Does John McCain want to destroy Jordan?

It was all a hoax, but the Arab world keeps talking about it all the same.

A report that an aide to presidential candidate John McCain wants to turn Jordan into a Palestinian state is apparently a hoax. It was reported widely in the Arab world that Robert Kagan had given a speech at a New York university that advocated turning Jordan into a Palestinian state. But Kagan denies making the statement or even that such a speech took place. The university in question can find no record of any such event where such a speech might have been given.

The speech was reported by news tabloid service Ammonnews, but it was later revealed the information came from the Israeli site Filkka Israel.

In case there is any question about the agenda of the above Arab-language blog, they list (in English) one of their goals as “Destroying the kingdom of Jordan peacefully and bringing back its land to its normal situation as a part of great Palestine.” They have also been known to write dubious stories about such topics as “Saudi Ambassador Saves 3 Mossad Agents but a 4th is still in Beirut [6/15/2008] as well as stories about Israeli intelligence borrowing cars from the wives of Hizbullah members”. Hee, hee, hee.

The above Arab language blog post is translated, rather laboriously, as might be expected with machine translation, with the FoxLingo toolbar as follows:

John McCain Adviser for Foreign Affairs: John built a solid option Jordanian final solution for the Palestinians. نيويورك - جاين بيتيفت New York - Jane Ketevan

خلال محاضرة ترويجية لأفكار المرشح الجمهوري للرئاسة الأميركية جون ماكين في قاعة ألمرت هولمز بوبست في جامعة نيويورك . During the lecture promotional ideas for the Republican presidential candidate John McCain at the American Chamber salary Holmes Stopes at the University of New York. وأمام الآلاف من الطلاب والأكاديميين أعلن الخبير في شؤون الجغرافيا السياسية والسياسات الدولية روبرت كاغان وهو يشكل مع ويليام كريستول الفريق المكلف بتقدم تصور مفصل لإستراتيجية السياسة الخارجية في الشرق الأوسط للمرشح الجمهوري . Faced with thousands of students and academics announced expert in the affairs of political geography and international policies Robert Flanagan It is with William Kristol team progress to imagine a detailed strategy for foreign policy in the Middle East for the Republican candidate.
أعلن روبرت كاغان أن المرشح الرئاسي عن الجمهوريين قد تبنى بالفعل إستراتيجية الخيار الأردني للتخلص من العبء الذي تشكله قضية النزاع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي حول الأراضي في الضفة الغربية على السياسة العامة للولايات المتحدة في الشرق الأوسط. Robert Flanagan announced that the presidential candidate of the Republican strategy has already built the Jordanian option to get rid of the burden posed by the issue of Palestinian-Israeli dispute over land in the West Bank on the public policy of the United States in the Middle East. الخبير المعروف في الشؤون الدولية والمحسوب على الصقور المسماة ” نيو كون ” قال بأن السياسة الأميركية الخارجية مع جون ماكين ستأخذ منحى مباشرا للتعامل مع القضية بشكل يريح المنطقة ودولها للتفرغ بمعاونة الأميركيين لنشر الديمقراطية ومحاربة إرهاب الإسلام الفاشي. Known expert in international affairs and calculated the hawks, called “New fact”, he said that U.S. foreign policy with John McCain will take direct action to deal with the issue and its comfort zone for full-time help of the Americans to spread democracy and fight terrorism fascist Islam. وفي شرحه للإستراتيجية الجديدة قال: In his explanation of the new strategy, he said:
الأردن هو الوطن الطبيعي لملايين الفلسطينيين من سكانه وكذلك هو الحل الأمثل لقضية اللاجئين الذين ذاب أغلبهم في المجتمعات التي يقيمون فيها ولكن البقية ممن تعيش في المخيمات سيكون عليها الإختيار بين البقاء في أماكنها أو الإستيطان في الأراضي الفلسطينية شرق الأردن . Jordan is the natural home for millions of Palestinians of the population and also is the best solution to the issue of refugees who have mostly melted away in the communities in which they reside, but the rest of those who live in the camps will have to choose between staying in place or settle in the Palestinian territories east of Jordan. وقد أثار إ‘ستخدام روبرت كاغان لتعبير ” الأراضي الفلسطينية شرق الأردن ” وهو الخبير الأميركي المعروف بأنه كاتب إستراتيجيات عدة بخصوص الدول العربية إستفادت منها الإدارة الأميركية برئاسة جورج بوش وهو مقرب منها، أثار إستغراب الأكادميين الحاضرين فوجه أحدهم سؤال لكاغان فور إتاحة الفرصة له وقال: The effects of a ‘Khaddam Robert Flanagan of the term “Palestinian land east of Jordan” which is known to be an American expert writer strategies regarding several Arab countries benefited from the American administration headed by George W. Bush is close, the effects of amazement academic attendees drew one of them asked Flanagan soon allow him and said:
هل يعني ذلك أن الضفة وغزة لن تكونا مكانا لدولة فلسطينية مستقبلية وفقا لإعلان جورج بوش العام 2003؟ Does this mean that the West Bank and Gaza will not be a place for a future Palestinian state, according to George Bush declared the year 2003? فأجاب كاغان: Agha replied:
الأردن يضم أغلبية فلسطينية ومن الطبيعي حين نتحدث عن الدمقراطية أن تحكم الأغلبية في بلدها، وبالتالي لن يكون هناك حاجة لدولة أخرى لأنها بالفعل موجودة وهي قائمة ويمكن للعائلة الهاشمية أن تبقى في الملك إن أراد الشعب الفلسطيني ذلك، أما عن الضفة الغربية فمشكلتها بسيطة، التجمعات السكانية الإسرائيلية تبقى جزءا من دولة إسرائيل والتجمعات السكانية الفلسطينية يتم تبادل الأراضي فيما بينها وبين إسرائيل حيث هي غير قابلة للتواصل مع الدولة الفلسطينية شرق الأردن والباقي يصبح جزءا من فلسطين التي تمتد من حدود العراق إلى حدود إسرائيل. Jordan has a majority Palestinian Of course when we talk about Damaqratih that govern the majority in the country, and therefore there will be no need for another country because it already exists a list of the family can remain in the Hashemite king that he wanted the Palestinian people, either from the West Bank problem is simple, residential areas Israel remains part of the State of Israel and the Palestinian population centres are exchanging land between them and Israel, where they are not continue with a Palestinian state east of Jordan and the rest become part of Palestine which extends from Iraq’s borders to the borders of Israel.
سؤال آخر وجه لكاغان عن غزة فقال: هاواي تبعد الاف الأميال عن الأراضي الأميركية ورغم ذلك هي جزء من هذه البلاد . Another question to face Flanagan said from Gaza: Hawaii thousands of miles away from U.S. territory, although it is part of this country. طالب أردني إعترض على كاغان وقال له بأنه من أصل فلسطيني ولا يوافقه الرأي فأجابه : Jordanian student objected to the songs and told him that, of Palestinian origin does not share his opinion replied:
وأنا لا أوافقك الرأي ايضا …لقد أصبحنا متعادلين ويمكننا أن نكون أصدقاء ما أثار الضحك في القاعة . I do not share his ideas … We are also equivalent and we can be friends as the effects of laughter in the hall.

