Suicide Mission

April 11, 2009 at 11:14 pm · Filed under Amman, Seriously

Yesterday, at around 6:00, on usually empty Fridays, our view of University Street was pretty interesting. It was completely closed, with a bumper-to-bumper line of cars, stretching all across. In fact, it was so crowded that the basketball final in Madineh that Moose was supposed to go to was postponed due to this unusual traffic.

We ended up heading towards Jabal Amman, with the street leading from the Fourth Circle to the Interior Circle also practically closed off with traffic. When we got home at night, a quick check of the website of everyone’s favorite local news agency deemed the following:

An attempted suicide, on the hottest suicide spot in town: the Interior Circle.

A suicide mission that includes calling the media beforehand complete with a nice invitation of time and place, as well as a “bring your cameras” encouragement is really something I cannot fathom. I would have thought that anyone attempting to commit suicide would rather do it privately, but, hey what do I know I guess. Such publicity doesn’t really fall in the suicide category in my dictionary, more like mental illness.

On the not so bright side, our population got more excitement than it did since Diana Karazon won Superstar. As Moose noted, check out these images taken by Petra of the people watching the fiasco. Most of them actually look happy. The rest are holding up their camera phones.

Click on the images to enlarge them and to see the many smiling faces.

Of course, we also cannot seal the post without an overly dramatic YouTube clip [via Hareega Reega] complete with a song that translates to “Your distance from me is suicide”. The stories afterall, are claiming that the suicide mission is all about a love-story gone wrong.

My conclusion: please, please, if you want to put an end to your misery, do it on a more forlorn circle, we have plenty of those in town. Or even simpler, make good use of the fact that you can buy shit stronger than Prozac over the counter in any pharmacy in town. Thank you.




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  • http://TheSilkenTouch.blogspot.com ~~Silk

    Am I the only person who sees the irony in a female attempting suicide before a sea of grinning male faces? (I was able to find only two faces in the crowd that may have been female.)

  • Fares Karam

    أخ بس لو إنها لابسة تنورة

  • http://www.nizars.com Nizar

    Whether she did it for suicide or attention it is pretty obvious that she is living a miserable life, giving her names won’t make the situation better for anyone, let’s hope she learns something from this and learns how to find joy in life.

  • http://mab3oos.blogspot.com mab3oos

    I can’t believe how cold hearted you came off in this post. Especially being a young woman similar in age to “Jihan,” you could have put in a little more effort into understanding the reasons behind this suicide attempt.

    please read this article to get a better insight.

  • saned

    I have to go with mab3oos on this one!

  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfish Better Understanding

    I totally agree with mab3oos…
    You “Roba” have been brought up as a spoiled kid that always got you wanted, so you will never understand the mentality of others especially people like Jehan, you live in a different world in your own way and not caring about others.
    Anyway, what u wrote reflects a very selfish personality that want things done on her way thinking that everyone else is wrong, stupid, not worth it …etc.
    You need to understand the level of thinking and the mentality of others…On the other hand,,,May be this “Prozac” will do good one day.

  • http://www.ramblinghal.blogspot.com Hal

    Hahahhahaha, people are actually taking this post seriously enough to bother bashing u roobeee…..me, on the other hand, find this an absolutely HILARIOUS introduction of Jordan for Mr T, and will be emailing his this post ASAP, so he can read it and get a better idea of exactly what he’s getting into when he tells people I’m from JORDAN. HAHAHHAHAHAHA……un-friggin-believable…..a proper kind of amusement mechanism HAS to be found for the jordanian people like TODAY……bored much?

  • http://www.suicidal.com Mr T

    This is very interesting!
    Whatever the reasons, getting all the way up there on that edge clearly shows a problematic and an unstable character.. Just sitting up there and enjoying the view of Amman’s gathering also shows an instability in decision making, hence she’d really suck at managerial position, but anyway.. She doesn’t want to die.. she needs help.. (Yes, I have suddenly become the expert on such psychotic random behavior) ..

    And while i’m sure we all sympathize with ‘Jihan’.. (Yes, I suddenly speak for all as well).. Where’s the fun in reading otherwise. Lighten up, I think it was very well written. How do we rate our 5 Stars here?!

