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AMMAN — The Cassation Court has upheld a March Criminal Court ruling sentencing a man to 20 years in prison for murdering his relative in the Jordan Valley in 2014.

The defendant was convicted of stabbing his cousin near a mosque in Southern Shuneh on January 31, 2014. He died two days later in hospital as a result of a single stab wound to the stomach.

Court papers said the defendant learnt that the 17-year-old victim was harassing his sister when, on the day of the incident, he answered her phone and heard the victim say “I love you.”

“The defendant then heard love songs on the phone and asked his mother to ask his sister if she was involved in a relationship with the victim,” the court said.

The defendant’s sister denied any relationship “but he still was furious, went to a shop and bought a knife and started looking for him”, court transcripts said.

When the defendant found him near a mosque, “he asked him about his alleged affair with his sister, which he denied”, according to the court.

“The defendant then drew a knife and stabbed the victim once in the stomach and fled,” the court papers said.

While running from the scene, the court continued, “the defendant saw two of his relatives and informed them that he stabbed the victim and asked them to take him to hospital.”

The defendant’s lawyer contested the verdict, saying that his client should benefit from Article 98 of the Penal Code, which stipulates that a person who commits a crime in “a fit of fury” caused by an unlawful act on the part of the victim receives a reduced penalty. 

But the Cassation Court, which issued its ruling a few months ago, said the Criminal Court’s ruling falls within the scope of the law and that the proceedings were proper and the sentence satisfactory.

The Cassation Court tribunal comprised judges Mahmoud Ababneh, Basel Abu Anzeh, Yassin Abdullat, Mohammad Tarawneh and Hussein Sakaran. 

AMMAN — Al Hussein Cultural Centre’s theatre was packed on Tuesday night with music fans eager to watch the Jordanian National Orchestra Association (JOrchestra) and Italian violinist and conductor Domenico Nordio perform two great classical pieces: Antonio Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” and Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Symphony no. 5”.

The evening, arranged by the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organisation and the Italian embassy, and held under the patronage of the president of Italy and Her Majesty Queen Noor, formed part of a celebration of the 15th week of Italian Language and Culture in the World.

With this concert, titled “The language of music, and the music of language”, organisers sought to share with the audience the musicality of the Italian language and the beauty of classical music.

“The Italian language is so musical that others identify with it even when they don’t understand it,” said Italian Ambassador to Jordan Giovanni Brauzzi at the event.

The concept of the event was chosen “because everyone who plays an instrument speaks a little Italian, because the tempos are in Italian”, Marco Marzeddu, first secretary of the Italian embassy, told The Jordan Times over the phone before the event. He added that it is the first concert the embassy has organised with the national orchestra.

Maestro Nordio is “a renowned violinist, viola player and conductor. He is one of Italy’s best musicians”, Sara Rella, manager of JOrchestra, told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

Throughourt Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”, Nordio performed the extraordinary feat of both conducting and playing solos on the violin. He then conducted a beautiful rendition of Beethoven’s “Symphony no. 5” with the full JOrchestra.

At the event, attended by Their Royal Highnesses Prince Raad, Princess Majda Raad and Princess Wijdan Al Hashemi, as well as Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, the Italian embassy also presented two Jordanian students of the Italian language, Motaz Inaim and Sanaa Al Banawi, with awards for best video and best picture in the “Italy in Jordan” contest.

To continue the celebrations of the 15th week of Italian Language and Culture in the World, the Italian embassy is hosting another musical event at Terra Sancta College on Sunday at 7:30pm. 

At this event, Italian organist Antonio Galante will play a diverse range of Italian organ music from the 17th to the 19th century on the college’s newly installed organ. Attendance is free.

On Monday, Società Dante Alighieri in Jabal Luweibdeh will host a “Journey through Italian Music” at 6pm.

AMMAN — Ahmad Abbadi, secretary general of Morocco’s Arrabita Al Muhammadiyah Foundation for Scholars on Wednesday delivered a lecture on the Moroccan experience in combating terrorism, which was organised by the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies and the Arab Thought Forum under the patronage of HRH Prince Hassan.

Abbadi said there is a need for technical expertise in dealing with the phenomenon of extremism, noting that the best approach is deconstructing extremist narratives that play on the aspirations of young people to promote their radical ideologies. He discussed the way Morocco combats terrorism through strengthening its religious institutions and handling pressing national issues such as human rights.

AMMAN — Culture Minister Lana Mamkegh on Monday visited the Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan, in Armenia, where she toured its different sections and was briefed on its history by Rector Shahen Shahinyan, a ministry statement said.

The minister voiced interest in cooperation between her ministry and the conservatory. Also on Monday, award-winning Jordanian films “Ismail” and “When Monaliza Smiled” were screened at an Armenian music association theatre.

AMMAN — Jordanian National Commission for Women Secretary General Salma Nims participated on Tuesday as a key speaker in a UN event held on the sidelines of an open debate and high-level review of UN Security Council Resolution (1325) on “Women’s Leadership in Peace and Security”, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Nims briefed attendees on the country’s efforts to activate the resolution and on challenges facing the national plan in this regard, especially emerging issues such as the spread of radical ideologies, highlighting women’s role in combating radicalism. 

AMMAN — The Development and Employment Fund (DEF) on Wednesday held a graduation ceremony for those who completed workshop programmes on small- and medium-sized enterprises, organised by the Arab Planning Institute in Kuwait in cooperation with the fund and the Jordan Chamber of Industry, according to a statement from the fund.

During the ceremony, DEF Director General Abdullah Freij stressed the importance of the programme, in which 35 people participated, representing the public and private sectors as well as owners of projects that benefit from DEF. 

AMMAN – After Israelis forced Palestinian families to leave their homes in 1948, many Palestinian women in the refugee camps resorted to selling their traditional dresses in order to meet their families’ needs, Siham Abu Ghazaleh recounted. 

Seven years old at the time, Abu Ghazaleh was then unaware of the value of these Palestinian dresses, but as an adult she became convinced of their cultural importance.  

“I remembered that many Western women bought the dresses from Palestinian women at cheap prices because the Westerners knew their value and significance.  At the time, Palestinians were occupied with meeting basic survival requirements and no one was aware of the need to preserve Palestinian identity,” she told The Jordan Times in an interview at the Palestinian Cultural Centre in west Amman’s Rabiah area on Wednesday. 

Abu Ghazaleh, head of the heritage committee and exhibitions at the centre, has dedicated her life to learning and preserving Palestinian embroidery, attaining great experience in the field. 

Describing her initial efforts to research this subject, she recalled: “I depended on books and started meeting women who knew about these dresses to get further information. We did not learn about our country in school because they taught us about the French revolution and about England and Europe instead.”

After she moved to Kuwait, Abu Ghazaleh joined the Palestinian Women’s Association, and she has been in charge of its cultural committee since the 1970s. 

“Traditional Palestinian dress was not used in Kuwait, so we started holding fashion shows to raise people’s awareness regarding this style of dress. The first event was held at my house in 1976. Following our events, women started wearing these dresses to weddings and social events,” she said.

Due to the success of these events in Kuwait, the association began holding its fashion shows abroad.    

Abu Ghazaleh settled in Amman during the 1990s and noticed that many Palestinian women with great experience in embroidery had also moved to Jordan following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.    

“There were around 750 women who knew embroidery, and that was a great motive for me to stay in Amman and look after them. I wanted the process to be ongoing.” 

Abu Ghazaleh, a mother of four and grandmother of eight, said traditional Palestinian dresses were mainly worn in rural areas. 

“Palestinians residing in the cities used to buy the dresses and take pictures with them,” she added with a smile.

She stressed that the Palestinian community is a rural society, but more than 400 villages were destroyed following the Israeli occupation.  

Abu Ghazaleh, who has an MA in embroidery, described the Palestinian dress as the “language” that each Palestinian city or town uses to convey its identity, culture and history.   

“For example, Jaffa’s dress features the shape of a water wave because it has a harbour, which was among the most important harbours in the world.” 

She noted that a country that has no identity has no people, and this is why it is important to instill a passion for culture and heritage in the generations to come. 

“Israelis stole items of cultural significance to Palestinians and pretended that these works were theirs. Due to the weakness of Arab and Palestinian media outlets, people around the world believed the Israeli narrative and thought that Palestinians had nothing.” 

Describing herself as having roots all over Palestine, Abu Ghazaleh was born in Jaffa and lived in Nablus, her hometown, and Jerusalem.  

Recently, she has witnessed women of Palestinian descent starting to teach their daughters the basics of embroidery

“My children and grandchildren help me with the exhibitions and they are really interested in Palestinian identity.  Palestinians have great patience. We learned from working on the land and this is the base of our resistance.”

AMMAN — Private tourism companies plan to target a number of international markets to promote Jordan as a tourist attraction and as a hub for the industry of international meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE).

In separate phone interviews with The Jordan Times on Wednesday, several stakeholders highlighted a recent tour to Russia and future promotional campaigns in other countries such as Algeria and Turkey. 

The visit to Russia last week, had “a great audience and a huge interaction”, Tyche Tours General Manager Arwa Mahadin said, adding that the Russian market gives immediate results, which are needed for Jordan’s tourism sector in light of ongoing conflicts in the region.

“The Russian market is beneficial to Jordan as are the Dubai and Turkey markets for example, and it views Jordan’s tourist attractions favourably, which means we should work with them to promote Jordan as a tourist and MICE destination,” Mahadin added. 

Nabih Riyal, general manager of Plaza Tours, said the Russian event included two sessions, the first was attended by around 200 Russian tourist companies, during which a presentation on Jordan’s tourist attractions was delivered and it received “good feedback”.

The second session focused on MICE events in Jordan and was attended by around 170 to 180 Russian tourist companies, Riyal said, adding that there are not many Russian tourists in Jordan not because of the turbulence in the region but due to weak promotion.

Kempinski Hotel General Manager Sébastien Mariette said prices in Jordan are high, which might make it difficult to attract Russian tourists to the Kingdom at first. 

However, based on the reaction he observed at the event, Mariette said: “On the mid-term, I am sure more Russians will be visiting.”

The hotelier said that those who knew nothing about Jordan were happy to learn about it, and those who knew were glad the Kingdom held such a promotional event in Russia.

Mahadin said tourism authorities should be working on an urgent plan to target promising countries instead of long-term plans in order to stimulate the country’s economy and promote its stability.

Visits to other countries should bring continuous tourist cooperation with careful planning, she said, adding that visits should not be a one-time event without follow-up.

Experts in the field should be involved in the whole promotion process, Mahadin added.

Private tourist companies are planning to make an international tour around various countries to study promising markets and narrow down their options in terms of which markets to focus more or less on, she said, adding that Jordan’s capability of holding MICE events, in places like the Dead Sea for example, should be promoted as well.

Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) is working with the USAID-supported Jordan International Conferences Ambassador Programme to train Jordanians — who are active and recognised internationally in the fields of medicine, academia, business and other sectors — to promote the Kingdom as a viable destination for MICE.

The MICE industry stimulates an estimated $1.2 trillion and 400,000 conferences and exhibitions worldwide each year, according to USAID.

In Jordan, revenue from MICE is only 1.7 per cent of the country’s total tourism revenue.

Moreover, the JTB is implementing an executive plan to promote the Kingdom’s tourist attractions over the upcoming four years, targeting the British, German and French markets.

The contingency marketing strategy, which is being carried out in cooperation with several local partners, seeks to address concerns over regional safety, boost online and offline communication with prospective markets, and design packages based on their preferences, according to the board.

Once the strategy proves successful in Europe, it will be replicated in other supporting and potential markets, JTB Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat said in remarks to the press in August.

AMMAN — Several political factions and civil society groups in Jordan have announced a "Day of Rage" in solidarity with Al Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinians in response to recent events in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, according to a statement from the organisers released Wednesday.

Rallies will take place after Friday prayer in locations including Amman downtown from Al Husseini Mosque, Rabia's Kalouti Mosque, Palestinian refugee camps, the Jordan Valley, and other governorates, the statement said, citing media reports. The Jordanian Commission to Defend Al Aqsa Mosque and Other Holy Sites in Jerusalem is also planning a march from Al Husseini Mosque to Al Nakheel Square, according to a Jordan Engineers Association statement.

AMMAN — The Hashemite Commission for Disabled Soldiers recently held a ceremony attended by HH Prince Mired, the commission's president, in honour of disabled soldiers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Wednesday.

The ceremony is in line with Prince Mired's directives on the need for continued meetings with veterans to check on their condition and in appreciation of their sacrifices, according to retired Brig. Gen. Jadallah Masarweh, the society's director general.