Can Sivan Askayo’s photographs convince us hang dry our laundry? What if art had the power to change our habits for the (environmentally) better? Could a photograph change governmental policy, or at the very least, some of our daily behaviors? Artistic photographers have tried, and acclaimed photographer Spencer Tunick’s naked Dead Sea shoot this year […]
We speak with Alisa Ananbeh, a student leader on the environment, on going green in Jordan. Around six months ago, Alisa Ananbeh took part in a US funded five-week programme to help young people from the Middle East deal with environmental problems. Just under twenty students from Gaza, Jordan and the West Bank travelled to […]
Our VIP list of 11 environment heroes for the Middle East 2011. If you don’t know these people already, now is the time to start. Top heroes are from Israel, Turkey and Iraq. The year 2011 has been a year like no other in the Middle East. We’ve seen protests against corruption, people have taken […]
Green Muslims have been nominated as some of the most influential Muslim leaders of 2011 While Green Prophet works on its own top green leaders of 2011, the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre had released a list of the 500 most prominent Muslims of the past year. The annual publication highlights the 500 most influential […]
Step in for this wonderful list of 12 easy ways to green your 2012. image via maliny The folks over at Nourishing the Planet have come up with a stellar list of simple steps that every person can take to green their lives. Although it is written with an American audience in mind, each of […]
Followers of Islam perform the Al Istisqaa prayer on occasions of drought. United Arab Emirates AE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan is urging residents to pray for rain this Friday: There is a popular story listed on WikiIslam as “Allah, rain there, not here!” It chronicles a time when livestock were dying and […]
In honor of the last day of Hannukah, the Yesh Meain permaculture farm will be hosting an all-day permaculture celebration. Links are often found between Jewish holidays and the environment, and environmentally-minded organizations in Israel try to find eco-friendly ways to celebrate them. We’ve seen these eco Jewish celebrations center around Sukkot, a holiday that […]
Get one up on Rumpelstiltskin by turning plastic shopping sacks into uber-artsy bookmarks. I really hate giving cash gifts. Gift cards aren’t much higher on the “Hey, I burned lots of calories thinking of you” scale. Even when the card’s end use fits the user, it’s still not very satisfying for me (wow, so it is always about […]
A Jewish “spin” on gambling? Who cares? It’s fun! I confess: every Hanukkah, I have to look up the rules for the dreidel game again. It’s not complicated, but I only play it a few times a year, and usually with rowdy small children To keep the tradition alive and make memories for my family, […]
Just because incandescent light bulbs are less energy efficient than CFLs doesn’t mean you need to toss them. Upcycle them! IKEA Israel won’t even sell incandescent light bulbs any more, and people are gradually switching to more energy efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs). No need to toss the baby out with the bathwater, though – […]
The wonderful thing about living in the Middle East is that we have so many holidays each year. But we like to celebrate the earth-friendly way, so check out our suggestions for good places to buy sustainable gifts. We know most of our readers are unlikely to buy into the mad consumer rush that Christmas […]
In a post-apocalyptic world, you must be prepared to face everything! Are you prepared for what could happen in the event of a total economic collapse or natural calamity, a terrible war, or serious civil descent into anarchy generated by a prolonged food crisis as already occurring in a number of Middle Eastern countries such as […]
We speak to Muslim green campaigner Sofiah Jamil about the environmental threats facing Southeast Asia and why climate justice alone isn’t enough Sofiah Jamil is a Singapore-based campaigner who has been working hard to help Muslims living in Southeast Asia connect their faith with environmental issues. As well as setting up ‘Project ME: Muslims + […]
A new twist on Hannuka’s potato latkehs: The kids look forward to the same latkehs year after year, but adults sometimes want something a little different. Surfing the Net for an alternative recipe, this recipe from The New York Times caught my eye. It’s as easy to make as the traditional recipe, but it’s just […]
Tawakkol Karman accepting the Nobel Peace Prize last Saturday in Oslo, Norway. Photo via the NY Times. Tawakkol Karman, a Yemeni journalist and political activist instrumental in the Arab Spring is the youngest peace prize laureate to accept the prize in a ceremony over the weekend. She is one of three women including Leymah Gbowee […]
A spiritual call to prayer or noise pollution? Some communities seek ban on mosque call in Israel Should Israel be more lenient than Europe in the amount of noise that can emanate from a mosque call to prayer? These are the questions that Israeli government officials are asking recently, with some ministers looking to back […]
Bisharat Golf Course in Jordan is a golfer’s green gone brown, including biodegradable golf balls Golfers love sunshine, warm dry air and a chance to schmooze business, and Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the Sultanate of Oman have developed dozens of top-flight courses to meet demand. Ironic that the greener the course, the less “green” is […]
The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences wants your vote for its project aimed at protecting coastal fisheries One of the world’s oldest Green Islamic organisation is asking supporters to vote for its community-based project which helps protect coastal fisheries. The Islamic Foundation for Ecology and Environmental Sciences (IFEES) has managed to make it […]
Living in Turkey and curious about where to find your nearest organic market? How to recycle? Where to take yoga classes? Yeşilist offers Turks tips on greener choices in areas ranging from Home & Garden to Ecotourism, Fashion & Textile to Nutrition. Environmentally conscious Turks are a frustrated lot. Their country is developing along the […]
Often-ridiculed craft with ancient Middle Eastern roots serves as gentle conduit to change. It’s pretty much agreed that the origins of knitting are placed somewhere in the Middle East. The craft spread to Europe via Mediterranean trade routes, then on to the Americas with European colonization. Some of the earliest examples of knitting have been found in […]
There are more Christians in Egypt than Jews in Israel. And few westerners might realize that there are Christian Arabs living in the Holy Land of Israel – some since the early beginnings of Christianity. There are Christians in Lebanon, in Syria, and until most of them were chased out, they were in Iraq too. […]
Faith-based TRUST-WIN women’s initiative promotes peace between peoples of the Middle East. Muslim, Christians, Druze, and Jews gathered in the Galilee town of Dalyat Al-Carmel on December 1st, a year after the Carmel Forest fire. The worst fire in Israel’s history, it took 44 lives and destroyed over 5 million trees, as well as hundreds […]
A Muslim Cleric in Europe has stated that cucumbers and carrots prompt women to have seedy sexual thoughts and that they should therefore be banned from touching them. Women should be banned from touching cucumbers, carrots, bananas, and zucchinis, says a European Muslim cleric, simply because they resemble the male penis and could prompt women […]
Piers Secunda spent years collecting archival footage and crude oil to create these striking historical paintings currently on display at the Aubin Gallery in London. Just like the first gush of black gold that emerged from Saudi Arabia’s inaugural oil well in 1937, the idea to chronicle the petrochemical age came quite suddenly to artist Piers […]
Santa takes a ride on a camel in Doha, Qatar, where it was recently announced the COP 18 talks will be held. Santa has the lowest carbon footprint of them all. He doesn’t drive in fossil-fueled cars to deliver his eco-friendly gifts. Instead, he relies on his trusted team of reindeers. Not big meat eaters, […]