I received an email today from one of my readers asking why I haven’t said anything about the recent decision to sentence Oweidi (already serving jail time)to 2 years in prison for ‘harming the dignity of the state.’ Oweidi, sent an U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid accusing people in the Royal Court of corruption and well, that just doesn’t fly around here. His Abbadi tribe has abandoned him publicly, so his biggest leverage is gone. He will have to rely on being granted a royal pardon, which in itself is an absurd measure.
Anyways.
What do I have to say about it?
Nothing.
Nothing that hasn’t already been said.
Nothing that isn’t obvious to even the smallest observer.
Suffice to say that every time the government jails someone for slandering them for corruption, they merely solidify the perception, both at home and locally, that there is in fact corruption.
As for this being another blow to any signs of media reform. Nothing new here. I am certain despite HMKA’s promises, the government or the security forces will continue to monitor what is said online and we (as writers and citizens with voices) will be held accountable (rather than the other way around).
As for the judicial system. It’s a joke. We have a system that is too afraid and/or backwards to prosecute criminals justly for murdering four of their sisters in one go, but at the same time will try someone in a State Security court for writing an email. In fact, both people will get roughly the same sentence if you think about it. Killing my sister will get me the same amount of jail time as sending an SMS about a royal family member or even a Minister.
Unless of course I’m tried for treason, which isn’t out of the bounds of reality.
Give it a few years.
Anyways.
I’m tired.
I’m just tired.
As a citizen, as a writer, as an observer.
I’m just tired.
The fight itself has worn me out and I feel like we never even got off the mat.
The bad news in this country’s seemingly downward spiral, is enough to make you want to sit out the next half century.
Kind of like that stage in a Monopoly game where if you land on a square your doomed to go bankrupt with the rent payments.
The stage where going directly to jail can seem like a blessing
Take it easy man. You are too young to give up.
This is sad, it is hypocrisy! Abu odeh got away with what he said, Zaki bani rasheed got away with what he said and many many more got away with more than what oweidi said!
Naseem, if this is how you feel, imagine how he feels or his family and his tribe(The ones with some dignity left that is).
And they ask and wonder where terror comes from!
King hussien god bless his soul, would have went to his jail cell and took him in his car to his family tonight..
Alla yer7amo..
muhanad, if you read what Abbadi said he actually attacked the queen and accused her of supporting terrorism. what he says about Jordanians of Palestinian origin is even more hateful.
no one, not ibn irsheed not abu odeh said anything remotely close to Abbadi. He is a fascist, the equivalent to a neo-nazi.
that being said, i am also in favor of not imprisoning him. why make a martyr out of a scoundrel.
This just came to my mind… Remember the “brotherhood” members who paid tribute to zarqawi? Remember those who never condemned any act of terror wether on jordanian soil or abroad? What are those? Is owaide more dangerous than them?
What about some people who do pilgrimage to damascus and pray to gazza while sometimes having a ramadan iftar in the iranian embassy in amman?
Lets forget all of this and talk about his age! How old is he? 50 or 60 years old? Is there no respect for the elderly?
The problem is that the “prime minister” is Abbadi!
Anyway, is it eid yet in amman? If so Happy eid, if not also happy eid!
When Abadi was criticizing the Palestinians in Jordan which I disagree with him wholeheartedly,the government said nothing and did nothing about him till he started talking about the corruption of the Royal Court cronies ,they turned around and fabricated some bogus accusation to silence him.
But the case against him is not by the queen, it is by the “interior” minister! I didn’t read what he said and I don’t care, what I care about is that all of this is just bogus and hypocrisy, maybe abu odeh and bani rasheed send hidden messages and don’t say it directlty but we all know what they mean.
Zay ma begooloha el jama3a ga3deen bela7’moo, there are many other way to encapsulate him, but to do it this way is just sad!
It is sad because our so called judicial system became a tool in the hands of some people to take revenge from some while ignoring others(Maybe because they fear their bases)..
What we hear outside of jordan about us becoming the oasis of democracy where the freedom of speech has no limits is not what we see on the ground! If we want to sue, we should sue those who didn’t keep their promises, we should sue those who build dreams then take them away…
Salam!
