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AMMAN — Jordan’s stability is important for the security and stability of the entire region, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said Saturday, calling for international support amidst the influx of Syrian refugees.

During a meeting with Marc Garneau, foreign affairs critic for the Liberal Party of Canada and member of the Canadian House of Commons, Ensour said Jordan’s plans for economic recovery, after the 2008 financial crisis, ground to a halt under the effect of the Syrian refugee crisis.

The region has been plagued by decades of wars and instability due to the failure to resolve the Palestinian issue, the premier said, calling for a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that will contribute to addressing other regional challenges.

He stressed Jordan’s support for efforts aimed at moving the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks forward, especially those exerted by US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Ensour expressed hope that the next week’s Egyptian presidential election will be a step towards restoring Egypt’s prominent role in the Muslim and Arab arena.

Garneau said his tour, which includes Israel, the West Bank and Egypt, is aimed at getting a first-hand look at the latest political events in the region. 

Commending Jordan’s role in hosting Syrian refugees, he said he did not expect the Syrian crisis to end soon.

Garneau described the Kingdom as a model for security and stability in the Middle East.

AMMAN — Press freedom declined significantly in 2013 in the Arab world, according to a study by the Centre for Defending the Freedom of Journalists’ Network For Media Freedom Defenders in the Arab World (SANAD).

About 403 violations against media personnel and outlets were reported in Jordan last year, compared with 638 in Egypt, 635 in Yemen, 310 in Tunisia and 131 in Bahrain,  said the study, conducted in partnership with the Norwegian embassy in Amman.

Preventing journalists from covering events topped the list of violations against the media, standing at 15.5 per cent. Among Arab states, Jordan came in sixth place with 42 cases, with Egypt ranking first with 160 cases, followed by Iraq (101) and Tunisia (100). 

Physical assaults against journalist came second (13.8 per cent), followed by blocking news websites (10.2 per cent).

Verbal abuse, preventing freedom of expression, arbitrary arrests, pressure and harassments, threats and losses to properties followed respectively, according to the study, released during the third Forum for Media Freedom Defenders in the Arab World last week.

A total of 3,860 violations against media personnel and outlets were reported in 2013 across the region, according to the results.

No cases of physical assaults against media personnel were reported in Jordan last year, according to the study.

The Kingdom ranked first among Arab states in terms of blocking news websites, with 291 such cases. Bahrain came second with 70 cases and Saudi Arabia third with 21 cases, the study showed.

Jordan ranked fifth in terms of blocking journalists’ access to information with five cases, while Tunisia came first with 17 cases.

Meanwhile, Jordan ranked eighth with regard to verbal abuse against media personnel with eight cases, while Egypt came first with 71 cases, according to the study, which also ranked the Kingdom in fifth place in threats against media personnel and outlets (14 cases in 2013). 

Yemen came first with 44 cases.

AMMAN — Very few people in Jordan realise how difficult, costly and time-consuming the treatment of water is before it reaches their homes, Zara-Maeen Water Treatment Plant Manager Ibrahim Ghandour said.

Raw water passes through several complex phases during its treatment process, which takes five to six hours, before it leaves the Zara-Maeen plant and starts an eight-hour journey from the lowest point on earth and up into the capital’s reservoirs, Ghandour noted.

“The less water there is, the more expensive investments are needed to secure the water, treat it and pump it to people,” he told journalists last Thursday during a media tour of the plant, organised by the Jordan Water Company (Miyahuna), in cooperation with the USAID-funded Public Action for Water, Energy and Environment Project.

The capital’s second main water source, the Zara Maeen plant supplies Amman with 30-33 per cent of its water needs. The treatment plant receives water from three surface sources: Wadi Mujib, Zara springs and Wadi Zarqa-Maeen, according to Ghandour.

Established at a cost of $125 million, the plant started operating in August 2006, pumping 47 million cubic metres (mcm) of water to the capital to cater to the needs of over one million of its residents.

“Because treated water is transferred from the plant to the Dabouq reservoir in Amman via a 40-kilometre transmission pipeline, it is tested... every six hours to make sure that we are delivering a safe and clean product,” Ghandour said.

He noted that if any sample shows that the water quality is below Jordan’s drinking water standards, the plant stops pumping to detect the source of the pollution.

“Water quality control is continuous; it relies on live readings,” Ghandour added, highlighting that tests of water samples have rarely shown that it did not meet drinking water standards.

The plant was designed to treat 48mcm per year, but it actually treats 38-40mcm depending on the available amount of water.

“Because the plant depends on surface water, rainfall frequency clearly affects the amount and quality of water the plant receives. When not enough water runs into Wadi Mujib, the plant resorts to the Mujib Dam,” Ghandour told The Jordan Times.

He underscored that the plant discharges 10 per cent of the treated water, which is brine, into the Dead Sea through a five-kilometre pipeline.

AMMAN –– Restoring security in Egypt is the main concern Egyptian expatriates had when they visited their embassy in Amman on Friday to cast their vote in their country’s presidential election. 

Gathering outside the embassy after they cast their ballots, dozens of Egyptians chanted slogans in support of presidential candidate Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, the former army chief who ousted president Mohamed Morsi last year in response to popular protests against the Islamist leader.

“I came to vote for Sisi and I hope that stability in the country will be restored so that my family and I can go back home,” Ahmad Saad told The Jordan Times outside the embassy. 

The Egyptian, who works in Madaba, said he came to cast his vote at 9am.

Mustafa Al Saeed, who has been working in Jordan for more than 25 years, said he wants the next president to preserve the security of his country. 

“Egypt was renowned for its security and I hope that this will be the case once again,” he said. 

