Special correspondent Kristen Gillespie looks at an unusual effort in Jordan, where an unlikely champion of animal rights is trying to end widespread abuse and help her canine friends.

Read Kristen Gillespie’s blog about adopting one of the rescued dogs, A mistreated dog gets a new home in Amman.

This is how Faith was found by representatives from the Humane Center the day of the puppy mill raid in north Jordan. Photo: Kristen Gillespie.

Worldfocus special correspondent Kristen Gillespie writes about a furry friend that she acquired while doing a Signature video on puppy mills in Amman, Jordan.

Faith got her name shortly after her rescue from a notorious puppy mill in rural north Jordan. Her muscles were atrophied, her body emaciated, her eyes infected, her teeth were broken, and yet, her spirit was intact — hence her name.

Not all of the 38 puppies and 32 dogs that were rescued made out so well. Some had gone crazy, others turned aggressive.

When I went to the Humane Center to work on this report, I began to notice Faith. She moved slowly, her eyes were still red and swollen and she was always quiet.

When the dogs would go outside to play every day after the shelter closed, Faith seemed more interested in getting attention from visitors than in running around. One day, the door to the shelter was slightly open and Faith slipped inside as the dogs sometimes do.

Usually, they run gleefully through the halls. But when I went in to retrieve Faith, I noticed she had gone back to her kennel and sat inside it, waiting for someone to come and close the gate.

“She’ll spend the rest of her life here at the Center,” said Margaret Ledger, the center’s director. “Months had passed since the rescue and no one had shown any interest in adopting her,” she added.

I started making excuses to go to the shelter and visit Faith. She seemed perfectly content, climbing up next to me on the bean bag in the shelter’s reception area and watching the world go by.

When I decided to adopt Faith, she spent much of the first several weeks at home sleeping and eating. Her eyes cleared up. The walks grew longer, her muscles developed and she turned into a happy, loving dog who learned how to play for the first time.

Faith enjoys her new life. Photo: Kristen Gillespie

While Faith and most of the rescued dogs and puppies found a happy ending in their new homes, the bigger picture in Jordan remains grim. In the weeks following the raid, the owner of the puppy mill demanded her dogs back, saying that she would sue for the $150,000 she claimed the dogs were worth.

By all indications, the law in Jordan would have granted her the dogs. The Worldfocus report on puppy mills, however, was enough to pressure the government into the exceptional act of producing a letter giving full custody of the confiscated dogs to the Humane Center and releasing them from legal limbo.

With no animal protection laws in Jordan, dogs are commonly stolen and sent into puppy mills or sold at the downtown market, with owners paying hundreds of dollars for their own dogs.

It’s not just puppy mills - people have begun breeding dogs to make money with almost no knowledge or hygiene standards. Puppies are often sick and sold far too young.

The government controls the stray animal population by regularly sending out armed teams to shoot stray dogs in the city streets at all hours of the day. Animal abuse on all levels goes unpunished, and the mills continue to operate unhindered.

I sometimes show people pictures of Faith and the 69 other dogs that were rescued that day on the personal authority of Princess Alia, a concerned member of Jordan’s royal family.

Recently while flipping through the pictures I looked more closely at one of Faith, chained to the side of the building with her muzzle covered in dust. The faraway look is one of deep sadness and despair.

Now when I look into her eyes, I know that Faith has truly come home.

- Kristen Gillespie

The funeral for the Jordanian “handler” killed in the bomb attack. Photo: Al Jazeera

Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah writes about the Jordanian double agent who killed seven C.I.A. members in Afghanistan this week — and the event’s impact on Jordanians.

It took less than 48 hours later for more information to emerge that the suicide bomber was Jordanian. In Amman, everyone seemed to have seen this piece of information scrawl across the screen of an Al Jazeera news ticker. Al Jazeera’s information was coming from a Taliban spokesperson, and this news was, naturally, quickly denied by the Jordanian government, which, naturally, spoke too soon…

Apparently, Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, was a 36-year old doctor from Zarqa…

Interestingly enough, Balawi was “turned” after being arrested in 2007 for his activities on an extremist website that was being monitored by authorities. Balawi became an administrator of the site where he operated under the screen name of Abu Dujana al-Khorasani. Moreover, he was also a Jordanian blogger who according to sources, had a Maktoob-hosted blog that seems to still be accessible but seems to have had its archives flushed.

