Labane is delicious for breakfast, served with warm pita and olive oil
Le Petit Robert, the popular single-volume French dictionary, has added the word “labné”, also pronounced as “labneh” or “labaneh” to its latest 2023 edition. A civil war in Lebanon in 1975 drove hundreds of thousands of french-speaking Arab Lebanese to France, and of course they brought their delicious food and cheese traditions with them. Like Indians have great yoghurt, the Arab world has amazing labaneh. Rolled into a Druize pita with za’atar and olive oil. You have yourself a vegetarian meal.
You pronounce labane as LA-BA-NEH and in Hebrew the word “laban” means white.
Le Robert’s:
Fromage frais égoutté préparé traditionnellement avec du lait de chèvre ou de brebis (spécialité moyen-orientale).
Labaneh is popular in the Middle East. It’s a fresh cheese that doesn’t spoil easily in the heat and you can make at home with yoghurt or with milk and lemon (see our recipe here).
Labane tastes awkwardly sour at first like something is wrong with it. The flavor tingles in your mouth a bit. After the first few tastes, you will grow to love its tangy flavor. We promise.
You might find it sold in a small tub or rolled into balls and stored with olive oil. Either way is delicious.
Vegan version of labne
Notre Dame University-Louaize’s Christelle Bou Mitri, with Christelle Saleme and Christy Raad have developed a plant-based alternative to the Lebanese Labneh. The researchers at the private Catholic university in Zouk Mosbeh, Lebanon, are following the alt-protein, alt-milk craze and have found a way to make the tangy cheese using peas, lupin, and beans in response to the increasing need for vegan food in Lebanon.
According to the university’s press, vegan products in Lebanon are hard to access, especially in terms of affordability, which limits one’s options in adopting a vegan lifestyle, particularly for the sake of health risks.
You can now find Labaneh in major cities around the world like in Toronto, New York, London or Paris but it’s just as easy to make if you can’t find it. If you’re expert level at Arab cheese, we challenge you to make smen.
An Italian architecture firm has presented a Vertical Forest skyscraper plan for Dubai. The same firm built the two towers of Bosco Verticale in Milan. Vertical Forest Dubai, rendering by Stefano Boeri Architetti
We love the idea of green walls and vertical gardens. And they always look so amazing on architectural renderings. Green walls and plants and trees give so much comfort to people who can find a smudge of green among the concrete. Italians do city gardens well, Middle Easterners, not so much.
Vertical Forest Dubai, Stefano Boeri Architetti
Visit Sicily and you will see flourishing green roofs and micro gardens on patios. Cactuses galore but also green hanging plants and trellising gardens. Somehow all taken care of by loving plant parents and grandparents who dwell in their parts of the old family villa or small patio apartment. Find people tossing water through the day onto scorching land, quenching plant thirst.
Inspiration for Vertical Forests, Guinigi Tower, Lucca, Italy
The climate in Southern Italy is hot and dry. Not unlike the Middle East, and places like Sicily even look like Beirut or the West Bank if you squint hard enough. Arabian influences there hundreds of years ago have left their mark in Sicily. And maybe Stefano Boeri and associates are trying to build a bridge between the two worlds in Dubai?
But if you see Middle Eastern attempts at green roofs and patios in the Middle East today you will see hopeful but neglected attempts at greening a dream garden that doesn’t match up to the needs of the plants. Planters full of crispy plants. Withered cactuses. Dead green walls.
Taking care of plants and vertical gardens (and forests!) require teams of people and a budget with resources that will ensure these plants are cared for decades into the future. And trees do need expand, roots systems and all.
Vertical Forest, Milan
We assume if Dubai goes with the plan they will budget operations accordingly.
The new Vertical Forest tower for Dubai, according to published material, will incorporate a desalination facility and grey water recovery system, alongside photovoltaic solar energy surfaces that will contribute clean energy to the towers. Does this mean that these towers will revert to peeponics and pooponics to recover human waste from the site? We have sent this question to Stefano Boeri Architetti and hope to have more answers soon.
Update, a day later: Maddalena Giambelli from Elettra Zadra, the press office of architect Stefano Boeri and his practice Stefano Boeri Architetti tells Green Prophet that “Dubai Vertical Forest isonly a prototype, consequently many details will be discussed.”
We asked them if the Dubai Vertical Forest would be able to recycle building waste, but it’s too early to know, she said. “We are therefore unable to answer these questions until the project is definitive and the various installations are finalised.”
The Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world and cost $130 billion to make but it is not connected to Dubai’s sewage system and so every day a platoon of trucks queue up to remove its poo
Something to think about: When Israeli environmental artist Ran Morin created Oranger Suspendu in Jaffa he was asked by dozens of firms around the world, including hotel lobbies, to recreate the idea of a hanging orange tree. He said no, because of the care needed to look after one hanging plant. That’s what he told me when I ran into him in Jerusalem one afternoon. “Do you know how hard it is to keep one tree alive? One that’s hanging in the air? It’s a responsibility.”
Oranger Suspendu, a hanging orange tree in Old City Jaffa by Ran Morin
Now imagine a skyscraper full of trees? Will we care for the life of each one the way we would if the tree was planted in the ground? How much will these trees need to be pruned before their roots grow out of the box? Tree roots are as big as their foliage. Sometimes I wonder why we can’t have more modest and common sense solutions for the Middle East, ones created by people who live in the areas. Once focused on regenerative agriculture and that move away from skyscraper living.
More about the Vertical Forest Dubai
Italian studio Stefano Boeri Architetti adapted its Vertical Forest concept for a pair of skyscrapers in Dubai, which will be covered in thousands of trees. The firm launched the idea at the COP27 climate change conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. The project comprises two tapering towers at 190 and 150 metres tall.
Together, these towers will integrate 2,640 trees and 27,600 shrubs along with a system of greenhouses and hydroponic gardens.
