(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Written by Khalid Jabaly This month we witnessed a milestone in the history of Middle Eastern sport as Egypt and Algeria locked sides for their last chance at qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, resulting in the birth of one of the most heated rivalries in the history of football in the Middle East. A lot of blood, sweat and tears was shed only to see Algeria qualify to the grand stage and Egypt fall back to where they struggled from. The build up to this match was one of the most heated and anticipated build ups in the history of Middle Eastern football, an indicator that the sport is moving forward within the region, as the beauty of football is reflected through the colors, the cultures and the philosophies behind both...

Words and photography by Rian Evers

When the lights in the theatre dim, the vibrant rhythm of the seven actors and actresses moving in sync on stage becomes audible. Creatively arranged lights produce doubled shadows on the wall in the back. It becomes immediately obvious that the characters in this play are crazy; the actresses have long disheveled hair, both the actors and actresses wear exaggerated make-up, their movements are spastic, uncontrolled and their mouths twitch in funny angles every now and then. I’m pleasantly surprised to be a witness of this silent physical performance, the first of its kind I observe here in Jordan. The theatre play “Crossword”, directed by Dr. Mohammad Khayr Alrifa’i, brings a fresh new breeze into the mainly traditional theatre-landscape of Jordan. It’s a relief to find an attempt for innovation, experimentation...

Written by LS. From my previous work experiences as a case worker, social work (SW) practices became embedded in my insight as a Jordanian-Palestinian: I came to believe that nothing is more sacred than protection from gender based violence (GBV) and sexual violence (SV). SV is “any sexual act or attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances or threats of harm, by any person regardless of relationship to the victim” (ISAC, 2008). In Jordan, women are at risk of SV including rape and sexual harassment (SH). Most women and girls who experience the trauma of SV will be left with psychological after-effects, which may need to be addressed such as post-traumatic shock disorder, loss of self-esteem, feelings of guilt and shame, self-blame and suicidal thoughts. Cultural structure and function are primary factors when discussing SV, since...

Written by Musa Alshuqairi Read Part I: Happy Trails With the absence of political parties , and with the domination of tribal, religious and even ethnic attachments and devotion among voters, the overhaul in elections law has to be deep-rooted and maybe “radical”. Since we cannot deny the fact that the voter is inexperienced (oppressive regimes continue to use the “ignorance” of the voter as an excuse for denying the people their democratic rights, without presenting alternatives of how to “educate” the voter), this law can temporarily limit his/her options. This may seem extreme and against the people’s “rights and freedom” to elect whoever they want, but, as proven by the past 16 years, the voter cannot be fully trusted yet. Temporary  “limits” on his/her freedom could be more beneficial,...

Photo by Khalid Jabaly   -   منظر عام لوسط مدينة عمان من شرفة ديوان الدوق

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Written by Hend Fayez Abuenein Amid the growing debate about narrowing the gap between genders and how we’ve climbed up the scale of narrowing gender-discriminating practices, a number of questions emerge about gender related legislation in Jordan. Being members of the Organization of Islamic Conference, we draw our definitions of human rights, from Islamic Shari’a law, hence our reservations about the CEDAW convention. Elimination of all forms of discrimination against women faces barriers in our religion, as well as our paternalistic mindsets. But unlike matters regarding women’s single accommodations and solo traveling, there are some articles in our laws that are inexplicably discriminating, and cannot be referred to any clear part of the Shari’a, but rather rely on male-empowering customs. One of the least discussed of these laws is article number 165 of the Jordanian Civil Code Law. This article states that if after divorce a male child opts not to...

Written by Musa Alshuqairi With a questionable elections law producing a curious blend of shady characters ranging from old guard corruption figures to the so-called neo-liberals merchants the 15th Jordanian parliament was doomed from the beginning. Now that his majesty issued a decree to dissolve it, what questions is Jordan's alleged democracy facing? If you followed His Majesty King Abdullah's recent activities over the past few days as they were reported in the Jordanian newspapers headlines – from AIPAC to KPMG meetings –there won't be nothing there to indicate that the King will be dissolving the parliament a week before it is third regular session. But that does not necessarily mean that the decision was a surprise or that it was taken hastily and without enough discussion within the (one-man?) "decision making circle." The fate of the parliament continued to be an...

قام مركز الامير الوليد بن طلال للتفاهم الاسلامي المسيحي مؤخرا بنشرتقرير عن أكثر500 مسلم نفوذا في العالم. يمكنك قراءة التقرير هنا، ولكن، لتسهيل القراءة ، قمنا بإرفاق الخمسين الأهم هنا والذين يبدون منفصلين عن بقية الأفراد ال450 الذين تتألف منهم تلك القائمة من ناحية طريقة التصنيف.

القائمة تجمع ما بين ملوك وحكام مستبدين، أشخاص يعملون في الترفيه، وحتى إرهابيين. من ملك المملكة العربية السعودية إلى الكوميدي ديف تشابيل؟ منذ نشرها حصدت القائمة قدراً كبيراً من الانتقاد. شكك البعض في المعايير، في حين تساءل البعض الأخر عما اذا كانت القائمة تؤيد مجموعة معينة من المسلمين على حساب أخرى.

على مدونات رويترز، قام ما يقرب المليوني قارئ بالتصويت لتجميع قائمة خاصة بهم عن مسلمي العالم الأكثر تأثيرا، وتصدر عدنان أوكطارمن تركيا الترتيب.

في حين انشغلت وسائل الإعلام العالمية في الرد على هذه القائمة،...

The Jordan Theater Festival runs until Tuesday, so if you missed the first week, you still have five plays to catch. It seems Monday is a day for intellectual discussions; with talks taking place at Shoman, Cervantes, and Muhtaraf Rimal. On Tuesday, Darat Al-Funun explores new trends in Egyptian cinema with an interesting series that runs till the end of the year. You also have great live music options this week - from experimental electronics and live visuals by Blouzaat and EP at Blue Fig, to jazz by Chapter 11 at Canvas, to live acoustic music by El Far3i (featuring Shadi Zaqatan from Ramallah) at LOFT. Bait El Ruwwad group continues to play great modern classical Arabic music every wednesday at their beautiful venue in Beit El Shi'r. It might be a short week because of the Eid holiday, but it's not...

In the downtown vegetable market, you will be greeted by children offering to carry your bags for you while you shop. Omran is one of them.

في سوق الخضار بجانب المسجد الحسيني وسط البلد تجد أطفالا يعرضون على المتسوقين حمل أكياسهم على عربة تسوق. عمران أحدهم هؤلاء الأطفال.

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