Detained in Jordan for disobeying men, girls use art to tell their stories
OPENDEMOCRACY (21/5/2020) Madeleine is seventeen and dreams of being a chef. But her ambitions have been curtailed. She is behind bars in a juvenile detention centre in Jordan, waiting to be released into the care of a male family member. “This is the story of a girl in prison: me,” wrote Shahed, another teenage girl […]
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‘Like a ship about to sink’: Refugees in Jordan voice pandemic despair
THE NEW HUMANITARIAN (14/5/2020) When Jordan announced one of the world’s strictest pandemic-related lockdowns on 20 March, the kingdom gave just a few hours notice that 10 million people would be restricted to their homes, banned even from making trips to buy food. Fears grew quickly for the country’s close to one million refugees. How […]
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‘He just wanted dignity’: the tragedy that captured the mood of a nation
THE GUARDIAN (27/2/2020) Anas al-Jamra carried more burdens than he could bear. As the eldest of 16 children, the fruit and vegetable vendor was the main provider for his parents, brothers and sisters, in addition to his own four young children. But continuously harassed by police and city officials, who confiscated his stock, the 28-year-old […]
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The anger on Jordan’s streets
AL ARABY (12/2/2020) Carrying two bundles of flags, Mohammed(*) moves swiftly between hundreds of protesters as chants grow louder in downtown Amman. He holds Jordanian flags on his right hand, and Palestinian flags on his left hand. It’s been a busy, tumultuous start of the year for the Jordanian-Palestinian flag-seller. Since January, hundreds have braved […]
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Jordanians voice concerns over imports of Israeli gas
AL JAZEERA (30/1/2020) With her clenched fists raised high, Ibtisam stands at the vanguard of hundreds of protesters who have gathered in Amman to rail against a gas deal. “The people of Jordan do not compromise! What a shame, what a shame! An agreement full of shame,” the protesters chant in unison. It’s Ibtisam’s second […]
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A link across borders
THE NATIONAL (10/1/2020) The dusty chairs at the Amman train station are empty. There are no departures today. Vintage carriages line up on the tracks waiting for passengers, but the last train to Syria departed a decade ago. “When I travelled to Syria by train, I was just a child – I was this tall,” […]
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Reviving the Hejaz railway with a park
AL-MONITOR (4/12/2019) The century-old Hijaz Railway crosses Amman from north to south. Children play close by, jumping over the track that once connected Jordan’s capital to Syria, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. It’s been almost a decade since the last train to Syria departed from Amman’s train station. With the railway largely abandoned, families stroll along the line built […]
Read →Reading for social change in Jordan
THE NATIONAL (17/11/2019) Sitting at her desk in one of her three offices in Amman, Rana Dajani says she wears many hats – or rather, many scarves. “I am a mother, a teacher, a scientist, a social entrepreneur and a feminist. But instead of hats I wear scarves,” says Dajani, who sees hers as a metaphor for her many […]
Read →Crimes sem honra
EXPRESSO (10/8/2019) Kifaya tinha 16 anos quando a família decidiu que devia morrer. O irmão mais velho amarrou-a à cadeira da cozinha, deu-lhe um copo de água e pediu-lhe para rezar a sua última oração antes de a esfaquear. A jornalista Rana Husseini foi enviada para cobrir o assassinato num dia quente de Verão em […]
Read →‘Our cause is the same’: Teachers unite in demand for respect and a living wage
MIDDLE EAST EYE (28/9/2019) The school bell rings at a quarter past seven in the morning at the al-Rashid primary school in Amman. The day starts as usual with the national anthem and the raising of the Jordanian flag, but things have been a bit different lately. Teachers line up in the schoolyard, but there are […]
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