Boat-in theatre makes waves in Tel Aviv, not all welcome
Tel Aviv is creating new solutions for missing culture in the city like the "boat in theatre" instead of addressing the centers and culture that exists.
Jaffa
Israel’s boring company plans 90 miles of underground trains
The idea of an Israeli subway system always seemed perilous in the height of terror attacks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. A bus with 20 or 50 people blowing up isn't tolerable, but a mass transit system with an expected 2 million passengers per day, about 1/4 of the country's population? That's what's being planned for Israel. We imagine the terrorist threat is either under control, or we've got bigger fish to fry.
Tel Aviv makes Covid-friendly breathing sidewalks
Tel Aviv makes breathable sidewalk space, stealing from the streets, giving to the cafegoers.
Pod hostels and chic tents for let, Jaffa style
My first experience in an economy budget hostel in Tel Aviv was less than savory. A crowded, stinking dorm room for what was something like $20 a night, 20 years ago. A German woman manager who announced reduced rent over a loudspeaker late at night and early in the morning if you wanted to help […]
No room at the inn for Eurovision? Go glamping in Tel Aviv park, instead
Tent City a few years ago had connotations of anxiety and despair (see Occupy Tel Aviv), now the City of Tel Aviv is embracing the idea of tents as they gets ready to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. AirBNB has already taken over the city, but still hotel prices are too high and the city […]
Uri Geller predicted it: An ancient, kosher natural soap factory found in Jaffa
Mentalist Uri Geller is building a museum in the world’s most ancient port city, Jaffa. When they start digging, an ancient olive soap factory is unearthed. The impressive masbena – or soap-manufacturing factory – dates back to the nineteenth century was discovered along with several large underground chambers. “Our work on the museum required, among […]
Greet, meet, and eat with African asylum seekers in Israel
If you live in south Tel Aviv in the Shapiro neighborhood by the central bus station you might come in contact with an African migrant or refugee. Unless you live side by side with them, it’s doubtful that you’ll get a chance to talk to one of the tens of thousands of men, and sometimes […]
Dutch Ambassador Sends off Swarm of Sovev Tel Aviv Cyclists
A swarm of cyclists descended upon Tel Aviv on October 5th to participate in the city’s third annual Sovev cycling race, and the Dutch Ambassador was there to give them a grand send off! Wearing a suit, Caspar Veldkamp congratulated Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai for joining over 60 cities in Europe who have signed […]
Fourteen Percent of Tel Aviv is Biking to Work or School
There’s been a huge jump in Tel Avivians riding on two wheels in the last decade. When I first visited Tel Aviv about 12 or 13 years ago I was one of the only cyclists on the road, along with a few other nuts, and the African immigrant workers hauling around skeins of fabric in […]
Tel Aviv Goes on Bike Impounding Rampage
Bikes blocking traffic or crosswalks are being impounded in Tel Aviv. From the first time I visited Tel Aviv more than a decade ago, up until today so much has changed in the way the city’s residents accept cycling. Back then if you rode a bike you were either a migrant worker pushing fabric rolls […]
Loveat Jaffa: a 20th Century Orange-Packing Plant Turned Rustic Cafe
The most creative design solutions are often spurred by the tightest restrictions and this is definitely true of the new loveat branch in Jaffa, Israel. Commissioned to transform a 20th century orange-packing plant just south of Tel Aviv into a hip new coffee shop, Ronen Levin and Eran Chehanowitz faced several challenges. Not only were […]
Dinner in the Blue Sky: But is it Green?
This venue offers dining that’s head and shoulders above the rest, literally. Dinner in the Sky is a self-contained “restaurant” comprised of tables, seats and kitchen on a platform that’s lifted skywards by a construction crane. Restaurant lifespan is fleeting, usually commissioned as part of a special promotion or business event. The system has also […]
Hanging Laundry Photographs Help You Toss Your Dryer
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 […]
Watch TEDx LIVE from Jaffa, Israel Today
Green Prophet is happy to support TEDx events organized in the Middle East. While the event today in Jaffa, TEDxJaffa Desire to know The Other is not specifically environment focused, many of the attendees – who are just as important as speakers – come from the clean tech background and have a desire to know […]
Green Love “Sticks” In Jaffa
A Ukranian woman and an Israeli man (a couple in love) pose for green love in digital times, in Old Jaffa overlooking Tel Aviv. I’ve been singing Lovers In A Dangerous Time by the Canadian singer Bruce Cockburn over the last week or so. A perfect song, an anthem for my trip around Jaffa yesterday […]
Eid Al-Adha: Getting close to your meat
Green Prophet’s Daniella witnesses the Muslim holiday ritual slaughtering of a sheep, in Jaffa. Last Friday I was determined to find a sheep slaughter. It was Eid Al-Adha, the Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice. The story goes that Ibrahim was about to slaughter his son Ismail, when an angel came and redirected him to a […]
Yacobi Plumbs Israel's Built Environment in 'Constructing a Sense of Place'
In Constructing a Sense of Place: Architecture and the Zionist Discourse (Ashgate, 2004), architect and planner Haim Yacobi has compiled a fascinating collection of essays on how the Israeli landscape was born. The book begins with the 1934 Levant Fair, for which the flying camel logo (right) was developed to represent the growing Jewish community […]
Tour of Tel Aviv with Cities of Tomorrow Conference
(Kiryat Sefer resident and activist Miri Kupermintz on the park site. All photos by Daniella Cheslow) A tour of Tel Aviv organized last week by the Cities of Tomorrow conference offered good news and bad news about the 100-year-old Hebrew city. The good news is that it looks like the decade-long citizens’ battle to get […]
Coming Soon: A Wall of Skyscrapers Between Tel Aviv and Jaffa?
A year after a municipal planning committee decided to put plans for a row of skyscrapers near Jaffa on hold, the plans are back on track. A new policy document formulated by a Tel Aviv planning committee calls for the construction of a row of very tall buildings in the south of the city, some […]
Sustainability In The City (of Tel Aviv), To Celebrate 100 Years Now And 100 In The Future
Some green groups are criticizing the city of Tel Aviv for not being sustainable at all; they’re also criticizing the city for this new conference happening April 1-2, on urban sustainability. It is part of dozens of events to celebrate Tel Aviv’s 100 year birthday this year. For your reading pleasure, and interest, Green Prophet […]
Na Laga'at Brings Slow Food Farmer's Market to Jaffa
The Slow Food movement brought a farmer’s market to the Tel Aviv Port (or, namal) this past summer, helping city dwellers enrich their salads and dishes with some great local (and carbon-emission low) produce. Now, to enrich our winter soups, the Slow Food movement, the Jaffa Port, and non-profit organization Na Laga’at are all joining […]
Segway Mobile Tourism Information Points Hit Tel Aviv and Jaffa
As part of its overall activities to improve service for tourists visiting the city this summer, the Association for Tourism Tel Aviv-Jaffa has introduced Segway mobile information points onto the city streets. The unique, colorful Segways can be found on the streets of Tel Aviv seven days a week from 13:00 – 19:00, particularly in […]