Excerpts: Employment.Honor killing 27.2.2000
"Jordanians forced into less prestigious jobs", Jordan Times 24 Feb.'00
QUOTES FROM TEXT:"Jordanians are no longer opposed to working as car
mechanics,
electricians, carpenters or even house painters to earn a living.
But they still refuse to
work as street cleaners, housemaids, street porters and garbage
collectors --
leaving those `taboo' jobs to workers from other Arab countries
or Asia."
"But the 1991 Gulf War forced some 300,000 Jordanians to return
home, swelling
the unemployment in the Kingdom"
"Jordan's population growth dropped from 4.4 per cent in the 1980s
to 3.3 per cent
in 1998, ... one of the largest in the world."
EXCERPTS:
AMMAN (AFP) - Amid spiralling unemployment and a booming birth
rate, cash-strapped Jordanians are swallowing their pride and accepting
the
less prestigious jobs that they once saw as below their station.
... Jordanians are no longer opposed to working as car mechanics,
electricians,
carpenters or even house painters to earn a living. But they still
refuse to work
as street cleaners, housemaids, street porters and garbage collectors -
leaving
those "taboo" jobs to workers from other Arab countries or Asia.
{IMRA:But some 40,000 Jordanians illegally work in Israeli
agriculture and construction.}
"Jordanians have been forced to take up jobs, which a few years ago
were
considered lowly and shameful, because they are well-paid," sociologist
Mussa Shetwi told AFP.
He said service-related jobs offer up to JD300 per month ($420)
compared
to the $210 salary earned by a middle-ranking civil servant.
Like many other Arabs in search of well-paid jobs, Jordanians emigrated
in
droves to the oil-rich Gulf monarchies in the early 1970s.
But the 1991 Gulf war forced some 300,000 Jordanians to return home,
swelling the unemployment in the kingdom... .
. . .
... around 200 Jordanian doctorate degree holders figure among those on
the dole.
... unemployment is expected to get worse as the number of those
seeking
work increases by 3.3 per cent annually.
. . .
Although Jordan's population growth dropped from 4.4 per cent in the
1980s to 3.3 per cent in 1998, it is still one of the largest in the
world.
. . .
A five-year plan for economic and social development launched in 1999
pledged to reduce the population growth by 0.1 per cent each year and
to
create 250,000 jobs by 2003.
. . .
"Today around 53 per cent of Jordanian couples use contraceptive
methods," the president of the national population committee Mohammad
Saraireh told AFP.
. . .
"The main reason for the high level of unemployment is the presence of
more
than one million foreign workers in the country," the president of the
workers
union, Mazen Al Ma'aytah, said.
+++ "Opposition to Article 340 driven by 'Zionists, Western interests' says
Oweidah"
By Rana Husseini, Jordan Times 25-26
Feb.'00
QUOTES FROM TEXT:" `This [cancelling of the article] is a call to spread
corrupt
morals and obcenity and wll bring total destruction to
our society' "
"Sharia dictates that individuals should not take the law
into their own hands,
but ... cases where a man catches his wife committing
adultery were
exceptions to Sharia"
"government is being `blackmailed by the U.S. Congress'
who he said
have blocked...aid to Jordan if the government does not
cancel Article 340."
"the article should remain because `if it is cancelled
men will not have
control over women' "
" `For example, women who are victims of rape are victims
three times. First
because the woman is raped, then she bares the
responsibility for the crime against
her and, finally, she is imprisoned to protect her life.
If she is released she will be killed' "
EXCERPTS:
AMMAN - A religion professor and a Lower House deputy on
Wednesday described recent national efforts to abolish a disputed
article in
the penal code which gives a reduction or exemption in penalty for
killers in
crimes of honour, as being supported by Zionist and the Western
interests.
Deputy Usama Malkawi and Dean of the Sharia College at Zarqa University
Mohammad Oweidah, who is also a member of the IAF, were speaking
during a lecture in which attorneys, human rights activists and a
tribal judge
called for cancelling the article because it violates human rights and
the
Sharia (Islamic law) and has no basis in Jordanian culture or heritage.
Article 340...reduces penalties for men who kill female relatives
caught committing
adultery and reduces the penalty if a woman was found in "adulterous
situations."
"These organised campaigns are led by the United States and the
Zionists
whose aim is to impose Western ideas," Oweidah told the gathering at a
lecture on the article that was organised by the Jordanian Writers
Union.
"This [cancelling of the article] is a call to spread corrupt morals
and
obscenity and will bring total destruction to our society," he claimed.
