Jordanian Identity: Contradictions of National Belonging and Shared State Conception

By: Leo Deener

The Hashemite Kingdom is an ethnically diverse state largely composed of two main identity groups: “indigenous” Jordanians and “foreign” Palestinians. Many say the country is majority Palestinian at this point and the capital city, Amman, is a clear center of Palestinian life and culture.

These divisions of “indigenous” versus “foreign” and Palestinian-Jordanian versus Jordanian-Jordanian are widely contested based on a number of factors ranging from fundamental pillars of state, common identity as Greater Syria under the Ottomans, and resistance against Israeli occupation and erasure of Palestinian life. These undercurrent tensions between nationality, identity, and citizenship are what I hope to illuminate in my research. My Friday beginning in Amman and ending in the desert of southern Jordan was a perfect embodiment of these complex dynamics.

The drizzly morning began with an interview with an accomplished academic of east bank origin who explained in rigorous detail the origins of Jordanian and Palestinian national identity. He expressed emotional dedication to the Palestinian cause and cited ideas of Arab unity, but as our conversation progressed, certain subsurface rifts emerged. Fascinatingly to me, the university professor noted how was glad that “we” East Bank “real” Jordanians controlled the military and that he didn’t want “them,” meaning Palestinians, to take over the entire government/state. This sensitive but present rift between nationalities and belonging under one common citizenship represents a fragile conception of state that an invented post-colonial Jordan must reckon with constantly.

After a delicious lunch of shawarma and baklawa, and slightly better weather, I had the opportunity to meet with the leader of a cultural center that engages with the wider history and traditions of the “Sham” region but focuses on preservation of a distinctly Palestinian heritage. As we sat in the sun with her dog, the young Palestinian woman explained an almost opposite understanding of Jordan. After asking to be off the record for this delicate portion of the interview, she described the rifts between the two groups as contrived and spoke of a Jordan for “indigenous” Jordanians as well as for its large Palestinian population in a shared mission of culture as resistance. Her work sought to avoid contentious political difference and focused on Arab and Sham unity instead.

These two interviews set the identity landscape of Amman as we vacated the big city and headed south towards the Jordanian desert. There, we were hosted by tribal Bedouins who also have a special place in Jordanian national myth as the group who welcomed in the Hashemites as their monarch. Therefore, they enjoy specific privileges and preservation within the discourse of who is reallyJordanian.

Overall, my Friday in Jordan clarified my sense that each narrow identity group has a distinct and important relationship with the state, regime, and royal family. This day was a microcosm of my curiosity to understand how each presence fits together to attain the functionally stable but foundationally insecure modern kingdom.

Street Art in Jordan: Impossible to Ignore

By: Magali Ortiz

After a week of researching street art in Amman, my eyes are constantly on the lookout for graffiti and murals. So when our group embarks on a road trip to Wadi Rum and Petra, it’s impossible not to notice the stray graffiti here and there on the side of the road. Even as we get into remote stretches of desert, the occasional structure that pops up is almost always tagged, marked by someone’s spray can. Only once do I see graffiti at the base of a rocky mountain. I add a note to my mental list of the unwritten rules of graffitiing: don’t vandalize natural structures. This proves true in Petra, where street artists have repeatedly tagged the little shops and stands that dot the long hike through the wind-chiseled rocks, but not the rocks themselves, which are already streaked with color. Near the top, just a few minutes from the monastery, I have to laugh when I see a tag by an artist I recognize – SINER, one of the most prolific graffiti artists in Amman. Of course he would bring a spray can to Petra.

SINER’s tag, and a sticker of his crew Mad Dogs, on the side of a stand in Petra

It’s a fun game to play – once you know a street artist’s signature, you start spotting it everywhere. As we drive back into the city Saturday afternoon, I point out a piece by MIG overlooking the highway. He’s someone the whole group has learned to spot, not only because of his style and signature robot, but because he’s literally everywhere in Amman. When I interviewed him earlier in the week, he showed me his Google Maps app, where he marks every potential spot for his art. The screen is so covered with blue markers that in some places it’s difficult to make out the map underneath. 

Gifts from people I interviewed, including stickers from MIG and Sardine

Saturday evening, when I discuss the city’s street art with Sardine, he uses MIG as an example of how dedicated some street artists can be. Sardine, AKA Mike Derderian, has been in the graffiti game for a long time. We’ve been trying to find a time to meet since I landed in Amman, but it wasn’t until his art show that our schedules managed to line up. The show is hosted at F.A.D.A.317, Sardine’s studio and the only one in the city dedicated to street artists. Although he still goes out to spray paint frequently – Sardine’s characters can be seen all over the city – he has started to focus more on other art forms, such as his short film Geisha L.O.V.E., which debuts that evening. Nevertheless, he still knows everyone involved in Amman’s small but constantly growing street art scene. His show features collaborations with a variety of local artists, and during our talk in his office, he constantly mentions muralists and graffiti artists, often pointing out their art on his walls. Afterwards, when we venture back out into the art show, he introduces me to other artists, some that I’ve met, others that I only recognize from their art that I’ve seen walking around the city. Naji AlAli is yet another of the truly dedicated – his lemonheads can be seen all over, including at the entrance to F.A.D.A.317.

