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AMMAN – A total of 41 depictions of manuscripts of Islamic art are on display in Amman, which take visitors on a journey into the world of Islamic and oriental culture.

Organised by the Netherlands embassy, the exhibition is held at Amman’s Ras Al Ain Gallery with the aim of highlighting the “richness of this art and to expose the Jordanian public to this important kind of art”, said Luit Mols, curator for the Middle East, West and Central Asia. 

The depictions are important to Jordan, she said, because they originally came from the region and stayed for 400 years at Leiden University, the oldest university in the Netherlands. 

“Now they return for a brief time to the region to acquaint people with them,” she said in remarks to The Jordan Times during the opening ceremony of the exhibition. 

“People are invited to study them if they want, so if students from Jordan, for example, want to study these manuscripts, they can do that at Leiden University,” added Mols, who is also an assistant professor at Leiden University. 

This year Leiden University celebrates the 400th anniversary of the study of oriental languages and culture. It was in the year 1613 that the chair of Arabic was founded, which makes it one of the oldest in Europe, according to a statement included in the exhibition’s booklet.

The reasons for studying Arabic are numerous,  it said, from an academic interest in the Arabic language and civilisation, to the need for religious dialogue, to the fostering of commercial and diplomatic ties.

The tradition in oriental studies is reflected in the wealth of the library collections at Leiden University, the statement added, noting that currently Leiden University holds 4,000 Arabic manuscripts, and 2,000 manuscripts in Persian and Ottoman Turkish.  

“These manuscripts deal with different topics. For example Koranic calligraphy, which is very important because of course, it is the most important kind of the Islamic art and Leiden University has very old copies of the Koran, some coming from Indonesia or India and this is also quite special,” Mols said. 

She noted the role of manuscripts in cultural exchange between the East and the West.

“They show that there has been a cultural exchange between the Middle East and Europe and it is always very important to emphasise this exchange that we had in the middle ages, and it has been there up to the present day,” she noted. 

The manuscripts’ original copies were not brought to Jordan because they were “too fragile due to frequent use”, which shows that there has always been a lot of interaction, interest and exchange between the different cultures, Dutch Ambassador to Jordan, Paul van den IJsselI, said.

“And nowadays we see it is very necessary to have more exchange, understanding and interest in each other,” the Dutch diplomat added.  

The exhibition, dubbed “The Islamic Art Exhibition — the Art of the Islamic Book from Leiden Collections”, runs until October 12.   

This exhibition, held under the patronage of HRH Prince El Hassan and organised in Amman is important, Mols said.    

“In Leiden for example there was a very special exhibition on Jordan two years ago about Petra and for me it was nice that Jordan came to Leiden and now Leiden comes to Jordan,” she said.

AMMAN – HRH Princess Rym Ali said on Sunday that while students are often told in school that culture is what remains when one has forgotten everything, she believed that culture is what remains when one has lost everything. 

In her remarks during the opening of a two-day forum titled “Forum on Culture and Humanitarian Relief”, Princess Rym described culture as “an integral part of humanitarian relief efforts”. 

“Despite the difficulties experienced by victims of violence, culture is a source of strength, reminding even the dispossessed that they are human beings,” she told participants. 

Experts on trauma and psychological relief for the victims of violence, staff and volunteers of humanitarian relief organisations as well as cultural practitioners from both Jordan and the region, are taking part in the forum, held by Goethe Institut in Amman.  

“We in Jordan have done what we can, giving our limited resources to welcome communities escaping violence or trauma for decades. Support for basic needs for creative expression and sharing stories has been missing from traditional humanitarian efforts very often due to the urgency of the situation,” Princess Rym added.  

She noted that hope remains alive for an end to the conflicts in the region, enabling many refugees to rebuild their lives back home. 

“But even if the wars and the fighting and the destruction were to end right now, it would take decades for people to resettle.  It is the duty of everyone to rally and find ways of helping victims of violence to live with dignity. This can be carried out simply by giving hope to children at the refugee camps, by showing them films as the Royal Film Commission has been doing, by letting them paint and organise plays as others have done. We all believe in the power of culture,” she added.  

Günther Hasenkamp, director of Goethe Institute in Amman, said culture has a direct relationship with what happens in society.

“The question will come up sooner or later: How does culture relate to a situation in crisis?” he said in remarks to The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the forum.     

Hasenkamp noted that there are many groups with interesting ongoing projects and that the initial idea was to ask them to come to Amman and present these initiatives. 

“We are hearing the term ‘cultural relief’ more often now; it is a term that was not often used in the past. However, the term needs some kind of definition. We need to develop a deeper understanding of how cultural relief and cultural development relate to each other,” he added.  

Royston Maldoom, a choreographer who has been leading international dance projects for 30 years, including with children and young people, presented to the audience a number of his projects, which involved the participation of many people facing abject conditions in their homes, affected by poverty or who are refugees.    

Maldoom, whose projects incorporate “everyone regardless of talent and experience”, told The Jordan Times that although some people might wonder what would happen next after their children participate in cultural activities, “what I found in Palestine was that parents were excited about the projects because their children would go back home and talk to them. The children are happy and they have friends; we see that the activities create a real change in them.”