According to sources, Balawi was a trusted informant despite his extremist tendencies, which were probably the same tendencies the CIA and Jordan’s General Intelligence Department (GID) were using to their advantage when they used him as an informant with Al Qaeda’s circles. It is however astonishing that both the CIA and GID, despite the notoriety of both intelligence entities in their field, were duped by this one man they had working for them, who turns out was a triple agent.

It is very likely that Jordan will be given its share of the blame for its responsibility in arresting, turning and bringing Balawi to the attention of the CIA in the first place. But, even more embarrassing for Jordan is its CIA connection, which while relatively well-known before, has now been put out in the public sphere for all to see - especially the Arab street.

The Jordanian government will likely go on as if nothing ever happened, believing that Jordanians have no access to information, but being that we live in the information age where practically every Jordanian household has Al Jazeera and a million other channels, this is one piece of information that isn’t going to be kept quiet.

This is, of course, a subject that the state considers to be the very definition of a “red line.” I assume most journalists will be avoiding the issue like the plague, lest they be charged with the notoriously overused “attempting to harm the state’s relations” charge. However, the problem with such a charge, at least this time around, is that it seems the GID has done a pretty good job of doing the “harming” all by itself. It is the very definition of shooting oneself in the foot.

The repercussions are akin to opening Pandora’s Box. Jordan has lost tremendous face and what little political capital it had in a region where pretty much every country has a CIA connection they keep quiet. Moreover, they have given both Al Qaeda as well as Jordanians with extremist tendencies, a hero - a martyr to admire.

- Naseem Tarawnah

Our signature stories delve into issues around the world — from the long-term effects of Agent Orange in Vietnam and gang violence in Mexico to discrimination against whites in South Africa and Afghan immigrants in Iran.

Here are the 15 Signature stories most popular with viewers in 2009:

