One of America’s most enduring gifts to the Middle East is the suburban indoor shopping mall. Israel’s first was the Ayalon Center outside of Tel Aviv (1986). Istanbul saw the Atakoy Mall go up in 1987. Jordan’s pioneer was Amman’s Abdoun Mall in 2001 (Picture from virtualtourist.com), and Beirut‘s ABC Mall opened its doors in […]
Although Israel and Jordan have not come to a joint stance on the Red-Dead Canal, Haaretz’s tenacious environmental reporter Zafrir Rinat reported Sunday that the two nations have banned the use of chicken manure as fertilizer in an effort to cut down a population of houseflies that thrives on manure and makes life miserable for […]
We’ve posted here before about a Walk About Love, a hike for Israel and a bike ride to benefit Israel’s environment. This October, get a more regional view through Peace Cycle, a bike trip from Amman to Jerusalem. While the rough terrain and stunning views will certainly be rewarding, Peace Cycle’s main purpose is activism […]
Jordan’s capital city, Amman, will soon have a spectacular landmark: the Sanaya Twin Towers, which will tower more than 200 meters over the city and will be the country’s tallest landmark. The project, which means starlight in Arabic, comes with a $300 million pricetag. It was begun in July, 2008, and has required the removal […]
Jabal Moussa, Jordan So we all know that the Middle East is biospherically fascinating, but at the ongoing meeting of the UN International Coordinating Council of the Man and Biosphere last Tuesday, UNESCO took notice as well, adding more Middle Eastern sites to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves. In fact, for the first time, […]
“Jordan needs to develop sustainable or ‘green’ construction practices based on traditional concepts with modern material and practices,” said Jordan’s Princess Sumaya, president of the Royal Scientific Society, at the opening of the two day Think Green 2 in Real Estate Development Conference in Amman on Tuesday, May 26. The country has started with its […]
During the week of May 17, 2009 , attention was drawn to the California cleantech mission that introduced visiting investors to Israel’s cleantech world. Other big news was the announcement by Israel’s neighbor, Jordan, that it will be going ahead with the proposed Red-Dead Canal without its former partner, Israel. For more on this and […]
In a move that will have environmentalists and government officials in Israel reeling, the Jordanian government announced this week that it will go ahead with the controversial Dead Sea-Red Sea Canal from Aqaba in the Red Sea to the Dead Sea in central Jordan. The announcement for the $10 billion project (some reports say $5 […]
Stylish and modern, the Kuwait-born Queen Rania of Jordan is helping Jordanian farmers go organic, reports the Jordan Times. Known for her humanitarian work on women’s rights, she is now launching a national program for organic farmers. The plan is to convert up to 5% of Jordanian farms by 2014. She is also working to […]
(Thousands of Christian pilgrims get baptized in Israel’s Jordan River every year. Are they risking their lives by immersing in the polluted waters?) It’s the highlight of any Christian’s trip to Israel – a dunk in the Jordan River, the way Jesus did it thousands of years ago. But with increased pollution in Israel’s waterways, […]
(Cousteau interviews students from the Arava Institute in Israel. It’s a unique learning center that offers environment degrees to students from around the world.) We’ve been following Alexandra Cousteau as she documents her travels in Israel and the Middle East. In this video recently uploaded, she interviews students at the Arava Institute in Israel where […]
Israeli nature advocates are proud of their efforts at both nature conservation and cultivating a love of hiking among the people. However, an article this week in the Boston Globe points out that creating nature preserves often means expelling the indigenous people who once lived in them. Author Mark Dowie writes that the practice began […]
Following the latest incident in which a Tel Aviv University student, Idan Shadmi, was seriously when falling into a Dead Sea sinkhole, a Tel Aviv University physics professor, claims to have created a seismic warning system that will be able to give an indication when one of these holes, mostly located on the western shore, […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=057OMR_jkvE[/youtube] As we covered earlier in It’s The Water That Binds Us, in this video Alexandra Cousteau continues her mission Expedition: Blue Planet and interviews a local man from Jordan, Othman Mizra, whose father built a livelihood around a water oasis – Azraq – in Jordan. Now the water from the oasis is pumped to […]
Countries in the Middle East should take notice that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is making great efforts to improve Jordan’s environment as well as that in the region. One of the foremost environmental societies in the Kingdom is the Jordan Environmental Society, which was established in 1988, during the reign of King Ab dullah’s […]