The first time I entered Zendegi, a natural and organic clothing shop in Tel Aviv’s historic Neve Tzedek neighborhood, a particularly unique pair of boots caught my eye. I picked up the boots to take a closer look, but quickly realized that they were out of my intern-activist-blogger budget range. “But you have to understand […]
A variety of healthy, homemade, organic spreads and olives at Cafe Louise in Haifa. Israel has no shortage of organic cuisine. From LovEAT café in Tel Aviv to Mizpe Hayamim in the Galilee and Negev Nectars in the south, this country is chock-full of good organic eatin’. And here’s one more to add to the […]
Need another reason to eat organic? Or at least pesticide-free? In a study to be published this month, Israeli researchers examining the prevalence of Parkinson’s disease in the Wadi Ara Arab communities in northern Israel found an unusually high prevalence of the disease in the areas of Baqa al-Gharbiyeh. Baqa al-Gharbiyeh, an Arab community, […]
The Templar palace ruins in Akko (Acre), one of the sites where a geo-archaeological study was carried out. New research finds that short-term rising and falling of sea levels may not say much about global warming patterns. Rising sea level, one of many climate change-related phenomena expected to occur in the coming years, is a […]
The current border wall between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. According to experts, a new underground wall will cause serious damage to Gaza’s Coastal Aquifer. The Coastal Aquifer, the main freshwater resource for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip, has been in danger for a long time. The environmental impacts of last year’s war between […]
On a recent trip to Istanbul, Turkey I found myself in a tree-hugger’s wonderland amidst the bustling labyrinth of the Grand Bazaar. In the heart of this Middle Eastern market, Abdulla Natural Products boasts a wide variety throws, blankets, covers, and shawls, as well as a full line of hamam products, or special towels and […]
In Israel, kibbutzim (once-socialist agricultural collectives) have risen as a hotbed of environmental activity. Green Prophet has covered Kibbutz Ein Shemer, which holds environmental education seminars in their state-of-the-art greenhouse, and Kibbutz Lotan, which hosts the Center for Creative Ecology, just as a few of many examples. Although not physically based on a kibbutz, the […]
This past weekend I traveled to historic Madaba, Jordan at the first Middle East Green Bloggers Conference. Among this inspiring collection of environmental writers, professionals, and activists, I’ve just met a trio of Jordanian young innovators bringing a special variety of “thin film” technology to the Middle East. Zein Nsheiwat, Sawsan Issa, and Osama Suliman […]
Last night, Israel’s NGO delegation to the Copenhagen climate talks kicked off a week of activism with a very special Channukah candle-lighting. Delegates gathered in City Hall Square of the city to publicly light the Channukah menorah, but with a climate-flavored twist. Instead of singing the traditional words to age-old Channukah songs, the activists changed […]
The prospects of solar energy are heating up in Palestine. Rachel reports on a new solar thermal plant at Beit Jala school. The Talitha Kumi school in Beit Jala, Palestine just became home to Palestine’s first solar thermal plant for warm water supply and central heating, Green Prophet learns. The 200 square-meter plant, which went […]
Israel’s been dragging its feet over the proposed drought tax. It’s been a pretty tumultuous month for water politics in Israel. After more than five years of abnormally low rainfall, as well as decades of unsustainable water consumption (at least according to Prof. Hillel Shuval) Israel faces an increasingly dire water crisis. Back in July, […]
A report published Sunday by the Israeli human rights group B’tselem, titled, “Foul Play: Neglect of Wastweater Treatment in the West Bank” found untreated wastewater to be a major source of pollution in the West Bank. 91 million cubic meters (mcm) of wastewater is produced each year in Israeli settlements, parts of Jerusalem, and Palestinian […]
The global contest for the Seven New Wonders of the World is not the only reason the Dead Sea is making news this week. Last Saturday, Israeli Vice Premier Silvan Shalom announced that the World Bank agreed to finance a $1.25 billion feasibility study on the Red-Dead Canal plan. The plan, a joint venture supported […]
As we saw in recent posts on vegawarianism and collective vegetarianism, meatless lifestyles now come in all different shapes and sizes. To add to these vegetarian possibilites, Jana and Ilan Gur, owners of the Al Hashulchan (“On the Table”) food magazine, recently introduced the Sheni Tzimchoni (Vegetarian Monday) initiative. Dozens of Israel’s best restaurants have […]
In yet another move to reduce solid waste and increase innovative recycling, Israel has joined Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe project. The Reuse-A-Shoe project was started in the United States in 1990 as a way to recycle old sports shoes. Instead of allowing these worn-out items to be tossed into landfills, Nike collects the shoes and salvages rubber […]