	MOROCCO Moroccan single moms cope with hostility, shame	Young Muslim women who become pregnant out of wedlock face intense pressures. They are often shunned and scorned. Hoda Osman, Rebecca Haggerty, Megan Thompson and Reda Fakhar report on how mothers are coping.
	HAITI Dirt poor Haitians eat cookies made of mud	The cookie recipe — dirt, butter and salt — has been passed down through the generations, despite a lack of nutritional value. Benno Schmidt and Ara Ayer report on how these dirt cookies are managing to keep Haiti’s poor alive.
	JORDAN Oprah brings taboo topics to Middle East	The Middle East’s MBC-4 began airing “The Oprah Winfrey Show” more than four years ago, and the program now reaches about 6 million viewers in the Arab world each day. Kristen Gillespie reports from Jordan on the ”Oprah effect.”
	VIETNAM Agent Orange devastates generations of Vietnamese	During the Vietnam War, the U.S. dropped millions of gallons of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant. Generations of Vietnamese civilians have suffered the consequences. Mark Litke and Ara Ayer report on the devastating effects the toxin has left behind.
	MEXICO Gangsters spill blood and spread fear in Tijuana, Mexico	Over the last year, more than 6,000 people have been murdered in Mexico’s drug wars, more than 700 of them in Tijuana alone. John Larson, Bryan Myers, Megan Thompson and Ivette Feliciano report from Tijuana.
	SOUTH AFRICA Poor white South Africans blame reverse discrimination	To some extent, the economic playing field has been leveled since the end of apartheid 15 years ago. Martin Seemungal reports on South Africa’s white community, where poverty has doubled since 1994.
	JAMAICA One island, two Jamaicas and a ‘whole heap’ of difference	A public debate erupted when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaican radio and TV. Lisa Biagiotti, Micah Fink and Gabrielle Weiss report on how the ban highlights the divide that dates back centuries.
	ISRAEL Israeli company builds infrastructure for world’s electric cars	One Israeli company is designing an entire system to service electric cars with battery charging stations. Many other countries are expressing great interest. Michael Greenspan, Yuval Lion and Ara Ayer report from Israel.
	LIBERIA Liberia, “America’s stepchild,” searches for own identity	Liberia was settled by freed American slaves, and now, as Lynn Sherr and producer Megan Thompson report, the nation is trying to re-shape its identity. Liberia, a small country in West Africa, has longstanding ties to the U.S.
	LATVIA Empty stores, offices tell tale of Latvia’s economic fall	Until the global recession, Latvia was experiencing rapid economic growth. During the past year, it has tumbled down, with unemployment around 14.5 percent. Daljit Dhaliwal, Sally Garner and Ara Ayer report on the scope of Latvia’s fall.
	IRAN Afghan immigrants find refuge in oil-rich Iran	Though the West has branded Iran a nuclear outlaw and supporter of terrorism, Iran is a model of stability compared to its neighbors. Three million Afghan immigrants in Iran are low-skilled laborers. Richard O’Regan reports from Tehran.
	DENMARK Taxes curb Danish oil use, promote energy independence	In Denmark, a Ford Focus costs $51,000 — $34,000 of which is in taxes. John Larson explains how taxing energy and subsidizing alternative technologies have reduced the country’s dependency on oil and created thousands of jobs.
	INDIA India’s “untouchables” trudge through sewers	While India has largely transformed into a modernized economy, the country remains strongly tied to the traditions of the caste system, which often governs the jobs that people hold. Martin Himel reports on India’s lowest class of laborers.
	TURKEY Rising Islamist movements challenge secularism in Turkey	Secular critics are branding Turkey’s growing conservative groups as fundamentalist. Gizem Yarbil and Bryan Myers report on how traditional religion and modern democracy are trying to coexist.
	PHILIPPINES Journalists risk their lives reporting in the Philippines	Today in the Philippines, journalism is robust. But more than 70 journalists have been murdered since 1986. Mark Litke and Ara Ayer report on the risks that many reporters face doing their jobs — from Manila to rural areas.

But health officials, worried about the spread of swine flu, are now offering smokers what they say is a healthier choice.

Worldfocus partner Al Arabiya reports from the front lines of the hookah-smoking world in Jordan (translated and narrated by Worldfocus producer Mohammad al-Kassim).

The latest move came last week, when Israel said a major bridge connecting the West Bank to Jordan would now be open 24 hours a day to accomodate more Palestinian commercial activity.

The checkpoints were put in place to stop terrorism, but they have also made movement extremely difficult.

Matthew Kalman of Worldfocus partner The Media Line reports.

In Jordan, the pope voiced what he called “deep respect for the Muslim community.” He also said that his only agenda was to bring hope and prayers for unity and peace.

Nihad Awad, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the pope’s relationship with Muslims and what role he can play in easing tensions in the conflict between Jews and Arabs.

More than 90 cases of the disease have now been reported throughout the United States, and the first U.S. death attributed to swine flu was reported. Of course, Mexico is where the disease started — or so it seems — and where it continues to do the most harm. At least 150 people there have died from the disease. 

Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the origin of the flu. She also discusses various government responses to the flu, including discouraging public gatherings in Mexico, slaughtering pigs in Egypt and shutting down pig farms in Jordan.

Raeda al Nanaa is 25 years old and supervises the jewelery workshop profiled in the story. After her father fell terminally ill, Raeda passed on a college scholarship to go to work and support her family.

Though aimed at an American audience, the program has brought formerly taboo topics — like reproduction or homosexuality — into discussion.

Worldfocus correspondent Kristen Gillespie reports from Jordan on the ”Oprah effect” in the Middle East.

Read her blog post about her reporting experience here: Watching Oprah in a Syrian refugee camp.

For more on the impact of satellite television and talk shows in the Middle East, see PBS Wide Angle’s “Dishing Democracy.”

