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AMMAN — A Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army source said that the Eastern Military Command foiled on Wednesday an infiltration attempt by one person trying to cross the border from Syria, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday. 

Border Guards applied the rules of engagement, arrested the person and referred him to the concerned agencies, the source said.  

Also on Wednesday, the Northern Military Command foiled another solo attempt to smuggle 100 guns from Syria into Jordan.

Rules of engagement were applied and the suspect was also arrested.

The crises in Syria and Iraq have placed increasing pressure on Jordan’s army to safeguard the long borders it shares with turmoil-hit Syria and Iraq, extending, combined, along 510km.

Jordan declared the area a closed military zone after a terrorist attack in June, 2016, that targeted a military post serving refugees near the border, killing seven soldiers and injuring 13 others.

AMMAN — Jordan will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to thousands of Syrians trapped across the border with Syria, as their number seems to be dwindling in light of increased stability in several parts of Syria, a government official said Thursday.

Currently, humanitarian aid, including water, medical supplies and foodstuff is being supplied to the residents of the camp located in the no-man’s land between Jordan and Syria. Jordan announced it will continue to work with the international relief agencies to keep providing these services, the source told The Jordan Times.

Assistance is provided by the UNHCR in cooperation with the government and other international relief agencies.

Sources at several UN agencies said there are plans to close the camp over the next few months.

“The momentum of operation in the camp is declining and interventions by aid agencies are also decreasing… the camp is expected to be removed in the next few months as the number of its resident is shrinking,” a source at an international relief agency told The Jordan Times.

Citing estimates, the official added that the number of Syrians stranded at the camp dropped from 80,000 a few months ago to 50,000 at present, and keeps declining.

“We can see that many refugees are returning to areas where stability was restored inside Syria,” the official said.

Jordan declared the northern and northeastern border areas a closed military zone in June, 2016, in the aftermath of a terrorist attack that targeted a military post serving refugees near the border, killing seven security forces and injuring 13 others. 

AMMAN — Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Mohammad Momani on Thursday stressed that the general tendency of the government regarding the Income Tax Law is to ensure that the exempted categories of individuals and families unaffected.

Individuals and families whose annual incomes do not exceed JD12,000 and JD24,000, respectively, will not be affected by any amendments to the current law, Momani said in an interview on Jordan Television’s “News and Dialogue”, as reported by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Any Cabinet decision in this regard will take into consideration the conditions of middle- and low-income classes, the minister said, stressing that the Council of Ministers has not received or discussed any draft law on the income tax.

He also said that neither the government nor ministerial committees had discussed any tax issues.

The spokesperson noted that the decision-making process has to go through several stages, which start when ministries send proposals to the Cabinet, stressing that such suggestions are not endorsed before being transferred to the Council of Ministers and ministerial panels.

Momani added that the proposal people are currently talking about reached the Cabinet in February, and the same copy has been resent recently for endorsement, yet it has not been discussed in the Cabinet or any other concerned institution.

The minister reiterated that there would be no legislative changes that may affect the middle- or low-income classes, adding that the government is going on with economic reforms and is keen on empowering such classes and improving their economic conditions.

It has been reported recently that the government was finalising new amendments to the 2014 Income Tax Law under which the tax exemption base would be expanded by lowering the threshold taxable income from JD12,000 to JD6,000 for bachelors and from JD24,000 to JD12,000 for households.

A local news outlet published Thursday what it purported to be a “letter of intent” sent by the government in June to the International Monetary Fund, declaring its commitment to tax reforms that entail redefining exemptions. 

Under the current law, a 7 per cent income tax is levied on the first JD10,000 a year after the exemptions are calculated, while the percentage is doubled for the first JD20,000 above the value of the exemption. Above that limit, the tax is set at 20 per cent. 

The first JD24,000 of the family’s income is exempted from tax, plus JD4,000 in health and education expenses that should be supported with bills. 

For unmarried persons, the exemption applies to JD12,000 plus JD2,000 supported by bills.