Inside F.A.D.A.317

Walking back to our hotel from the studio through Al-Weibdeh and Wasat Al-Balad, street art adorns most of the walls that I pass. Some of it is the casual, fast work of artists like SINER or MIG, some are small murals done by the likes of Sardine or Yaratun, or bigger street art crews. On one busy street, you can find a host of murals by renown artists like Suhaib Attar, done during different years of Baladk, an annual street art festival hosted by Amman’s Al-Balad theater. Somehow, it has become second nature to recognize styles, signatures, tags. It’s my last evening in the city, and I’ve only been here a short while, but I feel a deep sense of familiarity with its walls. After all my conversations with artists about the future of Amman’s street art, I wonder what the city will look like on my next visit, and how the medium will continue to take hold in other cities like Irbid and Petra, as well as all the long highways in between.

An alleyway en route to the hotel

Women’s Employment in Jordan: Systemic Barriers in the Cooperative Sector.

By: Miles Guerin

In Jordan, the majority of university students are women. Though despite educational attainment, Jordan has one of the lowest employment rates for women; not just in the region, but in the world. In my research, I hope to understand what systemic barriers exist for women in Jordan, and better understand the sorts of initiatives NGOs and the Jordanian government are undertaking to help reach gender parity in the labor force.

After interviewing academics and USAID representatives earlier in the week, today we were conducting our first interview with representatives from the Jordanian government. With the sun barely risen over the many hills of Amman, we made our way over to the central office of the Jordanian Cooperative Corporation— a governmental organization set up to oversee the formation, regulation, and development of all economic cooperatives in the country. There, we met with a representative who spoke to the country’s current strategies regarding the development of the sector, and existing barriers to female labor force participation. The representative mentioned that while Jordan’s agricultural sector receives aid from USAID and related programs, what is really needed for expansion of the sector is technology transfer from the US and other donor countries. Additionally, while Jordan has a relatively large public sector, limited growth in the private sector has put undue pressure on hiring in the public sector. As a result, fewer women are being selected to fill positions in the cooperative sector.

In the afternoon, we made our way to west Amman where we met with the head of UN Women in Jordan. In our conversation, he covered UN Women’s current initiatives for increasing Jordanian women’s economic empowerment, as well as initiatives for Syrian women living in Azraq and Zaatari. In speaking with UN Women, we found that the largest barriers to women attempting to engage in the labor force are the lack of reliable transportation, cultural norms, but also the lack of opportunities outside of the public sector. Given funding limitations, UN Women has sought to work with the Jordanian private sector to expand equity messaging to seek foreign investment from impact investors outside of Jordan.

After a morning full of interviews, a group of us made our way back to the neighborhood of Jabal Al-Weibdeh where we embarked on a tour of the city’s vibrant street art scene. In Amman, it’s hard to walk more than a couple feet without seeing a breathtaking mural, or a tag tucked away in one of Amman’s many alleys and sleepy side-streets. The street art scene not only envelopes Amman in a dazzling palette of color, but also serves as an expression of youth that envision a more progressive Amman. Of the 50 or so street artists that are most active in Amman, 35 are women. So, while many barriers still exist in the country, the youth are seeking to build an Amman, to build a Jordan, that is reflective of country’s true diversity.

A Warm Welcome to Rabat

By: Sage Spalter

Morocco sits in a unique position with immense geographical significance at the intersection of several important regions. The country is a part of the greater Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, holds formal and informal positions within the continent of Africa, and sits in proximity to southern Europe leading foreign relations to be a center point of discussions and public policy in Morocco. For this reason, Grace, Paloma, and I chose to travel here to learn more about the ever-present topic of migration. Each of us with a focus on a different aspect of the subject came to speak with experts and professionals in migration to gain a better understanding of the intricacies of government and multilateral policies and their perceived outcomes on the experiences of migrants in the country.

With only a week to explore and learn in Morocco, we hit the ground running upon our arrival in Rabat. Our first conversation was with a specialist in migration health policy at the International Organization of Migration (IOM), an organization that is a part of the United Nations System as the leading inter-governmental organization on migration. We learned about the barriers to healthcare that migrants face and the ameliorations IOM supports. We came to better understand the role UN agencies play in this work—one that works to research, mobilize, and coordinate between governmental and non-governmental entities. This first conversation gave us a helpful landscape of the issues we sought to research and was a great beginning to our week of interviews.

On Saturday, we sat down with a journalist based in Rabat who reports on an array of issues but has significant experience reporting on the topic of migration. He recounted his stories of traveling across the country to document the tribulations of being a migrant at the borderlands living in liminality. Not only did he give us first-hand insight into stories he has heard echoed across migrant communities, but he described how he navigates being a journalist covering salient topics of human rights. Our engaging conversation left the three of us inspired by the many roles that exist within the field of migration.