Hydroponic gardens are essentially what any soil-less green roof solution uses to keep plants alive. They use water-based, mineral nutrient solutions in place of soil. We suggest the new towers use the residential waste provided by the building. They do mention grey water recycling, so likely this is part of the plan.
“The project, commissioned by Impact One, represents the first Vertical Forest prototype for the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) area with the aim of integrating the benefits of urban forestry such as the absorption of fine dust particles, microclimate regulation and reduction of the greenhouse effect together with innovations as part of the management of the water system in arid climates and the optimization of energy production from renewable sources,” said Stefano Boeri Architetti..
Stefano Boeri Architetti is most known for the Vertical Forest in Milan, the Villa Méditerranée in Marseille, and the House of the Sea of La Maddalena.
The SunGlacier Machine is installed on top of the Dutch Pavilion in Dubai.
During the first test runs the Sunglacier produced 50 liters/hour, which means 1200 liters/day…
Unbelievable that we achieve these results with a 20-foot container, mainly filled with air and water, in extreme desert conditions: super hot and extremely dry.
Pickup of dead dogs, Tulkarm, West Bank. Locals from this town had plans to pile them up and send them to the Hebron mayor who offered $30 for 5 dogs, or about $6 each.
The first Sunday in November the mayor of Hebron in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority, offered 20 shekels, or about $6 USD to any person who kills a stray dog and who hands it over to the authorities in Hebron. His city is overrun with stray dogs, thousands of them. They get into garbage and run after children, scaring them.
The announcement set off a spree of killings. Some from other municipalities loaded recently shot and poisoned dead dogs into a pickup truck to bring to Hebron. The offer wasn’t dead or alive, but was clearly stated “dead”.
Mayor Tayseer Abu Sneineh’s offer seemed like a practical idea at the time –– and an economical solution to the stray dog problem that grows with every litter. Plus elections were coming up and he wanted favor with his electorate.
Tayseer Abu Sneineh offers $6 to every dead dog brought to Hebron
The West Bank is rife with stray dogs that are often shot and killed and thrown in dumpsters anyway, if they aren’t run over by cars first, explains Diana Babish who is the founder of Dogs for Bethlehem –– the West Bank’s only dog shelter. As soon as she heard the report on Radio Free Palestine she got into her car and raced 45 minutes to Hebron from Bethlehem that night to meet with the radio station for broadcasting this atrocity, and the head of the government in charge of the municipalities in the West Bank for damage control.
She condemned the mayor’s actions calling on him to publicly apologize for his actions. This action in itself shows courage and bravery on Babish’s side. A Christian Arab woman standing up to a West Bank bully in a predominantly Muslim region overrun by toxic patriarchy. She is known to throw herself in the line of fire and do what it takes to save the lives of those who can’t speak for themselves.
Abu Sneineh is a former member of the Fatah party, and Mayor of Hebron, in the West Bank. He was convicted by Israel for taking part in planning the 1980 Hebron terrorist attack, who caused death to 6 unarmed civilians, one a Canadian. He was elected Mayor of Hebron on 14 May 2017.
Palestinians rising up to bullying and cruelty
This rising up to power in the West Bank is a new movement for Palestinians who have typically been bullied into silence by regime leaders. But with new tools on social media calls for action against leaders in the Arab world are becoming more common. Babish tells Green Prophet that the people in Hebron felt it was safe to criticize the mayor in protest to protect the animals, calling him “a criminal and emotionless mayor”; another wrote: “If the residents of Hebron had mercy and humanity they would fire him.”
The mayor in return denied that any dogs had been shot in response to his call, saying that the images circulating on social media, were old. Babish tells Green Prophet that she had witnesses who had seen the killings just after his bounty was offered, so it’s not true and he was backtracking: “The mayor said I didn’t mean it. Nothing, there were no bodies delivered to us,” Babish recounts.
She said that a majority of the images on social media, including the pickup truck of dead dogs were from the city of Tulkarm. Babish said the locals there were loading them up as a joke to send to Hebron for money after they heard the mayor’s offer.
Diana Babish is the patron saint of puppies. She forced the Hebron mayor to retract his bounty offer and apologize globally
Later the mayor told Babish that he offered the bounty in order to enlist the help of animal organizations, like hers.
But eventually after pressure from international animal organizations and one funding body from the German government who said they would cut funds, did Abu Sneineh agree to apologize publicly. He posted it in English as well.
The patron saint of puppies
Babish runs an animal shelter in Beit Sahour south of Jerusalem and she also keeps an overrun house with pets. She took 3 dogs right away with her from Hebron that night and has since adopted them out in Israel, one in Haifa and two in the North of Israel. She has 20 cats at home, and 7 dogs, 4 of which are her own. Her parents, especially her dad, don’t love the situation.
Adopting the Hebron dogs out in Israel, where locals are happy to adopt Palestinian dogs is part of the solution, but only a part, says Babish. Israel has its own problem with stray animals, cats and dogs, and some of the dozens of animal organizations in Israel are kill shelters, she says. Babish is appalled by the idea. “If they don’t get adopted they are euthanised.”
That’s not what she envisions for the shelter she wants to build in Bethlehem. The no-kill facility could service the entire West Bank but funds are needed to keep it going. She needs the land, she needs a building and a full time vet. A yearly donation of $100,000 could go far and make it operable and spare Hebron and other Palestinians cities from the stray problem that is a public nuisance. Not everyone, after all, is a dog lover. Meanwhile Jordan, nearby, has a similar problem with stray dogs.
Locals in Hebron are already thinking about what’s next, after the bounty offer was made. Announcements through the city were circulated: “We demand that the killing of the dogs be stopped and that solutions be considered in accordance with human and Islamic values. Enough of killing dogs in Hebron.”
