Local

Following is the full text of Dima Karadsheh’s remarks, member of the World Council of Churches, during His Majesty King Abdullah's meeting with Christian religious leaders and figures from Jordan and Jerusalem on the occasions of Christmas and the New Year at the Baptism Site (Bethany beyond the Jordan) on Sunday: 

Your Majesty, the Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites, 

Your Majesty King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein,

Today, and from this holy site, I carry to Your Majesty a Christian Arab greeting full of the blessings of Christmas and the spirit of peace that fills our hearts with love and pride. We meet as we approach the date of birth of Christ, close to the place where Christ was baptised, on the pure land of Jordan, which prospers under wise Hashemite leadership.

Your Majesty, the Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites,

We, at the World Council of Churches, are proud of your achievements in this model of national unity and solidarity, which has never made us feel anything but as one Jordanian family, that has enjoyed and continues to enjoy the protection of the guardian of Christian and Islamic holy sites in Jordan and Palestine. We are near the Jordan River, which is a link, not a separator, between us and our holy sites, and our persevering people in the face of an unjust occupation.

In what state did you come back to us, O Christmas! Yes, we remember Christmas in the holy land, in the heart of Arab Palestine. Today, it bleeds in pain and sadness for its children, who have been martyred and displaced. There are those who stand strong and steadfast in the blessed land as it screams in the face of those who occupied and usurped it with decisions taken by “those who do not own for those who do not deserve”. From Balfour to Trump, we tell them we reject Trump’s decision just as we rejected Balfour’s 100 years ago. Your promise is null and void; it is illegal and will not be accepted by the churches or the free people of the world.

We in Jordan, with our Hashemite leadership as a role model, stand united in the face of the aggressors and the occupiers, to make the world hear the voice of the eternal Muslim and Christian right to holy sites, as Your Majesty stated in the Istanbul Summit a few days ago. Yes, it is an eternal right to our holy sites, protected by the Pact of Omar as it was protected by your grandfather Sharif Hussein Bin Ali with his body and soul.

Your Majesty, today, you lead the Muslim and Christian worlds in defending holy sites as a true hero. Lead us Your Majesty, and all the Christians of the world will follow as your faithful soldiers until the injustice on Jerusalem and our holy sites is lifted. 

Your Majesty, protector of this holy land,

Today, I stand before Your Majesty, proud to be an Arab, a Jordanian, a Christian, and a representative of the World Council of Churches, and we ask Your Majesty, as the Custodian of all our Christian and Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem, to step up your efforts in defending our Islamic and Christian holy sites at the United Nations, UNESCO, the International Court of Justice, and all other international fora to protect our churches and property, especially at this time, when the churches suffer under widespread abuse. Over 60 churches in Jerusalem and Palestine have been barbarically burned and vandalised by Israeli extremists in recent years, in so-called price tag attacks that included the defacement of these churches with offensive graffiti targeting all Christians, including Jesus Christ, peace be upon him.

Your Majesty, 

Last but not least, we declare our loyalty to Your Majesty and the Hashemite family, and to every member of our brave army and Nashama. May God protect the Christians and Muslims of my country under the leadership of the Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites, His Majesty King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein. 

May God protect you, Your Majesty, and season’s greetings.

AMMAN — Jordan's most influential businessman, Sabih Al Masri, returned to his home in Riydah after being detained by Saudi authorities and is expected to be allowed to leave the country soon, sources close to the family said on Sunday.

Masri's detention, which follows the biggest purge of the Saudi kingdom's affluent elite in its modern history, has sent shockwaves through business circles in Jordan and the Palestinian territories, where the billionaire has major investments.  

A Jordanian-Saudi citizen of Palestinian origin, Masri is also the chairman of Amman-based Arab Bank, one of the Middle East's largest privately owned financial institution. He was detained last Tuesday hours before he was planning to leave after he chaired meetings of companies he owns, sources said.

AMMAN — Petra and the Jordan Trail are among the "best" global destinations to visit in 2018, according to international travel magazines.