Outside of our fact-finding, we have found time to explore the wonderful scenes and sites of Rabat. On Friday night, our dinner was a spread of delicious food both traditional to Morocco and to the fast-breaking evening meal of Ramadan, Iftar. As we strolled the streets on Saturday morning, we noticed how tranquil the city is and joyously basked in the warm weather that we heard was uncommon this early in the year. We saw the Hassan Tower in all of its glory and circled the Chellah, a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis and ancient archeological site.

As I look toward the days ahead, I look forward to hearing more perspectives on migration particularly as it relates to the gendered aspects of migration. In the coming days, we will meet with an official from an independent government institution, a couple of professors, a consultant on migration, and leaders of non-governmental organizations. I imagine we will hear more about the strife of Moroccan migrants and continue to be reminded of the interstitial and oftentimes treacherous situations that migration causes people. We keep in mind the many experiences of people who migrate that we will not hear and that, with very limited time in-country, we will only scratch the surface of one of the most pressing issues of human rights and public policy in our world today.

Migration in Morocco Fact-Finding Trip: Final Days

By: Grace Spalding-Fecher

Sitting in the Rabat Salé airport at 3:30 am I blearily think back over our 6 packed days in Morocco. The days flew by filled with interviews, sightseeing, exploring new neighborhoods and eating incredible food. We all feel a sense of deep gratitude for the generosity and kindness that we were shown by everyone that we met during our time in the country.

I think back to Tuesday when we sat in the sociology department office at the faculté des lettres et des sciences humaines of Hassan II University listening to the sounds of traffic, construction, and students hanging out in the sunny courtyard outside. Youness Benmouro, a professor of sociology, explains the concept of liminality in migration studies, which describes the phase of ambiguity when migrants enter into a new country, in this case Morocco, and are faced with new norms and laws that strip of them of their defining characteristics. Their identity becomes defined solely by being a migrant, with an association with criminality if they entered illegally. His work is particularly pertinent to my topic of sub-Saharan migration into Morocco and the way that the migration question is present in Morocco’s relationship with other African countries as his research attempts to identify mobility along the Sahelo-Saharan routes and migratory immobility during the stage of waiting in Morocco for migrants in irregular situations.

This conversation is particularly interesting after our discussion with ASTICUDE, an organization based in Nador that works to achieve inclusive, egalitarian and equitable access to political, economic and cultural decision-making, by contributing to producing a local elite capable of raising the challenges of development . Given the location of Nador 10km away from Melilla, one of the two Spanish enclaves in Morocco, many migrants who hope to reach Europe take shelter in the forest between the city and the border before attempting to cross. The organization works with migrants who are in this waiting phase before they attempt to cross the border into Melilla or after an unsuccessful attempt when they have to decide what to do next.

After a total of 10 interviews we are leaving with a wealth of new knowledge and connections. From experts on land and women rights to climate migration and census planning they exposed us to topics that we have studied in the classroom as well as ones that were completely new to us. We are so grateful for the continued support of the IGL and Tisch College, as well as all of our contacts for their support in making this trip a reality!

Day 2 of Interviews in Amman, Jordan

By Sofia Ladak

Today is our second full day in Jordan, which means that we are finally slipping into the rhythm of the city of Amman. We have all felt incredibly well received in this country, and are very much enjoying our time here.
Leo and I started off our day with the most incredible interview! We met with an NGO called Questscope which was founded out of the UK, and has a branch in Amman with an almost fully Jordanian team.

Leo started off the conversation focusing less on Questscope and more on trying to get a sense of the Palestinian identity in Jordan, as it just so happened to be that both women we spoke to were of Palestinian decent. It was extremely interesting, even for me whose research focus is quite different, to hear them speak about how much they feel they and their families have been able to integrate into Jordanian society, starkly contrasting some of the conversations Leo had had the day before.

Afterwards, we shifted over to speak about Questscope and their mission, which is to provide education, namely non-formal education, to more vulnerable populations around Jordan, including drop out and refugee children. One of the large takeaways I’ve been having from every interview is that there is very much a need to focus on the question of “what happens next?”. Jordan unfortunately has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world, and many organizations seem to feel that closing that gap has to be done through the private sector. Additionally, I’ve been finding it very interesting that most organizations work very closely with the Ministry of Education.

One aspect of the interview that really resonated with me was when I complemented them on the work that they’ve been doing. I was met with the response “but we are not happy” because they find it to be a sometimes frustrating and slow process. While they realize they are making a difference, it just takes more time than they would hope, which can often be the case with such NGO’s.

Moving forward in my day, I then went to my second interview at the Queen Rania Teacher Foundation. In all honesty, this was a less positive experience as they were not as welcoming or informative. It was interesting to see the contrast of different types of NGO’s, even considering their location as this took place about 30 minutes away from the city center in a large “Business Park” of many offices. Nonetheless, I was able to understanding how much they also work with the Ministry of Education; none of these organizations seem to operate independently. While I am aware that unless you align with the Ministry’s goals, there might be little you can do, I did not grasp from my research how much of a symbiosis relationship they really have.

As a result, my next goal is to be able to speak to the Ministry of Education, as they are much harder to reach than other organizations, especially for an in-person appointment. Inshallah it happens!