Some locals offered $15 for each resident who would feed and care for a street dog.
Meanwhile Babish, who we featured here, continues her holy work of caring for the stray dogs and cats of the West Bank. She is currently raising funds to build a shelter in the West Bank. With a debt of about $12,000 USD in vet bills, she could certainly use a benefactor who could help her build a no-kill shelter so the dogs of Hebron and the West Bank can be treated with dignity.
If you want to help Babish, all her contacts and more about her organization, and our “Diana dogs” are posted here.
Farmed Here builds high-tech hydroponic farms run by software. Digital sustainability helps make food, fuel and the home more sustainable
Digital sustainability refers to the use of digital technologies that can have a positive impact on the environment. While most startup founders just want to cut a fast back, like those in advertising, the trend has just started with the success rate for digital sustainability initiatives sitting at only 4%.
The number is expected to grow to 35% in the next few years. This is because millennials and a global interest in digital sustainability is growing: environmental concerns and impact now drive many consumers’ buying decisions.
One study in the US found that 70% of US consumers consider sustainability when making a purchasing decision. And about 88% would be more loyal to a brand that implements sustainable practices.
The GreenTech Meta Trend
Digital sustainability is part of the GreenTech meta trend IoT, driven by AI, machine learning and cloud computing driving this growth. GreenTech can include smart agriculture such as hydroponic farms, fleet monitoring apps to cut down on corporate fuel or new advances in hydrogen. Greentech can also be solutions that consumers can buy like solar panels to programmable smart thermostats like Nest. Software and a digital interface is typically needed for all new devices and advances.
The Nest smart thermostat, owned by Google
The primary goal of greentech is to reduce the negative impacts humans impose upon the planet, like plastic pollution in the ocean, fossil fuel use (greenhouse gas emissions) and deforestation.
This market is wide and encompasses many industries and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.2% through 2028. According to the research firm McKinsey, AI is “green” and can be used to reduce food waste globally, saving organizations $123B a year by 2030.
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Aerobics can shrink cancer tumors. Lets get physical?
Running, jogging, fast walking. Tennis. Aikido, Judo or basketball: A new study found that aerobic exercise can reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by 72%. According to the researchers at Tel Aviv University, intensity aerobic exercise increases the sugar consumption of internal organs, thereby reducing the availability of energy to the tumor.
Juice and fasting offer similar strategies to this approach:
The study was led by two researchers from TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine: Prof. Carmit Levy from the Department of Human Genetics and Biochemistry and Dr. Yftach Gepner from the School of Public Health and the Sylvan Adams Sports Institute. Prof. Levy emphasizes that by combining scientific knowhow from different schools at TAU, the new study has led to a very important discovery which may help prevent metastatic cancer – the leading cause of death in Israel. The paper was published in the prestigious journal Cancer Research and chosen for the cover of the November 2022 issue.
“Studies have demonstrated that physical exercise reduces the risk for some types of cancer by up to 35%. This positive effect is similar to the impact of exercise on other conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. In this study we added new insight, showing that high-intensity aerobic exercise, which derives its energy from sugar, can reduce the risk of metastatic cancer by as much as 72%. If so far the general message to the public has been ‘be active, be healthy’, now we can explain how aerobic activity can maximize the prevention of the most aggressive and metastatic types of cancer,” the researchers report.
The study combined an animal model in which mice were trained under a strict exercise regimen, with data from healthy human volunteers examined before and after running. The human data, obtained from an epidemiological study that monitored 3,000 individuals for about 20 years, indicated 72% less metastatic cancer in participants who reported regular aerobic activity at high intensity, compared to those who did not engage in physical exercise.
The animal model exhibited a similar outcome, also enabling the researchers to identify its underlying mechanism. Sampling the internal organs of the physically fit animals, before and after physical exercise, and also following the injection of cancer, they found that aerobic activity significantly reduced the development of metastatic tumors in the lymph nodes, lungs, and liver. The researchers hypothesized that in both humans and model animals, this favorable outcome is related to the enhanced rate of glucose consumption induced by exercise.
Prof. Levy: “Our study is the first to investigate the impact of exercise on the internal organs in which metastases usually develop, like the lungs, liver, and lymph nodes. Examining the cells of these organs we found a rise in the number of glucose receptors during high-intensity aerobic activity – increasing glucose intake and turning the organs into effective energy-consumption machines, very much like the muscles. We assume that this happens because the organs must compete for sugar resources with the muscles, known to burn large quantities of glucose during physical exercise.
Include intensive exercises for health
“Consequently, if cancer develops, the fierce competition over glucose reduces the availability of energy that is critical to metastasis. Moreover, when a person exercises regularly, this condition becomes permanent: the tissues of internal organs change and become similar to muscle tissue. We all know that sports and physical exercise are good for our health. Our study, examining the internal organs, discovered that exercise changes the whole body, so that the cancer cannot spread, and the primary tumor also shrinks in size.”
Dr. Gepner adds: “Our results indicate that unlike fat-burning exercise, which is relatively moderate, it is a high-intensity aerobic activity that helps in cancer prevention. If the optimal intensity range for burning fat is 65-70% of the maximum pulse rate, sugar burning requires 80-85% – even if only for brief intervals. For example: a one-minute sprint followed by walking, then another sprint. In the past, such intervals were mostly typical of athletes’ training regimens, but today we also see them in other exercise routines, such as heart and lung rehabilitation.
“Our results suggest that healthy individuals should also include high-intensity components in their fitness programs. We believe that future studies will enable personalized medicine for preventing specific cancers, with physicians reviewing family histories to recommend the right kind of physical activity. It must be emphasized that physical exercise, with its unique metabolic and physiological effects, exhibits a higher level of cancer prevention than any medication or medical intervention to date.”
