Political satire in Jordan refers to weekly satirical newspapers, cartoons, prose and online social media that poke fun at the Jordanian government and its politicians. Jordanian satirists use puns and indirect references to tackle taboos, defy restrictive laws that inhibit freedom of speech, and convey public grievances.
Jordanian early satirists While some might argue that the early accounts of political satire in Jordan can be traced in the works of Jordan's most well-known poet Mustafa Wahbi al-Tal nicknamed ‘Arar’, as he was cynical of the social life during the formative years of Transjordan, satirical writings in Jordan were only made available to the public in the 1960s. According to rare accounts on the history of the Jordanian political satire as found in the diaries of a Jordanian journalist named Faisal Mohammad Awkal, the writings of Fakhri Kawar were the first satirical accounts published in the old newspaper of Amman in the Evening in Arabic (عمان المساء). Qawar's writings included short essays that mainly leveled light criticism at the government.Awkal, Faisal Mohammad, The History of Jordanian Satire, 3/20/2011, retrieved from: http://shartoh.buygoo.net/t845-topic#1416 The newspaper, which inspired the later satirical journalism, came to clash with the Jordanian authorities in 1964, after publishing the diaries of Wasfi al-Tal on the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, followed by the diaries of Ahmad Shukeiri resulting in its final shutdown in 1975. Later in early 1980s, Qawar published the first satirical works including Farhan Farah Sae’ed's Diaries (which was adapted as a script for a soap-opera that had the same name mid-1980s), published in 1982, and “I am the Patriarch,” published in 1981.
Development of satire in 1980s Political satire in Jordan started to develop in the 1980s in the writings of Mohammad Tomaliah, who introduced new elements to the genre in his column in Ad-Dustour, entitled “Eyewitness”. He employed a narrative style borrowed from prose using simplistic realism, cynical discrepancies, and a wide array of unusual similes.
Moreover, Tomaliah used brief sentences that drew clear images of reality and candid portrayals, allowing Jordanian specificities to stand out. He was unconventional and his articles were free of flowery language and clichés. According to critics, Tomaliah was a literary figure and not only a columnist.
In one of his articles, 'The Third Bullet", Tomaliah talks about his life saying:
"I personally have not lived yet, and my life is not yet worthy to write about: All my experiences are trivial although I consider growing up in the southern villages and moving during my adolescence years to live in "Al-Hussein Camp" an experience that gave me a special status: on one hand I am a Jordanian of a Palestinian descent, while on the other, I am Palestinian from a Jordanian origin. Therefore, I frame my political stance within this experience, more specifically within the "Catholic" relationship that govern the two peoples. Also, I do tend to think that my education in Baghdad and my father's death and burial in the beloved 'occupied' capital (in reference to Baghdad) made me an Iraqi: Sunni and Shia at the time time, and a Christian like a cross".Al-Anani, Ziad, Tomaliah: Cancer is a secretary that I hired in my body, 10/24/2007, retrieved from:http://www.alghad.com/prints/766509-%D8%B7%D9%85%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B1%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%B1%D8%AF-%D8%B3%D9%83%D8%B1%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D9%85%D8%AC%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%AF-%D9%82%D9%85%D8%AA-%D8%A8%D8%AA%D8%B9%D9%8A%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%AC%D8%B3%D8%AF%D9%8A?s=444a47da112d0e302f05228ecc819833
For more than 28 years (until his death in 2008), Tomaliah published hundreds of articles, and several books, which mainly talked and described the miseries of the destitute and the marginalized groups, including the people in his neighborhood in east Amman. Talking about the marginalized groups, Tomaliah breached the norms of the Jordanian journalism, which was formal and conservative when tackling social issues. Tomaliah did what many Jordanian writers would not have done at the time; namely criticizing the society, its norms, its traditions and even himself. It is widely argued among Jordanian critics that Tomaliah's satirical writings and the way they were received encouraged more Jordanian daily newspapers to assign a space for this genre.Shabanah, Omar, Jordan: Satire Gains Popularity by Breaking Taboos, Al-Araby Al-Jadid, 6/18/2014, retrieved from: http://www.alaraby.co.uk/miscellaneous/ef9f2aa0-f450-44ef-a81b-ec3eceabe5f8
In addition to Tomaliah's column, other satire appeared in the Jordanian satirical newspaper of Shihan (newspaper), founded in 1984. The newspaper assigned pages for the editor's satirical writings under the Pseudonym of "Shiho".Shihan Newspaper's Website, Who are we page, retrieved from: The newspaper rose to become one of Jordan's most read publications, and despite its satirical nature, it was regarded as one of the most valuable forums for news and public affairs.Monroe E. Price; Beata Rozumilowicz; Stefaan G. Verhulst, Media Reform: Democratizing the Media, Democratizing the State, 9/2/2003, Routledge, p. 117 In 2006, Shihan (newspaper) republished Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons resulting in a public fury that culminated in the dismissal of the paper's editor-in-chief, Jihad al-Momani.
