Right….where do I start? As some of you may already know that I am an expatriate teacher in Amman, Jordan. I have recently accepted a teaching post in Cairo, Egypt.

It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make.

However I have become really attached to Jordan…I love the people, the place, the culture, the language and much more…my dilemma now is and this is where I need your help. Do I keep writing on wasapninjordan or do I register wasapninegypt or do I register wasapaninworld?

I want to write about my thoughts, my travels, and helpful local information for future expatriates.

Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

wasapninjordan

1. Jew from any country in the world is guaranteed citizenship in Israel, while the Palestinians who have been there for centuries are oppressed and persecuted.

2. Did you know that instead of sewing an insignia on clothing to distinguish race (like the Germans did to the Jews before WW2), Palestinian license plates in Israel are color coded to distinguish Jews from non-Jews?

3. Did you know that East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and the Golan Heights are all considered by the entire world community, including the United States and the United Nations, to be occupied territory and NOT part of the State of Israel?

4. Did you know that Israel allots 85% of the water resources for Jews, and the remaining 15% is divided among all Palestinians in the territories? For example in Hebron, 85% of the water is set aside for about 400 Jewish settlers, while the remaining 15% is distributed among Hebron’s 120, 000 Palestinians?

5. Did you know that the United States awards Israel $5 billion in aid each year from American tax dollars?

6. Did you know that US aid to Israel ($1.8 billion annually in military aid alone) exceeds the aid the US grants to the entire African continent? This aid is used both to buy American weaponry and to buy arms made in Israel.

7. Did you know that Israel is awaiting an additional $4 billion worth of American military hardware, including new F-16s and Apache and Blackhawk helicopters? As Israel’s main ally and supporter internationally, the United States is committed to maintaining the Zionist state’s “qualitative edge” in weapons over its neighbours.

8. Did you know that the U.S. administration has notified Congress on numerous occasions that Israel has violated the rules on how US-supplied weapons are used? (In 1978, 1979 and 1982 during fighting in Lebanon, and once after Israel’s bombing of an Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981.)

9. Did you know that Israel is the only country in the Middle East that refuses to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and bars international inspections from its sites?

10. Did you know that high-ranking military officers in the Israeli Defence Forces have admitted publicly that unarmed prisoners of war have been summarily executed by the Israeli forces?

11. Did you know that Israel blew up an American diplomatic facility in Egypt and attacked a US warship in international waters (the USS Liberty), killing 33 and wounding 177 American sailors and the US did nothing about it? (Imagine if an Muslim/Arab country like Iraq did this!)

12. Did you know that Israel stands in defiance of 69 United Nations Security Council Resolutions?

13. Did you know that Palestinian refugees make up the largest portion of the refugee population in the world?

14. Did you know that the right of self-determination is guaranteed to every human being under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights [December, 1948], yet Palestinians were/are expected to negotiate for this right under the Oslo Accords?

Lord Islington argued that the provisions concerning the establishment of a Jewish national home were inconsistent with Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, which had laid the foundations of the mandatory system. Lord Islington continued that ‘the mandate imposes on Great Britain the reasonability of trusteeship for a Zionist political predominance where 90 per cent of the population are non-Zionist and non-Jewish … In fact, very many orthodox Jews, not only in Palestine but all over the world, view with the deepest misapprehension, not to say dislike, this principle of a Zionist Home in Palestine … The scheme of a Zionist Home sought to make Zionist political predominance effective in Palestine by importing into the country extraneous and alien Jews from other parts of the world … This scheme of importing an alien race into the midst of a native local race is flying in the very face of the whole of the tendencies of the age. It is an unnatural experiment … It is literally inviting subsequent catastrophe …

Answering this criticism, the author of the Declaration, Lord Balfour, said:

Zionism may fail…this is an adventure…Are we never to have adventures? Are we never to try new experiments?…I do not think I need dwell upon this imaginary wrong which the Jewish Home is going to inflict upon the local Arabs. (Lord Balfour 21^st June 1922 – House of Lords)

Lord Sydenham replied that the Zionist experiment would fail, but the harm done by dumping down an alien population upon an Arab country – Arab all round in the hinterland – may never be remedied … What we have done is, by concessions, not to the Jewish people but to a Zionist extreme section, to start a running sore in the East, and no one can tell how far the sore will extend.

House of Lords, 21 June 1922

I finally got around to update my Jordan Pics section. As you know I already have an account with ‘Flickr’ but I thought an additional page on this blog with personal pictures of Jordan would be a lovely thing to share. I have now added some my pictures of Jordan using ‘slide.com’. I will try to add pictures of as many towns and cities around Jordan as possible.

I would love your feedback and participation in this. So if you have any pictures that you would like to share, please email me at wasapninjordan@gmail.com and I will add to the relevant picture slides.

Enjoy the pictures

wasapninjordan

Some local friends of mine were insisting that it would snow today (19.02.08). I on the other hand kept on insisting that it will not snow; ‘it says so on my Firefox status bar’. I had recently added the recommended Add-on by Firefox called ‘Forecastfox’.

I don’t know how the news spreads in Amman but it spreads like ‘wild fire’. Almost all of my local Jordanian friends (or is it Jordanian Palestinian? I am not even sure which is the politically correct terminology to use, as I get corrected so many times as to who is original Jordanian and who is Jordanian Palestinian) were convinced that it would snow.

What happened the next day??? I wake up Tuesday morning and it was snowing and extremely foggy. Below are some of the pictures I took from my car after I had dropped my wife of to the university, where she is studying Arabic.

Next time I am going to phone my Jordanian friends for an update on local weather

wasapninjordan

BTW can anyone explain what is the story behind people getting worked up about being called ‘Jordanian’ and ‘Jordanian Palestinian’?

I know this is a bit late but better late than never. Here is a collection of the snowmen that we saw around Amman when it snowed a few weeks ago. Which one is your favourite snowman?

(photos by wasapninjordan)

It was really foggy yesterday. I didn’t realise Jordan could get so foggy. I managed to get my camera in time and take some pictures. I hope you like them.

(Photos by wasapninjordan)

While I was at work yesterday, it began to rain. It started off heavy and then the rain turned to hail and then for a while it even snowed.

I could hear the rain hitting hard on the windows, while I sat comfortably in my room with the heating turned up to the maximum. I kept wondering about those who were less fortunate then me, those who struggle to survive on a day to day basis. I posted the news articles the other day about fuel, electricity and water prices increasing and it makes me wonder, why is it that some people have it easy and others have to work harder for it. I wonder why some people have, whilst others do not have at all. I wonder if the world is supposed to be as it is or is there anything I can do to change it?

I wonder?

What do you think?

(Photos by wasapninjordan)

International Dialling Codes

A complete list of the International Dialling codes below or download the list here