Oweidah also criticised the recent public demonstration that was led by
Their Royal Highnesses Prince Ali and Prince Ghazi, along with 5,000
tribal
leaders and citizens from all sectors....
"This is a misleading march that does not suit the Jordanian society,"
he
charged.
. . .
He said Sharia dictates that individuals should not take the law into
their own
hands, but he explained that cases where a man catches his wife
committing
adultery were "exceptions" to Sharia.
Oweidah also claimed that the government is being "blackmailed by the
U.S.
Congress" who he said have blocked a $250 aid to Jordan if the
government does not cancel Article 340.
Deputy Malkawi, an attorney from Irbid, echoed Oweidah's sentiments,
stating that the Kingdom is being "blackmailed on many fronts, and one
is
this campaign."
. . .
He insisted that the article should remain because "if it is cancelled
men will
not have control over women."
"I am against killing innocent women, but I believe that an individual
who
surprises his wife loses his ability to differentiate and could become
insane.
Therefore, he should not be punished," he explained.
Many deputies have lobbied against the cancellation of the article,
charging
that the government based its decision on international pressure which
the
deputies stated was meant to destroy the society's morals and women.
The Lower House has voted twice against the government proposal.
However, the{aappointed} Upper House has twice endorsed the amendment.
But tribal Judge Ghazi Zaben said women's rights are well preserved in
the
tribes and no one can touch their honour or slander their reputation.
"Throughout my life, I have never heard of one tribe's woman being
killed in
the name of honour. Besides, there are strict tribal rules. Whoever
accuses
women [of immoral behaviour] falsely will be punished," the tribal
judge
said.
He said there needs to be four witnesses of an upstanding reputation to
testify to an act of adultery. If the claim is proven false, then the
accuser is
obliged to "cleanse the honour of the woman by bringing three tribal
delegations to absolve her of any wrongdoing.
"Bedouin women are taught from childhood to preserve themselves and
cling
to virtuous behaviour, religion and good habits and conduct," Zaben
explained.
The older they get, he maintained, the more they adhere to their
religious
teachings.
"That is why they are well prepared when they participate with men in
the
daily works," the judge said.
"Therefore, I believe this article should be cancelled, because it
violates the
Sharia and does not [recognise] the latest developments and the needs
of the
century," he added.
Attorney and columnist Mohammad Subeihi said the article is adopted
from
French law, and was later applied by the Ottomans.
"It is a Western article that does not relate to our culture or
religion," Subeihi
argued. {IMRA: Why then are unpunished `honor killings' so widespread
in Pakistan, etc.}
. . .
Jamal Rifai, also an attorney, added that keeping this article in the
Penal
Code encourages vigilantism.
Head of the Human Rights Department at the Prime Ministry Nancy Bakeer
said wasting people's life is a crime against the state which is
supposed to be
the ultimate ruler.
. . .
She added women and children are the weakest side in the Jordanian
society.
"For example, women who are victims of rape are victims three times.
First
because the woman was raped, then she bares the responsibility for the
crime against her and, finally, she is imprisoned to protect her life.
If she is
released, she will be killed," she told the gathering.
. . .
President of the Human Forum for Women's Rights Lamis Nasser, said her
organisation researched crimes of honour and violence against women in
1998.
"We have surveyed many lawmakers and they were the ones who suggested
that Article 340 be cancelled," she explained.
Most killers in crimes of honour serve a three-month to two-year prison
term. Annually, around 25 women are reportedly killed in the Kingdom in
the name of honour.
+++ "Boy, 13, claims honour crime in strangulation of sister, 14"
By Rana Husseini, Jordan Times 24 Feb.'00
QUOTE FROM TEXT:" `The youth ... informed the authorities that he killed
his sister because she was talking with men over the phone' ...
An autopsy ... indicated that she was not involved in any sexual
activity."
FULL TEXT:
AMMAN - A 14-year-old child was strangled to death by her brother in
Al Nuzha suburb late Tuesday night, in what the assailant alleged was a
crime of honour, official sources said on Wednesday.
The victim, S. G., was talking on the phone when her 13-year-old
brother
strangled her with a phone cord. He surrendered to police shortly after
the
murder was committed, the source told the Jordan times.
"The youth confessed to killing his sibling and informed the
authorities that he
killed his sister because she was talking with men over the phone," the
source stated.
An autopsy performed on the victim indicated that she was not involved
in
any sexual activity.
Tuesday's incident could be the third reported honour crime incident
since
the beginning of the year. There were unconfirmed reports that a woman
was killed last week in Zarqa for "reasons of honour."
Last year, around 17 women were reportedly killed in the Kingdom in the
name of "defending family honour."
Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA
www.imra.org.il
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