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AMMAN — For Persu Doina Saturday’s celebration of the ancient Romanian tradition of “Martisor”, which marks the advent of spring, was not just an enjoyable event, but also a chance to remember her family back home. 

Doina, who has been in Jordan for 11 months, said celebrating the occasion at the Romanian embassy in Amman reminded her of cherished moments in Romania and gave her an opportunity to make new friends. 

She is one of several Romanians who marked Martisor — a diminutive of “Martie”, the Romanian word for March — to celebrate rebirth and regeneration, embodied in an amulet offered to loved ones (also called a Martisor) that symbolises purity, innocence and love towards women, as well as the optimism of springtime.

Eduard Preda, deputy head of mission at the embassy, said the event symbolises life and love. 

“It also symbolises the passage [from] winter to spring,” he told The Jordan Times in an interview at the embassy, noting that Martisor helps people remember what spring means. 

Preda said young people give amulets to their loved ones to show them that they care, adding that this event takes place in several venues in Romania.  

People celebrate Martisor by offering amulets to their relatives or even to passers-by on the street, according to the Romanian diplomat. 

The red and white thread that is attached to the amulet is the symbol of this festival, he noted. 

“White symbolises the past and the soul while red symbolises life, man and passion,” he added. 

Men can offer any gift to the women they love, but these amulets are important to mark the occasion, Preda explained. 

Doina said the simplicity of the gift makes it valuable for women.

“We receive precious gifts, but when I receive the amulet or a rose, it means a lot to me.”

The embassy orders these amulets from Romania, but several employees prepare some as well, Preda noted.   

Khaleel Kurdi, Doina’s husband, said he was unaware of the significance of Martisor when he first witnessed it in Romania. 

“After I realised its importance, I began offering amulets to my colleagues at the company,” added Kurdi, who was celebrating this event with his wife at the embassy in Jordan for the first time. 

Although Martisor is not a public holiday in Romania, many public institutions and private companies offer women a day off or reduce working hours to make them feel special, Preda said.

“Around 150 to 200 people attend the celebration at the embassy in Amman annually,” Preda added.  

At least 3,500 to 4000 Romanians reside in Jordan, according to the embassy’s figures.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and his Moroccan counterpart Abdelilah Benkirane on Saturday discussed means to boost cooperation in extracting and marketing phosphate. 

Jordan and Morocco are among the major producers and exporters of this product. 

Ensour and Benkirane, who began a three-day visit to the Kingdom on Saturday, examined prospects for cooperation in the field of renewable energy, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The two premiers agreed to work on expanding ties in economic and commercial fields, as well as in tourism, pharmaceuticals and information technology.

The joint Jordanian-Moroccan commercial volume is around $400 million.

Ensour commended Morocco’s reforms, adding that His Majesty King Abdullah and Moroccan King Mohammed VI had seized “a historic opportunity” to carry out reforms.

He said both countries had forged ahead with democracy and expansion of public freedoms, noting that reform is a process, not a decision that has a beginning and an end.

Ensour voiced hope that a meeting of the Joint Jordanian-Moroccan Higher Committee due to take place in Rabat would culminate in more joint ventures.

Benkirane said Jordan and Morocco, which are bound by a “special relationship”, are facing difficult circumstances that can be overcome by building on democratic reform and addressing the challenge of maintaining the unity of the Arab and Islamic world.

The Moroccan premier lauded Jordan’s political and socio-economic reforms.

Ensour held a lunch banquet in honour of Benkirane.

AMMAN –– Prices of main oil derivatives rose by 1.5 per cent on Saturday.

Under a decision taken by the government’s pricing committee, effective March 1, one litre of unleaded 90-octane gasoline is now sold at JD0.835, up from JD0.820 last month, while one litre of 95-octane is JD1.015 compared with JD1 in January.

Both diesel and kerosene are JD0.680 per litre on the new price list, up from JD0.670.

The price of cooking gas, which is also used by households for heating purposes, remains unchanged at JD10 per cylinder under the committee’s decision, which was announced by Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Hatem Halawani.

Fuel prices, except for gas, are no longer subsidised by the government, which lifted oil subsidies in November 2012.

A government pricing committee meets monthly to adjust prices in a manner that corresponds to changes on the international market.

The committee, comprising representatives from the ministries of energy and finance, and the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company, calculates the updates based on average international prices during the preceding 30 days and other costs, such as freight and handling, and announces a new price list every month.

AMMAN — There is nothing called the “substitute land” on Jordan’s map and the right of return will be an individual decision for every Jordanian of Palestinian origin Senate President Abdur-Ra’uf S. Rawabdeh said Friday.

At a seminar held in Irbid, the veteran lawmaker and statesman echoed statements by His Majesty King Abdullah holding to account rumour-mongers alleging that there has been a deal to turn Jordan into an alternative home for Palestinian refugees at the expense of national interests, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

Stressing the “sovereignty” of Jordan’s decisions, he added that these rumours have been spread by East Bank Jordanians as well as others of Palestinian origin, and are fuelled by the Israeli propaganda. 