Here are the two photographs that appear on the blog with the hoax:

And who might Robert Kagan be? He is one of the neoconservatives (as opposed to “pragmatists”) currently vying for McCain’s favor, although he claims he is not a Straussian. That appears to be his photo on the right. Here is a podcast of him speaking about his book The Return of History, and the video of an interview with Charlie Rose here.

And who might be the other photo? Is it “Jane Ketevan”, the purported author of the piece? No Google hits on that name. What about spelling it more like the Arabic spelling–”Jane Beteft”? Still no hits. if you click on the photo in the original blog and check the properties, it gives the information “pitfieldmain.jpg”. Could this be a photo of Canadian politician Jane Pitfield, who once ran for mayor of Toronto? Could be. Maybe a really old photo of her. This “destroy Jordan” thing doesn’t sound like the type of thing she would be interested in though.

Oh, but what does it mean? By now everyone in the Arab world has figured out the whole thing was a fake, but they keep talking about it just the same. Does anything happen by accident over there?

Maybe it’s an attempt to discredit Kagan and the neocons ahead of the U.S. elections–after all, Kagan’s brother is the architect of the Iraqi “surge”. Or maybe it is a another push towards Palestinian statehood, as the clock keeps ticking on the American political window of opportunity for George W. Bush. Bush could set it up for McCain, so McCain can ride the euphoria of an apparent Middle East resolution into the November elections without incurring blame or displeasure from the conservative Jewish vote.

What IS the Bush administration doing about Palestinian statehood???