“May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”
Visit the Holy Land today be warned: you might come home with a case of the lice. Warm weather and large families, sometimes 4 kids to a room, make for the perfect conditions for head lice. The problems of today aren’t much different from the past it seems. An ancient comb, bearing the oldest Canaanite sentence, was found in an ancient archeological site in Israel in 2017 and now we know what the inscription means: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”
The letters of the inscription were engraved in a very shallow manner on ivory. In 2022 Madeleine Mumcuoglu noticed that there was an inscription on the comb. And it was Canaanite.
The alphabet, we known today, was invented around 1800 BCE and was used by the Canaanites in what is modern day Israel, and later by most other languages in the world. Until recently, no meaningful Canaanite inscriptions had been discovered in the Land of Israel, save only two or three words here and there. Now an amazing discovery presents an entire sentence in Canaanite, dating to about 1700 BCE.
The comb was unearthed at Tel Lachish in Israel by a team from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Southern Adventist University in the United States, under the direction of Professors Yosef Garfinkel, Michael Hasel and Martin Klingbeil.
Their findings were published in Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology.
The ivory comb is small, measuring roughly 3.5 by 2.5 cm. The comb has teeth on both sides. Although their bases are still visible, the comb teeth themselves were broken in antiquity. The central part of the comb is somewhat eroded, possibly by the pressure of fingers holding the comb during haircare or removal of lice from the head or beard.
The side of the comb with six thick teeth was used to untangle knots in the hair, while the other side, with 14 fine teeth, was used to remove lice and their eggs, much like the current-day two-sided lice combs sold in stores.
Lice loved the affluent too
There are 17 Canaanite letters on the comb. They are archaic in form—from the first stage of the invention of the alphabet script. They form seven words in Canaanite, reading: “May this tusk root out the lice of the hair and the beard.”
Ancient combs were made from wood, bone, or ivory. Ivory was a very expensive material and likely an imported luxury object. As there were no elephants in Canaan during that time period, the comb likely came from nearby Egypt—factors indicating that even people of high social status suffered from lice.
Remains of ancient lice
The research team analyzed the comb itself for the presence of lice under a microscope and photographs were taken of both sides. Remains of head lice, 0.5 to 0.6 mm in size, were found on the second tooth. The climatic conditions of Lachish, however, did not allow preservation of whole head lice but only those of the outer chitin membrane of the nymph stage head louse.
Despite its small size, the inscription on the comb from Lachish has very special features, some of which are unique and fill in gaps and lacunas in our knowledge of many aspects of the culture of Canaan in the Bronze Age. For the first time, we have an entire verbal sentence written in the dialect spoken by the Canaanite inhabitants of Lachish, enabling us to compare this language in all its aspects with the other sources for it. Second, the inscription on the comb sheds light on some aspects of the everyday life of the time, haircare and dealing with lice.
Third, this is the first discovery in the region of an inscription referring to the purpose of the object on which it was written, as opposed to dedicatory or ownership inscriptions on objects. Further, the engraver’s skill in successfully executing such tiny letters (1 to 3 mm wide) is a fact that from now on should be taken into account in any attempt to summarize and draw conclusions on literacy in Canaan in the Bronze Age.
Tel Lachish, Israel
Lachish was a major Canaanite city state in the second millennium BCE and the second most important city in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah. To date, 10 Canaanite inscriptions have been found in Lachish, more than at any other site in Israel.
The city was the major center for the use and preservation of the alphabet during some 600 years, from 1800-1150 BCE. The site of Tel Lachish is under the protection of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
Before your corporate fleet turns electric, turn to these tips to help your team get better efficiency and cut costs
What are your options if you run a business and want to be a better corporate environmental steward? Yes, you can do business with companies that share your commitment to environmental best practices. And you can, among other things, use LED bulbs for greater energy efficiency in your office space. Every little bit helps, after all.
But what can you do if you own a fleet of vehicles? Check out these five ways your business can reduce fuel expenses when prices are still sky-high.
Buy Fuel Efficient Cars
One way to reduce your vehicle expenses is by carefully choosing your cars. Do you really need a truck or an SUV? If you do go that route, you’ll pay more for gas than if you go with a smaller vehicle. Once you figure out what you need, try to buy cars that sip rather than drink fuel. Purchasing fuel-efficient vehicles will help you lower your business’ carbon footprint.
Ensure Tires Are Properly Inflated
Another way you can save money and use less fuel is by properly inflating the tires on your fleet vehicles. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, you can enhance fuel efficiency by an average of 0.6% if the tires are appropriately inflated.
That might not sound like much. But it will add up over time. When checking tire pressure, do so when the tires are cold. That means first thing in the morning or a couple hours after driving the vehicle.
Use Fleet Management Software
Yet another way to cut down on fuel costs is by investing in fleet management software. It’ll give you a real-time view of how the vehicles are being used. If workers are driving too fast, braking too harshly, idling too much, or taking longer-than-required routes, one of the end results will be higher fuel consumption. Depending on how many cars you have and how often your vehicles are out on the road, fuel expenses could add up to a small fortune.
Fleet management software will allow your company to gain insights into driver behavior. You’ll then be able to print reports, speak with drivers who need to adopt better habits behind the wheel, and take proactive measures to ensure fuel is being used more responsibly.
Stay on Top of Maintenance and Repairs
Regular maintenance and timely repairs will ensure your vehicles function more efficiently. If your cars are not in good shape, and you aren’t using fleet management software, they could use more fuel than they would otherwise. It’s bad enough if you have a personal vehicle that is not cared for properly. But the costs will be even higher if you have a fleet of cars and aren’t keeping up with regular care.
Use Smooth Roads Wherever Possible
Tell your staff to choose smooth roads: It’s also a good idea to choose smooth roads wherever possible. You may not have thought of it before, but you’ll consume less fuel driving on smooth roads than on bumpy roads. While there will be times when the only options will be bumpy roads, try to plan routes to avoid such road conditions as much as possible.
