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Industry outrage at Captain abu Raed, Gomorra snub

Last year, the Academy's foreign language "phase 1 committee" -- which consists of several hundred Los Angeles-based members who divide up and screen the foreign entries, with minimal attendance requirements and a bizarre vote-tabulation process -- created an uproar by failing to include two critically-acclaimed films, "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days" (Romania) and "Persepolis" (France), among the 9 films on the shortlist from which they would ultimately select 5 nominees for best foreign foreign language film.

The very public drubbing that the committee received prompted the Academy to make some major changes in the way the shortlist and nominees would be determined this year and going forward. However, as revealed by this morning's announcement of this year's shortlist -- which has the industry up in arms today due to the appalling exclusion of two of the year's most acclaimed foreign language films, "Gomorra" (Italy, d. Matteo Garrone) and "Captain Abu Raed" (Jordan, d. Amin Matalka) -- little seems to have changed.

Who am I to comment on this? Well, for one, someone who saw more of the foreign language entries than many members of "the phase 1 committee." This year, I watched several dozen of the most celebrated (by critics, festivals, etc.) foreign language submissions prior to this announcement so that I could offer an informed opinion when it came. And, in fact, I correctly predicted seven of the nine that were selected this morning (out of 65 that had eligible).

Source: [LA Times - The Feinberg Files]

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Madaba mosque fosters peaceful coexistence

By Jumana Al Tamimi

Dubai: A newly built masjid in a Jordanian city was named Al Maseeh Eisa Bin Mariam (Jesus Christ Son of Mary) in a bid to show Muslims and Christians can coexist. This comes amid what many Jordanians and Muslims describe as increasing enmity between Islam in the West.

Surprised

"In this way, we want to emphasise that Jesus is loved by all Muslims," the masjid's imam, Jamal Safarati, was quoted as saying in press reports. "Muslims don't disagree on that," he added.

Verses from the Quran dedicated to the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ have been inscribed on the facade of the mosque, which was inaugurated three months ago. The masjid was built a short distance from a church in the small city of Madaba, 30km southwest of Amman.

Source: [Gulf News]

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Jordan: More Christians deported; reports condemned

(ISTANBUL) Jordan has continued deporting foreign evangelical pastors, as the government last week admitted to expelling foreigners for "illegal" missionary activities. Acting Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh told the Jordanian parliament on February 20 that authorities had expelled missionaries operating "under the cover of doing charitable work," suggesting that evangelistic activity is illegal in Jordan.

If such evangelistic work were illegal -- with a missionary permit or not -- Jordan could be opening itself to accusations of violating Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the country published in its official Gazette in July 2006, giving it the force of law.

Article 18 of the covenant states that everyone has the inherent right publicly or privately to "manifest his religion or belief in worship, observance, practice and teaching." It also states, however, that such freedom may be subject to limitations prescribed by law to protect public "order."

Source: [Compass Direct News]

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Jordan deports Christian missionaries who 'broke law'

(AMMAN) The Jordanian authorities have deported a number of foreign Christians who "violated the law" by carrying out missionary activities, Minister of State for Information and Communication Affairs Nasser Judeh said Wednesday.

"The authorities have deported a number of people who entered the country under the pretext of performing voluntary work but were spotted carrying out missionary activities," Judeh told the lower house of parliament in response to interpolations by deputies. He praised a statement issued earlier by leaders of churches in Jordan, who denied allegations by the deportees that Christians in Jordan were being discriminated against.

"The statement issued by the Council of Churches made it clear that Christians in Jordan lived in peace and security with their Muslim brethren and that the Jordanian constitution guaranteed the rights of all Jordanians regardless of their religion and sect," Judeh said.

Source: [Earth Times]

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Press Attack: What's the frequency, Jamil?

By Rita Barotta

BEIRUT: It was 10.30 p.m. on January 25 and Jamil Nimri was at his home in the Gardens District in Amman when there was a knock on the door. Someone asked to see the journalist in person. Nimri opened the door to find a total stranger on his doorstep. After making sure that he was indeed facing Nimri, the stranger said he needed to get something from his car.

He turned, only to turn around again quickly – this time with a knife in his hand. The stranger went straight for Nimri's face but Nimri had a quick reaction and took a step back. He was quick enough to avoid serious injury but not quick enough to get a small cut on his face. His assailant ran away, jumped into a waiting car and disappeared into the night.

This is unfortunately not a scene from an Alfred Hitchcock horror movie. This is what actually happened to Jamil Nimri, a columnist for Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper, and the host of a political TV talk show, called "Bila Qoyood" (Without restraints). Nimri is a famous media personality in Jordan, and is well respected as an intellectual who approaches issues with total objectivity and a great ability to listen and converse. Yet, someone out there doesn't like him.