Code	Capital	Code	Country
–	Kabul	93	Afghanistan
4	Tirana	355	Albania
21	Algiers	213	Algeria
1	Buenos Aires	54	Argentina
2	Yerevan	374	Armenia
2	Sydney	61	Australia
1	Vienna	43	Austria
–	Manama	973	Bahrain
2	Dhaka	880	Bangladesh
2	Brussels	32	Belgium
612	La Paz	591	Bolivia
71	Sarajevo	387	Bosnia Herzegovina
61	Brasilia	55	Brazil
2	Bandar Seri Begawan	673	Brunei
2	Sofia	359	Bulgaria
–	Yaoundé	237	Cameroon
613	Ottawa	1	Canada
51	N’djamena	235	Chad
2	Santiago	56	Chile
10	Beijing	86	China
1	Bogotá	57	Colombia
–	San Jose	506	Costa Rica
1	Zagreb	385	Croatia
7	Havana	53	Cuba
2	Nicosia	357	Cyprus
2	Prague	420	Czech
–	Copenhagen	45	Denmark
–	Djibouti	253	Djibouti
2	Cairo	20	Egypt
9	Helsinki	358	Finland
1	Paris	33	France
30	Berlin	49	Germany
1	Athens	30	Greece
1	Budapest	36	Hungary
11	New Delhi	91	India
21	Jakarta	62	Indonesia
21	Tehran	98	Iran
1	Baghdad	964	Iraq
1	Dublin	353	Ireland
6	Rome	39	Italy
3	Tokyo	81	Japan
6	Amman	962	Jordan
2	Nairobi	254	Kenya
2	Seoul	82	Korea
–	Pristina	377	Kosovo
–	Kuwait	965	Kuwait
34	Riga	371	Latvia
1	Beirut	961	Lebanon
21	Tripoli	218	Libya
–	Luxembourg	352	Luxembourg
2	Skopje	389	Macedonia
3	Kuala Lumpur	60	Malaysia
–	Valletta	356	Malta
–	Nouakchott	222	Mauritania
55	Mexico	52	Mexico
81	Podgorica	382	Montenegro
7	Rabat	212	Morocco
20	Amsterdam	31	Netherlands
4	Wellington	64	New Zealand
1	Lagos	234	Nigeria
22	Oslo	47	Norway
–	Muscat	968	Oman
51	Islamabad	92	Pakistan
21	Asuncion	595	Paraguay
1	Lima	51	Peru
2	Manila	63	Philippines
22	Warsaw	48	Poland
21	Lisbon	351	Portugal
–	Doha	974	Qatar
21	Bucharest	40	Romania
95	Moscow	7	Russia
1	Riyadh	966	Saudi Arabia
–	Dakar	221	Senegal
11	Belgrade	381	Serbia
–	Singapore	65	Singapore
11	Johannesburg	27	South Africa
1	Madrid	34	Spain
1	Colombo	94	Sri Lanka
11	Khartoum	249	Sudan
8	Stockholm	46	Sweden
31	Berne	41	Switzerland
–	–	268	Swaziland
11	Damascus	963	Syria
2	Taipei	886	Taiwan
2	Bangkok	66	Thailand
1	Tunis	216	Tunisia
312	Ankara	90	Turkey
44	Kiev	380	Ukraine
2	Abu Dhabi	971	United Arab Emirates
207/208	London	44	United Kingdom
202	Washington	1	United States
2	Montevideo	598	Uruguay
212	Caracas	58	Venezuela
1	Sana’a	967	Yemen
1	Lusaka	260	Zambia

 Source: Tomorrow Amman Guide

Car Rentals in Amman

I found this list from the Ministry of Tourism website. I don’t think it is a complete list of all the car rental places in Jordan. Most if not all of them listed on this list are from Amman. I found the list useful when I was searching for a weekend drive out of Amman. I will keep updating the list and if anyone wants to add to the list then please email me. Click here if you wish to download the list.

Car Rental	Telephone +962 (06)
Abdo	5682427
Al Anan	5359639
Al Andalusiah	5606821
Al Arz	5671470
Al Fairouz	5359005
Al Farouk	5686546
Al Gardens	5602265
Al Jawad	5606125
Al Masy	5535644
Al Saad	5827180
Sallam	5683899
Alaqsa	5513554
Aldana	5863091
Alia	5157178
Al Amin	5827201
Assaraya	5684771/032016265
Atlas	5697469
Arabesque	5685884
Atlantic	5688453
Cruise	5530176
Dalia	5528528
Dallal	5359733
City	4648130/1
Camel	5359905
Diplomat	5510427
Dweik	5606699
Escort	5856384
Europcar Jordan	5655581
Faraneh International	5690310
Fadi	5535568
Golden Key	4652426/7
Firas	5602082/4617674
Gulf	5150902
Hanania	5856999
Heart	5686075
Jerusalem	5682016
Jumana	5683141
Macca	5689226
Kanan	5513532
Al Khaled	5358007
Lu’lua	5813529
Natour	4627455
Nebo	5858224
Al Mahaba	571622/1
Oryx - Aqaba	03-2013133
Al Manal	5523196
Monte Carlo	5347002
Raonsh	5699744
Rawan	5865996
Nascar	5510041
Al Noor	5536632
Rimal	4639861
Oscar	5531945
Al Qadi	079/28622
Quality	4655749
Safari	5605080
Ramallah	775149
Samer	5689645
Riviera	5532228
Shakhshir Hertz	5538958/032016206
Ruibes	5621480
Star	5154904
Tiger	5161931
Trans World	5519272
U Drive