Kristen Gillespie produced Oprah brings taboo topics to Middle East and Women in Jordan head to work as economy sours. She is a freelance multimedia journalist whose work has been featured on NPR, The Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation Magazine. Kristen lives in Jordan and speaks Arabic.

Riem. Photo: Kristen Gillespie

Oprah. Photo: Alan Light

A while back, I was asking my friend Riem about some sort of political development in the Arab world, and she told me she had given up not only on politics but had stopped what was a steady diet of Al Jazeera.

“Now I watch Oprah,” she announced.

Hearing a 35-year-old Palestinian living in a refugee camp in Syria — a closed, paranoid police state where I lived for nearly two years — enthusing about Oprah was jarring. Such is the reach of satellite television in the Arab world. Saddam Hussein used to ban satellite dishes, and Saudi Arabia still does, but even the most authoritarian of Arab states can’t stop the public from connecting with the outside world.

In a region where people overwhelmingly disapprove of American policy toward the Arab world, Oprah has quietly emerged as a better cultural ambassador than any public diplomacy effort in recent memory. As the months passed, I heard more from fans of Oprah. They are women representing a spectrum of class and religious orientation — conservative women, veiled women, liberal women and even women who don’t speak much English but read the Arabic subtitles.

Mazen Hayek, the marketing director for MBC4, the channel that airs “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in the Middle East, says the enormous positive feedback the station receives speaks for itself: “The best reward [is] hearing people tell you, we learn more from the Oprah show than from our schools, our universities. So the effect of Oprah on people’s lives is very positive.”

Riem inspired this story, but could not be a part of it because as a Palestinian without a passport, she is not allowed to travel to Jordan. She is still watching Oprah, even after struggling to reconcile her desire to live a modern life with her family’s expectation that she live a traditional one. Having been written off by relatives as too old to find a decent husband, Riem took matters into her own hands. She met and will soon be engaged to a younger man who admires and respects her, and looks forward to having it all.

- Kristen Gillespie

For more on talk shows and women in Arab media, see PBS Wide Angle’s “Dishing Democracy.”

Worldfocus correspondent Kristen Gillespie reports from Jordan.

Read her blog post about her experience: Divorce outcasts women from Jordan’s social structure.

Samia. Photo: Kristen Gillespie

Kristen Gillespie produced the signature video: Women in Jordan head to work as economy sours. She is a freelance multimedia journalist whose work has been featured on NPR, The Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation Magazine. Kristen lives in Jordan and speaks Arabic.

As the lunch break at the silver factory came to a close, we sipped the sweet tea served after meals from mismatched cups. Samia began describing the beatings she and her three small children regularly receive from her husband.

The other young women — some perched on the windowsill of the factory’s hallway, some seated cross-legged on the floor — seemed to be already apprised of Samia’s situation. They shook their heads sadly as Samia recounted how her 5-year-old son tried to protect her from the rage of his father.

Samia wants to leave her husband. In rural southern Jordan, it’s not easy. The individual is a piece of a greater collective: The tribe. It is the tribal leaders, all men, who make such decisions before legal proceedings begin.

But while Samia may have a good case -– her husband refuses to work and his abuse is widely known -– it is her mother who won’t allow it. A steely woman with small green tribal tattoos on her face, she had the first of her ten children at the age of twelve. Samia’s mother will make sure Samia never sees her children again if the divorce issue is raised. It would bring shame on the family.

From the time when she was little and her brothers held her down and tattooed two small green circles on her face, Samia has lived a life with little happiness. Spending time with her, as I did for five days in the southern village of Dana, one wonders how much control some people actually have over their lives. She was married without her consent to a man she loathed, she was sent to work to support the family, and at 33, she looks and feels years older.

Creating silver jewelry is surprisingly labor-intensive work, but Samia sings and cracks jokes throughout the day. This is in contrast to the interview we did in her home, where her mother and other family members had stayed during the work day to watch the children.

When I asked Samia a question, her mother would bark out an answer from across the room. Samia sat frozen and uncomfortable, and Cari Machet, the camerawoman for this story, decided we should immediately get her away from her mother.