Jordan celebrates independence–and the King reminds us it’s time for Palestinian independence

May 25 is Jordan’s independence day.

Happy Birthday Jordan!!!!

In a televised statement celebrating Jordan’s independence, King Abdullah II talked about supporting Palestinian independence:

We will not hesitate in performing any role or effort and exploiting our ties with influential powers and international forums to enable our Palestinian brethren to regain their right and set up their independent state….

We will continue to commit ourselves to the choice of just peace based on international legitimacy resolutions and within the Arab consensus.

Good idea.

But how does a nation become independent these days? I really have no clue.

American wrote a Declaration of Independence, then fought a war against England. Would anyone fight a war against Palestine if they just went ahead and declared independence?

So how exactly did Jordan get to be independent?

• From 16th century: Jordan was part of the Ottoman empire, ruled from Damascus.
• After WWII, the League of Nations created the French Mandate of Syria and the British Mandate Palestine.
• 1921-Britain gave Transjordan semi-autonomous control
• On March 22, 1946 Britain signed a treaty granting independence to Jordan
• 1946-British requested United Nations approval to ending the British Mandate in Transjordan
• The Jordanian Parliament proclaimed King Abdullah the first king of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
• The king proclaimed the state to be officially inaugurated and a series of ceremonies was done in the morning of May 25 in the capital of Amman.

So those were the steps back in the last century. Either a war or an agreement with whatever country it’s already a part of, then approval by an international body, then recognition by its own internal government. It looks like it helps if a major world power sponsors the UN resolution.

So I say the Palestinians themselves have to take the next step. They need to plan their party.

First they will have to declare independence. They already have a legislature and an elected leader, although he’s probably still getting his strength back from the surgery, but they can still pass some resolutions. Then they will have to get either George Bush or the Queen of England to sponsor a UN resolutiuon. Then they pass some resolutions and have a ceremony. Then they get official recognition by Jordan, the U.S. and England, in which order, I don’t know. Then I guess they play the birthday song and dance the dubka for about the next week. After that they can get around to manufacturing passports and figuring out who to bribe to get them.

Or something like that.

Someone tell me why this can’t work.

Unicorns to return to Jordan’s Wadi Rhum

You gotta love the Jordanians’ use of diplomatic language.

“Some animals died: either they fell over heights, or simply due to the difference between Wadi Rum and Shomari environment and climate,” explains Jamal Zaidaneen, head of the Nature Conservation Department at Wadi Rum Nature Reserve. He is explaining what happened to the 10 Arabian oryx that were once brought to Wadi Rhum from the Shomari Wildlife Reserve near Azraq in the north of Jordan.

Ha ha ha ha ha

حا حا حا حا حا

I can tell you what happened. My bedouin buddies in Rhum, the ones who try to make a living taking tourists around, shot the oryx for sport while they were out roaming around the desert with their Landrovers and their guns. The locals in Shomari would do the same thing if the oryx weren’t fenced in.

The Arabian oryx–translated in the Bible as “unicorn”–is extinct in the wild, but a few still survive in captivity. Now Wadi Rhum, in the south of Jordan, is about to receive 40 more Arabian oryx.

Why shoot the oryx? Shrug. Aren’t they protected by law? If the Jordanian government comes around and tries to stop us, they will get killed too. They know not to mess with us. But they’re almost extinct. Don’t you want to save them? Shrug. Is oryx good to eat? Slowly came the answer. Yes. But I bet that particular oryx wasn’t eaten; it was killed for sport. How do you convince someone from another culture of the value of preserving an entire species? What about tourists? If you have oryx here, won’t more tourists come and you will make more money showing them around in your landrover? No answer. Hmmm.

And the new Oryx project?

The project’s first phase includes designating a 21-kilometre fenced area, where the animals will be set loose, Zaidaneen said, explaining that the herd needs first to adapt to its new environment, climate and plants.

“There is no time frame for this stage, but it is expected to extend over two to three months, during which the oryx will be given the time to adjust to their new habitat which will ensure its survival chances,” Zaidaneen added.

Ah, the uses of words. While the oryx are adjusting in their new corral, no doubt my Bedouin friends will also have a chance to adjust to the oryx. Let’s hope it happens during tourist season and that some sweet young Western women will have fascinating conversations with the bedouins (Arab women do not talk to men unless they are relatives) and that the Bedouins will come to see the survival of the oryx as a crucial part of their tourist gig. Maybe they will even pick up some environmentalist rap to impress the ladies with.

