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The Spark of Rotary in Jordan !
The idea
of Rotary in Jordan came from the late Baz Kamel
Kawar[1]”
said PDG Mr. Raouf ABUJABER. PDG Raouf is the one of the most who can tell
about this. It was a very interesting interview with him to find out “How
did Rotary start in
Jordan?”
The late Baz came to Trans Jordan in 1923 on
assignment from the Palestinian Government and he took the office of Post
Master General when he was relieved from duty in 1940 he went back to
Palestine. He got introduced to Rotary in Nazareth,
Palestine
after the 1948 Israeli occupation. He was a member and became a President of
the club. He could not live with the occupation, and said once “our country
is inhabitable” so he moved to Jordan
in 1955 and started to gather prominent people to charter a new club in Amman.
Amman
was then a small city. In 1936 the population was 36000 and in 1946 it was
almost 50,000. But, 25 members completed the charter and The Rotary Club of
Amman was established in 1956[2].
Some of the charter members are the late:
·
توفيق قطانTwafiq Qattan, a
prominent businessman
·
محمد علي بديرMohammed Ali
Bdeir, Chairman of Chamber of Commerce & founder of Electric Company in
Amman
·
وصفي بسيسوWasfi Bseiso,
Phosphate Co.
·
سامي حبيبيSami Habibi. Saba &
Co.
·
أمين قعوارAmin Kawar,
Phosphate co.
·
حيدر شكريHaidar Shukri,
Othoman Bank
·
سعد النمريSa’d Al Nemri,
Finance Ministry
Secretary
General
امين عام وزارة الماليه
·
جمال حمادJamal Hammad,
Minister of Agriculture وزير الزراعه
·
شكري المهتديShukri Al Muhtadi,
Minister of Finance وزير المالية
·
أحمد الخليلAhmad Al Khalil, a
prominent attorney محامي معروف
·
فؤاد عطا اللهFuad Attalla,
a prominent attorney محامي معروف
·
فريد السعدFarid Al Saad,
Chairman of the Jordan Tobacco Company شركة
الدخان الاردنية
·
زهير
عصفورZuhair Asfour,
a prominent
businessman
رجل أعمال معروف
·
حاتم
الزعبيHatem Al Zubi,
Minister
of
National
economy
وزير الاقتصاد الوطني
·
محمد
البرادعي العباسيMohammed Al Baradea’ Al Abbasi,
judge
& President
of
the
Arabian
Orphan
Committee
. قاضي ورئيس لجنة اليتيم العربيه
·
إسحق هلاليIshaq Halali, a
prominent businessman رجل أعمال معروف
and
·
حاتم الزعبيHatem
Al Zubi,
Minister
of
National
economy
وزير الاقتصاد الوطني
Some charter members suggested Raouf ABUJABER who was 31 years old and Tawiq
Kawar who was 29 years old at that time. But the dominant members refused to
have these young members to be Chartered members. But in 1960, Rotary Club
of Amman accepted the application of these two businessmen who became the
pillars of Rotary in
Jordan.
Palestine,
was in the Rotary District 83 in 1929[3]
with Lebanon, Egypt,
Sudan & Cyprus.
Then Jordan joined the
district because these countries were neighbors in the
Middle East.
In 1961
[4]The Jerusalem Rotary Club was
Chartered and late Anwar Nuseibeh was the first president. The late Antone
Attallah, President of the Rotary Club of Jerusalem and then Governor for
the district which became District 89. In 1966/1967[5]
they had the District Conference in
Jerusalem
in the same year which had about 350 Rotarians attending the three day
conference and the late Hatem Zubi was assigned as president for the
conference.
The meetings of the Rotary Club of Amman were held at the famous
Philadelphia Hotel, near the Roman Amphitheater. Unfortunately now it is
just a playground and a parking lot !
Rotarian Raouf ABUJABER became District Governor 73/74.
The late Jamal Hammad became District Governor in 80/81, but death
prevented him to complete the governorship, so PDG
Raouf ABUJABER became governor to complete the term of the late Jamal
Hammad.
Thanks to PDG District Governor, who was keen to assist in all means for the
success of Rotary in
Jordan
and for the information he provided here.
By: PP. Bashar ASFOUR
PDG Mr. Raouf ABUJABER
المحافظ
السابق الدكتور رؤوف أبوجابر
Nazareth
الناصره
[1]
Mr. Baz Kawar founding
member and first president of Rotary club of
Nazareth
(http://www.rotary-nazareth.org/eng-index.htm)
[2]
The club was chartered at 13395 at 13/4/1956
[3]Jerusalem
(Palestine)
club was chartered 22/1/1929
(http://rotaryclubjerusalem.homestead.com/Calendar.html)
District 83 (1935-1949)
renamed to 89 (1949-1970) renamed again 195(1970-1977) then 245 and
2450, then 2452 in 2013
[4]
Rotarian 3/1962 page 50:
The
divided city of Jerusalem, lying part in
Israel
and part in
Jordan
and linked only by the Mandelbaume Gate, has found a common ground
in Rotary's world-wide fellowship. The Rotary club of
Jerusalem,
Israel, was
chartered in 1929.
Recently, RI president
Joseph A. Abey presented the charter of the new Rotary club of
Jerusalem, Jordan, to club president Anwar
Nuseibeh.
Later
in
the evening he was awarded
Jordan's Indendence Medal
in ceremonies conducted by Prime Minister Bahjat Al-Thalhouni
and Jerusalem Governor Daoud Abou Ghazaleh
[5]
In
1966 Rotary Club of Ramallah,
Jordan Chartered at 6/9/1966, both
Ramallah and Jerusalem clubs freezed their activities after 1967 Six
days War and then terminated at 30/6/1980
(Terminated Rotary Clubs list)
 PDG
Mr. Raouf ABUJABER
المحافظ
السابق الدكتور رؤوف أبوجابر
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