Rawabdeh charged that these people seek to serve their own agendas and interests by taking advantage from sensitive issues like the recent decision to grant full civil rights, except nationality, to the children and foreign husbands of Jordanian women. 

They also play on leaked information of an in-the-making US peace plan for the Middle East, which, he stressed, is not complete yet and the leaks are ideas US Secretary of State John Kerry has collected from both parties to the conflict.

“The main challenge remains in entrenching a collective Jordanian identity under which sub-loyalties cannot overwhelm key identity of the country, where all enjoy the same rights and obligations without discrimination,” he said. 

Some had taken advantage of Jordan’s demands for compensation for hosting Palestinian refugees for over 64 years and claim that there are hidden agreements to resettle the refugees in return of billions of dollars, Rawabdeh said, repeating the King’s assertion that Jordan’s higher interests are not for sale. 

 He stressed that the King has underlined that the Kingdom will not compromise its sovereignty and the rights of its citizens and Palestinians at any cost, reported Petra.  

AMMAN — Jordan on Saturday marked the 58th anniversary of the Arabisation of the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF).

In 1956, His Majesty King Hussein Arabised the high command of the JAF through the removal of British officers, particularly Lt. Gen. John Bagot Glubb, the British commander of the Arab Legion.

In March 1957, the Anglo-Jordanian Agreement was abrogated, followed by the evacuation of British forces from the Kingdom.

On the occasion, His Majesty King Abdullah and HRH Crown Prince Hussein received cables of congratulations from senior officials and officers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — The country will remain under the impact of a warm air mass on Sunday that will push temperatures 11 degrees above their annual average for this time of the year, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD).

The warm air mass, which started affecting the country on Saturday, is accompanied by warm and dry southeasterly winds from the Arabian Peninsula that raised temperatures way above their annual average of 15°C, a JMD weather forecaster said on Saturday.

“Temperatures between Saturday and Monday will be eight to 11 degrees above the annual average during this time of the year. It is unusual for the Kingdom to witness such warm, dry and dusty weather in early March,” the weather forecaster told The Jordan Times.

A rise in temperatures is forecast for Sunday, with warm weather during the day and southeasterly moderate to brisk winds raising dust in the southern and eastern regions. 

Temperatures will reach a high of 26°C during the day in Amman, dropping to a low of 12°C at night.

A slight drop in mercury levels is expected on Monday, but the weather will remain fair, according to the JMD, which forecast temperatures to range between 22°C and 9°C in the capital.

“Scattered showers are expected on Monday night and winds will be southeasterly moderate to brisk, raising dust,” the weather forecaster said.

Morning showers are expected on Tuesday, according to the JMD, with a slight drop in temperatures and partly cloudy weather expected.

Daytime temperatures in Amman will reach a maximum of 19°C and drop to a minimum of 7°C at night and winds will be northwesterly moderate to brisk.

Warm, dry and sand-laden southeasterly winds are characteristic of a khamsini depression, according to the meteorologist, who said the current warm air mass is not khamsini, an annual phenomenon that starts around the time of the vernal equinox, when Spring begins in the Northern Hemisphere.

The name is derived from khamsin — meaning 50 in Arabic — because it usually occurs during a 50-day time frame, between March 21 and May 10.

Khamsini weather conditions affect the eastern part of the Mediterranean an average of once a week during this period. The hot, sand-laden winds, originating from the Atlas Mountains in North Africa, annually move east of the Mediterranean Sea around this time of year and are usually preceded by unseasonably high temperatures and dry and dusty conditions.

MAFRAQ — The Awqaf Directorate in Mafraq on Thursday launched an awareness campaign for imams on immunising children against polio.

Mafraq Awqaf Director Ahmad Harahsheh said imams have a major role in delivering information about inoculation and its importance, dismissing rumours about its alleged harmful effect, and urging parents to shoulder their responsibilities towards their children.

He said the campaign will start on Sunday and last for five days at all healthcare centres in the northeastern governorate.

MAFRAQ — The Jabal Al Akhdar Elementary School for Boys in the Balaama area in Mafraq, built under a Royal initiative, was inaugurated on Thursday.

The 1,200 square-metre school, built on a four-dunum plot of land, includes 18 classrooms, two science and maths labs and play grounds.

Education Minister Mohammad Thneibat toured the facility, expressing his appreciation of the Royal support for the education sector.

He also paid a visit to Al Nuzha Elementary School for Boys and issued directives to study the possibility of establishing  new premises.

AMMAN — A fight took place on Thursday in front of the Ajloun University College where swords, sticks and guns were used.

Gendarmerie forces intervened to contain the brawl.

Acting Governor of Ajloun Radwan Otoum, who visited the college, which is affiliated with Balqa Applied University, said the police will investigate the case.

He added that the fight had been controlled and that the students involved have been identified and the necessary legal measures will be taken against them.

AMMAN — The State Security Court on Thursday continued its hearings in the “reform and challenge” case against Omar Mahmoud Othman, known as Abu Qatada.

The court listened to prosecution witnesses, including a General Intelligence Department officer who said he conducted tests on the items seized in the case, which proved to be used in making explosives.

The court adjourned the trial until March 13.