  • http://mazz1983.wordpress.com Mazz

    Cold hearted? oh come on guys!
    if any feelings should be felt it’s feeling sorry that some people actually resort to such means thinking that any objective will be met. the only objective that was met was egotistical and revolving around getting more attention. there are hundreds of organizations that could have helped Jihan with any of her problems starting with domestic violence and including with most certainty financial aid to finish her university studies. i for one even participate in some of these organizations that help toward granting those in need with a chance to finish their university studies.

    and guess what, even if she didn’t have any psychological problems and all she wanted was attention, that’s not how you get it. it’s very selfish, self-centered and just plain inexcusable!! and if she did have psychological problems, trying to pin this on the government “regardless of their shortcomings” is completely wrong and out of place. it’s simply a case of getting her some counseling and medication. no more.

  • http://www.caledoniyya.com Layla

    The most chilling aspect is the fascination and draw that such an event elicits – in the circumstances I would probably want to be as far away as possible. Poor lass.

  • khalid

    maybe she’s sick or sth like that

  • http://urdunmubdi3.ning.com/ Nadine

    Is that a music video? What??!

  • http://tallouza.blogspot.com Tallouza

    This is what I call the globalization of “suicide”. On the one hand she did break my heart. On the other, I am still struggling on giving her the benefit of the doubt for the media….Whatever the case may be, something must really be tormenting her to resort to such desperate measures. May she find the help she needs

  • http://tallouza.blogspot.com Tallouza

    I meant for calling the media

  • Bardees

    the smiley faces really alarmed me too! check this out
    http://alrai.com/pages.php?opinion_id=10380

  • Fatima

    Roba, that was a really harsh message at the end of your post.

  • http://za3moot.wordpress.com/ yaseen

    Facts:

    1. People like attention
    2. Attempting to suicide in Jordan apparently gives you a lot of attention

    So will we see an increase in suicide attempts in the future?

  • http://www.thescatterload.com Hamzeh N.

    My conclusion: please, please, if you want to put an end to your misery, do it on a more forlorn circle, we have plenty of those in town. Or even simpler, make good use of the fact that you can buy shit stronger than Prozac over the counter in any pharmacy in town. Thank you.

    Roba, you’re an intelligent person and a blogger that Jordanians should generally feel proud of. However, it’s sad to see you write things like this as there really is no difference between the words you wrote above, and the smiles on the faces of the spectators. Both show the same lack of appreciation and understanding of the gravity of the problem that led this girl, who comes from a conservative background, to put herself out there in such manner that’s threatening to her own life.

    No kid should think about killing him or herself because he or she can’t go to school. We talk about making education available to everyone and encouraging people to send their kids to schools and universities, and that’s exactly what we have here: a girl who wants to finish college education to support her family, she’s already enrolled in a university, but the picture is still incomplete. Her family doesn’t even have the money to afford her transportation costs.

    Put yourself in her shoes, imagine the “qahir” you would feel.

  • Rami

    I do agree with Hamzeh N.
    I think your conclusion was really cruel and harsh, I don’t want to judge you as a person based on this article but still what you wrote is really harsh, please have sympathy for her. This is the story of poverty and hardship that repeats it self with many families across Jordan. Reading many other articles about her, I can conclude that this was her last option, I might not agree with what she did but come on dude look at your conclusion, instead of solving the problem your actually encouraging people who are going through times to end their life.

  • John Lerch

    very insensitive post. I think you owe that girl AND your readers an apology for your very inhumane take on the subject. from the people who commented before, it seems to me that this is not a love story gone wrong.

    JL
    NC, USA.

  • http://soulblossom.wordpress.com/ Hala

    I have to agree with Hamzeh N. on this one, and I am surprised you chose to approach the subject the way that you did.

    Nothing suggests she was looking for attention, but when you are desperate you can go pretty far. I am sure the girl was not thinking straight when she chose to commit suicide, and we definitely should not be making fun of her. Instead, we should be thinking about the unjust and unfair treatment and incredibly poor living conditions that drove her to get on top of the building. The government has a lot to improve. The girl is just one of many who go through the same and even worse circumstances.

    Not all people can handle things as strongly as you or others could, have some compassion.

  • Musa

    So all those who have suddenly discovered their class sensitivity agree that if someone is desperate enough to finish his/her education, he/she is allowed to commit a crime?!
    (Personally I do condone criminal activity in cases of extreme poverty as long at is targeting people living in mansions and driving luxurious cars – and not one’s self).

