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AMMAN – A JD1.5 cheque issued by the Social Security Corporation (SSC) to a private sector employee for a work injury triggered a storm of jokes and criticism on social media on Tuesday.

Dozens of Facebook and Twitter users shared photos of the cheque accompanied with sarcastic comments and posts. 

The cheque was issued to Qusai, who told a radio station that the amount was compensation for a work injury he suffered a year ago. 

But SSC Spokesperson Musa Sbeihi challenged Sarabtah’s claims, noting that the corporation covered all his medical treatment expenses at a cost of JD128.

The JD1.5 cheque, Sbeihi told The Jordan Times, was issued for covering the beneficiary’s transportation costs from home to the medical facility where he received treatment. 

However, the SSC official acknowledged that the financial department made a mistake, as cheques for amounts less than JD10 should not be issued; instead the JD1.5 should have been added to the overall compensation granted to Sarabtah. 

“The SSC covered all the medical treatment costs for the employee,” Sbeihi said, adding that he suffered a minor work injury. 

Facebook user Subhi Jaafar commented sarcastically that the beneficiary would have to spend more money to go to the bank to cash the cheque. 

“How could the Social Security Corporation afford to pay such a huge amount,” Kamal Qatatsheh joked on Facebook. 

Yazan Ayman ‏(@Yazanayman94) tweeted that the amount would not be enough to buy a packet of cigarettes. 

Facebook users also circulated photos of another cheque valued at JD0.75 issued to a worker in the northern city of Ramtha.  

AMMAN — A group of young people broke into a school in Amman and attempted to attack a teacher with penknives on Monday, marking the 90th registered attack on teachers since the start of the year, the Jordan Teachers Association (JTA) said Tuesday.

The teacher in question, who works at Abu Hurairah Public Primary School for Boys, had an issue with a student earlier this week, prompting the student to bring a number of “thugs” to raid the school and attack the educator, according to JTA Spokesperson Ayman Okour.

“Other teachers intervened and prevented the assailants from getting near the targeted teacher. If they had managed to reach him, it would have been a catastrophe,” he told The Jordan Times.

A complaint was filed against the assailants.

Attacks on teachers are continuing even after the Cabinet approved amendments to the Penal Code earlier this month that stiffen penalties against those who assault educators and medical personnel.

The amended law, which was referred to the Legislation and Opinion Bureau, stipulates no less than a one-year prison term for those who attack teachers, faculty members at colleges and universities, nurses and doctors while they are on duty. 

The punishment also applies if the educators or healthcare workers are attacked for an action or decision they have taken in their professional capacity.

Okour reiterated the JTA’s support for the move, but said it was not enough.

“Prevention is what we need here instead of waiting for the attackers to harm teachers to punish them. We call for more police patrols and guards outside schools,” he said, adding that many “reckless” young people loiter outside girls’ schools every day, which requires more monitoring.

“We cannot wait and see if these people will do harm to our teachers and children to take action against them. Schools need more safety measures,” Okour noted.

Earlier this month, Education Ministry Spokesperson Walid Jallad said the ministry has filed 60 lawsuits against teachers’ assailants, and the minister has tasked the legal division with following up on all assaults.

He added that the ministry will not drop charges against the assailants even if the targeted educators decide to do so.

AMMAN — People of all religions and cultures should focus on positive interaction and bridging the gaps between nations, HRH Prince Hassan said Tuesday. 

At a meeting with a group of young diplomats participating in a regional networking programme, organised by the Jordanian and German foreign ministries in cooperation with the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, the prince stressed the importance of having an accurate knowledge-base to help in policy planning.

Speaking to diplomats from Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, Palestine, Lebanon, Libya, South Africa, Korea, Sri Lanka and Germany, he called for defining the common good through social rhetoric that expresses the interests of all people, and for serious steps to be taken in order to achieve peace instead of waging war.

“We need a dialogue with the other; a dialogue that serves the public interest, such a dialogue is the only path to progress and reform,” said the prince. 

He called for "holding on" to the future of the region's Arab-Islamic and Arab-Christian identity, warning that the ongoing fighting will only lead to more disunity and chaos.