And while you’re at it, do your best to avoid congested roadways since heavy stop-and-go traffic will affect your vehicles’ fuel economy. In fact, it can slash fuel economy by up to 40%. Sometimes it’s better to pay for tolls rather having your staff burning fuel and time on the freeway.
If your goal is to be a better corporate environmental steward, the five tips mentioned above will help. Many businesses require vehicles to deliver products and pick up materials. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do to do so in a more environmentally responsible way.
Quorn and companies around the world united by mushrooms, and Mush
Mush Foods, an Israeli foodtech startup which pioneered a way to cultivate mycelium mushrooms, a sustainable protein for food, has teamed up with several fungi fermentation companies from abroad to form a new international trade association: The Fungi Protein Association (FPA).
The FPA will represent the interests of its member companies, including advocating for fungi protein in public policy in the US, Israel and the world, conducting consumer research, and more.
Mushroom cravings might mean your body wants Vitamin D.
While mushrooms have been used for centuries as meat replacements and natural medicine, various methods of fungi fermentation are creating a new crop of high-protein, high-fiber, meat alternatives. As such, fermented fungi are taking the alternative protein market by storm. Alongside plant and cell-based protein, it now represents one of the three mainstays of the burgeoning meat alternative sector.
Founded in 2021, the Israeli startup joins this brand-new collaboration alongside major British, American, and European companies including ENOUGH, Quorn, Nature’s Fynd, Bosque Foods, The Better Meat Co., The Protein Brewery, Prime Roots, Mycotechnology, Aqua Cultured Foods, and Mycorena, plus NGOs ProVeg and The Good Food Institute.
A 2022 study in Nature found that replacing just 20 percent of beef with microbial protein – the products FPA members are pioneering – could cut global deforestation by a whopping 50 percent.
“Israel is on the cutting edge, innovating foodtech solutions addressing major global challenges including the climate crisis, food security, and nutrition.The ‘Startup Nation’ is also situated in a region considered particularly vulnerable to climate change, with the Middle East heating up twice as fast as the global average,” noted Shalom Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Mush Foods.
Co-founded by Professors Dan Levanon and Dr. Idan Pereman of the Migal Galilee Research Institute, Mush Foods grows mycelium, the delicate and highly nutritious underground network of threads which constitutes more than 90 percent of the fungi’s biomass.
Fungi for protein!
Mush Foods piloted in Manhattan last week, reflecting consumer demand for this kind of protein alternative. Twenty percent of 6000 employees at major financial institutions in New York chose to purchase Mush Foods’ 50CUT hybrid beef and mycelium burger over some 10 other main dish options.
Mush foods makes meat for mushroom burgers
The Global Alternative Protein Market is expected to reach $36.61 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 12.4 percent during the forecast period of 2022 to 2029, according to Research & Markets. A recent Good Food Institute Israel report found that by the end of June, Israeli alternative protein startups and companies this year raised $320 million, placing the tiny Middle Eastern state second only to the United States ($857 million) terms of alternative protein investments.
A Mush Foods mushroom based burger served to New Yorkers, to their delight
“The world needs more protein, and fungi fermentation offers a delicious, sustainable way to do just that,” said Marco Bertacca of Quorn Foods, the British company which took the lead on the new international initiative. “We’re excited to partner with our fellow fungi enthusiasts to raise awareness and appreciation of the wonderful ways fungi can improve human health and the health of our planet.”
In May 2022, Dutch mycoprotein company ENOUGH also announced its partnership with Peace of Meat, the Belgian subsidiary of Israeli cultured meat start-up MeaTech, to combine cultivated fat biomass and fermented fungi mycoprotein to add a meaty mouthfeel to ENOUGH’s mushroom-based products. That’s a lot of mushroom business going around.
The Islamic regime in Iran has lost its head and control over women who refuse to wear the Islamic state’s stringent dress codes, and the hijab. The latest casualty is a young woman who faces persecution from her country. Her crime? Not wearing a head covering when competing at an international skating event.
Niloufar Mardani, a member of the national Iranian speed skating team for years, stepped on a podium in Turkey this month to receive her first-place award. She was not wearing a headscarf, which is compulsory if representing Iran outside the country. But she also said she was competing as an individual not as a member of the Iran team.
There was a picture of Mardani on social media on the same podium in Istanbul wearing a black T-shirt with the word Iran on it.
Iran’s sports ministry issued a short statement emphasizing that athletes require “maintaining Islamic values in sports competitions” and added that Mardani, pictured below, had not competed in clothing approved by the state.
Niloufar Mardani, a world leading athlete and veterinarian. Images from her social media feed.
“This athlete has not been a member of the Iranian national team since last month and attended this competition as part of a personal trip without obtaining necessary permits,” the statement said. The Iranian team had not participated in the tournament.
Last month rock climber Elnaz Rekabi represented the Iranian national team in South Korea while not wearing a headscarf. This drew headlines around the world.
A crowd had gathered around Rekabi to welcome her when her flight arrived in Tehran because some supporters believed she did it as an act against the regime. Later Rekabi apologised and said that she didn’t have time to put on her hijab before the competition.
Ongoing protests consume the Iranian public. New energy against the regime has been stirred up since a young women died while in custody of the modesty police in Iran.
Since Saudi Arabia’s prince and prime minister decided to expand Saudi Arabia’s tourism to include westerners, desert and historical tourism was top of the list. One of the main attractions of Saudi Arabia, to rival Jordan’s Petra, will be Alula, Al-Ula, or confusingly spelt in English as AlUla. The Saudi ruler, crown prince and prime minister Mohammed bin Salman wants Saudi Arabia to diversify and to be liked by the West. Part of the plan for this Vision 2030 is to increase heritage tourism.