Then what happens to the oryx?

Twenty animals will be flown from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, Zaidaneen said, adding that the environment and climate of these countries is similar to Wadi Rum, which will raise their survival chances.

These animals, which form the first and main herd, will be released early next year into the wild and will be monitored by satellites which will follow their movement and behaviour.

“Under the second phase, satellites will be installed to monitor the herd. The Arabian oryx walks around 60 kilometres daily looking for food; using this advanced technique will save us time and effort and ensure the animals’ safety,” Zaidaneen noted.

The third phase includes bringing another 40 heads, in two batches, to be also released into the Jordanian wild.

Ha ha ha ha ha

حا حا حا حا حا

Tracked by satellites! Excellent!! Let’s see the bedouins try to take out a satellite while they’re out tearing around in the desert with their Landrovers and their guns and their cellphones.

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From The Jordan Times May 1, 2008, jordantimes(DOT)com

Taxi fashion statement in Aqaba

Taxis in Jordan’s southern port city of Aqaba are looking snazzy these days with a fresh coat of blue and green paint. It’s the new look for the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA). So far, 200 taxis out of 470 have been painted at government expense. Next year’s budget in the financially and administratively autonomous zone will provide for painting 50 public transportation buses.

There are still a few details to be worked out. As everyone knows, in Jordan serveeces are white and taxis are yellow. But Aqaba’s green and blue taxis deliver passengers to other cities. As soon as they set wheel outside the special economic zone, they can get stopped and ticketed for not having a yellow taxi. Last week a taxi driver got stopped and ticketed on the way to Maan. Until the word gets around–and I think Maan is just jealous here–I mean, what is in Maan?–the ASEZA will be paying these tickets.

Jordan’s Queen Rania on YouTube: “Ask me your stereotypes about Arabs”

“Change begins within each one of us, in our willingness to reach out to each other.”

The following is an unofficial transcript of Queen Rania’s YouTube message:

In a world where it’s so easy to connect to one another, we still remain very much disconnected. There’s a whole world of wonder out there that we cannot appreciate with stereotypes, so it’s important for all of us to join forces, come together, and try to bring down those misconceptions.

I’ve been surprised by some of the questions that I’ve been asked about the Arab world and the Middle East: do all Arabs hate Americans, can Arab women work, are there any YouTubers in Jordan. If what most people know about the Arab world and Arab people they’ve known through programs like 24 and Jack Bauer, then I think they’re in for a very big surprise.

YouTube is a great platform for a dialog and I believe that we need to use these tools in order to get those messages out there.

From now until August the twelfth, which is international youth day, I hope to be receiving from YouTubers some of the questions they have and some of the common stereotypes they have hear about the Arab world and I’ ll try to break them down one by one and address them.

I’ll also be encouraging YouTubers to help me out to address these common stereotypes, so I’ll be relying on your skills and your creativity so that we can all get this right.

I want people to know the real Arab world, to see it unedited, unscripted, and unfiltered, to see the personal side of my region, to know the places and faces, and the rituals and cultures that shape the part of the world that I call home.

Public Space in Amman and Beirut–lecture in Amman Nov.11

I always enjoyed these public talks in Amman. They’re sort of part philosophy, part urban planning, and part architecture. If you’re in Amman this Sunday, it’s in Jebel Webdeh at the National Gallery for the Fine Arts, if I recall correctly, just behind Abdali bus station.

I still have my poster from the gallery of a group of colorfully garbed Arab women covered from head to toe with only the eyes showing–gazing mournfully at their day-glo ice cream cones. The artist is Laila Shawa, the print is called “Impossible Dream”.

Here’s the announcement with link:

Please find attached an announcement for a Public Lecture by Dr. Rami Farouk Daher entitled:

Public Space & Public Sphere: A Tale of Two Cities: Amman & Beirut

Sunday November 11 at 7:00 pm

at The National Gallery for Fine Arts, Jabal Lweibdeh

 

The Lecture is sponsored by the Goethe Institute in collaboration with Center for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE).