AMMAN — Two people died and two others were injured on Thursday in a two-vehicle accident in Balqa’s Karameh area, the Civil Defence Department (CDD) said. Balqa CDD personnel administered first aid to the injured before transferring them and the bodies to the Southern Shouneh Hospital. A CDD statement said that the injured were listed in fair conditions.

Meanwhile, security personnel on Wednesday night arrested a man who was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run accident in which a girl was ran over in Amman’s Abu Nseir area, according to a security source. Security agents tracked the vehicle and arrested the suspect, and they found out that the driver was involved in a previous accident, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN — Jerash-born Saddam Sayyaleh could have easily fallen off the grid after the orphan dropped out of school when he was a teenager. 

However, it is a successful and motivated social entrepreneur about to attend the UNESCO Youth Forum in Paris as the only Jordanian invitee who told The Jordan Times about his non-profit initiative “Ilearn”.

Launched in Jerash Souf camp, some 30km north of Amman, in 2012, Ilearn works to establish safe spaces for disadvantaged children and youth to encourage innovation, intellectual growth, and critical thinking, Sayyaleh said.

“As an orphan who grew up in a refugee camp and was often abused both physically and mentally, I understand what it is to be undermined by adults who misuse their authority,” the 26-year-old explained, adding: “I wanted those children to know that there is someone out there thinking about them, someone who wants to change their reality as much as they do.”

Through informal education, youth volunteerism, and local and global partnerships, Ilearn has grown to serve some 12,000 people in eight “knowledge places”spread across Jordanian and refugee communities in less than five years.

“We chose ‘space for knowledge’ as our slogan to show vulnerable youth that they can find a space where they have the opportunity to access education, to dream and look up to their future in a different way,” Sayyleh said.

Based on a three-pillar model that encompasses youth support, community engagement, and child development, Ilearn is above all centred around the needs of the children.

“Since I didn't have a father or a mother, I developed my own learning methods, so when I got to school, there was a clash with the teachers’ methods. My academic achievements started going down, and my interest in school as well,” the young entrepreneur recalled. 

He added: “Because the school system didn't realise I was different and I learned in a different way than the rest of the children, combined with so much socioeconomic pressure, I dropped out.”

This is what pushed him to develop a programme grounded in the needs of those “left behind” in the local community. Through direct and constant collaboration with the community’s youth, the initiative is able to identify their specific needs and to develop tailored steps to support them, an Ilearn statement said.

“We encourage self-learning and the respect of individual psychological and social development paces to help students who are at risk or have lost faith in the education system”, Sayyaleh said. 

But the initiative also seeks to have a broader impact on the overall community. For Sayyaleh: “If you want to see a long-term change in a community, it needs to come from the community itself.”

Through a grassroots approach based on community engagement, Ilearn initiates local young volunteers into their framework to establish itself more easily in vulnerable communities. In turn, it reaches out to local educators and role models, whom it trains in  its methodology.

“I am passionate about bridging the gap between people with resources and the children who are left behind. I want to put them all in one space to work together to reduce inequalities,” Ilearn founder said.

He recalled 16-year-old Maha, from Zarqa, once told him: “My parents wanted me to get engaged and leave school, but, when my mom started coming to the space to drop me off, she saw what I was doing here and how I am volunteering and using programming and computers to create video games and teach children. She no longer talks about engagement anymore.”

However, Sayyaleh acknowledged the difficulties of this collaborative approach: “These volunteers who are privileged to go to university or these teachers who already have a job don't really have the perspective of what their students are going through. So, we train them to be able to work with dropout students, orphans, children with learning difficulties and child labourers.”

In this process, “everyone becomes equal in opportunity and privilege”, he stated.

Realistic about the lengthy process he is facing, an always-smiling Sayyaleh said: “We are aware of the fact that this positive cycle will not happen overnight. This is why Ilearn has set short-term and long-term sustainability tracks to reach its final goal.”

