Tafline Laylin

Eco-Friendly Bakery Gives Historic Presidential Voters in Egypt Free Pastries

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Lifestyle & Culture »

Egypt, Presidential Elections, Recycled Materials, Food, Baked Goods, The Bakery ShopToday Egyptians stood in line for hours to vote in the first real, competitive presidential election in the country’s history. And our favorite bakery, the only one in Egypt to recycle their own packaging into attractive notebooks, bookmarks and other stationary, is encouraging voters to play a role in the future of their homeland. As part of their “I Got Ink” campaign, all six Cairo branches of The Bakery Store are offering free baked goods to anyone who shows up with a bright purple index finger indicating that they have indeed cast their historic vote.

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Tafline Laylin

What Arab Youth Want (A List of 10 Things)

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Lifestyle & Culture »

Arab Youth, Gulf, Levant, North Africa, Arab Spring, Democracy, ASDA'A Burson-MarstellerDemocracy used to be at the forefront of Arab Youth’s minds, but in 2012 that has changed. Now youth from 12 Arab countries in the Gulf, the Levant and North Africa claim they are more concerned about receiving fair wages for their work and being able to own their homes, though lack of democracy remains an important obstacle to their ambitions.

This is according to the 2012 Arab Youth Survey. Launched in 2008, the annual survey is conducted by research professionals from Penn Scheon Berland (PSB) who travel to villages and cities in order to interview 2,500 young Arab men and women in person. Here is a list of the top 10 concerns that emerged during these discussions.

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Susan Kraemer

Qatar’s Polysilicon Manufacturing to Help Supply 10 Percent Solar Goal

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Business & Politics »

qatar-oil-rich-10-percent-solar
Qatar to tap the solar potential of the Middle East to supply 10 percent of its electricity by 2018.

Qatar is the latest of the oil-rich Middle East/North African (MENA) nations to make bold solar plans to trap a world-record insolation to supply energy for its rapidly growing economy – one that bolted an incredible 20 percent last year.

This week a senior official of Qatar Electricity and Water Company (QEWC) announced the replacement of over 10 percent of its conventional forms of energy used to produce electricity and water with solar power by 2018.

With an incredible daily supply of 16 hours of solar insolation, Qatar has the chance to build a solar-based electricity supply which is far more efficient than any other part of the world.

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Tafline Laylin

Save the Cave Dwellers of Cappadocia (PHOTOS)

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Architecture & Urban »

vernacular architecture, Cappadocia, earth building, cave dwellers, Turkey, art, environmental art, culture, travel, natureNothing is more earth-friendly than carving out an existence in the belly of a cave. Yet, despite its 1985 UNESCO cultural and natural World Heritage Site listing, development and mass tourism often overrun traditional life in the surreal fairy-chimney-pocked landscape of Turkey’s Göreme-Cappadocia, rendering genuine cave dwellers a near-extinct species.

Gripped by a longstanding love affair with the region, visual artist Aili Schmeltz spent last summer in the Ibrahimpasa village documenting the homes of more than a dozen cave dwellers. She collected hours of audio footage and thousands of images, four of which she has shared with us. Within the next year, she hopes to arrange her work in a book that will help save this priceless heritage.

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Shifra Mincer

International Finance Corp Looking To Invest Millions In Israeli Cleantech

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Business & Politics »

wind energy sunglasses, israel world bank clean tech investment

Israeli cleantech has long been present in the American market. Companies like Ormat have been developing geothermal resources in the US for decades. Now Israeli companies may be getting support to expand to developing countries as well. A senior official from the International Finance Corp (IFC)–a member of the World Bank, with a portfolio of $12 billion, which actively supports investment in developing countries–said the group was looking to invest tens of millions in Israeli cleantech companies that could expand operations to developing countries, Reuters reported on May 17.

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Karin Kloosterman

Cheap Travellers and Surprising $ Stats for Tourism Industries

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Travel & Nature »

She might travel on a budget, but this backpacker can spend double the amount of money of the average non-budget traveller, and she’ll probably have more fun.

