Jordan
I know this one comes very late, but I had to write something to acknowledge my time in Jordan last month. I was in Jordan (for a second time, after the summer) last month, from the beginning of October to the beginning of November. It was the second foreign country on my IHP human rights study abroad program. We spent the entire month learning about different human rights issues Jordan is currently dealing with. I learned about refugee rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights. It was amazing and I learned a ton.
I love, love, love Jordan. It’s probably my favorite country I’ve visited. Probably because I also love Arabic and I’m Muslim, but I would even consider it like a second home and I would love to go back soon inshaAllah.
Palestine/Israel
Learning about human rights in Jordan brought up a lot of thoughts and emotions for me. One, we learned about Palestine/Israel, the history, the now, the refugee situation. It was all pretty condensed but it still covered a good amount of information. Hopefully anyone reading this and who knows me already knows where I stand on the issue. So it was pretty difficult to deal with the fact that, for some people, it is “possible” to talk and learn about Palestine/Israel through a lens of neutrality. Many people think of it as an issue with “two sides”. But it’s really not. It’s an oppressive state imposing an occupation on another. And it’s as simple as that. It’s not a situation in which there are two equal sides so let’s not even go there. But that was one of my biggest struggles. How do we talk about this issue in such a way and acknowledge that this is not an even conflict? Also, we need to acknowledge that being neutral in one’s perspective on the conflict is not actually neutral. If you choose not to “take sides” in this conflict, then you are inherently supporting the oppressor through your silence. And that advice goes to me first.
Refugees in Jordan
Another struggle learning about human rights in Jordan was learning about refugee rights and visiting refugee families in Jordan. We talk about Palestinian refugees, but we did not get to visit Al-Baqqa camp, which is an urban refugee camp in Jordan. We meant to, but due to the protests at Al-Aqsa and unrest in the camp, we could not go. We did, however, visit Iraqi refugee families in a neighborhood of Amman called Al Hashmi Al Shmali. You can clearly tell the difference between this part of Amman (East Amman) and the part of Amman (West Amman) we lived and studied in. The area of Al Hashmi Al Shmali was a lot less “developed” and more run-down than the fancier West Amman. I won’t go into detail about the families’ individual stories, but I can tell you that it was absolutely heartbreaking. The families had very little and for some people, hope seemed quite dim. One of the families I visited were refugees as a result of the sectarian conflict in Iraq. The other were refugees because of ISIS. What else can I say on this? One is to please pray for these families and Iraqi refugees in general. The other is that please don’t forget the US’ stake in all this and how it shook up Iraq with its 2003 invasion. The US has responsibility; we’re not removed from this conflict.
We also visited Syrian refugee families. We went inside Zaatari camp, which is the 3rd largest refugee camp in the world and hosts Syrian refugees. Zaatari hosts about 120,000 refugees. It’s shed some (if not all?) of its tents for caravans, which are more sturdy. I also got to visit a supermarket inside Zaatari and a health clinic. To me, the caravans, the supermarket and the sheer size of Zaatari brings up the issue of refugee camps and permanence, which we discussed in a class I took last semester. Refugee camps aren’t meant to be permanent solutions but they seem to be taking on a more permanent persona. It might be useful to tease out why that’s problematic…
We also drove up near the Jordanian-Syrian border and visited refugees there. It’s kind of surreal to know that you’re right by the border of a country whose dictator leader is committing mass atrocities and murders against his people and whose actions have led to millions of refugees fleeing Syria. Not that mass atrocities aren’t committed against people of color (particularly black people) right back home in the States, but yeah. We were literally about 3-5 miles from the border at one point. Please also pray for Syria and the Syrian people, both the refugees and those still living there.
I had two other interactions with refugees that I’d like to talk more about here. One was through working with CRP (Collateral Repair Project), an NGO in Jordan started by two women from the States. They are based in Al Hashmi Al Shmali and work with Syrian and Iraqi refugees, providing English classes, community space, other services, etc. Fellow classmates and I volunteered with them for a project for our program. I spoke to more refugees there and took pictures and listened to stories. Two women who I spoke with emphasized the issue of persecution against minorities in Iraq such as Mandeans, Yazidis and Christians, so I thought I should raise that point here. We do not talk about these groups of people very much at all, and it’s important that their struggle is lifted up. I am very grateful for these experiences speaking with refugees but I also need to learn how to listen to these kinds of stories and how to respond and how to process what I learn.