The young man, who already counts numerous achievements to his name, including a US State Department fellowship, now hopes to see his initiative replicated in various areas of Jordan and outside Jordan. “Once you have a formalised model that works, it can be replicated to help vulnerable children anywhere in the world,” he explained.

“Ilearn might come from a personal story, but it really is just the story of the children Ilearn works with,” Sayyaleh concluded.

AMMAN — Irbid export revenues went up to $491 million until August, President of Irbid Chamber of Industry Hani Abu Hassan said on Thursday.

During the same period last year, the revenues stood at $460.5 million, Abu Hassan said.

In August, the revenues recorded their highest number since the establishment of the chamber in 1999, he noted.

Al Hassan Industrial Estate exported 88 per cent of the products with a value of $86 million, while the Cyber City exported products worth $6.7 million, according to the official.

Leather exports came first with a sum of $86 million in August, accounting for 92 per cent of the total exports; meanwhile medical commodities came second with $3 million.

The third place was occupied by foodstuff products, which reached $1.4 million, followed by electrical goods amounting to $1.2 million, Abu Hassan said.

Rubber and plastic industry gained $700,000, while cosmetic industry reached $473,000, in addition to $800,000 for other industries, according to the president.

Abu Hassan said that the US was the biggest importer, with revenues that reached $77 million, accounting for 82 per cent of Irbid's exports.

The US was followed by the EU, which imported commodities worth $3 million and Canada for $2 million.

The Arab markets imported goods worth $4 million, which accounted for 5 per cent of the overall exports, according the chamber's president. 

Abu Hassan said that Jordanian exports are tax-exempted in the US under the free trade agreement signed by the two countries in October 2000.

Al Hassan Industrial Estate has one of the largest garment factories in the region that has signed new agreements with US buyers, which led to the increase in Jordan's exports to the US, according to the official. 

The president said he also expected exports to increase after the reopening of the Jordan-Iraq Turaibil border crossing.

 “Closure of the borders inflicted hefty additional fees on exporters and producers as shipments used to be carried through Kuwait to reach Iraq. The reopening will help cut down the expenses and will also reduce the losses which traders have incurred over the past two years,” the president said.

Iraq is a major destination for Jordanian exports and a priority for Jordanian industrialists and businessmen.

He called for exempting exports to Iraq from taxes, which he said reach 30 per cent. 

By Chris Arsenault 

TORONTO —  Hot, dry Jordan faces severe water shortages due to climate change and a refugee influx from neighbouring Syria, Stanford University scientists said in a recently published study. 

In a scenario where greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current pace, Jordan is expected to experience a one-third drop in annual winter rainfall, alongside a 4.5oC in average annual temperatures by 2100, said the study. 

Droughts will increase in frequency, duration and intensity compared to the three decades before 2010, it added, suggesting that water stress is likely to exacerbate social tensions. 

"Jordan is currently one of the most water-poor countries in the world," said Stanford professor Steven Gorelick, one of the study's authors.

"Beyond 2100, in the absence of additional fresh water supplies — a likely scenario is... groundwater is depleted, agriculture depends solely on treated wastewater and rapid population growth through future adoption of refugees becomes an enormous challenge," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria's war, and millions have been displaced since it began in 2011. 

The Jordanian government says the country is now home to 1.4 million Syrians, of whom more than 660,000 are registered with the UN refugee agency, UNHCR. 

Jordan today has an average annual water supply of 150 cubic metres per capita. The United Nations says countries with less than 500 cubic metres per person face "absolute scarcity". 

Along with more thirsty mouths due to the arrival of refugees in Jordan, the conflict in Syria has disrupted water management infrastructure in the Yarmouk-Jordan River system. 

Flow in the river is expected to decrease by up to 75 per cent by 2050 compared to its historical average, as a result of human and natural influences in Syria, the study said. 

The number of droughts in Jordan and their duration are expected to double between 2071 and 2100, causing a "huge problem", it said.