It’s easy to look down on the lowly backpackers when you are a country looking to earn lots of income from tourism. Many Middle Eastern countries rely seriously on tourism for bolstering the local economies, like Egypt, Morocco, Turkey and even Israel. When tourism drops, people feel it. So popular is tourism to iconic sites like the Nile River and the pyramids, or the Old City of Jerusalem that luxury vacations and hotels spring up all around these markets to reel in the Big Fish: you know the rich tourists who spend a week and $300 and per night on a hotel room. Bargain travellers, you know who they are: they look for deals on last minute flights, search online sites like Agoda religiously looking for the best hotel deal, and when they arrive at their destination tend to stay at cheaper hotels and hostels, sometimes working in reception, even washing dishes to subsidize their “rent”.

Tourism ministries haven’t been too keen to focus on these kinds of travelling “parasites” who try to live on dollars a day. Because, you  know, the Big Fish bring in more money –– or so it would seem. Our friends over at the Fauzi Azar Inn in Nazareth just sent us an illuminating article based on research that will surprise you about the economic impact of budget travellers.

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Miriam Kresh

Weekly Vegewarian Recipe: Purslane, Summer’s Wild Edible

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Food & Health »

image-purslaneVegewarian means folks who are eating more vegetables and less meat… and this week a wild superfood, purslane, is growing somewhere near you.

As noted in this month’s seasonal produce feature, purslane is popping up everywhere. Like dandelion greens in the US, this edible weed has recently become fashionable, appearing at upmarket greengrocers and anyplace with a claim to “organic.” As with expensive dandelion greens, smile and pass it by. Keep your eyes open – you’ll see purslane sprouting, wild and free, in a nearby empty lot or even a neglected windowbox.

Purslane makes a tremendous number of tiny black seeds that escape their pods easily, and it grows whichever way the wind blows.

Which is a good thing for us. Succulent, with a mild lemony/salty taste, purslane stems and leaves fit nicely into any salad, substitute for lettuce in sandwiches, and add superfood nutrition to stir-fries and soups. Verdolaga con queso, the traditional Mexican purslane dish, adapts perfectly to the Middle Eastern palate with a few crafty adjustments.

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Tafline Laylin

Kapow! – Arab Spring Madness in a Frantic Novel

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Lifestyle & Culture »

Books, Arab Spring, literature, Kapow!, lifestyle, culture, Middle EastIn ways both understood and yet to be discovered, the Arab Spring has changed us. All of us. Having finally tapped their personal and collective power through social media and community engagement, youth in the region are taking their creative, environmental and intellectual lives back into their own hands. But the unfolding of this process is not simple.

Nor is it linear, and it is this notion that informs Kapow! – a fast and frantic novel  by Adam Thirlwell. Tracing twitter accounts, citizen anecdotes and other news sources during the Arab Spring uprisings, a London-based character attempts to put the events in perspective. As the narrative becomes more confused, so does the text, which takes on an unconventional visual form.

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Leigh Cuen

Vertical Gardening Celebrated in Tel Aviv

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Food & Health »

stav vertical gardening stav yael tel aviv

This past weekend Yael Stav offered tours of her home and vertical garden as part of the “Houses From Within” Batim Mibifnim exhibition in Tel Aviv. Some of the garden was built using recycled materials and compost from her children’s eco-friendly diapers.

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Leigh Cuen

Investing in Ramallah’s Children Key to Sustainability

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Architecture & Urban »

ramallah garbage
Ramallah is leading the way as the heart of Palestine’s environmental awakening. City-dwellers are planting trees, creating and restoring open, natural community spaces and reviving bygone environmental protections. But there is still much work to be done. There will need to be a complete shift in culture.

A recent history of crumbling infrastructure and inadequate public services has proliferated habits such as chronic littering and burning trash, tires, plastics, chemical household products and all. According to Malvena Aljamela from the environmental directorate of Ramallah’s municipality, 10 percent of Ramallah’s waste goes uncollected every day.

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