Queen Rania's visit to the US: September 2009


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yamamah said:
I also think Little Star and yourself are missing the point that it is in fact an 'opinion' piece and isn't being presented as hard journalism!
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It's an opinion piece - that's it
not objective journalism
 
I never said the article was an example of hard journalism.

You are the one who presented as a Western newspaper. I just pointed it out for what it is...a student newspaper that appears didn't research all the facts and reused information that is readily available via Amnesty, Human Rights, etc. That information is not secret.

Furthermore, I think YOU are missing the point. Yes, I know that it is hard to compare the democratic governments and their figureheads (US, France and Germany) that mentioned with an absolute monarch (Abdullah in Jordan). My point is that government (any type of government) cannot fix ALL of the ills in any country.

As Veram93 mentioned this is not objective journalism. Objective journalism would have talked about what she has done to help fix certain issues in Jordan, what she has tried but hasn't worked, what she has learned from her "mistakes." Heck, they might have tried to interview her.

Rainia is by all means is not perfect and perhaps the ways she is going about educating the West about Arabs and Muslim is not the right way to do it (Twitter, etc.) and there is probably more she could do to help in Jordan.

But she is one person, not King but Queen Consort.

Its also very interesting to read the comment section of the article. One of the poster, Jess raises legitimate questions about their "investigating" as well as what good Rania has done for Jordan. Another raises a question that is often troubling for me with regards to Rainia...its hard to talk about helping the poor when one is in a designer dress. But I acknolwedge that she can't just wear anything.
 
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It is a a newspaper from within the USA which is in the West ergo it is a Western newspaper.

MY point is that more effort could be made within the country instead of all the gallivanting that is being done and of course nobody can fix EVERY single problem but they could be doing much, much more. YOU seem to think I personally was saying it is up to them them to fix everything when in fact I was not but there are many fundamentals they most definitely could have done something about and it is impossible to compare an absolute monarchy to elected leaders who are accountable and not in power for life.

I originally pointed out it was an opinion piece and I also stated that I find that many of the criticisms can be levelled at any member of royalty so this wasn't picking on Rania and only gave the link as it pertained to the visit to the US. Objectivity often flies out of the window when Rania is mentioned as most press articles relating to her can only be regarded as sycophantic anyway. There is a lot of talk and bluster around Rania and I would welcome a piece by a serious journalist about what she has actually achieved (in a concrete way, not this nebulous change which is often mentioned) alongside her husband after 10 years in power.

Thank goodness students in America have such freedom to criticize because those in Jordan wouldn't dare and that in itself is an indictment of Abdullah and by association, Rania.
 
There is certainly not much press freedom in Jordan (or any other Arab country), but I am very impressed by some Jordanian blogs which are not uncritical at all concerning politics or social problems of the country.
 
Veram98 said:
There is certainly not much press freedom in Jordan (or any other Arab country), but I am very impressed by some Jordanian blogs which are not uncritical at all concerning politics or social problems of the country.
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Yes but they are monitored very closely. My cousin is one such blogger and his calls and email is monitored and he has been subjected to 'harrassment' as have others :cool: I speak from personal experience.
 
Excellent posts Zonk and Veram93. I feel that you both made some very important and pertinent points regarding this piece that mirror my own opinion.

yamamah said:
Yes but they are monitored very closely. My cousin is one such blogger and his calls and email is monitored and he has been subjected to 'harrassment' as have others :cool: I speak from personal experience.
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The fact that such bloggers exist to begin with is incredibly important. There are some ME countries, like the UAE and Saudi Arabia where they aren't even allowed online. Period. :whistling:
 
that reminds of this interview for qrania when i first read i thought uh :ermm: she is directly asked about restriction for internet in jordan and says there is none. now im not from there but i have talked and read for many people who have felt some restrictions there. also in form of not feeling "right" to speak about the king and queen. maby some1 can elaborat?

ill post this in chat jordan royals group if maby it will be removed here. ;)

http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view?q
 
Little_star said:
The fact that such bloggers exist to begin with is incredibly important. There are some ME countries, like the UAE and Saudi Arabia where they aren't even allowed online. Period. :whistling:
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Yes bloggers are very important and give different view to opinions.
Bloggers to exist in the UAE and there are a few bloggers who do critizice different areas but are monitored and watched.
The UAE doesnt fall in the same category of Saudi's restrictions.
 
I completely agree with u dazzling

"There is certainly not much press freedom in Jordan (or any other Arab country)"

certainly not all Arabic countries have restrections on press freedom! kuwait for example has unlimited press freedom.
 
kuwait said:
I completely agree with u dazzling

"There is certainly not much press freedom in Jordan (or any other Arab country)"

certainly not all Arabic countries have restrections on press freedom! kuwait for example has unlimited press freedom.
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You are right, I forgot about Kuwait. Concerning press freedom the country is a positive exception in the Arab world.
 
The article is really just an opinion of two Jordanians I beleive, who are studying in the US, who are well aware of the situation in their country. They are entitled to their opinion surely, especially that they seem to be in good faith, concerned by all the fame their Queen is seeking internationally and wondering why she needs all that attention? How are all these social appearences, interviews, speeches helping Jordanians? (that's the tittle of their article).

They are coming up with these questions because being a Queen is in other words serving the people, just as any leader is named to serve the country and its people. With all my respects She is the Queen, logically she is representing every Jordanian woman everytime she makes a public appearence. Her role is very important to them.

However, my guess is that she sometimes appears detached from the average Jordanian woman and that woman's real concerns remain : dealing with first being a good Muslum, dealing with being respected in society as a Muslum Arab woman, educating their child under the Muslum laws, as well as keeping their children and their families as much as they can under the protection of Islam. It is a truth wich is strictly taught to each one of the Jordanians from mother to daughter and father to son, since about 2000 years ago.
Knowing about the strict rules of Islam, I think that Muslum Jordanians, who are the majority of the country, might feel that there is a huge gap between the Jordanian woman and their Queen. Not finding solid common grounds pushes them to feel abandoned, as if she is not reaching out to know them and help them first. In one part of the article and I should probably quote this, it seems to them as though they feel that they are criticized from their own Queen because of who they are Arab and Muslum.

These two students are simply saying that they are well aware of the stereotypes but they are looking to emphasize on them and embelish them in people's eyes. They are very proud to be Muslum and Arab. They want to show their differences to the western people even more. Or maybe they don't even care so much about the other party's perception. Muslum Arabs are very different in beleifs, in traditions, in laws of about everything in life, from the Western Christians or Jews. They are no way near being like people in the Westen world, who sometimes seems to have forgotten about the strict laws of Church, that is the fundementals of their existance. Church until recently was leading all of their countries and governments...

Whether accepted or not humans are seperated in different groups, and each group is trying as much as he can to respect the rules of their one and only Creator.

In conclusion, the Muslum laws are extremely complex and at the same time very simple and brilliantly studied and Islam is what makes the Jordanians. That fact is simply rarely shown, talked about or mentioned from the Queen,with all my respects to the Queen of course, she is admired for her courage and good faith in wanting the Arabs to be respected, and in seeking equality once confronted to the Western world. But the fact is bottom line some of the people start questioning the effectiveness of her work, and wondering why so much response and obedience to the Westen laws?
 
Let's get back on topic, which is the visit of TM to the United States in September 2009. The subject is not Freedom of Press.

Any and all remaining off topic posts will be deleted without notice.

Thanks!

Zonk
 
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not accurate article at all,I wonder if the writer lives in the same world that we live in:D
 
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