We tried to interview Samia on the steps outside, but the neighborhood children came and made such a racket, throwing things and climbing on the car, that we had to go inside. The only other place was on the small balcony in the back of her apartment, but by that point, already shy in front of the camera, Samia was so rattled she could barely answer.

During the days in Dana, Samia’s personal story got me to thinking of ways she could possibly leave her husband. During a tea break, I asked the 12 girls at the factory what they thought Samia should do. They all agreed: She should make the best of it and stay with him. Fate determined they should marry, and divorce could threaten their close-knit society, one founded on the importance of family.

These 12 young women, ranging in age from 20 to 33, were all bright, funny and sometimes bawdy. I had assumed they would want to change a social structure so restrictive that women don’t even go out to buy vegetables at the market. But in their answer to Samia, I realized that my idea of freedom is not theirs, and that if further change comes to their society, it can only come from within.

- Kristen Gillespie

A demonstration in Amman in response to the war in Gaza.

The war in Gaza has generated strong reactions across the globe, particularly in Arab countries. Protesters have marched in support of either side, from Tel Aviv to London.

Rawan Jabaji is an associate producer for PBS’s “Wide Angle” and writes about visiting family in Amman, Jordan when Israel began to launch its offensive in Gaza. For additional resources, view the “Wide Angle” episode “Gaza E.R.”

In Amman, all eyes on Gaza

Missiles started falling on Gaza the day I arrived in Amman, Jordan, to attend my cousin’s wedding and visit with family members I hadn’t seen in eight years. Then a few days later, Israeli ground troops entered Northern Gaza.

From that moment on Gaza was all people talked about. CNN International, BBC, Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya–all the TV stations were reporting on Gaza around the clock. At family functions, my aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all engaged in heated discussions about the crisis. Every taxi driver had the radio tuned to the news. New Year’s Eve celebrations throughout the city were canceled in solidarity.

An estimated 60 percent of Jordanians are of Palestinian origin or descent—including my family. Palestinians were issued citizenship in Jordan following the wars of 1948 and 1967, when they fled to Amman as refugees. Historically, they’ve attempted to blend in, fearing that their Jordanian loyalty may be questioned.

But now, almost 60 years later, the children and grandchildren of Palestinian refugees, who were born and raised in Jordan, are showing their Palestinian pride. Events in Gaza have mobilized the youth to express solidarity by participating in rallies throughout the city, and by wearing the keffiyeh, the traditional checkered scarf that you’ve seen worn by hipsters on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

The black-and-white scarf is customarily worn by Palestinians, while the red-and-white version is worn in Jordan. Jordanians of Palestinian descent usually choose red, as part of their effort to assimilate. But at a hair salon I went to in Amman, the trendy hair dresser in Nike Dunks threading a woman’s eyebrows was wearing the black-and-white keffiyeh, and not around his neck, but around his head, in the traditional style usually only seen on older men. And in Amman’s most exclusive and chic mall, Al Baraka, young girls shopped for designer clutches sporting black-and-white keffiyehs togged around their necks.

During my stay in Amman, demonstrations and donation drives were taking place almost daily.

To read more, see the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user hopeless128 under a Creative Commons license.

Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow with the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution, joins Martin Savidge to discuss the effects of the Gaza war on moderate Arab governments allied with the U.S. and how this will impact American interests in the region as President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office.

Racial issues came to the forefront in the recent U.S. presidential election, in which Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first African-American president.

Some thought that President-elect Obama would suffer from the “Bradley Effect” — referencing when African-American candidate Tom Bradley lost his bid for governor of California in 1982 despite polls showing him ahead.

In the end, exit polls showed that Obama garnered 44 percent of the white vote, more than John Kerry, Al Gore or Bill Clinton.

Though race was not part of Obama’s campaign strategy, bloggers worldwide nonetheless seized on the issue.

Jamaican blogger “b C” of “Stories of Me” says that many Jamaicans support Barack Obama simply because he’s a black man.