National Geographic has listed the Jordan Trail among its top 21 destinations to visit in 2018

On the magazine's website, Nat Geo said that the 400-mile Jordan Trail is a newly minted hiking path linking ancient trade routes. Divided into eight separate sections, the trail leads through Jordanian forests, canyons, deserts, and along the shores of the Red Sea. Along the trail, overnight stays are  spent at guesthouses, home stays, and Bedouin campsites.

It is believed that Jesus, Moses, and Mohammed all walked this path, according to the Nat Geo.

The trail has already been billed as the "Inca Trail of the Middle East.", according to several travel guides and agencies.

For Condé Nast Traveller, they chose Petra, Jordan's top destination, to be among their best 18 places to visit next year.

The magazine said that with ongoing turbulence across the Middle East, Jordan has seen its visitors number plummet in recent years; and while the US State Department has placed a travel warning on Jordan, citing a high terror risk, similar warnings have also been issued for far more visited countries like Germany. 

However, the magazine maintains that the Kingdom remains a safe and stable enclave within the region, rich with ancient monuments that date as far back as the 4th century BC. 

Tourism Minister Lina Annab wrote on her Facebook page: “Jordan is once again listed by two of the world’s top travel magazines as one of the best destinations to visit in 2018”.

Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat told The Jordan Times on Sunday that the announcement reflects the efforts of the board in “placing Jordan on the world’s tourism map” despite the regional turmoil and the economic challenges facing the Kingdom.

He added that including the two destinations in the magazine’s index  would lead to increasing the number of tourists from across the world and enhancing their confidence in Jordan as a distinctive and safe place. 

Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) Acting President Abdulmoeen Abu Helaleh hailed the development, attributing it to “tireless” efforts of all stakeholders.

He underscored the role of the Royal Court, which organises trips to tourist attractions for presidents and heads of delegations during their visits to the Kingdom, which adds to the efforts of other institutions. 

PDTRA figures showed a “considerable” increase in the number of visitors during 2017 compared to previous years.

Since January this year, 521,000 visitors entered Petra, compared to 461,000 during all of 2016.
PDTRA said they expect the number to reach 650,000 by the end of 2017. 

In October, the average number of visitors per day reached 1,800, Abu Helaleh said.
“The number of tourists visiting the ancient city until November has recorded a promising increase towards the end of the year, considering that December is part of the high season during which the rose-red city is supposed to receive more visitors,” Abu Helaleh told The Jordan Times over the phone on Sunday.

AMMAN — Inside a church in Jordan, a displaced Iraqi Christian mother dreams of a brighter future for her children far from the war-torn country they were forced to flee.

She is among thousands of Iraqi Christians from the northern town of Bartalla to have sought refuge in neighbouring Jordan after running for their lives from extremists.

"We've lost everything. Our houses have been pillaged and destroyed. There's nothing left over there to make it worth returning," said Walaa Louis, 40.

When the Daesh terror group swept across northern Iraq in 2014 they told Christians to convert, pay tax, leave or die. Tens of thousands chose to flee.

Baghdad has announced final victory over the extremist group, but Louis says she will not return to a country where she does not feel safe.

She, her husband and three children — now aged 16, 15 and eight — fled Bartalla in August 2014, trekking for hours in the dead of night to the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil.

They endured months of struggle in Erbil, including sleeping rough in parks or inside churches.

Iraqi forces retook Bartalla from Daesh earlier this year, but when Louis returned to her hometown in August she found nothing but a home in cinders.

She and her husband decided to head to Jordan, where they filed with the UN refugee agency for resettlement “in any safe country” to ensure her children’s future.

But as Christmas approaches, Louis said her family have received no financial aid and their money is running out.

“We’ve spent everything we had,” said Louis, who suffers from a heart condition.

“I can’t even see a doctor or buy Christmas presents for my children,” she said.

For now, her youngest son is among some 200 children aged 6 to 14 attending night classes at the Marka Latin Church in Amman.