I hope you do not turn this into another Palestinian-Jordanian dichotomy case. Owedi claimed in his letter to Congress that both Queen Rania and Basem Awadallah are supporters of Hamas and Fateh and they support terrorism. For me this is complete insanity that needs to send him into Al Rasheed hospital and not jail to be a hero.
As for Zarqawi tribute, please remember that Abdul Karem Doghmi did visit the Zarqawi “condolences party” and got away with it. For me he should’ve been in Jafr just like Abu Faris and Co.
Batir,
I completly understand what you’re saying, but the case aginst him is not by the queen or basem awadalla! He was accused of slandering the country, and the country is more than 2 people, it is like 5.5 million people!
Now, “What” is slandering(Hurting the reputation of) the country more, his imprisonmenmt or him being free?
Who did more harm to jordan, the zarqa terrorists on MSNBC and BBC or owiedi?
Who did more harm to jordan’s reputation: “Honor” killings or owiedi?
Batir it is obvious that this was “tesfayet 7sabat”, if the abbadi tribe made their voice heard in ways that others do, then maybe the we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
What do you think about those arguments? Are they logical?
Batir, you never fail to shock me. you call yourfelf a socialist democrat? freedom of speech was invented for the sole purpose of protecting the weak from the strong. had you endorsed his imprisonment for national unity reasons I would have at least admired your reasoning.
i think i despise Abbadi more than you do, me being a Jordanian Palestinian. but I strongly oppose his imprisonment in this case. no one should go to jail for criticizing powerful public figures.
but I agree, this is not about protecting national unity. i would have supported punitive measures against hate speech that fosters instability, along the lines of measures taken against Nazis in some EU countries.
But this not going to happen in Jordan since the Jordanian regime supports and encourages disunity as part of a more comprehensive divide and conquer strategy. That’s why they have stood silent when Abbadi was spewing forth his divisive Nazi-like hate for years.
hi blackiris and co… been checking out your blog frequently, but never thought to reply. this times is different though because something i just read really caught my attention. Rafiq says “freedom of speech was invented for the sole purpose of protecting the weak from the strong.” i’ve heard a beautiful saying one time: your freedom to swing your hand ends where my nose begins. this means that you can say whatever you want as long as it doesnnot hurt me (when undeserved and unfounded). this is the basis of freedom of speech in every free society.
i am sad and disappointed that people can defend abbadi as a ‘free speaker’! he made outrageious shocking claims against so many people. if he had actually been able to back those claims up, then the whole ‘free speech’ argument would apply. but he didn’t offer one bit of evidence.
just because you choose to attack an official doesn’t mean that it is labeled free speech. if someone attacked my father the way abbadi attacked the interior minister- by making LIES about him- then i would hope that someone would go to jail. that is protection not for elite, not for government, but for reputation. people shouldn’t be allowed to make up things about each other.
blackiris, i thought you had more vision that this. how sad that you don’t see it with depth and perspective.
I just can’t believe the level of ignorance i read on this blog,
anonymous @3:26 am,if the US government adopt your way of thinking two thirds of US population will be sent to jail.
Wake up people and know your rights before its too late.
anonymous @3:26 am, since when people get jailed for lies? If that is the case, we should create a big seige around the entire earth and held us all hostage for our lies!
Your freedom stops when others’ starts is applicable on actions not words.
What you say that it is okay to restrict a person’s words just because someone’s else feelings might get hurt! You know what, people’s feelings always got hurt without anyone intentionally doing so.
This guy is insane. As Batir said, I would place him in a mental hospital rather than jail! just look at the comments on this post, no one believed a word he said, but yet we don’t want to see people go to jail because of their speech, no matter how bad their speech sounds.
guys, calm down, i’m not saying that people that ‘hurt’ others go to jail in the west. i’m saying people that maliciously damage reputations based on lies do. i’m always been very interested in history, specially US history because they went through so much. Look at what happened in the famous ‘mccarthy era’.. Joseph mccarthy accused people of being communists (high profile and low profile people)…public sentament and fear took over, and the people accused weren’t given a chance to prove they weren’t communists. THAT’S what happens when people like Mccarthy and Abbadi are allowed to make up malicious deceitful lies.
It’s called libel. It’s called slander. and in every developed civilization, laws exist to protect people against libel and slander.
The Observer, you call him insane. I don’t think he’s insane. He is vicious and intent on creating rifts between people and their government. mission accomplished or not — that depends on us.