Playing the Gender Game: Female Participation in the Jordanian Employment Market

May 22, 2008 – 4:19 pm

In recent years Jordan has undergone a series of initiatives to establish the kingdom at the forefront of social, economic, and technological progress in the region.

Since highly educated women frequently present a social and economic boon to a country, Jordan has ensured a successful and steady flow of female graduates into the employment market.

The recent release of a new report by the Canadian-sponsored National Center for Human Resources Development (NCHRD), in association with the Jordan-based Al-Manar Project, does however, cast a pall over the otherwise pleasing advancements.

According to the survey, in 2005 the distribution of Jordanian employees by gender demonstrated an 86.8 percent male majority over a 13.2 percent female minority. Within two years a slight increase brought female participation in the labour market to 15.7 percent, while male participation decreased to 84.3 percent.

Yet further disparities emerge on the earnings front as 8.1 percent of male employees earned JD 500 or more per month in 2007, while the figure for women remained at 4.4 percent, despite rising from 2.8 percent two years previously.

The diminutive figure on both counts proves further perplexing due to the preponderance of Jordanian women holding undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Just as the Jordanian labour market is dominated by a male majority, so too do female employees surpass their male counterparts in terms of higher education qualifications.

During the period 2005 to 2007, the number of male workers holding undergraduate degrees rose from 13.9 percent to 16.8 percent; likewise, holders of graduate degrees increased from 2.6 percent to 3.0 percent.

Contrastingly, female employees holding undergraduate degrees increased during the same period from 38.4 percent to 43.2 percent, while postgraduate holders grew from 3.6 percent in 2005 to 4.6 percent in 2007.

Of equal interest is the distribution of employees by gender within the employment sectors, with women flourishing in the field of professionals – that is, as doctors and lawyers – with figures rising from 42.2 percent to 47.9 percent over the same two year period.

The technical professions witnessed a slight decrease in female activity, down from 29.1 percent to 24.3 percent, although the total remains higher than the male presence, which dwindled by a fraction from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 8.5 percent in 2007.

Occupations comprising legislators, senior officials, and managers remain however, fiercely elusive to the female grasp with 0.0 percent holding positions in the field, although male employees have retained a steady hold with 0.1 percent between 2005 and 2007.

At present, women make up half of the six million strong population, and complaints that they are being deprived their share in the decision making due to the conservative, tribal-oriented government sector have become more vocalized in recent years. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in jordan, muslim women | Comments (0)

1967: A Review

May 18, 2008 – 6:07 am

This is a review of 1967 by Tom Segev. Translation: Jessica Cohen. Little Brown Book Group. Paperback Edition: 2008.

Tom Segev is the columnist of Ha’aretz, a left-wing Israeli newspaper, and a historian who chronicles the lives of Israelis in 1967.

Many of books have analyzed the roots of the Six-Day War and its significance to the history of the Middle East. Segev illustrates how the fear of another Holocaust drove Israel to launch wars against Egypt, Syria and Jordan, grabbing land and starting a tradition of excess.

If you believe in the mainstream discourse regarding the Six-Day War and in the image of an infallible Israel, you may not like this book. It is a book full of controversial ideas, and it makes harsh statements about the Jewish state.

Taking references from thousands of interviews, official and unofficial materials, Segev’s book distinguishes itself because of its reliance on materials both from archives and diaries of regular people. For example, the third section of the book was fully based on the diary of Private Yehoshua Bar-Dayan, who leaves his wife and son to join the army to prepare for war. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in arts and literature, palestine | Comments (0)

Muslim Comedians in the U.S.: A PBS Special

May 11, 2008 – 9:59 am

This week on PBS, “STAND UP: Muslim-American Comics Come of Age” premiered as part of the ongoing “America at a Crossroads” series. Five comedians are profiled in this documentary special: Ahmed Ahmed, Tissa Hami, Dean Obeidallah, Azhar Usman and Maysoon Zayid.

ahmed ahmed

Each comedian profiled has their own angle on both the entertainment business and the experiences of Muslims in the United States. Maysoon Zayid talks about being a Palestinian-American Muslim woman who doesn’t cover her hair, a virgin, and a disabled person aspiring to become an actress.