1990s- Satire in the era of post-democracy open-up In early 1990s, Jordan held its first parliamentary elections in 22 years, annulled the martial law in effect for 33 years and allowed for the political parties to exist and operate. The new era promised the emergence of liberal media and art represented in a theatrical boom in the country which coincided with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled Kuwait after the Gulf War in 1991.Desert News, Jordan Comic Feared Pokey after Poking Fun at King, 2/20/1997, retrieved from:
In 1993,Nabil Sawalha and Hisham Yanes, who returned to Jordan from Kuwait after the war, established Nabil &Hisham theater where they staged several successful plays including Ahlan Barlman (Welcome, Parliament), Ahlan Nizam A'lami Jadid (Welcome, New World Order), Ahaln Mo'tamar Qimma Arabyia (Welcome, Arab Summit) and Ahlan Tatbee' (Welcome, Normalization).
Nabil and Hisham's plays established the phenomenon in Jordanian satire of being able to escape state censorship and being the first Jordanian comedians to ridicule and imitate Arab leaders on an Arab stage. The two comedians viewed their career as being free of dangers, believing there was a margin of freedom at the time, and that they needed to filter their language on certain occasions.Peter Ford, Jordan Political Satire Packs 'Em In With Lampooning of Arab Leaders, The Christian Science Monitor, 12/6/1993
In one of their plays: “Welcome, New World Order”, which came in the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1990, the duo presented a rare Arab perspective at what the new order promised back then. Both Hisham Yanes and Nabil Sawalha used symbolism and implicit language, which at times lacked clarity, when referring to sensitive issues. They were mainly attempting to test the limits of tolerance provided after Jordan's abolition of the martial law in 1989. The play which continued for 20 months attracted late King Hussein whose attendance limited future censorship.Peter Ford, Jordan Political Satire Packs 'Em In With Lampooning of Arab Leaders, The Christian Science Monitor, 12/6/1993
Under the democratic opening-up, a satirical newspaper was published mid-1990s. In 1996, Abed Rabbo weekly newspaper was launched by the satirist Yousef Ghishan and sold in the first weeks thousands of copies. In 1997 and after an amended version of the press and publication law was endorsed, the paper closed, unable to meet the requirements and fines stipulated by the law.Monroe E. Price; Beata Rozumilowicz; Stefaan G. Verhulst, Media Reform: Democratizing the Media, Democratizing the State, 9/2/2003, Routledge, p. 117
Press and publication law in 1997 After the short-lived period of media freedom, the cabinet of Abdelsalam al-Majali introduced to the 1993 press and publication law new censorship measures. Under the new amendments, the Press and Publication Department (PPD) was given more powers to regulate the publications and the press, and the PPD was authorized to exercise censorship over the publications allowing it and the government to have an ultimate control over all media bodies.Al-Bab, Jordan's proposed 1998 press and publications law, retrieved from:
The law also increased the minimum capital required to issue newspapers. The law also prohibited the publication of rumors or false information and any news or material that might be harmful to national unity and any material that encouraged public strikes and dissent.IREX, Introduction to News, Media Law and Policy in Jordan, USAID Jordan, May 2011, retrieved from: http://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/Media%20Law%20and%20Policy%20Primer%20(English).pdf
In 1998, the Parliament endorsed the Press and Publications Law No. 18 of 1998, which was viewed as almost identical to the law of 1997. In 1999, the government, presented a draft amendment to the Press and Publications Law of 1998 to the Parliament. The amended law of 1999 annulled several restrictions provided for in the law of 1998, reduced the required minimum capital required for weekly newspapers.IREX, Introduction to News, Media Law and Policy in Jordan, USAID Jordan, May 2011, retrieved from: http://www.irex.org/sites/default/files/Media%20Law%20and%20Policy%20Primer%20(English).pdf
This law led to the suspension of several leading privately owned newspapers, the majority of which were law-budgeted, such as Abed Rabbo, Hawadeth Al-Sa'a, among others that failed to comply with this prerequisite. Despite the subsequent amendments, the law remained largely the same, and under it only official media dominated the scene.Adely, Fida & Guthrie, Basma, Is the Sky Falling? Press and Internet Censorship Rises in Jordan, 10/31/2012, retrieved from: http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/8102/is-the-sky-falling-press-and-internet-censorship-r
Satirical cartoons Cartoons in Jordan serve as powerful tool to express political views. Emad Hajjaj, is considered a pioneer in drawing satirical cartoons portraying Jordanian political figures, including the King himself. Hajjaj's most famous cartoon character (Abu Mahjoob) made its debut in 1993 portraying an angry Jordanian man hanging a promotional sign for the elections, which read "No to foreign labor" while at the same time yelling at an Egyptian worker to help him fix it.Khoshman, Afaf, Iconic Comic Strip Character Abu Mahjoob turns 20, 11/6/2013, retrieved from:
In 1999, Hajjaj drew an unprecedented cartoon when he portrayed King Abdullah II disguised as an ordinary citizen, in a way to show Jordanians to be aware of the new monarch's way of watching things over. Being the first time to depict the monarch, the cartoon raised questions about the extent to which can Hajjaj push the boundaries of satire in Jordan. And While it is a criminal offence to insult the king and the royal family in Jordan, Hajjaj's cartoons were not seen as ridiculing the monarch."Maayeh, Suha, Cartoonist Captures the Pulse of Jordan, The National Magazine, 8/7/2008 retrieved from: