Jordan
Trump’s Middle East Challenge
Today’s meeting between King Abdullah II of Jordan and President Donald Trump is being closely watched across the Middle East. Often seen as a pragmatic and cautious mediator, Jordan’s king is emerging as central in a new grouping of Arab states aligned against U.S. and Israeli regional policies.
Women’s Impossible Choices
While accessing abortion has become easier in Jordan despite its illegality, many barriers remain and public advocacy for reproductive rights is still unacceptable. Women face hard choices between financial insecurity and a loss of independence on the one hand and dangerous procedures and strong social stigma on the other.
Jordan’s Fragile Balancing Act
Jordan has been a long-term partner for peace to the international community, but while all the country’s major donors voice support for Israel, its population is unified in support of the Palestinians under bombardment, and the country’s current strikes are a further threat to its famed stability.
A Mural Brought the Palestine Conflict to the 1964 World’s Fair
The Jordan Pavilion triggered an international crisis that led to protests, arrests, vandalism and the cancellation of at least one foreign leader’s visit, all within the first few weeks of a world’s fair whose official slogan was “Peace Through Understanding.”
Wedding Jokes Are Not Funny to Jordan’s Royals
At a time when the Jordanian economy is struggling and people are barely able to pay bills, the lavish wedding felt inappropriate. Year after year, the freedoms of Jordanians are being restricted and power is taken from them and handed over to the royal family. So when the campaign to publicize the wedding came out nationally and internationally and was titled “We rejoice,” we launched a parallel campaign with a slogan that roughly translated to “Rejoice, you little shits.”
Tribal Justice Persists Alongside Jordan’s Law Courts
Although tribal law was officially abolished in 1976, many Jordanians continue to resort to it when calamity strikes, and the government continues to enforce it. While critics say it undermines Jordan’s written laws and constitution, proponents argue it serves the public good, preventing revenge attacks and further bloodshed.
Engineering a Drought in Jordan
Jordan’s water minister claimed he was preventing a tsunami by draining a dam that supplied vital irrigation for local farmers. Others say it was a cover-up for a far worse problem. Either way, the corruption in the sector is strangling livelihoods and the environment.