Prince Ali of Jordan believes that Muslim women shouldn’t be disqualified from world-class sports because they wear the hijab, the traditional Islamic head covering. This youngest vice-president of the world football’s governing body Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is a vocal supporter in the campaign against the hijab ban. In 2007, FIFA, banned players from wearing […]
Although water scarcity is unlikely to lead to water waters, it is still devastating for the development and survival of any nation The latest report by the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), “The Green Economy in a Changing Arab World”, definitely doesn’t make for happy reading. In fact, it is positively terrifying. According […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hh0-lxNqoo[/youtube] Earlier this month, Japan ended its love affair with nuclear power. Does Jordan begin where Japan left off? Environmentalists applaud the shutdown of Japan’s last working reactor, but economists are not as enthused. Before the Fukushima disaster knocked out four of their 54 reactors, atomic energy provided almost 30% of the country’s electricity. All remaining reactors have been […]
We’re fond of saying that nature knows no borders but we could never have illustrated the point as well as a recent story from the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI). The Barn Owls pictured above have recently parented seven little owlets in a nesting box situated on Kibbutz Ma’oz Hai’im just […]
I just spit out my coffee. About to move house for the fifth time in as many years, I take a day to escape the cardboard box Himalayas towering in the living room. Plus there’s heavy construction going on next door, and it sounds like all of Amman’s stray cats are in heat. I grab a laptop and […]
Tomatoes are staple to the Israeli diet; Israel looks to Jordan to augment its tomato supply. Last year a spike in cottage cheese prices helped spark the tent protests in Tel Aviv and inspired the worldwide Occupy movement. Cottage is a staple of the Israeli diet, so much so that it became a national symbol […]
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has wrapped up a national phase-out of all central cooling systems using chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), reports the Jordan Times: “Jordan’s program for phasing out the use of CFCs, aimed at disposing 1500 tons of the harmful substance, was achieved one year ahead of schedule”, said Ghazi Odat, Director of the Ministry of Environment’s […]
Greenhouses will sprout in Aqaba’s desert under a pilot called The Sahara Forest Project - led by Norway.
You see all kinds of weird transportation in the Middle East: but the worst is drifting where young Arab males purposefully “drift” their cars into crowds of people. I don’t understand the lust for cars. I’m unresponsive to the siren call of Formula 1, NASCAR, and Top Gear. I think commuter trains and subways are […]
Guests descend like locusts since I moved to Jordan. This time we decided to try something new. Mass transit is not an option outside Amman city limits. Navigating a rental car through craggy mountains and city roads would test Evel Knievel. My visitors speak no Arabic, further limiting free travel. And most are past their hitchhiking and […]
Green Prophet’s Karin meeting Jordan’s prince in 2010 in Switzerland. Way back in 2010 a group of high profile water researchers and dignitaries from the Middle East met in Switzerland to find ways of making liquid peace. Diplomacy works through slow channels, but a new group of ministers and VIPs from around the region have agreed […]
Our interview with activist Basel Burgan, a leading figure against nuclear proliferation for energy, in Jordan. The Jordan Times reports that energy officials have expanded their search for a nuclear reactor site in Mafraq despite growing resistance from city residents and anti-nuclear supporters throughout the Kingdom. It’s also the final phase of vendor selection for […]
Begin with a 3-pronged disclaimer: I’m no engineer; I’m as political as a daisy; and since leaving university, my preferred way of learning is fairly chaotic. I bump into things. That draw me to other things. Thing One and Thing Two quickly lead to Thing Fifty-Three; and when I look up, blinking, discombobulated, I’m “sort of” knowledgeable about […]
Full of adventures, and matching the rhythm of the place, Does recounts his long hitchhiking journey from Belgium all the way to Egypt. First, stay with your feet to the ground: Moving from Europe to the Middle East isn’t something you do overnight. Especially if you’re not willing to take an aeroplane, whether because entering […]
America joins Jordan in a celebration of green, but we are not sold on the deal. The USA and Jordan recently entered into environmental partnership, cosigning a plan to promote four distinct Jordanian initiatives: ecosystem conservation; increased education; improved private sector performance; and stronger environmental law. This agreement wrapped up a one-day forum on Environmental Technical Cooperation […]