Friday 12th of March; World Day Against Cyber Censorship

I would like to admit, that a couple of months ago, I would have not imagined Friday the 12th of March to be a significant day at all. Today, however, the tables have turned and this Friday will be of major importance for bloggers all over Jordan and even the world. This Friday will mark both "Blog for Jordan Day" and "World Day Against Cyber Censorship". My main focus in this post will be about the latter.

The idea of discussing "World Day Against Cyber Censorship" would not have occurred to me had it not been for Naseem Tarawnah, author of "The Black Iris of Jordan", who posted about the subject and made it clear what the day meant in his post "Dear Jordanian Bloggers & Tweeps: Let’s Mobilize For March 12th".

I can't say I am an expert on the subject, but the moment I decided to look into it I found the shocking statistics that there are actually countries that are totally against Internet  and the web, nicknamed "Internet Enemies". I was honestly relieved to find out that Jordan was not in the list and was highly ranked in the regions Internet Freedom Index. The bigger shock was to find the majority of our neighboring Arab countries listed as "Internet Enemies", with the Index describing their Internet connections as being more or less of an Intranet, in other words a local network of sites with some exceptions. Of these countries were neighboring Egypt, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Arab countries that were listed to be "Under Surveillance" by the government included Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It was also a surprise to find Australia listed to be under surveillance; being one of the largest and most influential countries in the world, I would have thought it hardly plausible.

Now you might be asking, "So what if these countries are "Internet Enemies", or "Under Surveillance"?". Well if you wouldn't prefer to be jailed for speaking your mind on the web, as was the case with an Egyptian blogger not a while back, you would rather not be under those lists. In my opinion, I really think these "Internet Freedom" indexes should be linked with a country's "Freedom of Speech" index; that is if they haven't been linked already.

Jordan, nonetheless, wasn't a perfect country in the Index. For example newspaper columnist Mwaffaq Mahadin and Sufian Tell, a specialist in environmental issues, were held for 15 days for criticizing the assistance which the Jordanian intelligence services provide the United States in its fight against Al-Qaeda.

"Reporters Without Borders" is concerned about a ruling by Jordan’s highest appeal court, published on 13 January, that news websites and electronic media are subject to the country’s press and publications law. Media and communications minister Nabil Al-Sharif told the Jordan Times that the court’s decision was reached independently and should therefore be applied.

All in all, I urge all Jordanian bloggers to make this a subject of one of their posts. If not, a logo and slogan can be obtained and placed on your web space to show your support for the campaign.

Language and Culture

"Arabs that don't know Arabic are honestly a disgrace..", my dear friend, who currently studies in Canada, went on to say as we were chatting a couple of days ago. His point of view may have seemed extreme for a second or two at that time, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. How can somebody claim to be part of a culture he hardly knows anything about?

Can anyone imagine a French man who can't speak French, or doesn't know what baguette or crepe is? I find that hardly plausible. Or a Spaniard who hasn't heard about bullfighting, a corrida de toros?  How sarcastic would it be if you met a Russian who knows nothing about Vodka, or a Mexican who hasn't ever tasted tortillas?

Culture is what identifies us in today's community, it is what makes us who we are and gives us that uniqueness when we meet a person from a totally different background.

 So what exactly makes a person forget his culture, his blood, one might ask? Well it seems the answer is quite clear; Immigration, Emigration, and the influence of other cultures play a decisive role in a person's life.  To add to that, parents who forget the principles of teaching their children where they originate from are also a significant factor. We also can't deny what influence international media has on us. With the United States dominating media all over the globe, it isn't a surprise that the world is getting more and more Westernized with time.

So let's get back to the Arab perspective. "An Arab who doesn't know Arabic is a disgrace..", what do you think? My friend went on to say how he had once considered the Arabic language as a difficult one in school, where he could hardly keep up with the grammar that was taught in class, how he felt that it was a waste of time, a useless subject for those who were going on into a scientific field in college.

He continued to say that as time progressed and he became a foreigner in Canada, his identity became increasingly important to him, and he found that the Arabic language was an essential part of his Arab culture.

Personally, being an Arab, a Jordanian to be specific, I totally believe in culture and the moral values that have made me who I am today, and I honestly think that an individual must proudly hold his culture high, and ensure that it is not lost with the generations to come.

Tales of Emirati Camels

I've always admired camels for their everlasting cheerfulness, they always seem to be in a jumpy mood, with that cheeky smile drawn on their hairy faces, don't they?

Well the Emiratis have done it again with achieving the most eye-opening news yet!


Camel burger newest 'healthy' option
DUBAI (Reuters) - A traditional Emirati restaurant in Dubai has added a new entree to its menu billed as a fat-free choice for carnivorous but health-conscious diners: the Camel Burger. For 20 UAE dirhams ($5.45), the Local House restaurant offers a quarter pound camel burger, loaded with cheese and smothered in burger sauce, the Xpress weekly newspaper reported on Thursday. Ali Ahmad Esmail, Local House assistant manager, told the paper that the burger patties were fat- and cholesterol-free. But he declined to say how the outlet tenderised the tough camel meat. "It's a trade secret," he said. Camel meat is widely eaten in some Arab countries, but is not typically sold in supermarkets or served in restaurants. The paper reported that Local House said it was the first to introduce the burger in the United Arab Emirates. A fast food outlet in neighbouring Saudi Arabia put baby camel burgers on its menu last year.


UAE man pays $6.47m for 3 camels
DUBAI (AFP) - An Emirati splurged a whopping 24 million dirhams ($6.47 million) for three camels, including one which cost $2.72 million, at an auction in the desert near Abu Dhabi, an AFP photographer said. The auction was held Tuesday at the Dhafra Festival for Camels and was attended by the biggest camel owners in the Gulf, among them princes and tribal dignitaries. The other two camels cost United Arab Emirates national Hamdan Ben Ghanem around $2.4 million and $1.35 million respectively. Citizens of Gulf countries are passionate about camel racing, which is considered a national sport and tradition. At the festival, competitions are held for the best camel meat and camel milk dishes, and for the best poem written about camels.

The sad thing is that a pet camel has always been in the back of my mind, too bad the relatively large...or massive budget doesn't really fit my limits! Happy cameling folks!

Stereotypes About The Middle East; A Rising Concern

Was searching YouTube for something to feed my boredom last night, when I came upon Queen Rania's YouTube channel. For those who haven't heard, Queen Rania of Jordan has launched an initiative - or several - on YouTube and Twitter, to communicate to the Western world and talk about various stereotypes westerners have about the Middle East, Arabs, and Muslims. Some have even taken to calling her the 'cyber queen of the Middle East'. I thought it would be interesting to jot down my thoughts on the matter of stereotyping:

Firstly, a common, deeply flawed misconception is that all Middle Easterners are terrorists. Well, going back to 9\11 there sure were 17 terrorists who all came from the Middle East, were Arabs and Muslims. But how far can we take that fact to say that we all are terrorists? We can hardly say that such a vast population of over 360 million people are reflected by those 17 who performed this disgraceful act of suicide in the name of religion. Sure there are terrorists in the Middle East, but the same goes for any other country in the world. Middle Easterners are generally peaceful people, as a matter of fact, Jordan itself is known for its wonderfully warm hospitality to foreigners!

Middle Easterners live in desert tents and get around using camels. To be honest I have never heard such an absurd statement without letting out a sincere laugh. Cars are well used in society here, an amazing fact is that oil-rich countries in the Gulf, mainly Kuwait, have a higher number of cars than people! The world's tallest building is in the Middle East, namely 'Burj Khalifa' - more commonly known as The Dubai Tower - which exceeds a height of 828m, making it the highest man-made structure in the world!

Architects and engineers are fully present in the Middle East (some people may think we are all desert dwelling Bedouins), doing a wonderful job of ensuring citizens' comfortable and stylish accommodation.

Arabs are all Muslims; Muslims are all Arabs Neither of these statements are correct. Muslims make more than 1.5 billion of the worlds population. Arabs make only about 360 million people straddling North Africa and Western Asia. Now the second statement has been debunked, what about the first? Are Arabs all Muslims? Definitely not, a significant population of Arabs follow Christianity, with myself being one of them. Personally, having many Muslim friends whom I consider brothers and sisters, the respect I have towards Islam is concrete. Islam itself does not teach enmity and war, but peace and love, just like the other heavenly religions.


Women are given no rights in the Middle East.  This stereotype varies significantly from one country to the next. For instance, Saudi Arabia has yet to permit woman to drive, whereas the Jordanian female population enjoy plenty of rights and can be seen in various positions about the country, from university professors to taxi drivers to ministers.

Middle Easterners hate Jews. This also, is a common misconception. The hate Middle Easterners have is directed to the Zionist Israeli government, and not the religion Judaism, which has our utmost respect. The causes of this hate are vast, and for one to know how it all began, he would have to go back to the formation of the Zionist Israeli state, which in fact was formed by betrayal of Sherif Hussein of Mecca, who had been promised the land as part of his Arab state after WW2 by the British. At present day, however, this hate is due to the daily killing and slaughter of Palestinians, their expulsion from their own lands and the numerous other mistreatment they receive.

Arab countries are oil-rich. Partly true in the Arabian gulf region, but countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Syria have negligible oil resources or none! Electricity generated in Jordan is 96% from oil and natural gas imported by neighboring countries. Jordan is now aiming at building renewable energy resources such as wind and solar, as well  as building nuclear power reactors for peaceful purposes due to the significant amount of uranium found in the Kingdom.. and yes, I can assure you I said peaceful. Car oil in Jordan as a matter of fact is ridiculously expensive!

I hope I have given you a reasonable perspective on these matters and please feel free to contribute your feedback if you may have a different point of view or would like to discuss these matters in a deeper manner.

Please spare some time to view Queen Rania's pages on YouTube and Twiter at http://youtube.com/queenrania and http://twitter.com/queenrania