Jordan's government is working to crack down on water theft from pipelines, while improving water management infrastructure, Gorelick said. 

Amman recycles the vast majority of its wastewater and uses this treated water for irrigation, he said. 

The country is also moving ahead with new pipelines for groundwater and projects to desalinate water from the Red Sea. 

Despite these attempts to improve the situation, the "long-term physical constraints on supply are likely to get much worse", Gorelick warned.

AMMAN — There is a tendency to assume that villages in the late-Ottoman Levant were satellites of their nearest town and that villagers lived in a "small world" and travelled to the nearest town and back when in need of supplies, according to a US historian. 

"This suggests that villagers lived in relatively small worlds, limited to their regions, and it neglects the large network of rural inter-village relations that existed independent of towns," Susynne McElrone, who received her PhD from New York University and came to Jordan as a postdoctoral fellow of Council of American Overseas Research Centres, told The Jordan Times in a recent e-mail interview.

She added that it is also for this reason that people take identifying villagers from the Hebron region as Khalilis and those from the Nablus region as Nablusis for granted. 

However, it is not clear when this regional identification developed, she said. "To begin with, Ottoman administrative-district borders were not infrequently redrawn. Secondly, these borders had limited meaning in daily life. Regarding court cases, for example, a Gazan was free to take his case to the Sharia court in Gaza, in Hebron, or even in Salt,” the historian noted.

 There was no judicial jurisdiction, the scholar continued, noting that "when we do find, for example, villagers from the area of Nablus in the Hebron court in the late-19th century, they are not identified in the court records as ‘Nablusis’ but, rather, according to the name of their village".

This suggests that there was great mobility between villages across Palestine in the late-Ottoman period, to the extent that a village in the Nablus region was as familiar by name to those in the Hebron court as any village in the Hebron district, without the need to identify the village by its region, she explained. 

"Adel Manna [historian specialised in Palestine during Ottoman period] has argued that the Palestinian revolt against Muhammad Ali [Ottoman Albanian ruler of Egypt] in 1834 was a rare case of Palestinians — 'people widely separated' — uniting for a common cause, but I believe available evidence suggests that networks of relations were already in place in 1834, drawing people together. Those networks were used to quickly form a broad oppositional front in 1834," McElrone stressed.

The historical relations — familial and commercial — east and west of the Jordan River are very well-known and well-documented in this period, the American historian said. 

"It is odd — and in part we can point to effects of political developments — that more is known about east-west relations over Jordan than north-south relations within Palestine." 

In fact, this division by river banks is a 20th century terminology, McElrone stressed, and everyday “inter-regional connections were broader than we imagine existed before trains and cars". 

McElrone, who wrote her dissertation on the implementation of Ottoman property-tenure reform in rural Hebron and spent several years in that city, is currently writing a book on the implementation of these reforms in the second half of the 19th century across Palestine. 

McElrone pointed out the interconnectedness between Hebron and Karak. "Not only big families like the Majallis and the Amrs were going back and forth and developed familiar commercial connections, but members of smaller families as well also had similar connections," she said.

McElrone’s project covers historical land tenure, which also has implications for the present and the future.  

"It is a project that contributes to rural Ottoman history by tracing patterns of land-tenure and the socioeconomic history of land-tenure in the Tanzimat [Reform] era," the historian underlined. 

The Ottoman Empire was an agrarian empire with an overwhelmingly rural population, but this population has left the smallest imprint on the written record, making rural history the most difficult to uncover, McElrone concluded.

AMMAN (UNESCO) — A passionate change maker, Rana Dajani founded “We Love Reading”, a community-based programme designed to foster the love of reading in children in Jordan. 

Rana developed the programme with her family in 2006 around their kitchen table, with the dream of establishing a library in every neighbourhood in the Arab world by training individuals to read aloud to 4-10 year old children from local communities. 

So far, Rana has instilled the joy of reading in children across Jordan and in 33 countries around the world through 1,500 initiatives of the “We Love Reading” programme. 