‘Right to life’ 

They are taught by volunteer Iraqi teachers, and receive books, clothes and meals for free.

The night classes are all in English, the school’s head Sanaa Baki said, as the parents of most Iraqi students have applied for resettlement abroad.

She hopes the language skills will help the children better settle in foreign schools if these requests are granted.

Some 10,000 Iraqi Christian refugees live in Jordan, according to Father Rifaat Badr, who heads a Catholic research centre.

Many of them dream of new lives in Europe, Canada, Australia or in the United States.

The church’s priest, Khalil Jaar, believes education is also key to the children remembering where they come from.

“The saying goes, ‘If you want to destroy a people, erase their history and make their children ignorant’,” he said. 

“We need to work to ensure all these children are given their right to education and to life.”

 This month, France’s ambassador to Jordan, David Bertolotti, visited the church to announce a 120,000 euro ($140,000) donation for the night classes to continue until the end of the school year.

Under a large Christmas tree, children with wooden crosses dangling around their necks sang the Iraqi national anthem at the top of their lungs.

Ban Benyamin Yussef, a mother-of-four, was among the parents present.

“After Daesh members plundered, destroyed and burned our home and my husband’s grocery shop, we decided to pack our bags and seek refuge in Jordan, hoping to start a new life,” the 43-year-old said.

It was the last leg of a journey fleeing harassment across Iraq.

“When sectarian violence flared in 2006, we received death threats and fled Baghdad for Mosul”, a city in northern Iraq, she said.

Threatened there too, they escaped to a small village north of the city — until Daesh arrived in 2014.

But even now that Iraqi forces have claimed victory over the extremists, Yussef and her family have no intention of returning to Iraq.

“We can’t go back. Our towns have been destroyed. We’ve lost everything.”

 AMMAN — “I was so worried. My children’s shoes were old and would not have lasted the winter and I did not have the money to buy new ones,” said Fahmieh, a mother of eight children living in Azraq refugee camp. 

“We got new shoes this time. My old one had cracks, and would get wet easily,” said her son Abdulla, 14, showing his brand-new shoes.

Fahmieh is one of the thousands of Syrian parents in Azraq and Zaatari refugee camps who received a one-time cash assistance of JD20 per child from UNICEF to support their children during the winter months, according to a UNICEF said. 

Winter in Jordan can be extremely cold, with icy winds, rain and snow sometimes. UNICEF support to children during the 2017-2018 winter includes a mixed strategy of cash support and in-kind clothes distribution to support over 120,000 disadvantaged children living in Syrian refugee camps, host communities and other remote locations. 

“It is a top priority for UNICEF to protect vulnerable children from the harsh cold weather, so that they remain healthy and continue to learn and thrive,” UNICEF Representative to Jordan Robert Jenkins was quoted in the statement as saying.

“Thanks to the continued support from our donors and the partnership with the Government of Jordan and NGOs, we are able to help thousands of vulnerable children this winter,” he added.

All children in Zaatari and Azraq refugee camps, almost 65,000, are receiving the one-time cash grant of JD20 per child, provided by the Norwegian Refugee Council with the support of UNICEF, directly to the heads of households. 

Families are being informed through mobile text messages, door-to-door visits, community mobilisation, posters, flyers and awareness sessions that the UNICEF cash assistance is for the winter needs of their children, the statement said. 

Outside the camps, in areas with limited access to the market, UNICEF is delivering winter kits to more than 55,000 children through partners, the statement continued. 

UNICEF’s 2017-2018 winterisation programme in Jordan is implemented with the support of the US, the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, the German government and the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations Directorate, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — The Wadi Finan Art Gallery on Saturday launched a collective exhibition featuring MID The Art Reach Project’s fine wooden puzzles, showcasing the work of artists Ahmed Nawash, Nissa Raad and Fadi Daoud.

“Giving back to the community one puzzle at a time” is the motto of the new project, which transformed the artists’ famous paintings into a collection of jigsaw puzzles that attendees can purchase with a percentage of the proceeds going to tree planting in Palestine.