“I was not satisfied with Morsi’s rule because he did not implement any of the promises he made. Also, he was not the one who ruled; the Muslim Brotherhood was ruling the country at the time,” Saeed charged.

Egyptians from across the Kingdom began heading to their embassy in Amman to cast their votes last Thursday. 

The voting continues until Sunday from 9am to 9pm, Egyptian Ambassador Khaled Tharwat said. 

Out-of-country voting will continue until Sunday in over 100 embassies across the world, Tharwat told The Jordan Times in an interview at the embassy on Friday.  

In Egypt, the presidential election is slated for May 26-27.

There are around 300,000 Egyptians in Jordan, according to the embassy, while unofficial estimates put the figure at 700,000.

“A great number of people have been coming to the embassy to vote. Around 2,050 voted on the first day, which is much higher than in the entire period of the pervious presidential election,” Tharwat said, noting around 1,300 Egyptians residing in Amman voted in the 2012 election.

“The number is high this year because Egyptians are aware of the importance of taking part to build the future of Egypt,” the diplomat noted, thanking the Jordanian authorities for providing security to ensure a smooth voting process.

The number of voters is high in other Arab countries as well, such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, he added. 

On Saturday, Egypt’s electoral committee decided to extend out of country voting for another 24 hours, to conclude on Monday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Judeh Hassan, who came to the embassy with his wife and four children, said he wants the next president to unite all Egyptians.

“This is the first time in my life that I have voted. Prices are high in Egypt and I hope that the financial situation will improve because eventually we will go back home,” he added. 

I had the rare opportunity of recently visiting country of Jordan. Besides the location of some of the great historical sites such as the place where Jesus Christ was baptised along the Jordan River, the most preserved Roman ruins outside of Rome at Jerash, and the mountainside fortress of Aljun built by Saladdin’s soldiers during the era of the crusades, Jordan is also home to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth and Petra, the spectacular new wonder of the world.

If you are a history and archaeology buff, Jordan is a must-see, bucket-list destination.

But since my background is in foreign policy and international relations, I was struck by the geopolitics of this country that functions in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in the world. With Iraq to the east, Syria to the north and Israel to the west, Jordan is surrounded by unstable, warring or unfriendly states.

I visited a small outpost on the northern edges of Jordan called Um Qays, which looks out at northern Israel across the Sea of Galilee, the Golan Heights in Syria (now occupied by Israel), and off in the distance, southern Lebanon controlled by the Hizbollah. 

Later in my visit to the Baptism Site of Jesus at Bethany along the Jordan River, I looked across the tiny river to Israel where cameras followed my every move and Jordanian soldiers posted guards behind high barbed-wire fences. This was certainly a place of enormous religious significance, but also a stark reminder that political and military considerations trump the New Testament. 

There is a natural concern for personal safety when going to the Middle East, but in Jordan I only encountered a people eager to help a visiting American — generous beyond belief and anxious to show off their special country. There was never a time that I was concerned with my personal safety or worried that some sort of dangerous predicament would confront me just round the corner. 

Jordanians go out of their way to remind visitors that there is nothing to fear in their country and that the United States remains a friend. The Obama administration has reciprocated with foreign aid support and military trainers to assist Jordanians in this tough geopolitical neighbourhood.

What holds Jordan together in this conflict-ridden region is the Hashemite King Abdullah, the son of the legendary King Hussein.  King Abdullah is a modern and modernising king who graduated from Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts. 

Monarchies and kingdoms aren’t in the forefront of governing systems in today’s world, but in Jordan, both kings, Hussein and Abdullah, have fashioned a country that has remained an island of stability, tolerance and openness, despite being resource poor and constantly buffeted by the winds of war, hatred and suffering.

This article was printed with permission of the Patriot Ledger

Michael Kryzanek is Executive Director of the Minnock Centre for International Engagement at Bridgewater State University. He contributed this column to The Jordan Times. 

AMMAN — Jordan and Palestine on Thursday discussed ways to boost cooperation in religious tourism.

At a meeting, Tourism Minister Nidal Katamine and his Palestinian counterpart Rula Maayah agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding next month in Amman during a visit by representatives of Palestinian hotels, and tourism and travel agencies.

AMMAN — Border guards received 665 Syrian refugees during the past 48 hours, the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) said on Thursday.

The arrivals entered through non-official points along the northern border.

A JAF statement said the refugees, who are of all ages, also included some injured people and patients in need of urgent medical assistance.

AMMAN — Fifty-six vagrants have been detained in Mafraq Governorate since the start of this year, of whom 35 are Syrians, according to the Social Development Ministry.

Zaki Rousan, director of the ministry’s department in Mafraq, said on Thursday that adult beggars apprehended by the authorities are referred to police stations and then to court in accordance with the Penal Code, while juveniles are referred to care centres affiliated with the ministry, where they are rehabilitated.

AMMAN — Ukrainians residing in Jordan can vote in their country’s presidential elections at their embassy in Amman on May 25.

The embassy said on Thursday it will be open from 8am to 8pm on that day, calling on those wishing to vote to bring their passports, while those who are not registered with the consulate can take part in the ballot by applying to the embassy (6 Taras Shevchenko Street, 7th Circle) before May 19.

AMMAN — Representatives of professional associations, leftists political parties and popular movements on Thursday formed a human chain in front of the UN headquarters in Amman, marking the 66th anniversary of the Nakbeh (day of catastrophe), when Israel was created on Palestinian land in 1948.

Participants held placards denouncing repeated Israeli violations of Al Aqsa Mosque and rejecting Israel’s attempts to Judaise Palestine.

On Thursday evening, political party and popular movement activists held a sit-in to commemorate the Nakbeh near the Kalouti Mosque, which is near the Israeli embassy in the capital’s Rabiah neighbourhood.