Pointing to the absence of a correct definition of terrorism, Prince Hassan noted that terror comes in many forms, including individual terrorism, collective terrorism, cultural terrorism and ideological terrorism.

"It is evident that without real public participation, and without institutionalising social ties and adopting development programmes with popular support, the region's security and stability cannot be guaranteed," he said.

The prince stressed the need to link the past, present and future of the nation to create harmony and balance with "the other", and between thoughts and reality, and to focus on critical and scientific thinking. 

He also called for concerted efforts at the regional and international levels to cooperate in water and energy issues.

AMMAN — Although some social media users were outraged by a couple’s public display of affection after a video of the two was widely shared on the Internet this week, others said recording the incident was an invasion of privacy.

“This is something we are not used to in Jordan — they must have expected it. When you are in a conservative country you must respect its morals and beliefs,” Maysa Nabulsi wrote on Facebook.

Ahmad Mari agreed, noting that “personal acts shouldn’t be performed in public. If this had happened anywhere else, it would have been acceptable, but not in the Arab world.” 

“The person who recorded this should be punished, but that does not mean the public should disregard what is happening in the video,” Sahem Bdour wrote on Facebook.

Said Abu Al Neel said the person who filmed and shared the video, purportedly showing the couple kissing and hugging in Amman’s Wakalat Street, should be held accountable for taking and publishing a video of people he/she does not know personally. 

“They should bring to court the person who filmed them; it is considered an invasion of privacy,” Abu Al Neel said. 

Another Facebook user, Anees Mayatah, said recording the incident was “immoral”, not the actual public display of affection.

Lubna Bajjali wrote on her Facebook page: “I wish it were a video of a man harassing a girl or a photo of a girl who was a victim of ‘honour’ crimes. Violence became something so common that we find love a strange, rare phenomenon.” 

“Conservative societies reject the idea of love in public and emphasise the ‘culture of hate’ privately and publicly,” Bajjali charged.

Batir Wardam, an activist and former columnist at Ad-Dustour, said the public should criticise more important issues like Daesh’s crimes and other terror groups. 

AMMAN – The colour orange, which denotes optimism, inspiration and the rejuvenation of the spirit, will be the emblem of activities held in Jordan over the next couple of weeks as part of the "16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence" campaign.

Wednesday will mark the launch of the annual global campaign, which aims to intensify attention towards gender violence and the injustices that women and girls face.

A diverse array of activities will be held across Jordan during the 16 days, including sports events, lectures, workshops, awareness campaigns and free legal consultation services.

These activities will shed light on all forms of gender-based violence, especially against girls and women, as they are the most susceptible to violence, according to organisers.

"We should not perceive the 16 days of activism as an individual event or assume that organisations and donors are only working during this campaign. It is an opportunity to bring momentum to all stakeholders' efforts," said Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW) Secretary General Salma Nims.

At a press conference held by the JNCW on Tuesday to announce the launch of this year’s campaign, she noted that it has managed to bring together the main contributors to efforts to achieve women’s empowerment and gender equality in the Kingdom.

Nims highlighted the JNCW as the primary national organisation entrusted with overseeing gender policy in the country and liaising between civil society and the government, the USAID Takamol Gender Programme, donors and United Nations missions in Jordan.

"Many forms of violence are still socially accepted. This is a global issue," she added, as one in three women across the world suffer from a form of abuse, while only one in nine report the abuse.

"In Jordan, 57 per cent of female victims of violence refrain from reporting it because they fear the social stigma and the reaction of their families," said UN Women Representative to Jordan Giuseppe Belsito.

Stressing that the damage left by gender-based violence goes beyond the abused person, the perpetrator and the family, he noted that it affects the overall economic wellbeing of countries.

"There are economic costs of violence. Nearly 1 to 2 per cent of the GDP [gross domestic product] is affected by violence against women, which can be seen in the low productivity of victims, medical and legal services," Belsito said.

On the bright side, there are several positive commitments made by the Jordanian government in this area, such as amending the Family Protection Law, the UN official added.

"We hope that next year we will not still be talking about Article 308 [which pardons rapists if they marry their victims]," he said.