“This is a new concept for the painting in Jordan,” artist Fadi Daoud told The Jordan Times at the opening, noting that “this has been done in other countries before, but here, it opens a new market for artists to put their paintings on a new platform. Plus, it becomes accessible for people who can’t afford buying the painting itself”.

“It is like a dialogue between yourself and the painting,” the artist said about the process of putting the puzzles together, highlighting how it makes you focus on the small details while rebuilding the painting.

Influenced by regional artists such as Hussein Bakeer or George Baghoury, Daoud’s artwork is linear in style. “The roots of my art are Islamic, but I remove the lines and rebuild them again,” the artist said, noting that there are no curves in his artwork, where shapes are destroyed and recreated with straight lines that meet each other to find their organic shape again.

A taste of fauvism, expressionism and surrealism is brought to the MID’s puzzles by Ahmad Nawash, who once described his own style as “a serious, sensitive search into the human form and what surrounds it, and the many tragedies caused by the events that take place in Palestine and the Arab world”.  

Born in Jerusalem in 1934, Nawash has held numerous solo exhibitions in Amman, Baghdad, Jerusalem and Paris,   and his work has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Seventh Kuwait Biennale (1981), the Gold Medal of the Arab Artists’ Association (1981) and the State Prize of Appreciation, Jordan (1990).

Drama, whimsy and expressiveness are artist Nissa Raad’s additions to the puzzles, with eye-catching paintings inspired by the work of her late grandmother, Fahrelnissa Zeid.

“She told me to be myself, lose myself and enjoy the process of painting — and that is what I do, whatever I paint, I don’t do it to please anybody, but to go through the process and enjoy it as much as possible,” Raad told The Jordan Times.

AMMAN — The Court of Cassation has upheld a May State Security Court (SSC) ruling handing down two men reduced sentences after convicting them of possessing and selling illegal narcotics in March 2016.

The SSC sentenced one defendant to five years in prison and the second to 15 years after convicting them of possessing illegal narcotics with the intent to sell.

However, the SSC decided to reduce both defendants’ sentences to half to “give them a second chance in life”.

Court papers said the Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) received a tip-off that the defendants possessed illegal narcotics and were storing them in a house in Muwaqar in preparation for selling them.

On March 16, the AND personnel raided the apartment and arrested the two defendants along with other men following “fierce resistance by the people who were in the house”, the court documents added.

“AND agents found stashes of hashish and captagon pills as well as a machinegun,” the court said.

The defendants had contested the SSC ruling arguing through their lawyer that “the prosecutor failed to provide solid evidence to implicate his clients and that the court depended on witnesses’ contradictory statements”.

However, the Court of Cassation ruled that the SSC proceedings were correct and the defendants deserved the punishment they received.

The higher court comprised judges Mohammad Ibrahim, Naji Zubi, Daoud Tubeileh, Mohammad Tarawneh and Mohammad Beirudi.

AMMAN — Syrian refugees living in urban settings suffer much more from emotional distress and mental health related issues than their peers living in camp settings or Jordanians, a recent International Medical Corps (IMC) study showed.  

Titled “Understanding the Mental Health and Psychosocial Needs, and Service Utilisation of Syrian Refugees and Jordanian Nationals A Qualitative & Quantitative Analysis in the Kingdom of Jordan”, the report sought to add to the existing knowledge to “develop a profile of coping mechanisms and help-seeking behaviours utilised among the Syrian refugee population in Jordan, along with identifying barriers to service utilisation”. 

The survey, which included 6,000 participants across 10 governorates, with an equal proportion of Jordanians, Syrian refugees living in camps and in urban areas, assessed the variety and intensity levels of stressors among these communities.

According to the study, 27 per cent of urban refugees reported experiencing fear, all or most of the time in the two weeks preceding the interview, compared to 19 per cent and 18 per cent for host populations and camp refugees respectively. 

Furthermore, 35 per cent of urban refugees reported reduced functioning in their daily activities due to emotional distress, compared to 24 per cent of the host population and 23 per cent of refugees in camps.

