Wait a minute, there, Pisa, you’re not the only contortionist building on the block! A beloved old minaret in a Mosul mosque that leans 8 feet off its perpendicular axis may soon topple; an unusual casualty of ongoing unrest in one of Iraq’s most dangerous cities.
Iraq’s leaning Hadba Tower is dangerously close to collapse
Provocative Israeli art explores the fake and fraudulent – but why?
Israeli photographic duo Wyse + Gabriely concluded their first European exhibition at London’s Neu Gallery this month; an attention-grabbing presentation that purportedly explores “the fake and the fraudulent”.
Masdar sues Spain over solar energy subsidy cuts
Masdar has sued the Spanish government. The multi-pronged company funded in part by the government of Abu Dhabi helped build the world’s first 24/7 solar power plant in Spain, a feat made possible in part with subsidies. But Spain has now cut incentives for renewable energy, which eats into Masdar’s investment.
Arab Gulf recycles paper, plastic, and cars!
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) does everything big, including recycling, and this week they’ve officially opened their first plant dedicated to recycling cars! An estimated 11,000 UAE vehicles get scrapped every month.
Some simply reach their shelf-life, others are abandoned at airport parking lots and city back streets by debt-ridden expatriates and native boys who no longer can pay for their luxury toys.
Now all that automotive litter will be put to better use: “This is the only facility today that can deal with end-of-life vehicles in the country. We encourage insurance companies, dealers and government departments to use this service,” said Najib Faris, chief commercial officer of Bee’ah, the plant operator.
Dumped cars will be manually dismantled, then sliced and diced to allow valuable metals to be salvaged, and plastics, tires, upholstery, cables and mechanical parts to be recycled or refurbished within the Bee’ah compound. Previously, old clunkers were sold to scrap dealers, who stripped off spare parts and sold the car carcasses on the international market.
Workers separate cables, which are sent to electronic waste traders, and foam cushions that can be recycled locally. Window glass is pulverized and used for landfill cover. The company aims to sell engines and transmissions to international companies that refurbish them.
The facility began trial operations in October and has already processed about 350 old cars. Its capacity is much greater; Darker El Rabaya, director of waste processing at Bee’ah, told The National that its “shredder” (the equipment for processing car bodies) has a capacity of 60 vehicles an hour.
“Recycling consumes a lot less energy and a lot less water than producing virgin materials,” said Faris. It also diverts waste from landfills.
While the facility is now technically ready, a key issue for the next few months is to ensure a steady supply. As long as car dumping remains an Emirati epidemic, that ought not be a problem.
We’ve heard that some Emiratis prefer to just abandon unwanted cars, even Mercedes, Jags and BMWs at the airport, rather than get them scrapped. This initiative could change that.
Image of the Bee’ah “shredder” from The National
“Pop Arak” Arakino raises eyebrows and elbows in Israel
There are usually no great surprises at the major wine festivals, which are held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. You tend to bump into the same winemakers over and over again. Some stands represent not wineries, but fruit-based liqueurs, or beer. At the Wine Jerusalem festival held last week, I was surprised to find a new twist on the classic Middle Eastern tipple, arak.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi ban high energy incandescent light bulbs
After July, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of the world’s largest oil producers, will no longer import high energy incandescent light bulbs. And by the end of the year, it will be impossible to buy them. Hit the jump to find out what this means for you.
5 reasons to go “no poo” and ditch shampoo
A new trend is sweeping across America: scores of people are ditching shampoo for more earth and hair-friendly alternatives – including nothing at all. But would this work in the Middle East? Would the lovely ladies of Lebanon ever give up their luscious shiny locks? Turns out, they wouldn’t have to. Check out five reasons to embrace “No poo.”
In Jordan, 33 percent standing can’t see their feet
Jordan is becoming a heavyweight on the global stage, but this is nothing to puff up about. The kingdom is among the world’s worst countries for obesity according to Oxfam’s World Food Index 2013, with 33% of standing Jordanians unable to see their feet. Over 14% of the population is also diabetic.
Dubai’s Burj Al Arab earns green globe certification
Dubai’s iconic Burj Al Arab hotel has earned an international Green Globe Certification. Not as news-worthy as when Tiger Woods teed off its rooftop, or when it served as cloud-touching tennis court for Andre Agassi and Roger Federer, but this nod from a recognized green rating system is making headlines for sustainable urban tourism.
Desert Breath spirals on Red Sea remind us of troubled Egypt’s immense beauty
To many Egyptians, the desert is a hostile place: water is scarce, terror cells hide in its vast expanse, or land mines make crossing them a death trap. But the Desert Breath land art project near Hurghada on the Red Sea coast reminds us that Egypt, despite its many troubles, is a place of extraordinary beauty.
Masafer Yatta: the Palestinian cave dwellers of Firing Zone 918 (photos)
Many environmentally aware people from the global middle and upper class choose off-grid living, though that lifestyle is usually supplemented with solar panels and other accoutrements. But for the 1,300 Palestinians who call Masafer Yatta home, living with almost nothing is no longer a choice.
