Monthly Archives: August 2012

Ten Fun Facts about Jordan

Posted on August 31 2012 by MEE Administrator

1. The currency of Jordan is Jordanian Dinar.

2.The Ain Ghazal site, situated near Amman, is said to have been first inhabited over 9,000 years ago.

3.It is believed that Moses is buried on Mount Nebo of Jordan.

4. Petra, the capital of the Nabataean Arabs, is a city that was carved into rock two thousand years ago and remained unknown to Europeans until the 19th century.

5. It is said that John the Baptist was imprisoned at Mukawir, a palace situated to the south of Madaba.

6. The national dish of Jordan is Mansaf, a large tray of rice with chunks of stewed lamb and jameed, a yogurt sauce.

7. Jordanians believe that excessive praise of children brings bad luck, so it should be avoided.

8. Jordan used to be a part of the Fertile Crescent in the ancient times.

9. In 1946, Jordan was established as an independent country, with Emir Abdullah being its king.

10. The Dead Sea, in the northwest of Jordan, forms the lowest point on earth.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/notes/cita-to-the-nations/fun-facts-about-jordan-and-israel/201048283245789 Continue reading →

In the Name of Islam, Release the Christian Girl

Posted on August 31 2012 by MEE Administrator

Cross-Posted from The Huffington Post

By Daisy Khan

There has been much heated debate concerning the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a young Christian girl in Pakistan this week. These arguments, often concerned with her age, mental capacity and minute details of her actions, to name a few, have all very successfully distracted the public from the central issue: a young girl is being held captive against her will in the name of Islam.

As a Muslim, I am forced to wrestle with these occurrences on a basis all too regular. Having seen these injustices carried out in the name of my tradition for years during my work at the American Society for Muslim Advancement, the question arises again and again: Is it really true we share a faith with the individuals who commit such heinous acts?

What is so often forgotten is that it is not faith, but in fact ignorance, which drove the leader of a small, poor community in Islamabad to accuse a young, possibly handicapped girl of blasphemy and lock her away. It is ignorance that drives her captors to hold her without due trial and without lawyer visitation. It is ignorance that leads a community to believe the words of Allah are written on the pages of a book and not in the hearts of the faithful. It is ignorance, not Islam, that holds a thoroughly unjust law far above the suffering of the most helpless among us.

It is this lack of understanding that we — both Muslim and non-Muslim — must fight. Continue reading →

Does the GOP Have a Muslim Problem? Two perspectives.

Posted on August 30 2012 by MEE Administrator

Does the GOP have a Muslim problem?

Perspective #1.

“Yes”, argues Dean Obeidallah at CNN blog. Noting that the GOP invited a Catholic priest, a Rabbi, an evangelical leader, a Greek Orthodox archbishop and two mormon leaders to pray at the convention, Obeidallah says “The Republican Party has a problem with Muslims.”

To be clear, I don’t believe that most rank-and-file members of the Republican Party hate Muslims. The problem is that certain Republican leaders have stoked the flames of hate toward American Muslims, and other minorities, as a political tool to motivate people to support their cause.

For example, recently Rep. Michele Bachmann — along with four other Republican House members — asserted that the Muslim Brotherhood had infiltrated the U.S. government. Bachmann, who is in a tough re-election battle in her redrawn congressional district, even “named names” by claiming that Secretary Hillary Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin, and Rep. Keith Ellison were connected to the Muslim Brotherhood.

Although Republican Sen. John McCain publicly denounced Bachmann’s baseless allegations, just a few weeks later, Republican Rep. Joe Walsh escalated the fear-mongering. Walsh, who is in a tight race with Democratic opponent Tammy Duckworth, told constituents at a town hall meeting in the Chicago suburbs that there are radical Muslims living among them who are plotting to kill them: “One thing I’m sure of is that there are people in this country — there is a radical strain of Islam in this country — it’s not just over there — trying to kill Americans every week.” Walsh even claimed that this Muslim radical was in his district: “It’s in Elk Grove. It’s in Addison. It’s in Elgin. It’s here.”

And let’s not forget that during this year’s Republican presidential primaries, Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain told voters that American Muslims want to impose Islamic law in America. It’s a truly astounding task when you consider that this would require the 2.6 million Muslims in the U.S. to overpower the other 300 million Americans and implement an Islamic legal system. Obviously, this assertion is not based on facts, but to politicians desperate for votes, facts don’t matter.

This type of rhetoric has yielded two distinct consequences. First, it can be seen in the attitudes of Republicans who have been poisoned by the anti-Muslim voices in their party. A recent poll found that 62% of Obama voters view American Muslims favorably, but only 34% of Romney voters shared that positive outlook.

Perspective #2.

“No”, says Hossein Korram, an Iranian American and Washington State delegate to the Republican Convention. In an interview with the Seattle Times, Korram says, Continue reading →

Palestinian Farmers Ordered to Leave

Posted on August 30 2012 by MEE Administrator

From Al Jazeera English:

Israeli authorities have given Palestinian farmers living in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, to uproot palm trees they have grown and leave agricultural lands within 45 days.