 

Center for the Study of the Built Environment (CSBE)P.O.Box: 830751 Amman 11183 Jordan

Telefax: +(962) (6) 4615297

www.csbe.org

Jordanians Talk about Child Labor

Child labor continues to be a topic of interest in Jordan, probably discussed over tea, if I know my Jordanians. Here is the latest talk from the Jordan Times 8-23-07:

Society holds conference on child labour, education

IRBID (Petra) - The Family and Childhood Protection Society on Saturday organised a conference to discuss the relation between child labour and school dropouts. HRH Princess Sana Asem inaugurated the one-day event, where participants reviewed prospective solutions to address such a phenomenon. The society’s president, Kathem Kfeiri, said child labour is on the rise, noting that a total of 5,000 cases were detected in 1997, but the number had increased to 7,000 despite efforts exerted in this regard. Head of the Women’s Cultural Forum Fayza Zu’bi presented a paper on the significance of providing welfare for children and establishing cooperation between the school and the family. At the end of the conference, Princess Sana presented certificates of appreciation to those who contributed to child-related projects.

I notice three things:

1) Child labor is increasing. We don’t know what industry this is in or if it is across industries, but I have started to notice t-shirts with a “Made in Jordan” label here. Could it be the garment industry? At the same time there is a movement in the west for “fair trade” products.

2) The topic has a royal patron, which in Jordan can really help call attention to an issue. Princess Sana Asem, born 1960, has a B.A. in English literature and translation. She is married to Prince Asem bin Al Nayef, born in 1948, the son of Prince Nayef bin Abdullah I (a younger son of Abdullah I of Jordan) and Princess Mihrimah Sultan (grand-daughter of Sultan Mohammad Rashad of Turkey). One of the prince’s daughters by a previous marriage, Noor, is married to Prince Hamzah bin al Hussein.

3) One of the prospective solutions considered is “establishing cooperation between the school and the family”. Doesn’t that sound a lot like the PTA? I always wondered why Jordan doesn’t have any Parent Teacher Association.

Karina goes to Jordan: Bismallah, Karina.

Tonight I received a phone call from my old sometime-roommate in Amman, Karina. She was passing through O’Hare on her way to Jordan and called on her way through town. She’ll be staying with friends at a village outside of Madaba.

I remembered what my Egyptian friend told me when I left Jordan.  “When you get on the plane you must say Bismallah” (in the name of Allah). Coincidentally, this is also the word you must say if you see a Djinn in the desert.

Bismallah, Karina.  Safe journey.

Palestine Independence: Who would provide security?

Could security be the one thing that is preventing Palestine’s leadership from declaring independence?

Here are the clues:

1) Can Arab armies fight? An old joke about Saddam’s army is that Iraq bought tanks from France: one speed forward and four speeds reverse. The quickness of the U.S. capture of Baghdad did not surprise me in the least. I have read fictional accounts of the 1967 war that say the Arab armies–with the exception of the Jordanian Arab Legion, which trashed the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem–all ran away as soon as they met any resistance. Palestinian friends have confirmed this for me, saying, “I was in Palestine in 1967 and saw this with my own eyes.”

So much for the Palestinian Authority providing its own security.

2) What about Jordan?  After all, Jordan has the only Arab army in the world that Israel is afraid of.  Ah, but Jordan’s King Abdullah is not at all excited by the possibility.  From the King’s 7-2-07 interview:

Al Ghad: The events in Palestine have revived the issue of confederation with Jordan, or the administrative annexation of the West Bank to Jordan as a way out of the crisis. Despite Jordan’s emphasis that confederation before independence is not an option, there are those who speak of Israeli and American pressure on Jordan to accept this arrangement.

King: We’ve grown tired of discussing this issue. Our position is clear and has been made public. No one can do anything to change it. We refuse the notion of confederation or federation. This proposal at this stage is a conspiracy against both Palestine and Jordan. Our position is clear and principled. We cannot accept these solutions, no matter what the pressures are. As for the future relationship with Palestine, it’s premature to discuss it. This will only be done after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on Palestinian soil. The Jordanian and Palestinian people will decide the form of this relationship. Jordanians refuse any settlement of the Palestinian issue at their expense. I say clearly that the idea of confederation or federation, or what is called administrative responsibility, is a conspiracy against the Palestinian cause, and Jordan will not involve itself in it.

So what was all that about? The Palestinians separated from Jordan long ago, and King Hussein unhappily accepted the situation (and stopped paying pensions for Palestine’s retired soldiers) after much foot-dragging. And some say Jordan didn’t do all that much to develop Palestine economically–their airport remained second rate and they were considered the poor relation. Clearly King Abdullah doesn’t want to get mixed up in that issue again.