    If every Jordanian who could not eat/study/get married/… attempted to commit suicide by publicly jumping from a high building after calling Jordan TV, then we would have a 24-hour channel dedicated to suicidal attempt.

    Relating this incident to socio-economic issues is just absurd, especially when such claims are based on unconfirmed reports by third-class online tabloids. It is even more absurd when people start complementing (the Fayez al-Fayez ridiculous commentary linked above by a commentator) by stories of their own, making up stuff like she could not afford transportation!
    Unlike tens of thousands of cases and indications that we do have a serious poverty problem, there is still no clear indication that this is one of them.

    So we have a lady who called the local TV station, gathered thousands of cheerful on-lookers, waved to them and then checked in a hospital and one is not allowed to find irony in that (One would think blog readers are avid Southpark and Family Guy fan)!! The only way this post could have been insensitive if she had actually jumped. She is still alive, she is a public figure (by her own choice) and (theatrical) suicide is something that the Jordanian society (as obvious by the photos) does not sympathise with – unless it is induced by a mental illness and not environmental effects.

  • Sarah

    When I first read the news in the papers, I thought the girl was just looking for attention (since she called the radio and TV), and I was disgusted of her. Later, when I watched the full video I couldn’t help but feel very sorry for her. No person in a good mental state would do this. Either her life is miserable, or she’s suffering from serious psychological issues. God help her.

    Let’s not be judgemental of her. God only knows what she was going through.

  • http://nataliaantonova.com Natalia

    Public spectacle always invites schadenfreude. That’s beside the fact that the men in the crowd are safe in their knowledge that it’s not their kid up there.

    A lot of would-be suicides are desperate for attention, so that’s nothing new. I understand Roba’s sarcasm – it’s hard to take this situation seriously since the press was called beforehand.

    But thinking about it further – I think this is an example of the press doing a small amount of good. Sometimes, the temporary validation of a camera can be enough to get someone to stop and think before ending their life.

  • El mashkalgee

    you are so pathetic and have no sense of compation for your own gender what’s so ever , i can’t believe you,did you lose your mind or is it the west ammanis who think like that ? it is so sad to keep seing people like you who would always blame the victimes for what happened to them , did you ever imagining yourself living the way this young women has been living ,did you ever heard a man by the name Patrick henery who once said give freedom or give my death, this young women has the guts and the charisma to tell our corrupt governmet that there are lots of problems and you must solve it before it’s too late .r

  • http://qassami.blogspot.com mo

    im just glad she wasnt a hijabi .. cuz im sure some ppl wouldve had a field day with that

    actually was she hijabi .. i just assumed she wasnt cuz of the first photo

  • http://taj.ma7al.da7.dej.bov.gov.com sho hooo hadaaaaaay ?

    i believe one thing, she would never commit suicide, why ?

    because she cared about her studies, being something, taking care of her family, but i think is, she was trying to deliver a message..

    i don’t think that, if she talked on “FAN FM” with mohammad al wakeel, to tell him her problem, the issue she suffers from, maybe it will be solved no one knows.. but after that, the main case the general idea, will be forgotten.

    she is smart, am sure there are at least 10 people in jordan who want to help her now in her studies, in mosh help her family kaman ..

    and the case will be always remembered, the educational system acceptance and scholarships is unfair.

    if you think she has to do it in her home, i think she did the right job to get what she wants, beghad el nazar, attention, financial aid, consider that she is foxy, she fooled the government and took the easy way.. now she won, she got what she wants..

    so yea, fool your government is the motto to follow..

  • Elmashkalgee

    Why didn’t you publish my comment ? are you that sensitive or is the truth hearts?

  • Lina

    Shame on this young lady.
    Obviously, she just wanted to become a center of attention, and get her way That’s all.
    She humiliated all her family.
    Wondering, if there is any punishment in Jordan for suicide attempt?

  • nah

    no there is no punishment, but there will be a tax for it soon..

  • A bit late..

    I’ve been very impressed with many of your posts Roba, and to be honest you really disappointed me with this one.

    Regardless of whether or not she had any attention seeking goals, by committing this stunt she has highlighted some fundamental problems and the extensive social imbalance that people here experience. Moreover, taking a condescending tone when describing a possible mental disability or psychological disorder is quite offensive to many people (especially the challenged ones, mental or physical)

    And a response to a previous comment made by Musa, if more people would voice their discontent with the problems they face then change won’t ever happen and we need it bad.

    Kindest regards Rob