AlUla is the place and a special commission has been set up to make that happen. Some new research includes findings on desert kites and pendant shaped funerary highways. For archeologists, getting a gig in Saudi Arabia could be the hottest ticket in town.
Archeologists are being flown in, hotels are being built, and historical tourism sites are being promoted and made accessible to westerners. Historically the only tourism that came to Saudi Arabia were business travellers or people coming in to offer English as a second language ESL classes. The times have changed. Although we like what’s happening at AlUla and would like to visit one day, we are less impressed by Neom projects that radically change the landscape (ski on fake snow?) and expel people already living there, like at The Line.
Where is Alula?
Located 1,100km from Riyadh in north-west Saudi Arabia, AlUla is a place of extraordinary natural and human heritage. The vast area, covering 22,561km², includes a lush oasis valley, towering sandstone mountains and ancient cultural heritage sites dating back thousands of years.
Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia, Makes Its Public Debut
The most well-known and recognised site in AlUla is Hegra, Saudi Arabia’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site. A 52-hectare ancient city, Hegra (Mada’in Salih) was the principal southern city of the Nabataean Kingdom and is comprised of nearly 100 well-preserved tombs with elaborate facades cut into sandstone outcrops. The people of Petra were also Nabateans, teaching the world many a useful thing like desert irrigation for crops.
Current research suggests Hegra was the most southern outpost of the Romans after conquering the Nabataeans in 106 CE.
In addition to Hegra, AlUla is home to a series of fascinating historical and archaeological sites such as: an Old Town surrounded by an ancient oasis, Dadan, the capital of the Dadan and Lihyan Kingdoms, which is considered one of the most developed 1st-millennium BCE cities of the Arabian Peninsula; thousands of ancient rock art sites and inscriptions in Jabal Ikmah; and Hijaz Railway stations.
Al-Ula, Old Town
The region is home to vernacular architecture as well, with mud buildings in disrepair. And Maraya, a mirrored music hall is a stand out feature to this ancient desert setting.
Electric airplane stocks should be going up with this news: Eviation Aircraft, an Israeli-American venture of for an all-electric aircraft, announced this week that it has surpassed $2 billion USD in orders for its 9-seater all-electric Alice airplane.
The all-electric airplane is intended for commuter distances of no more than 3 hours of flight. But you have to start somewhere. Safer than a helicopter, and emitting zero emissions (if electrified by solar power or wind energy), Alice will go in history books like the Wright brothers.
The project started with a small team of Israeli founders, who managed the project, including investments and prototyping close to their market in the US. Israel tried to scale an all-electric car company in the past Better Place but it was too early for the Israeli consumer. Prior to that, decades before, Israel ventured to create an international car brand called Susita. The problem was that the fiberglass body was liable to be eaten by wild camels. It was a smart move for the Israelis to move to America to launch their brand, a typical move for most Israeli startup companies.
The troubled history of the Susita, the short-lived Israeli-made car reflects the conflict between Israel’s attraction to Western technology and the Middle-Eastern corruption that often hobbles advances in the region.
The Eviation Alice (we wrote about it here), is an all electric passenger airplane completed its first flight on September 27, in Washington. It was the first all-electric commuter airplane to pass this test.
“Our order book passing the US$ 2 billion mark is a significant commercial milestone,” said Gregory Davis, President and CEO of Eviation. “This success demonstrates that the Alice is leading the industry and meeting the market demand for zero-carbon flight.
“We are already seeing a growing clamour from passengers for sustainable aviation, matched by an increasingly robust attitude from regulators. By ordering the Alice, our forward-thinking customers are positioning themselves wisely for the future.”
World’s first green passenger plane
The Alice, built from a clean-sheet design around all-electric propulsion, produces no carbon emissions and costs significantly less to operate per flight hour compared to light jets or high-end turboprops. The aircraft is also quieter than combustion engine aircraft, allowing more flights into cities and communities where noise is a factor. You can read more about the partners in the project here. Like the cellcom industry, EVs in cars, and yes electric planes, take a village of multinational corporations to build.
Together, these developments promise to usher in a new era of low-cost point-to-point travel, reshaping the commuter and regional air market. Alice is powered by two magni650 electric propulsion units developed by magniX.
“With almost 300 aircraft now on order, the Alice is receiving strong customer endorsement. The aircraft is capturing the hearts and minds of the marketplace with its beautiful design, low operating costs and carbon zero footprint,” said Eddie Jaisaree, Vice President, Commercial Sales at Eviation.
“The Alice will not just protect the planet but also create a more enjoyable flight experience for passengers. Considering the environmental and fuel cost challenges facing conventional airlines, incorporating the Alice into our customers’ fleets will give them a significant competitive advantage.”
Ancient man built elaborate hunting traps, and worked collaboratively. These are desert kites found in Jordan, in the Middle East.
Hunting season is in November in Canada and those looking to trap or entice a deer onto their property might get a kick out of knowing how the ancients did it. They used desert kites, or a sort of mega-trap to catch their prey. The structures seen from up high in the sky were named ‘kites’ by aviators in the 1920s because they looked like old-fashioned children’s kites with streamers. Until now, the origins and function of Saudi Arabia’s desert kites, monumental structures (like the pendant burial graves) had been a matter of debate.
But new research from French archaeologists reveal that Middle East desert kites were hunting traps, and not enclosures for domesticating animals as proposed earlier.
Aerial view of a kite in the Khaybar area of north-west Saudi Arabia. These ancient hunting structures were named ‘kites’ by aviators in the 1920s because, observed from above, their form is reminiscent of old-fashioned child’s kites with streamers. (Diaa Albukaai and Kévin Guadagnini, Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, RCU-Afalula-CNRS)
Remy Crassard, a leading expert on desert kites, notes that they are some of the largest ancient structures of their era from about 7000 BCE, that is 5000 years older than Stonehenge. But not as old as the Göbekli Tepe complex in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey which is dated to 11,500 years old.