The Jordanian annexation issue is further illuminated by a July 8 guest editorial piece by Walid M. Sadi in the Jordan Times:

Israel had ample opportunity to negotiate with Jordan about ending its occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, right after the 1967 war, but it aborted it. That opportunity was lost when Israel derailed all efforts to perform a complete withdrawal from all the West Bank territories, including East Jerusalem, in favour of Jordan.

Okay, we won’t talk about those little spats between Jordan and Palestine, or all those little assassination attempts against King Hussein, or the 1969 Fateh attempt to take over the Jordanian government, or how the 1969 bru-ha-ha allowed King Hussein to secure the Jordanian-Israeli border and stop cross-border raids from Jordan  into Israel. It’s Israel’s fault and let’s talk about that.

3) Israel is cooperating with the PA to some extent and is currently supplying security for the PA. According to an AP piece published in the July 4 Jordan Times that describes renewed low-level security meetings between Israel and the PLO:

The common anti-Hamas strategies of Israel and the new Fateh-allied government in the West Bank were clearly seen this week.

On Monday morning, Israel’s Shin Bet security service announced it had arrested 11 Hamas fighters in Jerusalem over a period of months, charging them with channeling funds from abroad and laying the groundwork for a “pool” of recruits.

That afternoon, pro-Fateh Palestinian security officers arrested four more Hamas activists, including a former lawmaker, in the West Bank city of Nablus.

But this arrangement is seen as contrary to Palestinian interests:

But Israel’s interests and those of Abbas’ government don’t entirely coincide. Israel has continued pursuing Fateh gunmen — who nominally owe loyalty to Abbas — with raids like one in the town of Nablus last week, which left one Fateh man dead.

So if Palestine would become a state, who would provide for its security? 1) Not the Paletinian Authority–they couldn’t even prevent last month’s armed Hamas takeover of Gaza. 2) Not Jordan. That opportunity was lost at the end of the 1967 war. 3) Not Israel, their national interest is not the same as Palestine’s.

Perhaps the current choice is between Israel continuing to provide security or the complete takeover of Palestine by “Islamic” extremists backed by hidden powers.  A choice between the devil you know and the devil you don’t know.

No sweatshop rhetoric here–Jordanian dialogue about working children

You can’t help but love the Jordanians. When they have a problem what do they do? Drink tea. It’s not as weird as it may seem.

In the west, we march, we denounce, we demand, we ridicule, we do all kinds of things that end up polarizing people and putting people into opposing camps so they can’t talk to each other, but can only defend more and more entrenched positions. Then we pass some laws. The ones whose ideas weren’t included in the law have to follow the law anyhow no matter how unhappy they are.

The Jordanians drink tea. They begin by enjoying life, then they start to talk, to explore each others’ needs, to reach consensus.

So when Jordanians decided to tackle the problem of child labor, they started by recognizing that children do work and that the laws against child labor are widely ignored. Then they sat down and just talked. I feel fairly confident in stating they probably also drank tea. At the end of it, they had a document that some businesses were willing to sign about how, not if, children would be used in the labor force.

The products offered on my webspace are all sweatshop free. If a product’s sourcing changes or cannot be documented, I remove the product. But I will also continue to watch how the Jordanians approach the subject of child labor.

The following is from The Jordan Times 7-5-07. Articles remain online for one week.

Code of conduct on working children launched
AMMAN (JT) — A code of conduct designed to regulate and better address the working conditions of children in the country was launched this week.Various government entities, businesses, civil society organisations signed the code, which was formulated after extensive meetings and discussions on the need to provide working children with improved protection and awareness.The code of conduct, developed as part of activities of the ILO’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour was launched in a ceremony at the Chamber of Industry.The code will present employers with clear guidelines on what is expected of them in the workplace, so that they adhere to ILO conventions and recommendations on working children and will adopt these codes.The code pinpoints areas of concern, such as health, safety hazards and long working hours. Thousands of children across the country presently work long hours in dangerous and unhealthy environments. According to the law, children between 16 -18 years of age are not permitted to work more than a six-hour day, with employers liable to a JD500 fine if caught in violation. In reality, hundreds of children work more than 12 hours a day with little enforcement of regulations. According to a recent Ministry of Labour study, 13 per cent of working children in the country are subjected to forced labour, with over 16 per cent earning a meagre JD10-50 a month. Most of the children surveyed were found to be school dropouts aged between 9-17 and working an average of a 60-65 hour week to help supplement their families’ income. Thursday, July 5, 2007

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