by Natasha Tynes | Oct 7, 2005 | Doha affairs, The Disturbing
Qatar Camel Jockeys left disabled
The risk of serious injury, disability and death is shockingly high among child jockeys in camel races in Gulf countries, a report shows. Researchers in Qatar looked at 275 boys, many younger than nine and some as young as five, treated for camel racing injuries at a local hospital. Seventeen of the boys treated between 1992-’03 were left with permanent disabilities and 3 died.
Source: [BBC]
This disturbing report struck a chord in me, as last year I got a chance to meet the young jockeys in Doha and converse with them. I’m glad a number of Gulf countries made the decision to ban the use of camel jockeys for good, replacing them with robots. The question now is: Will camel racing still attract as many enthusiasts when child jockey are no longer a part of it? [All images from that trip enlarge on click]
by Natasha Tynes | Sep 2, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
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Can anyone one tell me what this Pakistani-British lunatic is doing wearting this red headscarf (commonly known as a Hatta). This headgear is primarily worn by indigenous Jordanian and Saudi tribes! Why on earth does he think he has any connection to it such that he would wear it in his video bombing claim? Is he from a Jordanian or Saudi Arabian tribe ? Hey you lunatic Jihadis, leave our Hattas alone!!
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by Natasha Tynes | Apr 16, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
According to this AP report, the beautiful city of Salt is turning into "a center of Islamic radicals traveling from Jordan to fight in Iraq." I haven’t been to Salt in years but I think the city is innocent of such a label. Just because Raed al Banna and a few other disillusioned individuals decided to blow themselves up, doesn’t mean the whole city should be labeled as a center for Jihadists. I think that is an undeserved reputation.
Here is a highlight from the report:
All sides acknowledge the city of Salt has its share of disaffected
Muslim youths dismayed by economic problems, angry at foreign troops
on Muslim lands and vulnerable to messages of extremism. It was the
city’s custom of holding public wakes that brought publicity here.
Specifically, it was the wake for a native son, Raed Mansour al-Banna,
who was accused of carrying out the biggest suicide bombing in postwar
Iraq — an attack on Feb. 28 in Hilla, south of Baghdad, that killed
125 people.
Any Saltis out there? Can anyone shed some light on this?
by Natasha Tynes | Apr 1, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
Kinzi alerted me to this story published in World Magazine tackling the issue of harassment Jordanians face when they convert from Islam to Christianity. Here is an excerpt:
Ask Samer and Abeer. Last September Jordanian security police connected to the country’s Mukhabarat, or intelligence agency, showed up at the couple’s home unannounced. They arrested Samer and detained him overnight. Samer’s crime: coming to faith in Jesus Christ 14 years ago. Originally a Muslim, Samer over the years since his conversion has been questioned several times by security police but never detained.
This time, the police turned him over to the Islamic courts. The judges convicted Samer of apostasy. In a Nov. 23 decision the court decreed that his identification papers must be changed from "Muslim" to "no religion;" that he had forfeited any inheritance; that his marriage to Abeer is now illegal and therefore he is not entitled to custody of his son.
In my humble, unbiased opinion I would say that if Jordan intends to tread on a truly democratic path, then its citizens should be given the basic right of practicing the religion of their choice.
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 28, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
I hope I’m mistaken but it seems the US media has gotten into a fairly recent frenzy about Jordan-related news that has a distinct Not without my daughter flavor about it. Here is one example with headline:
Estranged Jordanian father charged in Ashby kidnapping
The estranged husband of an Ashby mother who has not seen her daughter
in 11 years was arraigned in Ayer District Court Wednesday on one
count of kidnapping of a minor by a relative.
Mhad Kadter, a citizen of both the United States and Jordan, was
arrested in Ohio with the cooperation of the FBI, the National Center
for Missing Children and Interpol.
And yet another:
Kidnapped boy, now 15, reunites at last with mom
For 14 years, Kathleen Ziadeh longed to see her only son, Zaid, who as
a toddler was abducted to the Mideast by his Jordanian father tired of
life in the United States. During those years, Ziadeh and the child’s grandmother, Barbara
Dooley, lobbied U.S. presidents and Jordanian royalty, sought help
from the State Department and courts overseas, and even had the weight
of a national newspaper columnist behind them. But none of their efforts succeeded in bringing back Zaid or easing their heartbreak …
by Natasha Tynes | Mar 26, 2005 | Jordan, my nation, The Disturbing
Some bloggers
have been discussing the alleged sexual misconduct of the Jordanian peacekeepers in East Timor for a while now and I must admit I’m extremely embarrassed and shamed by the scandal. I just hope these soldiers will be harshly punished for tarnishing the reputation of our country and people.
There is a follow-up by the same Aussie author to an article I posted here regarding this terrible and disgusting behavior. The full article is here. This is an excerpt:
The deployment of Jordanian peacekeepers to East Timor was probably one of the most contentious UN decisions to follow the bloody independence ballot. It was eclipsed only by the cover-up and inaction that followed when the world body learned of their involvement in a
series of horrific sex crimes involving children living in the war-battered Oecussi enclave. Children were not the only victims — in early 2001, two Jordanians were evacuated home with injured penises after attempting sexual intercourse with goats.
Meanwhile, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid al-Hussein, recommended an overhaul of a tattered U.N. military system in the world body’s 17 peacekeeping operations of some 64,000 personnel.
"The reality of prostitution and other sexual exploitation in a peacekeeping context is profoundly disturbing to many because the United Nations has been mandated to enter into a broken society to help it," Zeid wrote after visiting Congo and interviewing officials and victims.
The Washington Post has a feature examining the situation from a different angle here.