Maartje Peters, deputy head of mission and counsellor at the Dutch embassy, noted that there is still a long way to go to address gender-based violence in Jordan, citing Article 308, the wage gap and reduced penalties for so-called honour crimes, as well as a high rate of gender-based violence in refugee camps.

"The upsurge of violence in refugee camps is expected due to the circumstances they have suffered, but this is not perceived as a phenomenon that needs to be addressed," she added.

The 16-day campaign in Jordan is organised by the JNCW in cooperation with the Shamaa Network to Combat Violence Against Women, which includes several civil society organisations, as well as UN agencies in Jordan, and with the support of
USAID and the embassy of the Netherlands.

For the first time, according to the JNCW, the campaign will include advocacy messages based on real-life stories to be delivered in the form of films.

In addition, billboards featuring prominent Jordanian figures, such as football player Mohammad Khamees and cartoonist Omar Abdallat, with messages against gender-based violence have been installed on streets. 

The campaign, which will also involve activities in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, includes a media initiative targeting all governorates, utilising TV, radio, and video messages that highlight the various forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls.

"The focus is not only on Jordanians, but also refugees and foreign workers," Nims said.

Although highly under reported, gender-based violence and discrimination remain all too prevalent in Jordan, as demonstrated in the Beijing+20 National Report recently released by the JNCW.

Survivors of violence are sometimes unaware of existing protection mechanisms and continue to be hesitant in seeking support due to social stigma and fear of retaliation. Additionally, legislative gaps leave women and girls at risk of further abuse and societal stigmatisation, according to the report.

“Whenever we work on changing mindsets around a particular social context, it becomes important to recognise that creating knowledge is... the most important ingredient of that effort," said Nermeen Murad, chief of party of the USAID Takamol Gender Programme, which works with partners from various government and civil institutions to advance gender equality.

AMMAN — The Civil Service Bureau (CSB) on Tuesday held a competitive exam for top private and public university graduates for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015, who majored in engineering, business and IT, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The test is in implementation of the Cabinet’s decision to employ 150 top graduates to support the public sector with skilled staff. The exam was held for the first time, CSB President Khalaf Hmeisat said, adding that 313 graduate sat for the test, Petra reported.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday sent a cable of condolences to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi over victims of a terrorist attack on Tuesday morning near a hotel in El Arish. In the cable, the King expressed his condemnation of these “cowardly and heinous” terrorist acts, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty also voiced Jordan’s full solidarity with Egypt, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. The government on Tuesday also condemned the terrorist attack in Egypt and the attack in Tunisia that targeted a bus of the presidential guard.

Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani expressed the Kingdom’s support for Tunisia and Egypt in maintaining their security and stability, highlighting the importance of fighting terror, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Amman Mayor Aqel Biltaji on Tuesday called for coordinating efforts in the capital during extraordinary circumstances and crises. He made the remarks during a visit to the National Centre for Security and Crisis Management.

The mayor and an accompanying delegation met with the centre’s vice president, Brig. Gen. Talal Bani Milhem.

Both sides agreed on having a Greater Amman Municipality engineer at the centre as a liaison officer, and on connecting the centre with GAM’s emergency room electronically, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday sent a cable of congratulation to Argentina’s president-elect Mauricio Macri. King Abdullah, in the cable, underlined his commitment to developing bilateral ties to serve the interests of both countries, a Royal Court statement said.

Also on Tuesday, His Majesty sent a cable to Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Covic congratulating him on his country’s national day. The King wished Bosnia and Herzegovina further prosperity and progress.

AMMAN — The Jordan-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) joint tourism team began on Tuesday its second meeting, which aims at pushing bilateral cooperation to a higher level.

During the meeting, Tourism Ministry Secretary General Issa Gamoh said the similar positions on various issues between the Kingdom and Gulf states have a huge impact on improving the level of Jordanian-GCC, especially in tourism and investments.

He added that the number of tourists coming from GCC countries to Jordan has increased during the last few years, securing foreign currency flow to the Treasury.

He also said that 20 per cent of Jordan’s exports go to the GCC market, adding that Gulf investments in Jordan have made immense contributions to the Kingdom’s development process.