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AMMAN — Discussions on the second day of the 15th Amman Cultural Forum on Wednesday focussed on the modern civil state and its relationship with religion.

Held at the Royal Cultural Centre under the title “civil state”, the forum attracted the participation of Arab and foreign researchers, as part of events planned to celebrate Amman as the Capital of Islamic Culture 2017.

The second day of the forum, which is held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah, started off with Moroccan writer and lecturer Abdulelah Bilqziz’s presentation on the relationship between the state and religion.

Noting that the state is the only authority entitled to judge people in daily affairs as it is “mandated by society”, he said: “In our view, the state is not the result of society’s efforts and achievements, but it is the one that produces society and establishes it in a universal and organised entity.”

“Therefore, there is no society in history, in the sense we understand it, instead, there is a political society, which is the state,” Bilqziz said.

Hassan Musa, an expert in religious affairs and minorities, said that, in most European countries, Muslim minorities have acquired a legal status that gives them the opportunity of a “positive integration” into the society they live in, in a way that does not deprive them of their individual features and that does not affect their cultural identity.

Musa went on to discuss the relationship between minorities and society, saying that the Muslim minorities living in foreign countries establish a relationship towards society building on their cultural and religious specificities which are intrinsically open to others.

“This Islamic culture, which is characterised by tolerance of other religions and cultures without discriminating against race, gender or religion, is based on the necessity to coexist with others, which has become a defining feature of the new world,” he added.

Mohammad Talabi, a Moroccan political expert, said that the “cultural advancement” of nations requires the availability of five tools enabling cultural production, which are “the nation, the homeland, the state, the language and the message”. 

“Historians distinguish between history and prehistory through the birth of language. But the birth of the state is, in my opinion, a decisive moment between prehistory and history,” he said, adding “the state is the finest cultural production invented by the human mind”.

“The state is a governmental authority that supervises the interaction between the country and its citizens,” Talabi added.

“In the absence of order in the relationship between the region and its citizens, as well as among the population itself, there will be no stability. Therefore, it will create an absence of state as an entity fostering development, urbanisation and security,” he concluded.

AMMAN — Jordanian audiences on Tuesday had a taste of Korean culture at the 10th Korea-Arab Friendship Caravan hosted by the Korea-Arab Society (KAS), which aimed to promote mutual understanding between the Asian country and the Arab region.

The Caravan, established by KAS in 2008, offers Korean cultural programmes combining tradition and modernity to effectively introduce the country’s culture and arts into the Arab region.

The ceremony was opened by Korean Ambassador to Jordan Lee Bom-yon, who talked about the start of the diplomatic relations between Korea and Jordan 55 years ago and stressed “the importance of such a bilateral partnership and the cultural exchange embodied in events like the one we celebrate today”.

Park Yong-min, director-general of the African and Middle Eastern affairs department at the Korean foreign ministry, thanked Jordan for its hospitality in hosting the event, saying that the Kingdom is “blessed with beautiful traditions, prosperity and stability”.

This year, Jordan witnessed an increase of 40 per cent in visitors coming from Korea, Yong-min noted, adding that “it proves the great relationship between the two countries”.

The show started out with a salmunori (percussion quartet) performing “Salmo Seoljanggu”, transitioning from slow to fast rhythms and showing both harmonisation and individualism. 

Audiences were also able to enjoy the traditional buchaechum (fan dance), whereby performers created visual illusions such as blossoming flowers or waves by folding, unfolding and turning hand-held flower fans. 

The repertoire of traditional Korean dances concluded with a pan gut and sogochum (folk music performance), which provided attendees with multi-artistic entertainment combining percussion music and dance.

The ceremony concluded with “Marionette”, a hip-hop inspired performance that uses the concept of the puppet show to produce a storytelling choreography. 

The European marionette puppetry tradition was recreated as a b-boy musical show by Expression Crew, showcasing advanced dance skills that triggered a mixed feeling of sorrow, anger and joy between the public. 

Jordanian audiences were able to meet with the dancers of Expression Crew, the first ever Asian team to win the “Battle of the Year” dance competition within the “World Cup of B-boy Dancing”. 

AMMAN — HRH Prince Feisal, special assistant of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff, on Wednesday attended the third annual Defence Resources Conference-Jordan that was held in cooperation with the US.

Attendees, including US deputy assistants of secretaries of state and defence, went over the latest regional and international developments and means of cooperation and coordination in issues of interest to both countries’ armies, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Wednesday chaired a Cabinet meeting and listened to a briefing on the progress of work on electronic transformation towards "Digital Jordan", the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The "Digital Jordan" project focuses on developing the services of five ministries: Health, Finance, Industry, Interior and Justice and its affiliated departments, as well as developing the services of the Greater Amman Municipality and the Investment Authority, Petra said.

Ten electronic services will begin in 2018 "exclusively" without the provision of traditional methods in a number of departments, in the framework of a plan to provide around 500 electronic services to citizens and investors by 2020.

ICT Minister Majd Shweikeh affirmed that the "Digital Jordan" project’s work is in progress and procedures in many ministries and service departments will be re-designed before 2020.

AMMAN — Culture Minister Nabih Shuqum on Tuesday inaugurated the 15th Amman Cultural Forum held under the title "civil state" at the Royal Cultural Centre.