Source: [Menassat]

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Jordan's film industry aims for the stars

Jordan would seem like an unlikely candidate to be the Hollywood of the Middle East, but the tiny country on the Dead Sea has set its sights on being a world-class player in the film industry. Blessed with strong political support and a variety of superb locations that have been used by directors from all over the world, the country's film industry has a solid foundation to build on. Eager to capitalize on its strengths, the country has taken a number of recent steps to advance its reputation as a film-making center.

Jordan's film industry is relatively new, but it is growing rapidly and has enormous promise, said Nada Doumani, Communication and Culture Advisor for Jordan's Royal Film Commission.The commission was established in 2003 to foster the country's fledgling film industry.

'We are working on building a strong, professional Jordanian film industry that produces quality films. We train aspiring film-makers in all fields related to film-making, from spotting locations, to scriptwriting, cinematography, and editing,' she explained.The commission hopes to promote Jordan as a place where people from the Middle East can freely make films alongside the world's most talented film-makers.

Source: [AME Info]

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Jordanian authorities expel 'foreign' Christians

(ISTANBUL) Jordan has increased pressure on foreign Christians living in the kingdom, expelling many long-time residents over the past 13 months in what local churches see as an attack on their legitimacy. Authorities deported or refused residence permits to at least 27 expatriate Christian families and individuals in 2007, a number of them working with local churches or studying at a Christian seminary, Compass has confirmed.

In all but one case, officials refused to provide written explanations for the decisions. But many of those expelled told Compass that they had been questioned by intelligence officers regarding evangelism of Muslims. "They said that I am a threat to Jordanian security and I am making the society unstable," said Hannu Lahtinen, a Finnish pastor deported last month. "They have a thousand ways to say you are preaching the gospel."

Though not illegal, Christian "public proselytism" of Muslims is against government policy, according to the U.S. State Department's annual report on religious freedom in Jordan. But a Jordanian spokesperson told Compass that the government only deported foreigners who had broken the law or had been dishonest in their application for residency.

Source: [Compass Direct News]

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Arab world shivers in unusual cold snap

AMMAN, Jordan - The lone de-icing machine at Jordan's busy international airport worked frantically on Tuesday to clear planes for take off when a freak snowstorm blanketed this small desert country in a cold snap that has the whole region shivering.

Temperatures have plunged throughout the Middle East, dusting cities with unfamiliar snowfalls and sending residences scurrying for their blankets and jackets to cope with the near freezing temperatures in many places.

While streets in the Jordanian capital, Amman, were icy and dangerous and traffic immediately clogged, farmers have welcomed the much needed precipitation in the midst of an unusually dry winter that has damaged crops and sent food prices soaring. The desert kingdom depends heavily on winter rains for its agriculture. Snowball-wielding children also welcomed the thick snowflakes and promptly began pelting passing motorists with their rare missiles.

Source: [MSNBC]

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Amman: The foods of the Mideast at its stable center

By Danielle Pergament

ON a warm evening last fall, a handful of old men shuffled into Al Quds, a big, overly lit restaurant on a bustling stretch of King Hussein Street in downtown Amman. Platters of syrupy pastries, crispy phyllo shells and fried dough were artfully stacked in the windows. But the men were there for the house specialty: mansaf.

Mansaf, a lamb shank served on a heap of yellow rice with chopped, blanched almonds and warm yogurt sauce, is the national dish of Jordan. But over the past few years, as other cultures and nationalities have moved in, the menu has expanded beyond mansaf and Jordan's culinary borders.

Call it a product of political turmoil. Jordan is smack in the center of the Middle East. In Amman, its capital, you'll find the bright vegetables from Lebanon, crunchy falafels from Syria, juicy kebabs from Egypt and, most recently, spicy meat dishes from Jordan's southern neighbor, Iraq.

Source: [NY Times]

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Jordan's Dead Sea: Coming Alive

Wedged precariously between Israel and Iraq, and lacking the oil riches of other countries in the region, the desert nation of Jordan appears to have received a raw deal. Little wonder, then, that it tries to exploit the resources it does have.

One of these is the natural wonder of the Dead Sea. Located a 75-minute drive west of the capital Amman and 1,300 ft. (400 m) below sea level, Jordan's Dead Sea shores have traditionally been overlooked by travelers in favor of the far more developed Israeli side. Yet Jordan's under-the-radar status is actually its greatest appeal. In place of backpackers and charter crowds, Bedouin herdsman and the occasional Christian pilgrim are the most common visitors to the area -- along with travelers en route to Jordan's most popular tourism spot, the lost "pink city" of Petra, two hours south.

These days, however, Jordan's sleepy stretch of Dead Sea coast is slowly awakening as a clutch of new hotels and spas emerge. As in Israel, Jordan's new resorts are making the most of thermal baths, therapeutic mud and mineral-rich waters. Yet unlike the facilities on the Israeli side, the Jordanian properties are almost uniformly five-star. The most sensational is the 318-room Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, which began opening in phases in late 2006. Despite its stark desert location -- surrounded by red-earth cliffs accented by the lights of Jerusalem in the distance -- the Ishtar is dominated by water.

Source: [Time]

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