Eco Tour the West Bank With The Abraham Hostel in Jerusalem
Now “Abraham” in Jerusalem will take those interested to meet Palestinians in the West Bank.
Country: Palestinian Authority
Lola the Donkey from Middle Eastern Play Runs Afoul of Belgian Police
An “actress” performing at the Arab Cultural Center in Brussels ran up against the law for her odd public antics between shows. Belgian police demanded she be forcibly removed from the theater’s street-facing balcony where she’d been unwinding with a bucket of water and stack of fresh hay.
The Real Jordan River Will Flow from the Sea of Galilee Once Again
The Lower Jordan River, the baptismal river of Jesus, has been dead at its source for some time. For the first time in ages, Israel is releasing native waters via a pump back to the historic waterway.
2013 Aga Khan Architecture Awards Betters Muslim Communities in Iran, Morocco and Lebanon
The nominees for the 2013 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were recently announced: 20 candidates – half hailing from the Middle East – all vying for a million dollar prize.
Arabs and Jews Cooperate in Israel to Get Drugs Out of the Water
Why should a Palestinian man care if an Israeli woman is taking birth control pills? A new Israeli peace project focusing on shared water resources answers this question.
Nation Estate is a Massive High Rise for All Palestinians
We are accustomed to writing about art and architecture that addresses environmental and social problems in the Middle East, but nothing as interesting as Larissa Sansour’s Nation Estate has crossed our desk before. Conceived in 2011 when Palestinian authorities appealed to the United Nations for nationhood status, the sci-fi short film and photographic series takes […]
The Sperm Smugglers From Palestine
While tunnel smugglers in Gaza get blown out by sewage flushed into the tunnels from Egypt, Palestinian prisoners have found a new commodity to smuggle: their sperm! Six-month-old Muhannad Al-Zaben is already a celebrity among Palestinians, the so-called “Freedom Ambassador”. He is the result of smuggled sperm his father Ammar transferred to his mother Dalal […]
Egypt Flushes Out Gaza Tunnel Diggers With Sewage!
Besides the really terrible ew factor, the consequences for the environment are as equally yuck: the Egyptian army is looking to stall and stop Gazan smugglers from digging tunnels from the Gaza Strip to Egypt’s Sinai have found a new and dirty way to flush out smugglers: they are pouring raw sewage into the underground tunnels. Leaders […]
Swine Flu Death Toll in Middle East Region
Are you at risk? Get swine flu updates for the PA, Israel, Yemen, Iraq, Tunisia and Jordan. Health officials in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) are calling on residents to get vaccinated against the H1N1 virus (“swine flu”) after 25 deaths in recent weeks.Over 700 infections of H1N1 have been reported in the West Bank […]
“Irresponsible” World Bank Says Red-Dead Canal Feasible
It was about a decade in the making: without much fanfare the World Bank has released a report stating that the Dead Sea – Red Sea Canal project (also called the Red Dead Conduit) will work. The basic idea is to take salty water from the Red Sea, pump it up to a channel, desalinate it […]
Fight Crime By Getting the Lead Out
Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Myanmar and Yemen are still using leaded gasoline and many others have lead contaminated plumbing, soil, paint and household products. How can we reduce the world’s crime rate, particularly the rate of violent crime? When the crime rate rises or a horrific crime takes place, people are quick to find blame […]
Gaza’s 5-Star Al Deira Hotel built with adobe bricks
Gaza's five star hotel, especially one that is made with adobe brick. Designed by the Palestinian architect Rashid Abdelhamid, who was born and trained in Algeria, the 22 room Aldeira Hotel features domed ceilings and arches and a resplendent earth-toned facade. The hotel is regularly used by foreign journalists covering Gaza.
Organic Farming Boom in Palestine
A back-to-the-land movement is blossoming in the Palestinian Authority, the United Nation’s newest nonmember observer state. “The Palestinian future is in the land.” Farmer Khader Khader said, standing in his organic olive grove in the northern West Bank village of Nus Jubail. Many Palestinian farmers are switching to organic farming methods, and selling their oil to […]
Israel to Build Largest Middle East Recycling Plant
Tires, plastics, and other types of solid waste will soon be converted into energy and other products at a new Israel mega recycling plant. Photo: Haaretz/Michal Fattal Israel’s garbage dumps and landfills are often referred to as large, unsightly “garbage mountains” such as the Hiriya garbage mound near Tel Aviv. With the Hiriya site now […]
Angry Cow Murders Its Gazan Slaughterer During Muslim Eid Festival
Amateur slaughterers are often injured on the job. Should slaughtering be left to the professionals? The annual Hajj pilgrimage, on which we wrote about efforts to make it more green, has also become an event in which animals are being slaughtered inhumanely for the accompanying Ein al-Adha or the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice holiday. […]