I thought I have a problem, and blamed my diet, then I blamed my shampoo… but then I realized that a lot of people suffer from the same problem, and eventually realized that almost everyone around me suffers the same problem.

A friend mentioned how her hair falls when in Jordan, but when in London, it is relatively healthier. I wonder if this problem is connected to the location? Could this be a Jordanian problem?

Truthfully, I have no idea why we are suffering of hair loss in Jordan. And since I am still not ready to investigate it, I decided to ask several people about their perceptions on the subject.

Some answers truly surprised me… Maybe there is a need to actually look deeper into the subject?

Why are we losing our hair?

Enas, 30 years old, project manager:

 “It is the fall of course! In the summer, I did not face this problem…Look at nature around you, trees lose their leaves, animals shed their skin, and we lose some of our hair.”

Ahmad, 24, marketing officer:

 “It is the effect of all the weapons that have been used in Iraq and Palestine since 1990. Hair loss is only a symptom of all the changes that have been happening in our bodies for the last two decades. Did you know that cancer rate is very high in Jordan? It is because we have been exposed to different doses of nuclear radiations throughout these years”

Sahar, 47, Librarian

“Ahh you hit a nerve!  Things go way beyond hair loss…. there is sicknesses, infertility…

This is the result of food and products we export from the west.  They have a plan to reduce our numbers, because they see us as underdeveloped. A friend of mine is a lab technician. She told me that today, the number of men who suffer from infertility is much higher than before. Ten years ago,  from every ten men, two or three men suffered of infertility, today the number has increased to eight or nine.”

Samira 63, Retired

“it is gel, mousse,  creams…all the disgusting things young people use on their hair!”

Mona, 19, student

“For girls my age, it is malnutrition and unhealthy diets. We are all so conscious of our weights that we don’t eat properly… so I assume an imbalanced diet that lacks certain vitamins or minerals is often the cause of hair loss.”

Rami, 35, Engineer

الولاد، المرا و طلباتها ، الشغل… مع هدا  stressكتر خير الله انه لسا في كم شعرة

Grisly 27, writer

“Over treatment of water in Jordan. After water crisis in the nineties, they started over treating water. Calcium (also known as lime) is injected into water systems or be used as part of the water treatment/delivery process. When it attaches to hair, it creates an invisible limestone wall on skull. It looks like Dandruff, but it is not reallydandruff

Saad 14, student

“Climate  change for sure!”

Salam, 51, House wife

“Years of chemical treatment, colouring, heat and styling.  Think about it like this, we start fussing about hair colour in our thirties maybe?… for me this is about 20 years of harsh chemicals… I am sure it has not been healthy for my hair… but it is still better than the alternative”

 

Beside the fact that he is extremely charming, his almost three- hour lecture/workshop was informative, amusing and enlightening.  He showered us with stories, anecdotes and jokes from his life.  However he did not allow the original thread out of his mind. Public Speaking. An area, he has proved over the years that he excels at.

“In your lives, look around you, see the beauty in the little things. Go to work, enjoy what you do…. Build an exchange between yourself and your surroundings….”

He reminded us that people had similar reactions, when Abdali was sold. He then defended the project in hindsight, as a project that would revive the Aabdali area, would create employment and modernize life there.  Would also get rid of the suffocating traffic that was created by the old Mukhabarat and army quarters.  His theory about the subject, was that today, Jordan is seen as a possible place for IT and banking back office services.  That area is the perfect location for such project.  He agreed however with some of the objections, that people deserve to have more transparency, and that we (culturally) believe that anything that is hidden, implies that something is wrong. Suprisingly, the next day I was watching the news from afar and heard an official talking about the rumours,  and promising full transparency when it comes to selling that area (could not see who he was, as I was too far away from the TV.)

Biltaji attributed most of our trouble as a nation to the fact that we lack loyalty to this land, that we lack a sense of belonging. We don’t feel like citizens, he explained that this country would give a lot, if someone is willing to give back.

In the few hours I have been here, it seems to me the only thing people are talking about is Arafat. No wonder, it IS a very important issue. Since I came across an article called Palestine: facing the unthinkable in Arab News on November 5, issue. And in the spirit of what everyone is talking about, I actually would like to share the contents of the article. I thought it is very interesting.

Basically it starts by telling us about Leila Shahid’s (Palestinian envoy to Paris) tearful declaration of not being able to imagine life without Arafat, and takes us into a short tour about how we would have been way better if we imagined life without him ten years ago!

The setup is Madrid Conference 1992. The writer Amir taheri tells us how the Palestinian delegation was presented for the first time by a modern, moderate delegation (Haidar Abdul shafi, and Faisal al Husseini) that could not be labeled as extremist or terrorist. This delegation was presenting the normal average and most of the Palestinian people. They did not want people to die for “the cause” so that they are remembered in some poems recited by Palestinian all over the word in their intellectual gatherings. He explains to us how for us Palestine became only an abstract cause, not a concrete problem that affects the lives of real people.

The Israeli delegation became uncomfortable dealing with this genuine Palestinian delegation that represents the real people and not the “cause” so they opened a back channel with Arafat, who was isolated in Tunis because he had sided with Saddam Hussein in invading Kuwait. Arafat was feeling that he needed money and attention, and since Israel offered him both, in exchange of taking part in the charade, he was ready to sign anything to get back into the world. The rest is history.

Anyone wants to talk about anything else? How is the weather again?

My Grandma was telling me that back in 1948 on the day they were evacuated, she was making marmalade and left the pot boiling on the stove because they were going back in couple of hours. The marmalade goes on boiling till today. A neighbor of hers, and in the confusion of the situation has left one of her 7 kids sleeping there… the little boy goes on waiting in his little bed wondering when is mommy coming back. And then I understood why people like her refuse to watch this show. These same people refuse to go back if the door is opened because they are too frightened to see what happned to the palestine that lives in their hearts. Murred Barghouthi wrote a beautiful book about this very idea called I saw Ramallah

Obviously, this is absolutely nothing, compared to all the lost dreams, and crushed hopes and the misery you hear when you talk to a Palestinian family still waiting in some refugee camp.

One of the best books ever written about the Palestinian history is a book called the Iron Wall, ironically written by Avi Shlaim who happens to be an Israeli Jew. (I am not going to go trough the difference between Israeli, Zionist and Jew. For people like my Grandmother it is the same thing). Another good lawyer for our case would be Edward Said. Any of his books is great.

It saddens me that the situation changed from living in Palestine to Palestine living in us!