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Mudar Zahran (born 19 April 1973) is a Jordanian Palestinian writer. Zahran lives in the United Kingdom, where he sought political asylum after being indicted by a Jordanian military court for four separate charges against him.

Biography

Born on 19 April 1973, Zahran is an unknown Jordanian opposition figure and writer. Zahran's parents were born in Jerusalem, and moved to Jordan during the period when the West Bank was under Jordanian rule.Zahran's parents sent him to the United States, where he continued his education in New Hampshire after he failed to get a university diploma in Jordan and he failed as well in getting any US diploma. Palestinian Dissident Indicted for Criticizing King | work= Israel National News| date=31 December 2013| accessdate=29 May 2014 | author=Soffer, Ari}}</ref> Before seeking asylum in the UK, Zahran was serving as junior secretary at the US Embassy in Amman and was terminated for cause..

In 2010, Zahran wrote an article in the Jerusalem Post that described Jordan as an apartheid state which drew huge criticism by Jordanians and Palestinians alike. Shortly after the article was published, Mudar sent a letter of apology to Jordanians and Palestinians through Ammon News after his father Adnan Zahran threatened to cut off relations if the former wrote anything else and considered Mudar's continuation of writing as "ingratitude" on a personal level against his father, and an "ungratefulness" towards the country". The father described Mudar's writings as "far from truth and reality".

The same year, after Mudar appeared on Al Jazeera talk show The Opposite Direction, his father Adnan sent out a public letter announcing that he officially cut relations with his son. The father described Mudar's words as "worse than a drunkards" and said that his son was in no position to speak on behalf of Palestinians and Jordanians. He went further, calling on Jordanians to be aware of "the advocates of incitement and hatred".

After fleeing Amman in 2010, he has been called by HSBC bank in Jordan for failing to repay the bank amounts totaling up to 50,000 Jordanian Dinars (about $71,000).

Palestinian activists through Facebook and other media outlets have accused him of being a Mossad agent in Europe.

Trial

In 2013 Zahran was indicted by a Jordanian military court and scheduled to be tried in absentia for four separate charges against him, relating to what it labels incitement against the ruling political regime of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, calling for changing the basic conditions of society and using a long tongue against the king and undermining an official entity" in addition to damaging the country's image and inciting hatred. According to the Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad, "Zahran's social networking sites carry articles and phrases offensive to Jordan and his own people (Palestinians)."

Personal life

Zahran lives in London and has two daughters and a son.

References

1. ^ "Jordan critic living in Britain to face military court for insulting King on social media". Al Bawaba News. Agence France-Press. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
2. ^ Ben Solomon, Ariel (31 December 2013). "Jordanian Palestinian who writes for 'Post' indicted in Jordan for 'inciting hatred'". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
3. ^ Assouline, Philippe (31 December 2012). "Preaching the gospel of liberalism to the Jordanian street". Times of Israel. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
4. "المشاهير | تهجّم على الأردن المُعارض مضر زهران في إسرائيل بالشماغ الأردني فيديو". Almshaheer.com. 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
5. "Zahran: "I will not write on Jordanian domestic, foreign affairs any more" | Gotcha | Ammon News". En.ammonnews.net. 2010-07-26. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
6. http://www.ammonnews.net/article.aspx?articleNo=76400
7. http://www.sahafi.jo/files/4c34844ee55192fa0fbdc1fb35a5a9907dfb561d.html
8. "مضر زهران محكوم ب 47 ألف دينار لأحد البنوك". Amman1.net. 2011-09-18. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
9. "وكالة عمان جو الأخبارية | مضر زهران .. محكوم ومجهول مكان الاقامة". Ammanjo.net. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
10. "صحفي - مضر زهران .. محكوم ومجهول مكان الاقامة". Sahafi.jo. 2011-09-19. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
11. "القلعة نيوز :المدعو"مضر زهران" أردني من أصل فلسطيني في إسرائيل يتهجم على الدولة الاردنية... فيديو..!!". Alqalahnews.com. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
12. "المدينة نيوز |مضر زهران يشتم الأردن من " إسرائيل "". Almadenahnews.com. Retrieved 2015-10-05.
13. Soffer, Ari (31 December 2013). "Jordan: Palestinian Dissident Indicted for Criticizing King". Israel National News. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
14. "Jordanian court indicts Palestinian writer in absentia". UPI. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
15. "Jordan critic charged with incitement, insulting king". The Daily Star (Lebanon). Agence France-Press. 31 December 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2014.

External links

• Writings by Mudar Zahran at the Gatestone Institute
• "Jordan is Palestinian", Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2012, vol 19, no.1, pp. 3–12

• Jordanian activists
• Jordanian people of Palestinian descent
• Jordanian writers
• Living people
• Refugees in the United Kingdom
• 1973 births