Aroub Soubh: She Gave a Generation Its Joy, Then Fought for Its Rights
For a generation of Jordanian and Arab children, Aroub Soubh was joy itself, live on air. Broadcaster, writer, singer, activist, adviser: she has never settled for a single role, and she has never stopped fighting for a fairer and more beautiful society.
Born in Amman on 1 February 1969, the eldest sister in a warm and spirited family, she grew up with art in her eyes. She took that gift to Yarmouk University and graduated in 1994 with a degree in fine arts and interior design. But no design studio could contain her. Her calling was on the other side of the screen, with children.
She arrived at Jordan Television in 1993, on “Studio Al Atfal” and the quiz show “Bisat Al Reeh”. Then came the programme that made her name. For eight straight years, “Waqt Al Farah” was a daily ritual of delight in homes across the country. In 1997 it took the gold medal at the Cairo Arab Media Festival.
She did not simply host. She wrote the story and screenplay of the children’s series “Al Fanous Al Sehri” (The Magic Lantern) and sang its songs in her own clear voice. It won second prize for best children’s drama at the Tunis festival that same year.
Then the whole Arab world was watching. On ART Teens, millions followed her through “Asra’ Ashtar Afya’”, “Play with Hugo”, “Sa’at Shabab” and “Shabab 21”. She refused to talk down to young people. She gave them a stage of their own, and television that helped them discover who they were.
Joy was only half of her mission. In 2015 she earned a master’s degree in human rights and human development from the University of Jordan, and took up the fight for justice and equality. She has advised the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and UNICEF on women’s issues and media, and helped shape the media strategy of the Arab Council for Childhood and Development.
She has also put her own name on the line. In 2007 she ran for the Jordanian parliament with a Child Rights Law at the top of her platform. She has served on the board of the Raneen group, which brings audiobooks to blind children, and joined the Arab Alliance for Women in Music.
When the screens changed, she changed with them. In 2015 she brought “Waqt Al Farah” back as a pioneering YouTube platform with the Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation and Kharabeesh, under its lasting motto: “We connect. We play. We learn.” Her commentary has been heard on Radio Monte Carlo Doualiya since 2014 and read in Japan’s Asahi Shimbun, after her celebrated column “Kamshet Haki” in Al-Dustour in 2003. And on TEDx stages, she speaks for the Arab woman as she is: strong, inspiring and wide awake.
Aroub Soubh turned the innocence of childhood into a legacy, and the dignity of human rights into a mission that will not die. Her warmth is the warmth of Amman. Her reach is the Jordanian horizon, and it will not be forgotten.
Written by Abu Sahar Al-Azaydeh · 20 July 2026 · Adapted from the Arabic · Read the original post
