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 […]
A UN worldwide tree planting campaign has now reached the 4 billion mark in its drive to plant 7 billion trees world wide. The campaign is being undertaken to fight the effects of climate change; as well as to prevent soil erosion, one of the most common reasons for desertification in many parts of the […]
Dubai’s mega developmental projects, including several artificial islands complexes, are beginning to cause a number of environmental concerns. The artificial islands, which when completed will contain large numbers of residential and commercial properties (including vacation resorts) are already having their effect on marine life in the Persian Gulf. One particular project, The World, encompasses three […]
With summer coming on, beach enthusiasts must now begin to be on the lookout for swarms of jellyfish, otherwise known as “meduzot.” The grey, blob-like masses appear every summer off the cost of Israel, Lebanon, and most other Mediterranean countries as well. In fact the hypothesized “introduced species” that came to the Mediterranean Sea after […]
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, […]
Earlier this year, we saw members of the Lebanese group IndyACT trek out into the snowy wilderness to protect Lebanon’s snow from catastrophic climate change. This week IndyACT members, along with their friends in the Association for Forest Development and Conservation (AFDC) were back in action, putting the heat (so to speak) on decision-makers to […]
The Inner Circle blog in Lebanon is reporting what it calls “an absurd” idea proposed by the Lebanese Heath Minister Mohammad Khalifeh as a means to prevent the Swine Flu from spreading. Israel, the country bordering Lebanon to the south, has already confirmed one case of the virus. “If you visit someone, don’t exchange kisses… […]
(Illustration of Cedar Island, a new artificial island project proposed for off the coast of Lebanon). Environmentalists in Beirut’s American University are calling it a disaster: A Lebanese company is looking to build mega artificial islands like Palm Island in Dubai, but in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon. They are calling it […]
This documentary film describes the activities of IBSAR, an interfaculty center at the American University of Beirut dedicated to nature conservation and sustainable research. According to IBSAR members, “Nature is a special trust to be enjoyed and conserved for future generations. Conserving the biodiversity of nature in the Middle East is the foundation on which […]
If those of us living in Israel think we have a problem with pollution and beach closures in the Mediterranean Sea, we should take a look on what’s happening north in Lebanon. A recent article in Beirut’s English language newspaper, the Lebanese Star, noted that pollution caused by both the public and private sectors is […]
(Countries along the Mediterranean Sea basin) Water policy people will like to know about this initiative: Most countries in what is known as the Mediterranean Sea basin have agreed to form a combined group to deal with issues dealing with water reserves for the region. Based on the Mediterranean Water Charter, adopted in Rome in […]
Snow is a serious matter for Lebanon. So serious, in fact, that the white part of the Lebanese flag represents the country’s snowy mountains. Snow also plays an important economic role, since Lebanon’s six ski resorts draw tourists from nearby countries. Most significant of all, however, is the fact that the mountain soil absorbs the […]
“So Hiram, King of Tyre, gave King Solomon timber of cedar and timber of cypress according to all his desire.”-Book of Kings vs. 24 A recent article by Ahmed Khatib in the Lebanese Daily Star emphasized the dangers of climate change and global warming to Lebanon‘s remaining cedar groves, which have been a historic national […]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4y51MzRDA&eurl=http://darrylwolkpolitics.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-i-will-buy-hybridhonda-anti.html&feature=player_embedded[/youtube] We recently came across this alleged Honda commercial online, which fuses environmental activism with political opinion. It speaks for itself, so take a quick look: It is unclear and very unlikely that Honda actually sponsored this ad. It’s more probable that somebody cut and pasted a news clip together with the taglines of another […]
Kibbeh is one of the stalwarts of Levantine cooking, and comes in as many versions as there are towns or people who make it.