A green oasis in Amman – the King Hussein Park, Jordan.
Greetings from Amman, where I’m representing the Green Prophet at the URI MENA 8th annual conference. What’s URI MENA? It’s the Middle East – North Africa (MENA) region of the global United Religions Initiative (URI), dedicated to promoting interfaith cooperation. About 50 representatives of URI MENA member organizations (called CCs – Cooperation Circles) are gathered here for a three-day conference, including CCs from Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
Why is the Green Prophet, an environmental website, involved in this interfaith initiative? Part of the answer can be found in the URI’s charter: “We unite to heal and protect the Earth… We act from sound ecological practices to protect and preserve the Earth for both present and future generations.”
It is also not hard to see how the Green Prophet’s concern for a sustainable environment naturally translates into an interest in promoting sustainable relations among the human inhabitants of our planet.
Amman’s ‘green lung’
During a midday break to allow the Muslim participants to attend Friday prayers at a nearby mosque, I visited the nearby King Hussein Park – the largest green area in Jordan’s capital. The park, located on a hill overlooking western Amman, is designed as a cultural and recreational center, including a large mosque, a children’s museum, the Royal Automobile Museum, crafts shops and more.
While not as lush as Cairo’s Al-Azhar Park, the King Hussein Park serves as green lung for Amman and is a popular recreation spot for local families. I invite you to take a walk through the park below. If you concentrate, you might hear the birds chirping or the muezzin’s call to prayer. (Photos by author.)
Author: Ira Moskowitz
When his kids were small, Ira would point to litter on the ground and tell them: “That makes me angry!” He still gets angry about pollution, waste and abusive treatment of our world, but is encouraged by the growing awareness of environmental issues and has been following the latest developments in cleantech with great interest. Ira grew up in the green hills of western Massachusetts and moved to Israel in the early 1980s after completing an MA in Middle Eastern Studies. He has worked as a software developer and journalist, and translates works of Hebrew fiction and non-fiction to English. Ira is trying to age gracefully, but refuses to surrender his youthful belief in the potential for change, including a collaborative future for the peoples of the Middle East. To contact Ira, email ira (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Excellent article and photos. We hope that Interfaith Cooperation like this will be a step toward peace in the region.
Norm