The oldest kites, found in southern Jordan, have been dated to 7000 BCE. The age of newly found kites in north-west Arabia is still being determined but appears to straddle the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age which is about 5000 to 2000 BCE.
Al-Bad, Saudi Arabia. Remy Crassard is measuring altitudes at pre-historic sites.
Crassard, affiliated with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research is a co-director of the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, estimates that 700 to 800 kites were known 20 years ago compared to about 6,500 now, with the number still growing.
Stylised diagram of kites shows their key components. (Drawn by Rebecca Repper)
Based on recent research conducted in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Armenia and Kazakhstan, Crassard’s team affirms that kites were used for hunting and not for domestication, that they “mark a profound change in human strategies for trapping animals”, and that “the development of these mega-traps made a spectacular human impact on the landscape”.
In Saudi Arabia, research led by Rebecca Repper of the University of Western Australia, concentrated on the Harrat ‘Uwayrid, an upland area with an extinct volcano. The team found that a distinct type of V-shaped kit was the dominant form in their study area, in contrast to kites found elsewhere in the region.
Kites have been described in a variety of shapes, including V, ‘sock’, ‘hatchet’ and W-shaped.
The variety of kite forms recorded on the Ḥarrat’Uwayriḍ: (a–c) are simple V-shaped kites, where two converging walls end in a trap formed by a precipice (indicated by crenulated line) and/or a cell. The funnel can be curved (a, b) or straight (c); (d–f) are ‘hatchet’ kites, so named for the lopsided enclosure and the position of the trap/s proximal to the apex of the guiding walls; (g) is a ‘rounded’ kite, a type that displays a rounded enclosure, usually with attached cell(s); (h) is a single-walled kite where the topography (here a precipice, indicated by crenulated line) acts as a second barrier; (i) is a possible ‘sock’ kite, where the walls converge to an extended curved funnel before ending in a small, enclosed area. (Drawn by Rebecca Repper, background imagery Google Earth)
Kites may have led to hunting well beyond subsistence levels, related to “an increase in symbolic behaviour related to food production and social organisation”. Some wild species such as gazelles might have altered their migratory routes as a result, and other species might have been hunted to extinction.
The Royal Commission of Saudi Arabia is regenerating AlUla as a leading global destination for cultural and natural heritage. One of the centrepieces by 2035 will be the Cultural Oasis, as shown above. From this spot tourists will visit desert kites.
How to build a desert kite
Regardless of form, all kites in the region have driving lines of low stone walls that converge to funnel animals towards a trap such as a pit or precipice. On average, the driving lines of the AlUla kites, in Saudi Arabia, are about 200 yards long. Elsewhere they can stretch for miles.
Repper says the shorter length shows the local knowledge of the hunters, who placed the traps in areas where existing landscapes naturally restricted animal movements. Kite placement also suggests that the hunters had an intimate knowledge of prey movements.
Aerial view of a kite in the Khaybar area of north-west Saudi Arabia. New archaeological findings on ‘kites’ show the ingenuity and perhaps collaborative nature of the region’s peoples in the past. (Diaa Albukaai and Kévin Guadagnini, Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project, RCU-Afalula- CNRS)
While kites recorded in the AlUla region of Saudi Arabia tended to funnel prey towards a sudden precipice, kites elsewhere often end in concealed pits, in which hundreds of animals could be killed during a single hunt. This difference could be an adaptation to the local geography or an evolution of trap hunting.
Photographing desert kites
In Khaybar, two types of kites have been distinguished: traditionally defined desert kites and rudimentary proto-kites, which do not have a well-defined enclosure surrounded by traps or pits. The team suggests that the proto-kites might have been a precursor to desert kites. The more complex kites may reflect less opportunistic and more formalized hunting techniques.
The recent studies expand on earlier discoveries of the Neolithic period in the region, including the construction of large-scale ritual structures known as mustatils.
What are mustatils?
Mustatils are organized stone formations, spread over Saudi Arabia in an area as big as Poland.
Mustatils are newly found rock buildings in northwest of Saudi Arabia believed to be among earliest stone monuments in history. Mustatils is a plural form of the Arabic term for rectangles and these structures consist of two thick-walled ends, connected by two or more long walls to create a series of giant rectangle courtyards, ranging in length from about 20 yards to half a mile.
As part of the large mustatils, several mysterious “gates” were analyzed are believed to have been elements of procession for ritual sacrifices, as remains of animals including cattle, sheep and gazelle were found. No human remains or elements from domestic life were discovered in the excavation process, but further digging will take place.
‘The Use of Desert Kites as Hunting Mega Traps: Functional Evidence and Potential Impacts on Socioeconomic and Ecological Spheres’ by Rémy Crassard, et al, published in Journal of World Prehistory. Project sponsored by CNRS and French National Research Agency.
‘Kites of AlUla County and the Ḥarrat ‘Uwayriḍ, Saudi Arabia‘ by Rebecca Repper, et al, published in Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. Project sponsored by RCU.
‘New Arabian desert kites and potential proto-kites extend the global distribution of hunting mega-traps’ by Olivier Barge, et al, published in Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports. Khaybar data in this article results from the Khaybar Longue Durée Archaeological Project.
At one point, Egypt supplied nearly one-tenth of the world’s cotton exports, but today, less than 0.5 percent of the world’s cotton is produced in Egypt. Climate change is impacting their harvest. Magued Makram/UNIDO Egypt, Kafr ElSheikh, Egypt 2019
The world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton, Better Cotton, whose members include international fashion and textile brands, has issued a stark warning to leaders during COP27: global leaders must not only strengthen their commitment but turn talk into action. They must ensure a just transition for everyone and prioritise climate justice for the world’s farmers and agricultural workforce.
