Written by Edward Stallard The idea came to us as a moment of inspiration while walking through the streets of Amman's downtown area on an overcast Friday afternoon in late May. Watching the sellers interact with one another, share jokes, drink tea and casually attend to buyers who strolled from stall to stall thumbing through the wares on sale; we were intrigued. Makeshift wooden tables heaped up with clothes bearing American college slogans, mobile phones laid out in snaking rows, unidentifiable electrical parts in piles and people drifting and chatting with one another. Somewhere between seeing the spirit of community between the traders, and the hum of activity around popular stalls we came to a simultaneous conclusion: we could do that; we could set up a stall and sell in the Balad. (more...)...

Written by Lina Ejeilat The camera crane comes swinging down amidst the ancient columns of the Citadel, with a panoramic view of Amman, and zooms in on the old airport janitor Abu Raed as he sits surrounded by a group of poor kids, recounting to them tales and adventures from travels worldwide. This is not an international production using Jordan as a set for Iraq, Nazareth, or Mars. It's the set of the first Jordanian feature film in over 50 years; the film whose team believes will put Jordan on the map of international cinema production. It's the set of Amin Matalqa's much talked about "Captain Abu Raed." (more...)...

Defining this project is almost an impossible task. Believe us, we've tried. It's a collision of ideas bouncing off each other within a crucible we've created. It's about community. It's about amplifying voices. It's about impact. It's about bringing Jordanian culture and society into the virtual realms. It's about the pen being mightier than the sword and how the keyboard is more powerful than both. It's about people. It's about ideas. It's about change.The concept behind 7iber is to create an environment of citizen journalism in Jordan. It's a way to amass the opinions of many to create one harmonious arena in which they can share them. It's an attempt to shine a spotlight on Jordan and create a window for people from all over the world to see what our country is about. Whether the topic is about society, culture, politics, current events or even the environment, 7iber is...

Sixty one years can seem like a short period of time but perhaps given the region, any nation in the Middle East can appear aged. It would be easy to reminisce about Jordan's history, how it came to be; where it was and how it has become. It would be easy to focus on the changing skyline of Amman or the economy or the share of scars our nation has garnered over the years from simply existing in one of the world's toughest neighborhoods. Time lines come easy; history hands them out for free. But can they really measure the experience?

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1921 As the Ottoman Empire fell, French Mandate Syria, and British Mandate Palestine were created. Transjordan occupied a large majority of British Mandate Palestine on the East side of the Jordan River. King Abdallah I was given semi-autonomous control of Tranjordan after losing the battle for control of Mecca and Medina. 1946 British request from the United Nations that its Mandate end in Transjordan. Jordan is created on 25 May 1946. 1948 The Palestinian nakbe, or catastrophe, is created alongside the Jewish state of Israel. Thousands of Palestinians are forced from their homes to the West Bank and newly created Jordan. 1950 Jordan annexes the West Bank. 1951 King Abdallah I is assassinated in Jerusalem. King Talal begins rule until August 11, 1952. 1953 From 11 August 1952 to 2 May 1953 a council ruled over Jordan until King Hussein became of legal age to rule. 1965 Jordan and Saudi Arabia exchange desert for a small coastline for Jordan in Aqaba on the...

Remnants of ancient past pave way for global future

Written by Rami Abdelrahman

The Nabateans of Petra took over the Kingdom of Edom to establish a pioneering civilization that collected art and culture from surrounding kingdoms, but little did they knew that the same land would emerge into 21st century Jordan, home to an ethnically diverse society.

While we consider globalization a term that best describes what is happening today in terms of the movement of people and knowledge around the world, it was a normal daily practice back in ancient kingdoms like Petra, only ‘global’ citizens were a lot less in number and the process comprised of physical movement -- nothing virtual back then.

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A word of caution for those who are addicted to social networking sites. Written by Ramsey Tesdell An explosion in the popularity of social networking sites on the Internet has taken the world by storm recently. MySpace, Facebook and Orukt are some of the most popular ones, which allow you to publish a profile of yourself that includes a picture, details about your education, your interests and even your favorite movies. Facebook began as a project at Harvard University in the United States for college students to remember the names of people at school and stay connected. Since then Facebook has expanded to other colleges around the world, and is now open to any one, whether they are associated with a university or not. Users join networks, connecting universities, geographic regions and companies, to be included in a community. You are able to add friends from any network and view profiles...

Written by Edward Stallard

There are certain places we go in life where we get the feeling that somehow we have been there before. The Downtown area of the Jordanian capital Amman is one of those places for me. And it was not until I tried to capture the feeling of the place in words that I realized just quite how much of an effect it has had on my appreciation of the world around me.

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The World Economic Forum has come to an end and it has been quite the extraordinary experience for me personally, specifically with being able to blog live via 7iber. I ran around asking a series of various questions to a variety of powerful people these past three days, the essential question being: "what does this benefit the average Jordanian?". I have to say the reactions to this questions usually came with an "oh not this again" kind of sigh; it was pretty much the same question every Jordanian journalist or writer had been asking. There was however a point on the ride back home when I was contemplating this question and what it means to ask or even answer it. (more...)...