The orders came in the form of letters sent to the farmers in an area known as “Area C” and gave the farmers a October 7 deadline to vacate their lands.

Shawkat Housheyeh, a farmer who received an official warning letter to uproot his palm trees told the Reuters news agency that the measure threatened the livelihood of thousands of farm workers in the Jericho area.

He called on the Palestinian Authority to fight the Israeli threat to Palestinians working on farms in the 3,000 dunams (about 741 acres) of Dier Hijlah and al-Zour .

“I hope that the [Palestinian] Authority will announce an emergency situation because this [the orders] threatens the 2,000 to 3,000 workers who work in this area,” Housheyeh said.

Under the terms of the 1993 Oslo Accords, parts of the West Bank are under full or partial control of the Palestinian Authority.

“Area C” falls under full Israeli civil and military jurisdiction. It envelops settlements built since Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.

Palestinian Minister of Agriculture Walid Assaf recently visited Jericho and gave assurances that the Palestinian Authority would fight the Israeli authorities’ warning to farmers.

“This is a great achievement for the Palestinian farmers in the (Jordan) Valley area as it was a barren land transferred to farms,” Assaf said.

“We should build on this achievement and we will never allow it to be destroyed,” Assaf said.

In a written statement to Reuters, COGAT – a unit within the Israeli defence ministry which administers the West Bank – said palm trees in the Jericho area had been planted illegally because they were grown on land the ownership of which was still to be established.

COGAT stated that farmers on these lands were illegally drilling wells and syphoning off water from Israeli hoses.

Continue reading →

Travel Tip of the Week: 5 Middle East Travel Tips

Posted on August 29 2012 by MEE Administrator

From Frommers:

Mark Lammers planned his April trip to the Middle East in December 2010, months before the first government protests in the region took place. He watched nervously as the riots and regime changes of “Arab Spring” enveloped stops on his itinerary. Several travel companions dropped out.

“It was becoming my tour of countries with State Department Warnings,” said Lammers, a website manager from Seattle.

On the vacation itself, which included time in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Syria, Lammers experienced few problems. In the latter country, his group crossed the overland border in Jordan, just days before officials closed it to foreigners. Everywhere they went, people on the street were friendly toward Americans, he said.

“It was cool being there in this time of change,” he said. “People were very welcoming to us.”

Still, not everyone shares Lammers’ view. From Morocco to Syria, outbreaks of violence in predominantly Muslim countries in North Africa and the Middle East have led tourists to reconsider their travel plans. Many cruise lines canceled stops in Egypt for March and April, while tours in Tunisia are rerouting plans after the capital issued a curfew.

If you are undecided about an upcoming trip to the Middle East, here are a few pieces of advice that may help you decide whether you should go.

Hook up with a local: While Lammers often travels independently, he went on his Middle East trip with a local tour operator – and he was glad he did. “None of us spoke Arabic,” he said, which limited their in-country information gathering to Al Jareeza English, the BBC, and CNN. The group did run into a roadblock on the highway to Homs; having a driver who knew the language and could make alternate plans made the situation less stressful, Lammers said.

Check travel warnings issued by other countries: It’s no secret that the U.S. State Department errs on the cautious side when it comes to travel alerts and warnings. Count me as one of the frequent travelers who prefers the more comprehensive and less alarmist alerts from the U.K.’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (www.fco.gov.uk). The Australian and Canadian governments also have travel safety information websites for their citizens.

Read online forums for latest information: You can find threads on safety, travel warnings and up-to-the-minute closure information in several online travel forums, including TripAdvisor, Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree, and of course, Frommers.com. What I like about forums is that you’re getting on-the-ground intelligence from travelers who have similar concerns as you. You can also talk out your fears with others, which could help you make your decision whether to go to cancel.

Stay away from obvious trouble zones: The U.S. State Department’s worldwide travel alert, issued last week after Osama Bin Laden’s death was made public, advises people to stay away “from mass gatherings and demonstrations.” Don’t go to riots to gawk and be aware of local customs and patterns; in Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain, protests have often taken place after Friday prayers. Follow curfew rules and keep your passport close. Be flexible and change your itinerary if an area gets hot.

Have a plan B: While his group didn’t have to significantly change their plans, Lammers wonders what they would have done if the situation in Syria would have deteriorated. “We could have flown to Amman from Damascus” instead of going overland,” he said. “But what if we couldn’t get to Damascus?”

Talk through your plans thoroughly, and think about worst case scenarios. And make sure you have the address, email and phone of the U.S. Embassy or Consulate in the country where you’re traveling.

Travel journalist Chris Gray Faust dishes up travel tips on her award-winning blog, Chris Around The World. Join her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter. or leave a comment below.

Read more: http://www.frommers.com/articles/7296.html#ixzz24oV2y9Bn Continue reading →