In a region long marked by political divides, armed conflict, and environmental degradation, EcoPeace Middle East is quietly advancing the power of peacebuilding. Peace through education. Through its cross-border teacher tours in the Jordan Valley, EcoPeace is bringing together educators from Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories to address critical environmental issues.
This week, 25 open water swimmers endured seven hours paddling throught the hypersaline waters of the Dead Sea to draw world attention to the environmental degradation of that three million year old lake. Equipped with facemasks and snorkels specifically designed to protect them from the mineral-rich water, they dove in on the Jordan shoreline, and emerged in […]
Israel and Jordan have signed a historic deal to press ahead with a plan to save the Dead Sea. The ‘Red-Dead’ project will build a plant near the Jordanian tourist resort of Aqaba that will desalinate water to be shared by Israelis and Palestinians. The brine left over from the desalination process will be channeled […]
We don’t often hear good news coming from Palestine, but solar energy advances for Palestinian households are something to celebrate. The Dead Sea Photovoltaic Generating Plant offers drastically reduced prices for Palestinians struggling to pay their energy bills and its first phase is now open and underway. Traditionally Palestinians have had to rely on Israel […]
The Lower Jordan River, the baptismal river of Jesus, has been dead at its source for some time. For the first time in ages, Israel is releasing native waters via a pump back to the historic waterway.
Palestinian villagers have joined forces with Israeli environmentalists to stop the separation wall from destroying ancient agricultural artefacts which will soon be declared a world heritage site by UNESCO Ancient stone-walled terraces and a unique natural irrigation system in the village of Battir near Bethlehem may have been spared destruction from an Israeli metal and […]
Last week was the annual ‘Made in Palestine 2012’ fair showcasing local Palestinian innovations. Now in its seventh year, the fair was co-sponsored by the Swedish NGO Diakonia and by Al Nayzak, a Palestinian organization. There were two exhibitions, one in the West Bank, at the Ramallah Cultural Palace exhibition hall, and one in the […]
This time of year marks one of Islam’s most sacred holidays, Eid al-Adha. The four-day holiday corresponds with the height of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which draws two million Muslim pilgrims a year. Eid began Friday and will end Monday, the last day of the Hajj. When traveling in Palestinian […]
World food prices soared over 6 percent in July according to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization. Prices are continuing to rise, and food security is already a constant threat in the West Bank and Gaza. The Applied Research Institute in Jerusalem estimates that over half the households in Gaza are food insecure, and […]
MADE is encouraging Muslims to embrace ethical living this Ramadan and to break their fast with Fair-trade A UK-based organisation called MADE is asking Muslims to look again at the way that their food is traded and to consider going Fair-trade this Ramadan. As they explain, whilst many Muslims are concerned about whether their food […]
Middle Eastern olive oil producers are baring the brunt of falling oil prices Olive oil prices have hit a 10 year low, severely impacting producers in Spain, Italy , Greece and Protugal- which produce more than 60 percent of the world’s olive oil. However, Middle Eastern Farmers in Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Libya, Israel and Palestine will […]
A “green” Arab renaissance cannot be accomplished without the rise of women in Arab countries. Recently in Jordan, the Google image was of Middle Eastern intellectual, feminist and writer, the late May Ziyade. Don’t you love peeling the evolutionary onion, seeing who came before to take us where we are today? A century ago, in a pre-digital world, ideas were exchanged […]
Do you feel that the politics behind environmental issues in Israel-Palestine are being sidelined? A couple of weeks ago, Green Prophet reported on the news that Israelis and Palestinians were working together to build a restorative eco-park. It was a relatively feel-good piece showing that despite the political conflict, joint projects could be useful in […]
Voluntary funding to support nature and ancient cities is thinned even more as Canada cuts its funding to UNESCO. If existing members don’t cough up about $70 million USD, trees like this one in Yemen could be under threat. Palestine is neither a country nor a state, but Palestinian people living in the West Bank […]
A traditional Arabic dish of ancient origins, mouth-watering Maklubah (maqlub, maqlube) is a gala menu all by itself.