My other interaction with refugees was through an organization called Dar Al Yasmin, a French NGO based in Amman. I went with some friends to Zaatari village, a community of refugees living outside Zaatari. We played with kids and basically just spent the day there. It was nice to see the kids all happy and cheery. Same as Zaatari camp, there were lots of kids just playing and having fun and being happy. And that’s a great sight to see, that there is a sense of happiness that exists. At the same time, it’s important to remember that many kids don’t go to school and being a refugee in Jordan makes it very hard on them to get an education. Books are expensive, life is very different than in their home country. Although Jordan affords refugees a safer place to live, they still cannot work and educational opportunities are being missed. Several refugees I spoke with want to go to Western countries. They see hope there.
Lastly while I’m still speaking about refugees, my friend Indran and I began this fundraiser online to raise money to buy winter coats for Syrian refugees. Please, please, please donate and share the page with others. It’s getting really darn cold in Jordan and it’s gonna be really tough to bear the cold. This is the link to the campaign page: https://www.youcaring.com/dar-al-yasmin-ngo-in-jordan-462111
Women’s rights in Jordan
I learned a ton about women’s rights in Jordan, but particularly about women in Islam. Learning about women and Islam as I did in Jordan, by the teachers I had, was absolutely amazing and it challenged so many things I thought I knew about what my own religion says. And that can be a pretty scary feeling, and it was. But it was also so awesome. For one, I learned that there are women’s interpretations of the Qur’an. Like, there are Muslim women who were just all like, there is no way I’m gonna let men continue to interpret my religion for me and they studied and they interpreted. Amazing. I need to go get myself a copy of those books. One such book is Quran and Women by Amina Wadud. I didn’t read it yet so don’t spoil it for me!
I also learned that there are some pretty awful restrictions on women’s freedom in Jordan. But, by God, do not go screaming Western feminism at me. Yes there are cultural traditions that are oppressive to women in Jordan. It is a patriarchal society, but so is the US! I need to always remember to put things in perspective when learning about human rights abroad. It’s not like the country I come from is the perfect shining example of human rights. We are not. Also, it’s important to separate religion and culture. Women can and women have used Islam as a tool to liberate themselves as we can see with these women’s interpretations of the Qur’an.
LGBTQ+ rights in Jordan
We didn’t actually spend too much time on this topic but it’s still super important. LGBTQ+ rights is not something that people publicly organize around in Jordan. What’s interesting is that there isn’t a law in Jordan that criminalizes homosexuality. But there are also no laws protecting it and society is very against it.
Another important point is that I think it’s important to question the very Western term “LGBTQ+”. What I mean by that is that, as we learned, words like “gay” and “lesbian” are not words that all people would use to describe themselves. There are some people living in the Middle East who by action would be considered in a Western sense “gay” but that word is unfamiliar to them and that act and identity is more fluid.
Like I said, we didn’t spend a lot of time talking about LGBTQ+ rights in Jordan, but it’s important to know that there is discourse about it happening in Jordan.
Just some things that made this past month in Jordan great for me 🙂
- Getting to practice Arabic and see it all around me. I love Arabic.
- Halal food everywhere! You don’t even KNOW how much I ate McDonald’s in Jordan. Ugh, those nuggets tho. THOSE NUGGETS THO. Goodbye, halal nuggets.
- Being in a Muslim country. Praying in random places is not so random anymore.
- Shawerma. Yeah, that’s it.
- So many cats. I still need to update my Cats of the Middle East Facebook page.
- A photography workshop on Lawrence of Arabia (a new interpretation of LoA) that I took part in! One of my photographs was exhibited there. It was at Darat Al Funun!
- Seeing Petra, Wadi Rum (for a second time each) and Aqaba (new for me). Going snorkeling in the Red Sea (but swallowing wayyyy too much salt water, ew).
- Gerard Ice Creammmm!
- The AMAZING people who coordinated my study abroad program in Jordan. The amazing Dema (strong, beautiful, independent Muslim woman! <3), Sakhaa (you too girl!!), Hadeel (you three!!) and Aboud (habibiiiii). Thank you so so much. You all did a fantastic job. Thank you.
- MY FRIENDS. I met old friends and made new ones and it was so, so much fun. Spending time with my good friend & numba one Arabic homie, Cathy, from Brown. Loved hanging out with you man so shout out to you! And also made good friends through her (shout out to you guys, Gabe and Maheyaar). Seeing Lizzy and Lindsay and Shifa, from CLS this summer and volunteering with Indran and Anfas at Zaatari village. And plus Arabic scrabble! Lots of awesome times with good company in Jordan. I will cherish those memories dearly.
So yeah, I love Jordan and I learned a ton. And I hope you did too by reading about my experiences. hit me up any time to conversate. I would love to talk about my time on this program.
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