Rana explains that: “The way to plant a love for reading in children is to read aloud to them.” She started by holding story-time sessions in her neighbourhood mosque and began recruiting volunteers to read aloud to kids. 

Volunteers work to become “reading ambassadors” by completing two-day training sessions and learning about how to read aloud engagingly and attract children to their “library”. The volunteers are then provided with a “seed library” of 25 stories and can enact their library in any community space. 

Rana requires that volunteers “pay-it-forward” by training others and this has also ensured the strong spread of the programme. 

UNESCO’s King Sejong International Literacy Prize, established in 1989 with the support of the Korean government, gives special consideration to the development and use of mother-tongue literacy education and training. 

“We Love Reading” has won numerous awards both locally and internationally but the UNESCO prize is a huge point of pride for Rana. 

The prize-giving ceremony will be organised at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. It is part of the organisation’s global celebration of International Literacy Day, held in the context of the 2030 Education Agenda by which the international community has pledged to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.

The UNESCO Amman office has been taking a leadership role in ensuring the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, striving to ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning. 

In Jordan, UNESCO is committed to strengthening national capacities, striving to encourage and facilitate access, quality, relevance and equity in the delivery of educational services to all beneficiaries, including Syrian refugees. 

On September 8, Literacy Day will be celebrated around the world, offering a moment to review the progress made and ways to tackle the challenges ahead. UNESCO’s Director General Irina Bokova explains: “This year, the event is devoted to better understand the type of literacy required in a digital world to build more inclusive, equitable and sustainable societies. Everyone should be able to make the most of the benefits of the new digital age, for human rights, for dialogue and exchange and for more sustainable development.”    

This year’s Literacy Day event will bring together stakeholders and decision makers from different parts of the world to examine how digital technology can help close the literacy gap and gain better understanding of the skills needed in today’s societies. 

Rana is now looking to technology to ensure the sustainability of the programme, creating a virtual community offering online read-aloud trainings for parents and mobilising volunteers using a mobile app that will also be used as a monitoring and evaluation tool. She reflects: “We won’t let the digital age control us; we are instead taking control of technology to further advance us.”

AMMAN — “Since music is one of the main sources people use for self-expression, alternative music has appeared as an answer to voice the daily problems and difficulties young adults face in the Arab community,” a statement by Palestine Alternative Music Festival (PAM Fest.) said.

The “first of its kind alternative Arab music festival” according to its organisers, PAM Fest. will take place on September 22 in Amman, as a culmination of its Arab tour which started in Palestine and will continue in Egypt and Dubai throughout 2018.

Working to promote the diversity of musical styles in the young Arab community, the festival seeks to “express a message beyond all barriers”, reachingout to all music fans across the Arab region, PAM Fest. said.

“We also want to raise awareness on the fact that the Palestinian scene has some great talent to show the world,” Mohammed Halman, one of the organisers, told The Jordan Times.

Organised for the second time by Bethlehem-based group “BUZZ”, the music festival makes its first entrance to the Kingdom after it gathered thousands of music aficionados in Palestine last year.

“Jordanian bands were not able to attend our event last year due to political restrictions, so, this year, we decided to bring the festival to Jordan so everyone can enjoy their favourite bands all gathered in one place,” Halman added.

In a bid to break the geopolitical barriers, the organisers seek to combine the performances of diverse Palestinian bands with the local Jordanian scene.

Participants will include various alternative bands from Palestine, such as Bethlehem band Mafar, the Continer Band, from Jerusalem and Ramallah, Hawa Dafi, from occupied Golan, Haifa-based Rasha Nahas and the Band and The Synaptic, according to the organisers. 

“The name ‘alternative’ comes from the will to develop an alternative to the common music genre people are used to hear. As a different kind of music, it seeks to go against the conventional ways of society and the negative effects it has on its youth whether social or political,” PAM Fest. statement said. 

“Alternative music is now considered the voice of the youth throughout the Arab world because it expresses their problems and speaks their language,” the statement noted.