Brazilian bloggers posted a banner with the words “Não vote em branco” — a phrase which carries the double meaning of  “don’t cast a blank vote” and “don’t vote for a white person.” Worldfocus previously reported on Brazilian candidates who changed their names to “Barack Obama”.

Paula Góes of Global Voices Online’s “Voices without Votes” discusses the response of Brazilian bloggers to the race issue in this election.

Enrique Gonzales of “The Latino Contrarian” blog thinks Obama is the first Latino president in the same way that Bill Clinton was the “first black president.”

Jordanian blogger Naseem Tarawnah of “The Black Iris” says that the next U.S. president is unlikely to “change” much and attributes Obama’s prophet-like status to U.S. election culture. Tarawnah discusses the Bradley Effect and argues that race played an important role in the election.

The “Armenian Economist” blog writes that Armenians see the “Bradley Effect” quite differently — because Tom Bradley lost the race to George Deukmejian,  an Armenian American.

The New York Post reports that Obama’s racial and cultural background generate support from Arabs. Columnist Mohamed al-Menshawi calls the Christian Obama “the harbinger of solidarity between Americans and the Muslim world.”

An article at Japanese news site “Asahi” looks at the Japanese view of race in the election.

The “Grave Error” blog discusses European disbelief that Americans could elect an African American as well as lingering Spanish racism.

Joe Stork of Human Rights Watch speaks with Martin Savidge about the alleged torture in Jordanian prisons.

A Jordanian police spokesperson refuted the report.

Jordan is a close U.S. ally and a major recipient of U.S. economic aid. Last month the U.S. gave $479.5 million to Jordan, bringing the aid total to $516.1 million so far this year.

The “group121″ blog lists cases of alleged extraordinary rendition to Jordan.

Evidence of torture in prisons has appeared in countries across the globe, and women are particularly at risk.

Watch video evidence of abuse in Egyptian prisons here. Egypt is also a prime benefactor of U.S. economic aid.

Over the summer, accusations of torture surfaced in both Russia and Mexico, leading to riots and public outcry. Blogger Robert Amsterdam posts a video of the Russian police injuring inmates at the Yekaterinaburg Prison Camp.

Accusations of torture at U.S. military bases in Afghanistan emerged last month. The lawsuit in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal — in which Iraqi prisoners were stripped naked, beaten and humiliated — is ongoing, with U.S. defense contractors now claiming immunity. The “A Family in Baghdad” blog posts an account of a former Iraqi prisoner.

The “Humanity Against Crimes” blog examines the discussion of torture in the U.S. presidential election and how America’s torture policies are seen abroad.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user SGT Butler under a Creative Commons license.

King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein of Jordan speaks at the World Economic Forum.

Thomas Fouad Lund-Sørensen is the Danish ambassador to Jordan, keeps a blog and contributes to 7iber, a Jordanian citizen journalism portal.

Fighting Corruption In Jordan: Learning From The Danish Experience

Transparency International (TI) publicized its anti-corruption index for 2008 this week. The eight most non-corrupt countries have something in common. They are small-sized economies with no natural resources. They are all heavily dependent on their ability to trade and engage with foreign countries. And they are all well established Rule-of-Law societies. Why do I say that? Because this is where Jordan should be and not further down the rankings.

Let’s have a look at my own country, Denmark that once again topped the ranking of non-corrupt countries. There are a number of reasons for that. First, and foremost, the Danish society has through the years developed a widespread culture against corruption. Starting in the 17th century, corruption was made a criminal offense and enforced rather strictly. The next major achievement came during the 1920’s where a code on public servants that guaranteed a reasonable salary, job security and pension in particular for the lower echelons was adopted, and corruption laws came under review. Today, it is morally and utterly unacceptable to provide or receive anything that could resemble corruption. An example - trying to bribe your way out of a speeding ticket or into a construction permit will certainly get you an extra criminal charge on your neck.

To read more, visit the original post.

The views expressed by contributing bloggers do not reflect the views of Worldfocus or its partners.

Photos courtesy of Flickr users World Economic Forum and chrispknight under a Creative Commons license.