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday telephoned Saudi Arabia’s Prince Mohammad Bin Nawwaf Bin Abdulaziz and  extended his deepest condolences over the death of his father, Prince Nawwaf Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, a Royal Court statement said.

The prince, who was the special adviser of King Salman Bin Abdelaziz, passed away last week.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Saturday headed an ordinary meeting for stakeholders concerned with implementing the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) grant.

The meeting covered the progress of projects funded by the grant and the ratio of actual spending on the level of benefiting sectors, ministries and institutions around the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The premier urged all ministries and institutions to accelerate work progress to ensure the “utmost benefit” from the $5 billion grant decided by Gulf partners in 2011.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour will on Wednesday attend the launch ceremony of a study prepared by the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) dubbed “The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in International Competitiveness Reports: Facts and Aspirations”.

The report sheds light on the competitiveness of different sectors in the Kingdom and ways to enhance them, an ACC statement said.

ACC President Issa Murad said the timing of the study is important, in light of Jordan maintaining its ranking in the 2015 Global Competitiveness Report, in comparison with the 2014 report, where Jordan ranked 64 at the international level.

The World Economic Forum’s report is considered an annual evaluation of factors enhancing productivity in the economies of more than 140 countries.

AMMAN – Commuting by taxi is not always a pleasant experience for many Amman residents due to “bad attitude of some drivers”, according to a consumer advocate, who was challenged by the syndicate representing cabbies. 

Several commuters and head of the consumer protection committee (CPC) at the Professional Associations Complex on Sunday charged that several taxi drivers have off-putting attitudes such as breaching meter regulations, rejecting customers based on destination and smoking during the trip. 

CPC head Bassim Kiswani told The Jordan Times that some taxi drivers “violate public morals either in the way they dress or the type of phone conversations they engage in while driving”. 

“We hear many complaints from people on the very shameless acts of some taxi drivers,” Kiswani said, describing their behaviour as “thuggery”. 

The head of the advocacy group said some cabbies speed, do not abide by the set fares, refrain from turning on the meters and smoke cigarettes without even asking for the passengers’ permission.

“Some also pull over outside hotels, seeking higher rates from guests, while others negotiate for extra money to agree to go to certain areas,” said Kiswani, who urged the Interior Ministry and the Public Security Department to “deal with violators with an iron fist”.

“We do not have decent public transportation in Jordan and taxis are considered the only option for a large number of citizens and guests,” he said.

The concerns of Kiswani were echoed by Iman Odeh, an employee at a private company in Amman, who said she began to dislike going to work as she has to take a cab to and from her house on a daily basis. 

“It is very rare to find a taxi driver who abides by regulations. Some text while driving and others drive very fast,” she told The Jordan Times. 

Faten Alabbasi had the same sentiments, accusing cabbies of being selective in picking up passengers, particularly in the summer. 

During the hot season, taxi drivers reject passengers because they do not like to go to certain destinations, said the 28-year-old employee.  

“In any profession you can find good and bad employees. And there are good and bad taxi drivers,” said Firas Khadra, who urged authorities to enforce more control on the sector as there is a large number women using this type of transportation on a regular basis.

Unionist rejects claims 

Ahmad Abu Haidar, president of the Transport Services and Taxi Owners Union refuted accusations related to practices of drivers, saying such claims harm the reputation of the Kingdom. 

“Such behaviour is practised by thugs and not by cabdrivers who have to go through a rigorous process before joining the profession,” he said in comment on Kiswani’s remarks.

He added that drivers should be above 22 years of age and should also obtain public transport licences and certificates of good conduct. 

“We cannot deny that a few drivers have some distasteful practices, but they make up no more than 2 per cent,” said Abu Haidar, who noted that there are around 17,000 taxis in Jordan and 3,000 (fixed-route) service cabs.

He said that taxi drivers in Jordan “are known for their honesty and decency”.

“Listen to local radio stations every morning and you will hear tens of calls from drivers who report on belongings of passengers being left in their cars, such as mobile phones, jewellery and money,” he said.

Officials from the public security and central traffic departments could not be reached despite several attempts to contact them to comment on the issue. 

AMMAN — Rappers, breakdancers and skateboarders gathered at 7Hills Skatepark in Amman’s Jabal Luweibdeh neighbourhood on Friday for The Word is Yours, an event billed as “Jordan’s first regional urban festival”.

The free-of-charge, two-day event showcased urban arts such as hip hop, graffiti art, skateboarding, and breakdancing, and brought together artists from across the Middle East.

“Hip hop is a means of freedom of expression…it’s the best way for people to be able to vent,” the festival’s co-organiser Shermine Sawalha told The Jordan Times.

She noted Jordan’s increasing prominence within the region in urban arts, for instance in breakdancing: “The breakdancing scene is becoming very strong in Jordan. Actually, most of the competitors in the region are Jordanian.”

Graffiti art was also on the rise in Amman, with artists looking to bring new techniques to the city, and about 100 young skateboarders were becoming more professionalised, Sawalha commented.