Dean Obeidallah shares the story of how he initially stopped using his Arab last name when performing in the aftermath of 9/11, then had a change of heart and a change of direction.

Azhar Usman, who is shown praying in his dressing room at one point, discusses going through a conservative phase before realizing that his path in life ultimately lay elsewhere.

azher usman smiles

Many viewers will relate to Ahmed Ahmed’s anxiety in regards to air travel, except that in Ahmed Ahmed’s case there is the added “bonus” of traveling while Muslim and enduring extreme suspicion. And Tissa Hami’s account of enduring prejudice both from non-Muslims and Muslims (some of whom have told her that she is “going to hell”) is not exactly a laughing matter.

Yet, staying true to its subject matter, the special manages to be light-hearted as well. The featured jokes could probably make even David Horowitz laugh, or so I’d like to believe.

Prior to the premiere, I was given an opportunity to interview several of the comedians, and here is what we talked about:

Read More »

By Natalia Antonova | Posted in current affairs, entertainment, humor, islam, muslim women, religion | Comments (2)

The Resurrection: Why Do Christians Believe In It?

May 5, 2008 – 1:47 pm

For Christians, Christ’s life did not end with his death. It is here that we realise that the Christian gospel stands or falls on the astonishing claim of his resurrection.

Christ did not only die according to the scriptures. It wasn’t to end there, but “that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”. His burial and resurrection was itself prophesied by Jesus himself as he took an illustration from Jonah the prophet. (Matthew 12:40) “For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Also this again was prophesied in Isaiah 53. “And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death”.

The Hebrew Scriptures speak also of his resurrection. There are many scriptures that prophesy this. The best known is from Psalm 16:10 and Peter the Apostle quoted this as he spoke to the Jews on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down.

Someone commented to me once that the apostles and the evangelists who wrote the gospels were not, for the most part, prophets. Yes, God spoke to us through prophets all down the ages, but what is equally important are “WITNESSES”. The New Testament emphasises this all of the time.

The prophets have spoken, the prophesied events have taken place, and there were those who saw it, witnesses. For instance Jesus himself as he spoke to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:46-47) “Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.”

Now, Hebrew Law demanded that everything must be established by two or three witnesses. That isn’t talking about forensic evidence or people who “think” they saw something, but those who were present at the time. We are told that not only two or three witnesses saw Christ alive, but over 500 at one time, which is what is important to Christians. Read More »

By Feature Writer | Posted in christianity, religion | Comments (0)

Motorcycle Diaries Part XIV

May 3, 2008 – 3:08 pm

I am always baffled by the failure of the human race to overcome many of its lingering challenges and nagging troubles, despite the monumental level of intelligence and sophistication that we have reached as a species.

This thought visited me again most recently when I travelled to attend a conference and unpacked my favorite navy blue suit out of my suitcase, the one I usually put on when I am about to meet a bunch of very serious people.

Mankind, I said to myself as I examined the state of my official uniform, was able to squeeze billions of documents and complex data inside a tiny microchip, retrieve them at will, save them back and then retrieve them again in mint condition. All inside a piece of silicon the size of a finger nail. Mind-boggling stuff, almost like magic, we all agree.

However, we have not yet figured out a way to place a business suit inside the common suitcase and retrieve it at our destination without creasing the hell out of it. If that task is physically impossible, why can’t the federation of world manufacturers of travel bags come together and decide to rename the famous suitcase to something else, like underwearcase or sockscase, since it has been forensically proven that the worst item you can fold into a suitcase is an actual bloody suit?

You try to fix the problem. Read More »

By Zaid Nabulsi | Posted in entertainment, science & technology | Comments (0)