mercedes with about four guys in it, just driving past the road at a moderate […]

This has been a post brewing in my mind for some time and I think blogger Razan Khatib beat me to the punch a few days ago by writing briefly about the topic, so you should definitely give hers’ a read.
One of the side effects from the market liberalization that’s taken place these past […]

I read this the other day on Ammon and fortunately a few bloggers had already blogged about it on the Jordanian blogosphere. According to the local news site, two of McCain’s primary political advisers, Kagan and Kristol, have said that McCain will be declaring Jordan as a Palestinian state pretty soon, which is an option […]

This isn’t exactly a review since Faridon is a good friend of mine and I’m a big fan of his work, thus it wouldn’t be fair. It is, however, a post dedicated to encouraging everyone to go and see some amazing local artwork and hopefully enjoy their time as much as I did. The opening […]

When you wake up in the morning and read this kind of sentence in a local paper, it is unimaginably difficult for the coffee you’re drinking to not coming pouring out…
AMMAN - As the national tourism awareness campaign is one phase closer to completion, some one million Jordanians are now better-informed of the role tourism […]

I found this news a bit interesting. The other day, a bus driver who had forgotten his license at home was given a ticket by a traffic cop, and the driver then proceeded to strip off his clothes in a fit of rage, to protest the ticket. He was eventually subdued by the police. […]

I read about this the other day but I wanted to see if it was verified or simply premature enthusiasm on the part of the local press. Apparently it’s the real deal.

AMMAN (AFP) - Archaeologists in Jordan have unearthed what they claim is the world’s first church, dating back almost 2,000 years, The Jordan […]

Nearly two months since I discussed this topic, I’ve been thinking lately that while there are many reasons that there is so little “issue-blogging” being done in Jordan, there is one reason that is often overlooked. Are we, as bloggers, blogging about the issues that people really care about? That seems to be the question […]

A new category here on the Black Iris.
Did you ever notice?…
Whenever a Jordanian government official says a certain piece of public land is not for sale, it usually means it’s probably in the process of being sold?

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For over 27 years, the Jerash Festival, lead by Queen Noor, was the Kingdom’s central cultural event. In 27 years it was canceled a total of three times: in 1982 during the Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon and in 2006, due to the Israeli-Hizballah conflict in Lebanon. I’m not sure if the cancellation was out […]

Despite my infrequent attempts to ridicule the boycotting of Danish products in Jordan, I must admit that I have some level of respect for it. In the context of protesting methods akin to our region, boycotting products may just be the most civilized way of protesting, even if it does elude to our lack of […]

It seems that Amman is changing so fast sometimes and the once familiar roads are growing foreign to me every day. Suddenly, the ordinary routes I take to get to specific places around town are changed. Detours take me elsewhere, and the old roads are packed with new speed bumps, traffic lights, tunnels, circles, and […]

In light of Parliament being back in (extraordinary) session for the next few weeks, with one of the first bills out of the gate to be discussed is an amendment to the Public Gathering Law, which more or less inhibits Jordanians from public gatherings, I thought it would be timely to discuss this issue that’s […]