Better Cotton is asking for greater collaboration across the fashion sector and its textile value chains to drive greater transparency, advocacy, and action to support smallholder farming communities around the globe. The sector’s key players, including alliances, trade associations, brands, retailers, and governments, must continue o advance the goals of the Paris Agreement to avoid catastrophic climate and environmental tipping points. Better Cotton believes that climate mitigation and adaptation as well as a just transition are only possible if there is sustained investment in regenerative agriculture and sustainable farming.
“We know that climate change poses a great risk to cotton farmers – with rising temperatures and more extreme weather events like flooding and unpredictable rains. We will help on the ground by incentivising farmers to embrace both climate-smart and regenerative agricultural practices, in turn helping cotton communities survive and thrive,” says Alan McClay, CEO, Better Cotton.
Farmers celebrate their hard work during the cotton harvest, Magued Makram/UNIDO Egypt. Kafr ElSheikh, Egypt, 2019
Leaders must strengthen and accelerate climate interventions that support the world’s smallholder agricultural producers before further catastrophic climate change events change the course of many peoples’ lives.
Changes in temperature and rainfall patterns linked to climate change are likely to make cotton more challenging to grow in many regions. Expected increases in temperatures and the difference in their seasonal patterns could lead to a decrease in the agricultural productivity of some crops. Lower yields will therefore impact the lives of already vulnerable communities.
The recent tragic floods in Pakistan illustrate how the cotton sector can be impacted overnight by extremes in weather patterns and affect the livelihoods of millions of people. According to McKinsey, the fashion sector must align with the 1.5-degree pathway over the next eight years and intensify its efforts to make agricultural practices more sustainable. If the textile industry does not address this, the 2030 emissions reduction targets will be missed.
Sustainable solutions for cotton farmers
Solutions already exist. Egyptian cotton farmers have been embracing and implementing the Better Cotton Standard as a tool to set metrics and establish more sustainable production practices in recent years. Since 2020, Better Cotton has been working closely with on-the-ground partners – the Cotton Research Institute and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). They help to ensure that Egyptian farmers gain access to the knowledge and tools they need to adopt more sustainable practices and improve their livelihoods.
Some 2,000 smallholder cotton farmers in the Kafr El Sheikh and Damietta Governorates of Egypt participate in the Better Cotton programme.
As part of Better Cotton’s bold strategy designed to deliver substantial environmental, social and economic impact across the cotton industry by 2030, it launched its climate change mitigation target in 2021. The target was set to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions per tonne of Better Cotton produced by 50% by 2030 (from a 2017 baseline).
Four additional targets covering soil health, pesticide use, smallholder livelihoods and women’s empowerment are expected to be announced in early 2023 with impact indicators providing robust metrics for tracking and evaluating against the baseline.
Since its formation in 2009 Better Cotton has had a significant impact on the sustainability of the world’s cotton production. For example, on average Better Cotton production had a 19% lower GHG emissions intensity per tonne of lint than comparison production across China, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Turkey, a recent study analysing data from three seasons (2015-16 to 2017-18) showed.
Better Cotton is taking the lead in developing solutions for physical traceability enabling retailers and brands to make stronger sustainability claims related to the cotton content and provenance of their products, as well as a mechanism for farmers to be remunerated for their more sustainable practices.
Ahmad Abu Marhia was beheaded just two months before he was due to start a new life in Canada. His body was dumped outside his parents house in the West Bank.
A gay Palestinian man, Ahmad Abu Marhia, only 25, was found beheaded in the West Bank, Palestinian Authority on October 5. He had been living in Israel on asylum, fearful he would be killed if his Palestinian community found him close to home.
A video of the murder of Abu Marhia was circulating on social media and the motive for the murder is not known. But what is gleaned from the LGBTIQA+ community in Israel is that Abu Marhia had spent two years in Israel waiting on an asylum claim. He had death threats against him and was waiting to get the go-ahead to move to Canada. He was supposed to be moving there next month.
In the Israeli media it is reported that he was kidnapped from Israel to the West Bank where he wasn’t protected. His family, disagreed, said he came to Hebron to work.
Ahmad’s photo in rememberance.
The Associated Press reported his decapitated head and body were left near his family’s home late at night October 5. The video and photos of the incident went viral on social media late October 6: “I was shocked because of the way they killed him, and the way they decided to post and share it online,” says Tomer Aldubi, 29, a gay Israeli Jewish activist and artist who has worked with LGBTQ Palestinians for many years and knew Marakhia who spoke with the Bay Area Reporter in the US.
Homosexuality is rejected by conservative Muslims in Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, but in Israel you can live your life freely and openly if you are gay, especially in Tel Aviv. (Tel Aviv’s LGBTQ community also works to make their annual gay parade more ecological). Abu Marhia was hoping to go to Canada, where the country openly accepts refugees from the Palestinian Authority, Afghanistan and Syria.
Activist Natali Farah told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper that Ahmad Abu Marhia was well known. “Everyone is scared,” she said. Palestinians also expressed revulsion at the beheading. There are about 90 Palestinians who identify as LGBT who currently live as asylum seekers in Israel.
If you are gay and an Arab and seek protection in the Palestinian Authority or Israel contact the Different House.
The organization works in the following fields:
Legal and welfare assistance to the Arab LGBT people
Strengthening the community bond by encouraging volunteering within the Arab LGBT community
Creating social events designated for the Arab LGBT community
Making, translating and publishing info material regarding the Arab LGBT community in Arabic
Creating network of collaborations with relevant organizations in Palestine, Israel and other countries
Since Saudi Arabia’s prince and prime minister decided to expand Saudi Arabia’s tourism to include westerners, desert and historical tourism was top of the list. One of the main attractions of Saudi Arabia, to rival Jordan’s Petra, will be 