Msemmen the Berber pancake recipe
It’s still chilly in the Middle East – still the season for comfort food. Try driving the cold away with msemmen, a flexible, square-shaped skillet cake (the best of Middle East and North African pancakes!), easily pulled apart into layers so you can stuff it.
Msemmen is similar to the Emirati Khameer bread (recipe here), which isn’t surprising, as they are both Berber in origin.
Msemmen is hard to pronounce, but delicious to eat. This is how you say it: Miss-i-men. It means greased, or oiled. And this is how you eat it: hot, with honey, between sips of mint tea.
Alia of the Cooking with Alia blog offers this recipe, with a YouTube video (below). It does take a bit of work, which reflects the old-fashioned tradition of hand-made food. Manipulating the dough with oiled hands, and layering it with a mixture of oil and butter, makes a unique skillet bread that’s a cross between rough puff pastry and a pancake.
The video below is less than six minutes long. It’s worth watching how Alia kneads the dough and then stretches it out by hand. It’s the sort of thing that takes practice, but once you know how to do it, you never forget. I was surprised at how little extra flour is needed to keep the dough from sticking – it’s the oil/butter mixture, which is incorporated at the last, unlike in Western bread recipes where all liquid ingredients are added at the beginning.
Below is Alia’s recipe. Comments in italics and edits are Green Prophet’s.
Msemmen, Berber Pancake
Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
1 cup of semolina
3/4 cup of oil
3 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of dry yeast
1-2 cups of warm water (depending on the quality of absorption of your flour)
Mix all the dry ingredients.
Slowly add water and work the dough until you are able to create a ball with the dough.
If you are kneading the dough by hand, use energetic and quick strokes. Knead for 20 minutes while adding water until you get an elastic dough.
You can use a kneading machine (mixer or food processor) to speed up the process. Put the dough ball in the machine and automatically knead for the next 10 minutes while adding water.
Make small balls with the dough (the size of golf balls) and let the dough rest for 20 minutes. The resting period is important; don’t skip it.
Note: the amount of water needed depends on the quality of absorption of the flour you are using. The goal is to obtain an elastic and malleable dough. if your dough is too sticky add some flour; if it is too hard add some water and continue kneading it.
Steps for folding the Msemmen:
Mix the melted butter with the oil.
Spread some of the oil/butter mixture on a flat surface. Take one dough ball and flatten it with your hands. Gently keep stretching the dough until you get a thin circle of dough. Fold the circle into a square as shown in the video.
Steps for cooking the Msemmen:
Gently spread the dough square with your fingertips until you get a thin dough square.
On low heat (in a skillet), cook the Msemmen 5-10 minutes in each side.
Notice how Alia gently pushes the pancake down to break up any bubbles created when the first side was cooked.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNiyTkBaIuo[/youtube]
More flavorsome Middle-Eastern breads on Green Prophet:
Marrakech biker chicks wear bootleg Chanel and Louis Vuitton Abayas
If you thought that women from the Middle East and North Africa all wear drab black blankets over the head and stay home to cook dinner, these colorful photos by Moroccan-born artist Hassan Hajjaj might challenge that notion.
Based in London but heavily influenced by his roots and the reggae scene in his adopted country, Hassan Hajjaj created a series of images that show a side to Muslim women and North African culture that rarely makes mainstream news.
Kesh Angels, a collection that is currently on show at the Taymour Grahne Gallery in Tribeca, shows Marrakech “biker chicks” wearing bootleg Chanel and Louis Vuitton Abayas.
Contrary to the depressing images most commonly associated with (oppressed) Muslim women, these photos show women sporting polka dots, funky shoes, a lot of makeup, heart-shaped sunglasses, and all kinds of good-natured attitude.
(See also ‘Eco-Hijabs’ on the rise)
Many of the women depicted in Kesh Angels are friends of Hajjaj, a master photographer who frequently designs the clothing that his models wear in shoots.
Hajjaj is a versatile artist whose repertoire includes portraiture, installation, interior designed (including recycled furniture made from recycled Coca-Cola crates and aluminum cans), but this is the first time that he has had a solo show in New York.
Founded by the same art collector behind the blog Art of the Middle East, which celebrates the unique creative talent bursting from the MENA region, the Taymour Grahne Gallery will showcase this fantastic series through 8 March, 2014.
Moving Red Sea fish farm cages shows positive eco results: new study
Aquaculture, or fish farming at sea and in land based ponds, has been practiced successfully by Israelis for many years. While most fish farming produces freshwater fish like carp, tilapia and trout in fresh water ponds, salt water aquaculture has also been “successfully” practiced in the Mediterranean Sea.
Walking architecture envisions a built environment based on human motion
Daydreams can catalyze real change. Look to the far-reaching influence of designers who choose to work in the hypothetical, where unrestricted creativity is unfettered by cost, resources, and environmental impact. If only most of the Middle East’s fantastical architecture stayed imaginary.