by Natasha Tynes | Apr 16, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
According to this AP report, the beautiful city of Salt is turning into "a center of Islamic radicals traveling from Jordan to fight in Iraq." I haven’t been to Salt in years but I think the city is innocent of such a label. Just because Raed al Banna and a few other disillusioned individuals decided to blow themselves up, doesn’t mean the whole city should be labeled as a center for Jihadists. I think that is an undeserved reputation.
Here is a highlight from the report:
All sides acknowledge the city of Salt has its share of disaffected
Muslim youths dismayed by economic problems, angry at foreign troops
on Muslim lands and vulnerable to messages of extremism. It was the
city’s custom of holding public wakes that brought publicity here.
Specifically, it was the wake for a native son, Raed Mansour al-Banna,
who was accused of carrying out the biggest suicide bombing in postwar
Iraq — an attack on Feb. 28 in Hilla, south of Baghdad, that killed
125 people.
Any Saltis out there? Can anyone shed some light on this?
by Natasha Tynes | Apr 16, 2005 | Doha affairs, Mi Familia
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Our good friend Amal is leaving Doha for good next week and relocating home to Beirut, Lebanon. We are very happy for her as it is a great career move. Not only will she be in her own country
surrounded by family and friends, but she will get to report from Lebanon during very interesting times. We will miss her dearly. Doha will never be the same without her. We wish her all the luck in the world. She really deserves the best.
Here is a picture that the husband took last week of Amal and myself enjoying the sea along a beach in Dukhhan, Qatar.
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by Natasha Tynes | Apr 15, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, Religion
An Amman Islamic court has ruled in favor of Christian widow Siham Qandah, revoking legal custody from her children’s Muslim uncle and ordering him to repay misspent funds withdrawn from their orphan trust accounts.
Judge Mahmud Zghl handed down his verdict in Amman’s Al-Abdali Sharia Court against Abdullah al-Muhtadi, who has been fighting a seven-year legal battle to wrest custody of his underage niece and nephew from their Christian mother. “I still can’t believe it!” Qandah said, laughing and crying. “I am so happy; I am just speechless. I can’t even describe my emotions.”
Source: [Asia News]
I have been following this story for a while now and I’m glad it is over. I’m happy to see the children reunited with their mom. I believe the verdict was just and fair.
by Natasha Tynes | Apr 13, 2005 | Doha affairs
Yesterday was a unique day. We, along with Amal, our partner-in-crime, and friend Ranjit headed to a Qatar camel race in al-Shahnniya, some 40 km outside Doha. What we saw and experienced there was quite memorable.
When we first arrived at the racing complex, we were a bit early so we wandered about and ran into some of the camel jockeys. I was shocked to see how young and tiny they were. Mostly they were Sudanese and between maybe 7-10 years old. We talked with them and took some pictures. But then things started getting tense. Some organizers or security for the facility approached us and asked us — quite angrily — not to talk with the jockeys or take pictures of them. They were very tense and kept following us around to make sure we didn’t come near the jockeys.
My analysis is that since Qatar recently banned camel jockeys and is now working on robots to replace the young kids (now being copied in the UAE), officials are feeling uneasy about giving the kids any extensive exposure, especially this being their last season. It might reflect badly on the Gulf state of Qatar since it has now been established that the use of child camel jockeys is really a form of child abuse.
After the encounter with the officials, we drove around and found ourselves in a huge camel market. I have to confess, I had never seen so many camels in one place in my life. Jeff and Ranjit, the two shutterbugs of the group, immediately embarked on taking pictures while Amal and myself busied ourselves talking with the vendors and asking them about the camels and how much they cost. Man, camels are expensive!
Amal also rode a camel for the first time in her life! I was shocked to know that she had never done it before. Apparently, there are no camels in Lebanon! Anyway, we headed back to the racetrack and caught the fourth round of the race. It was so surreal. People here follow the race by driving their SUV’s around the outside of the 2-km long track beeping and hollering. We did the same. All packed into Rajnit’s SUV, we chased those racing camels. We did that for the following rounds as well and believe me when I tell you, it was exhilarating. I have never seen anything like it in my life.
There were many young men -– mostly from neighboring gulf countries — following the race that were so passionate about what was going on. I even saw a Qatari guy, who I assumed was an owner of one of the racing camels, talking to his jockey via walkie-talky, coaching him I guess.
I’m so glad we got to see this while we are still here. It was a fascinating experience. I wonder if the passion among the young men that own and watch the races will still be there when the camel jockeys are replaced by robots, which will supposedly be implemented next year. [More pictures coming in a photo album]
by Natasha Tynes | Apr 10, 2005 | Jordan, my nation
Mariam highlighted a very disturbing report (in Arabic) published on al-Arabiya’s website that says over 80% of Jordanian women support wife-beating! I’m not sure if this has even a smidgen of truth to it but the figures, released by Jordan’s National Family Council, are quite alarming and disturbing.
According to the report:
- 83% of Jordanian women approve of wife beating if the woman cheats on her husband
- 60% approve of wife beating in cases where the wife burns a meal she’s cooking
- 52% approve of wife beating in case where she’s refused to follow the husband’s orders
I’m quite skeptical, as the figures are very alarming! If this proves true, then a major awareness campaign should take place among Jordanian women as soon as possible! Oh my, the world is going down the drain!
An Amman Islamic court has ruled in favor of Christian widow Siham Qandah, revoking legal custody from her children’s Muslim uncle and ordering him to repay misspent funds withdrawn from their orphan trust accounts. 
