Jordan

By Nisreen El-Shamayleh in Middle East on July 21st, 2011
Several activists and journalists were injured in clashes with the police during last Friday's protests in Amman [Reuters]

In a rare outbreak of violence, a protest in Amman last Friday demanding political reforms ended in broken bones and cameras.

Several pro-reform protesters and journalists were injured in clashes with the police, leaving the media and officials wondering what exactly went wrong.

The Public Security Department said it is fully responsible for what happened but accused the pro-reform protesters and the Muslim Brotherhood of provoking the police and instigating the violence.

Journalists were promised compensation and four policemen were arrested for suspicion of being involved in the July 15 attacks.

Two pro-reform protests - on Saturday and Wednesday - took place after this incident and ended peacefully, in a clear attempt by the authorities to placate the people and improve the tarnished image of Jordan's security authorities.

Observers say they have reason to believe the protests planned for this Friday will not fall into chaos.

But al

Tags: Jordan
By Nisreen El-Shamayleh in Middle East on March 3rd, 2011
Photo by GALLO/GETTY

The Jordanian people’s demand for a constitutional monarchy is no longer a taboo subject.

Protests in the country inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world have emboldened the masses to publicly speak about the formerly unmentionable issue of the monarchy’s role.

The demand, echoed clearly by the influential Muslim Brotherhood and repeated by other groups, requires a return to the 1952 constitution.

The constitution had a provision for parliamentary form of government, democratic elections, and political parties were influential, while the Jordanian Hashemite monarch had less executive power than he has today.

Following the influx of refugees from the Palestinian territories in 1948 and 1967, that ideal constitution saw extensive changes and transformations from the 1950s onwards.

The changes handed the monarch sweeping powers to appoint prime ministers and cabinets and dissolve parliament.

After suspension of parliam

Tags: Israel, Jordan
By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on February 11th, 2011

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things in Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.  

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on February 4th, 2011
Photo by AFP

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo and Alexandria.  Live Blog: Jan28 - Jan29 - Jan30 - Jan31 - 

By Nisreen El-Shamayleh in Middle East on February 3rd, 2011

 Jordan’s King Abdullah has indicated good intentions by responding to pressure from the Jordanian street before it’s too late. He has dismissed prime ministers repeatedly in the past, but the background of protests in Jordan coupled with the serious developments in neighbouring Egypt, give the Rifai sacking added significance and value.

For two consecutive Fridays peaceful demonstrations across the kingdom echoed the same demand: sack prime minister Samir Rifai and his cabinet. Rifai, a wealthy aristocrat, with negligible popularity among the general public, offered little relief in addressing poverty, inflation, unemployment and electoral reforms.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Middle East on January 30th, 2011
Sleeping protester at Tahrir Sq. with signs: "people decide for themselves" and "down with the head of the gang" [Reuters]

From our headquarters in Doha, we keep you updated on all things Egypt, with reporting from Al Jazeera staff in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez.  Live Blog: Jan28 - Jan29 - Jan30 - Jan31 - Feb1 - Feb2 - Feb3<

By Paul Rhys in Asia on November 15th, 2010
Picture by EPA

Even the biggest football fan could be forgiven for missing the most momentous goal so far at the Asian Games here in Guangzhou.

A long-range strike from Jordan's Maysa Jbarah on Sunday came sandwiched in the middle of 10 goals for their opponents, China –  a powerhouse of women's football in Asia and the hosts of this tournament of 42 sports and 12,000 athletes.

The 21-year-old's goal was Jordan's first at an Asian Games, coming four years after the team conceded 30 and scored none at their first appearance at the competition in Doha.

The quality of the finish – and the way the chance was created by fellow Amman-born strike partner Shahnaz Jebreen – showed that Jordan can have a future in a sport where the gulf in class between the top and bottom sides can produce brutal scorelines.

As China's coach Li Xiaopeng said after the teams' opening Group A match: "Our girls did a good job, but Jordan's one goal is more important than our 10 goals."

By Jamal Elshayyal in Middle East on October 13th, 2010
The original Viva Palestina convoy was welcomed into Gaza in March. Photo by Getty Images

So, after keeping 400 humanitarians, $5m worth of aid and 148 vehicles stranded for over eight days, the Egyptian government has finally given the green light for the Viva Palestina aid convoy to dock in the port of Al-Arish.

Some of you will remember the last convoy organised by Viva Palestina, which was forced to travel from Jordan to Syria when the Egyptians insisted they would not grant it access unless it docked in Al-Arish. Well, this time, the organisers did exactly what Cairo requested - they went straight to Syria and requested permission to go through Egypt to the besieged Gaza strip.

Yet the Egyptian government still refused them entry for over a week.

The reason for the initial rejection? There wasn't one.

By Jamal Elshayyal in Middle East on September 2nd, 2010
Photo by Reuters

So, the curtain is raised once again, the actors emerge, and the crowd applauds - it's the latest scene in the tragic comedy of the Israeli-Arab conflict.
 
As Barack Obama, the US president, welcomed his guests at the White House to unveil the resumption of direct "negotiations" between the Israelis and Palestinians, it was almost difficult not to feel a sense of déjà vu.
 
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, Benyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas all took it in turns to impress upon us the importance of "seizing this moment" to achieve peace. Each leader emphasised just how critical it was that this latest round of negotiations succeed; for, after all they "are all fathers, blessed with sons and daughters whose generation will judge them" - as President Obama so eloquently put it.
 

By Gregg Carlstrom in Middle East on August 3rd, 2010
Lebanese soldiers look across the border. (Photo: AFP)

At least three Lebanese soldiers and one Israeli soldier have been killed during a skirmish along the border between the two countries.

We'll be live-blogging the latest developments from both Israel and Lebanon throughout the day. (All times are GMT, except where noted.)

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9:00pm: That's all for the live-blogging this evening! But we'll obviously continue to follow this story on the main Al Jazeera Web site in the hours and days to come.

8:15pm: A few other odds and ends we missed earlier today.

First, Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, echoed what we've heard from other Israeli officials (including foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman).

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