“Amman definitely has some of the best rappers in the region,” said Malikah, the Lebanese rapper who was the closing act at the concert.

Tia Korpe, co-organiser of the festival, said the skatepark was an ideal venue because it was open, free, and already a community destination.

She added that while city authorities and businesses were supportive of the festival, the funding came entirely from crowdfunding websites.

Copenhagen-based Korpe and Amman-based Sawalha run regional production companies Mektoub and Malahi respectively. Korpe is also MENA programme officer for the NGO Turning Tables, which provides music production facilities and creative opportunities for excluded youth, including at Al Hussein Palestinian Refugee Camp near the Jabal Hussein neighbourhood of Amman.

The first day of The Word is Yours festival, held at 7Hills Skatepark, featured performances from musical acts such as rappers Synaptik and Jazz Tha Process, Kuwaiti group Sons of Yusuf, and DJ Missy Ness from Tunisia, as well as competitions in skateboarding and breakdancing.

7Hills Skatepark was established last year with money from crowdfunding platform Make Life Skate Life and built by volunteers from the community.

The second day of the festival, held at the Al Locanda Hotel, included art and dance workshops, film screenings, and discussions with musical acts.

AMMAN — An MP and his escorts are facing a lawsuit for allegedly assaulting an Egyptian restaurant worker in Aqaba, as a video circulated on social media purported.  

The recent assault triggered anger among many Jordanians, Egyptian diplomats and media commentators. 

The issue prompted the government to comment, with Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani insisting that Jordan respects Arab guests, adding that the law protects both citizens and residents, and guarantees their right to resort to the Kingdom’s legal system. 

The video, which went viral on social media over the weekend, showed lawmaker Zeid Shawabkeh purportedly talking to an Egyptian worker at a fast food restaurant in the port city, but as the lawmaker was still speaking to the waiter, his brother slapped the guest worker on the face.

The waiter was identified by the management of the Lebnani Snack outlet as Khaled Yamani. He is 36.  

The video showed that the MP’s brother then pushed Yamani to the ground and, with the help of two others, started beating him up.

The waiter was admitted to the Islamic Hospital in Aqaba after the assault, an employee at the restaurant who witnessed the assault told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

“The MP did not beat Khaled, but his brother and the other people accompanying him did,” said the employee, who preferred anonymity.

On the details of how the argument started, the employee said Shawabkeh and the people with him came to the restaurant and placed an order with the Egyptian worker. 

“The meals were delivered a bit late, so the Egyptian worker asked another colleague to serve the meals, fearing that they might be angry at him because of the delay,” said the eyewitness.

“When the second worker served the meals, the MP’s brother asked about the Egyptian worker and why he himself did not serve the meals. Then he asked for him and as the Egyptian worker approached he was met with the violent reaction.

For his part, the lawmaker told The Jordan Times he was accompanied only by his brother at the restaurant, denying that others took part in the assault.

But the video showed that two others were involved. 

Shawabkeh said he was unable to control his brother, accusing the victim of “using filthy language”.

“This is a just brawl between two people… Brawls happen all the time, but is this meant for blackmail?” he said.

Social media users slammed the assailants and called for stiff measures against them.

“This is a shame. The assailants think they are truly men when they assault a guest worker,” Qusai Qudah wrote in a comment on Facebook.

Another Facebook user named Hala agreed, saying: “This is thuggery.”

Case to go to court

Mohammad Theeb Barakeh, the lawyer representing Lebnani Snack, told The Jordan Times that he had filed a lawsuit against the MP and the people accompanying him at an Aqaba court on charges of libel, slander and intimidation in addition to assault. 

The issue of the assault on the restaurant worker was highlighted by the Egyptian media. 

Several Egyptian news channels and websites reported the issue and condemned the behaviour of the MP and his escorts. 

Egypt’s Ambassador to Jordan Khaled Tharwat told a Cairo-based TV channel over the phone that the embassy in Amman would sue the MP and those involved in the attack.

Tharwat told Al Hayat TV that the embassy contacted Jordan’s Foreign Ministry and President of the Lower House Atef Tarawneh to speed up investigations into the incident.

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury met on Sunday with members of the European Parliament.

They discussed regional and economic challenges facing Jordan, along with humanitarian and financial responsibilities that the country has been shouldering as a result of prevailing regional conditions and its large numbers of Syrian refugees.

Fakhoury commended the EU’s support for Jordan, stressing the need to sustain and increase in a manner that meets the growing necessities of host communities and Syrian refugees. 

AMMAN — Regional conditions require joining efforts and continuing coordination to avoid more challenges and hardships, in the event the Arab Joint Action is not activated and Arabs lack cooperation, Interior Minister Salameh Hammad said Sunday.

At a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Jordan Sami Al Saleh, Hammad praised the Saudi stance supporting Jordan in different fields, noting that Jordanian-Saudi relations are based on mutual understanding over different challenges and issues, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Saleh, for his part, expressed his country’s keenness on enhancing bilateral relations with Jordan, referring to the close views of both countries on Arab, regional and international issues.