There will be no peace without water. Leaders need to address the Middle Eastern water scarcity with the same urgency as oil. People often associate the Middle East with oil. But in the region’s cities, villages and farms, access to a different resource is becoming rather problematic: water. Addressing this issue can not only ensure a […]
Israeli fashion show attempts to go “au naturale” with a natural-landmark-themed garment contest. Fashion and the natural world don’t always go hand in hand (unless you’re lucky enough to come across some whimsical banana-shaped pumps by designers such as Kobi Levi). Usually haute couture is the anti-natural, with silhouettes that combat the shapes that we […]
In Tunisia last week, Islamic ministers meet to set a precedent on tackling water scarcity in home countries. In the Middle East and across the Muslim world, water scarcity is becoming one of the most pressing issues related to climate change- but what is actually been done to tackle these problems? Last week, the conference […]
Syria’s livelihood is going down the drain. Unless the country learns to conserve, their future will be painfully dry. The Euphrates River, which meanders diagonally through the top quarter of Syrian territory, was once a source of agricultural bounty. Expatriates recall a time of lush plenty: orchards blooming with fruit, healthy cotton fields, and sparkling […]
Energy-intensive water park in the desert, offers a “home” to displaced penguins. Every now and then, the Middle East comes up with a scheme that is so ridiculously un-eco that we can’t believe someone thought it was good for the planet. See us on Al Jazeera TV talking about hypocritical ideas in the UAE. Some […]
Critics site dust as a downside of using solar panels in the Middle East, but Boston University has a solution that requires no water, and no moving parts. The sun-baked deserts in the Middle East and North Africa region are prime candidates for solar energy projects (including the ambitious DESERTEC initiative), but who is going […]
Reporters Without Borders is providing Mohammed Attaoui legal assistance for trumped up charges received for exposing government corruption over illegal logging. In March 2010, as Morocco hit the headlines with plans for an environmental charter and a $9 billion solar project, an environmental activist was arrested for exposing the illegal logging of protected cedar. Just […]
Tourists still love the Dead Sea’s mineral rich waters. But for how long? Despite the fact that the Dead Sea is shrinking by as much as one meter a year, the “lowest dry land point on earth” is becoming more and more popular as a tourist site for people the world over. This fact was […]
Israel-China, foreign investment in Israel, oil munching bacteria and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment. Image by Or Hiltch. During the week of July 25, 2010, Israel’s first tidal power plant was completed in Jaffa. An Israeli-Palestinian team has received a grant to address clean water issues in Israel and the Middle […]
PopLove’s recycled fashion did a double eco service during “Thirsty for Change” – it got people excited about upcycled design and aware of the need for greater water conservation efforts. [image via: Fashion Snake] A few weeks ago a fashion show of PopLove’s upcycled couture was paraded down one of the buildings at the Interdisciplinary […]
Stream to nowhere: The Poleg stops short of the sea during summer months Flowing with our series of Israel’s coastal rivers and streams –– which has included the Kishon River, the Alexander and Yarkon rivers –– we travel to Poleg Stream (or Nahal Poleg), a small stream located by the coastal city of Netanya, 30 […]
New water conservation faucets, solar-powered residential construction, Red-Dead Canal protests and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment. Image via n0nick. During the week of July 13, 2010, researchers from Ben-Gurion University received the first US – Israel energy independence grant for their light water reactor research. Motorized bikes are catching on in […]
Once you could lose your life if you fell in. Rowing in cleaner waters? The Yarkon River has been upgraded – so they say! This installment of articles on Israel’s coastal waterways, deals with the Yarkon River, one of the country’s shortest, as well as one of the most publicized. It begins at Tel Afek, […]
Better control of sewage inflow could make the Alexander River even more attractive. The Jordan River (which is dying) is not the only waterway in Israel, the PA, and Jordan, that has been in the center of environmental controversy. Virtually all of the region’s streams and rivers have their share of ecological problems, more notably […]
The first time I entered into the mikveh, it felt as if my body was suspended in something extraordinary, primordial fluid, if you will. Every sense awoke. The water felt warm against my skin, like a comforting caress, and the gentle lapping sounds echoed against the walls and whooshed in my ears. Time became irrelevant […]