The two-day forum, held under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah, has attracted the participation of Arab and foreign researchers, as part of events planned to celebrate Amman as the Capital of Islamic Culture 2017.

The forum focuses on the concept of "civil state" and the ways to achieve it, as well as the challenges to the concept of civil state in the Arab and Islamic context.

Participants will exchange examples of the civil state through an analysis of their civil, historical and political experiences.

Representing the forum's higher committee, researcher, author and leading columnist Mohammad Abu Rumman said that the concept of "civil state" has taken a "large share" in the political and intellectual debates, triggering controversies in the Arab world over the past years.

He attributed that to the significance of the issue, describing it as "the Arab political reality and division along religious, sectarian and ethnic lines has pushed the issue of civil statehood to the forefront, as the best alternative” to the present situation and the “common ground” where all could meet.  

He said that the civil state is based on social contract, citizenship and compliance with the Constitution and law.

Abu Rumman stated that the two-day forum is an opportunity to figure out where the civil state concept stands in the global intellectual context, and how it is perceived in the Arab and Islamic societies.

Mohammad Kharboush, an Egyptian professor of political science, said that the civil state is an "ambiguous concept" that has become familiar in the Arab region, especially among political elites, media and writers in the recent years, adding that the modern Arab state is always walking a "thin line" between committing to the modern state standards and respecting religion.

The forum's Director Ahmad Rashid said that the conference is tackling five themes: civil state as a term, the approach to civil statehood, possibilities and challenges facing the evolution of a civil state that fits Arab and Islamic culture, the civil state and its relation with religion, while panellists will also examine various examples of a civil state under the fifth theme of the gathering.

AMMAN — Authorities on Tuesday said they are investigating the alleged drowning of a newlywed woman in one of the Kingdom’s governorates on Monday.

The 46-year-old victim was found dead in a pond in the Jordan Valley after a person alerted the Civil Defence Department, a senior official source said.

“The body was taken to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine [NIFM] in Amman for an official autopsy after investigators suspected foul play,” the official source told The Jordan Times.

A post-mortem conducted by a team of pathologists indicated that the woman “died of drowning”, a senior medical source said.

“The forensic team did not find any signs of force or struggle on the victim’s body and blood and tissue samples were sent to the criminal lab for further analysis,” the medical source told The Jordan Times.

But a second source told The Jordan Times that the victim was detained few weeks before the incident by the administrative governor “for her own protection”.

“One week before the incident the victim was released after her family bailed her out to marry her to a relative,” the second source told The Jordan Times.

That is why, the second source added, “police decided to open an investigation into the incident”.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Tayseer Bani Khalid is currently investigating the incident, a senior judicial source said.

“Nothing is ruled out at this point in time, and Bani Khalid is currently waiting for criminal lab results on samples taken from the victim before issuing a final ruling on the cause of the death and whether there was foul play or not,” the judicial source told The Jordan Times.

AMMAN — Police on Tuesday said they were searching for suspects in connection with the rape and murder of a child in eastern Amman last week.

The body of the eight-year-old victim was found floating in a small pool at a construction site in Sahab on Sunday, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

“The victim’s body was immediately transferred to the National Institute of Forensic Medicine [NIFM] for an autopsy because our investigators suspected foul play," Sartawi told The Jordan Times over the phone.

A post-mortem conducted at the NIFM by a team of pathologists headed by Ahmad Bani Hani and including Issa Gheishan and Raed Momani confirmed that the child was subjected to sexual assault, a senior medical source said.

“The victim was unfortunately subjected to a sexual assault and we ruled the cause of death by asphyxiation. He has been dead for at least three days,” the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

The source added that forensic experts also detected “bruises on the victim’s body and some fractured bones in the neck”.

“The pathologists sent blood, tissue samples and swabs from different parts of the victim to the criminal lab for a DNA analysis,” the senior medical source added.

Sartawi added that police formed a special police force tasked with investigating the incident.

Criminal Court Prosecutor Tayseer Bani Khalid is currently investigating the incident, a senior judicial source said.

“Bani Khalid is waiting for lab results and further police investigations that will hopefully help him with the incident,” the senior judicial source told The Jordan Times.

 AMMAN — The Jordanian embassy in Washington on Tuesday received the five female winners of TechWomen 17, the biggest gathering for women working in technology worldwide, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Jordan’s Ambassador to the US Dina Kawar congratulated the participants for their project, which was within the five best out of 100 candidates.

She listened to a briefing about Jordan’s winning project and the participants’ future personal projects. Kawar stressed her readiness to offer help and contribute to bring their project into “the real world rather than remaining on paper”.

The five Jordanian participants were chosen from 4,000 applicants.  

 AMMAN — The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organisation (JHCO), in cooperation with the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, on Tuesday dispatched a humanitarian aid convoy to the Gaza Strip.

JHCO acting secretary general, Rajab Zubaidah, said that the convoy included six trucks, five of which were laden with 100 tonnes of rice, a donation from South Africa’s Al Imdaad Foundation and the sixth, carrying medicines, was a donation from the NIDA Foundation in the US, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN  — The Jordan Customs Department (JCD) has won the silver medal of the UAE award of energy, for a project that included using renewable energy in several customs centres, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Tuesday.

JCD Director General Maj. Gen. Wadah Hmoud, who received the award, said that the department gives importance to creativity and excellence, and always seeks to develop work mechanisms and enhance the performance of its personnel.