Multiple reasons were cited as triggers to these symptoms of distress, varying between communities. 

For Syrians, family tensions were recorded as the biggest issue by both men and women, in addition to financial struggles and discrimination. 

“Sources of tension are the financial situation, loss of family members due to illness or war, lack of employment opportunities, lack of recreation. The results of these tensions have had a negative impact on social and family relations in addition to the impact of health and psychological aspects,” a respondent in Amman said. 

Several other testimonies quoted in the report corroborate this idea, noting that the lack of resources and financial conflicts are closely related to emotional distress, anger and depression. 

Furthermore, Syrian children and youth were found to be overwhelmingly affected by these issues compared to other demographics, with 73.5 of the mental distress cases involving these groups. 

A member of the Syrian Azraq community was quoted in the report as saying that children are more vulnerable “...because they are in the process of acquiring ideas, beliefs, and learning, everything  that  happens  affects  them  while .... Men and women [are] less affected because they can balance things and can adapt”. 

Children’s inability to pursue their education was also raised as a major stressor, with a member of the Ramtha community expressing that “many Syrian children are beaten and humiliated while going to school, where they say ‘we are not Syrians’ to protect themselves”. 

Cases of discrimination, in addition to difficulties of adaptation, were regarded as a major issue endangering the younger generation’s future.

A member from the Jerash community said: “Most of the students were not able to keep on track, they lose the future and the continuation of studies; some have lost at least three years of their study period.” 

For Jordanians, financial anxiety, including access to jobs, and burdened resources due to the influx of refugees, was raised as a main cause for stress. 

“Syrian workers take a lower wage than Jordanians and therefore Jordanians cannot compete in the job market,” a respondent from Irbid said.

Jordanian community members also highlighted the housing shortage as an outcome of the Syrian crisis.  

According to the latest national census published in May 2017, Jordanians accounted for 69.4 per cent of the Kingdom’s population (over 9.9 million), while 30 per cent were non-Jordanians (2.9 million). Out of these foreigners, over 660,582 were Syrians residing in Jordan, according to the latest UNHCR figures.

Moving on to the coping mechanisms and help-seeking behaviours, the report showed that difficult access to healthcare and stigma surrounding mental health issues were major concerns for both Jordanians and Syrians.

While coping mechanisms were not directly linked with gender, females were found to have significantly lower prevalence of using alcohol and drugs as a resort and a higher likelihood of finding comfort in faith and religion, the report showed.

Regarding help seeking behaviours, most of the respondents said they turned to relatives or friends, with over half of all respondents in all communities reporting seeking help from a spouse.  

Other behaviours included seeking help from doctors and specialists, a trend witnessed in respondents from host communities and refugees in urban areas, reaching out to community leaders, mostly used by Jordanians and finding comfort in religion.

Various recommendations were formulated by IMC, urging for increasing awareness of mental health issues to reduce stigma, support access to services through transportation and financial aid, especially for those living in remote areas, prioritise developmental needs of children and youth, among others. 

AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat on Sunday received the Saudi military attaché in Amman Brig. Khaled Bin Rbeaan Al Rbeaan and an accompanying delegation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

During the meeting Freihat and Rbeaan discussed ways of enhancing bilateral relations to best serve the interest of both armies. Upon a Royal Decree, Freihat also awarded Rbeaan with the Order of Merit of Second Class, in recognition of his efforts and dedication to serve the joint relations between the armed forces of Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

AMMAN — Director General of the Civil Defence Department (CDD) Maj. Gen. Mustafa Bazaiah on Sunday met with a delegation from the Kuwaiti National Guard headed by Maj. Gen. Faleh Faleh, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

They discussed means to develop closer cooperation and exchange expertise and training. Bazaiah highlighted the role of Prince Hussein Bin Abdullah II Academy of Civil Protection, where a number of Kuwaiti students are pursuing their studies, while Faleh praised the strong bilateral ties in the civil protection and defence fields, stressing the importance of exchanging expertise.