Environment and Climate in the Middle East

news, conferences, policy discussions and academic publications on environmental issues and climate change in the Eastern Mediterranean

Environment and Climate in the Middle East

Archives for June, 2013

Red-Dead conduit to be jointly promoted by gov’t, KKL-JNF – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 06/20/2013 01:41 Biennial World Leadership Conference focuses on sustainability and global environmental cooperation. Development of the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea conduit will occur under the joint administration of the State of Israel and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund, leaders from both parties announced on Tuesday. Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom, KKL-JNF […]

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Israeli water treatment firm to enter UK market – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 06/25/2013 19:36 Haifa-based Mapal Green Energy will be bringing its floating aeration system into a municipal wastewater treatment plant in Stanbridgeford, north of London. An Israeli developer of advanced water purification systems will next week install its technology in an English wastewater treatment plant in the country’s Midlands, after signing a contract […]

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BGU, Chicago U sign water research collaboration – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN, GREER FAY CASHMAN 06/23/2013 Collaboration to foster water research at a molecular scale; agreement signed at presidential complex in presence of Peres. In an effort to develop less expensive and more efficient water resources throughout the world, the presidents of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and the University of Chicago launched a […]

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Business Who is tapping Israel’s water sources for profit? Haaretz

The sale of mineral water bottler Mayanot Eden to a foreign investment fund has reawakened concerns about who profits from Israel’s natural resources. By Shuki Sadeh | Jun.25, 2013 The tranquillity of the Salukia Spring in the Golan Heights belies the uproar that arose over it this month, when Ron and Yehuda Naftali sold their […]

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Youths protest water shortages in Bethlehem camp – Maan

26/06/2013 01:05 BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Palestinian youths burned tires and briefly stopped traffic on a main Bethlehem road Tuesday, as they protested against water shortages in the occupied West Bank. Several dozen residents of Bethlehem’s al-Azza refugee camp joined the demonstration in which participants set fire to tires and blocked traffic with a dumpster they […]

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Tel Avivians throw cold water on city water fountain pilot – Haaretz

Detractors say the project providing clean cold water free of charge to registered users constitutes an invasion of privacy and excludes the poor. By Ido Kenan and Jonny Silver | Jun.23, 2013 Seven new water fountains that will provide pedestrians with chilled filtered water were installed last week around Tel Aviv as part of a […]

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Study to evaluate surface, groundwater resources – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa | Jun 25, 2013 | 22:57 Updated: Jun 25, 2013 | 22:57 AMMAN — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation is studying and evaluating the country’s surface and groundwater resources to prevent violations and detect pollution, a government official said on Tuesday. The 1.7-million-euro study, to be implemented by a German consultation […]

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Egypt’s Perilous Drift [New York Times]

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, June 15, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/opinion/sunday/friedman-egypts-perilous-drift.html?smid=fb-share&_r=1& MARSA ALAM, Egypt — ON Tuesday, I visited a bakery in Cairo’s dirt-poor Imbaba neighborhood, where I watched a scrum of men, women and children jostling to get bread. You have to get there early, because the baker makes only so many subsidized pita loaves; he sells […]

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New publication: Cross-cultural perceptions of ecosystem services: A social inquiry on both sides of the Israeli–Jordanian border of the Southern Arava Valley Desert

By: Hila Sagie, Avigail Morris, Yodan Rofè, Daniel E. Orenstein & Elli Groner Source: Journal of Arid Environments, Volume 97, October 2013, Pages 38–48 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140196313000967 Abstract: This research explores local resident perspectives on ecosystem services (ES) in the hyper-arid Arava Valley/Wadi Araba, which spans across both Israel and Jordan. Identifying and characterizing ES, an increasingly […]

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‘Cooperation on gas critical to regional stability’ – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 06/10/2013 19:38 With Jordanians suffering electricity shortages due to the ongoing influx of Syrian refugees and Lebanon’s capital city facing occasional 24- hour power outages, the natural gas finds in the Eastern Mediterranean must be used to leverage regional cooperation on energy sources, experts stressed at a conference last week. “If the […]

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Netanyahu announces 40% of natural gas reserves to be exported – Jerusalem Post

Yacimovich slams ‘robbery’ of resource that belongs to public. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that 40 percent of Israel’s natural gas reserves would be exported, 13% less than the the Zemach Committee, tasked with exploring the issue, recommended. Netanyahu said that the 60% of natural gas preserved for domestic use would serve Israel’s needs […]

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New geology faculty at LU aimed at oil, gas sector – Daily Star

June 18, 2013 BEIRUT: The Parliament’s Justice and Administration Committee Monday approved the establishment of a new geology faculty at the Lebanese University. Committee head MP Robert Ghanem said the proposal, made by MP Nawwaf Moussawi, had been approved, allowing the Lebanese University to inaugurate a new faculty specialized in the geological sciences. The intended […]

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JNF votes down fracking plan near Jerusalem – Haaretz

Cautious board members of the Jewish National Fund opposed a proposal to drill for shale oil on part of their land, south of Beit Shemesh. The energy company pushing the efforts dispute JNF’s concerns. By Zafrir Rinat | Jun.19, 2013 The board of directors of the Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund decided last week to […]

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Statistics: Gas Emissions Up Significantly in Last 10 Years – WAFA

RAMALLAH, June 19, 2013 (WAFA) –The amount of carbon dioxide emitted from energy, agriculture and solid waste sectors during 2011 was estimated at around 3.1 million tons, up from 1.6 million tons in 2001, said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on Wednesday. The carbon dioxide emission was distributed into 2.7 million tons from […]

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Diseased Kishon Navy commandos’ suit rejected – YNET

Haifa District Court judge rules there is no causal link between Kishon pollution, illness of Kishon divers, despite expert claims that ‘exposure to one molecule’ could lead to illness Ahiya Raved Published: 06.17.13 The Haifa District Court ruled Monday that there is no causal link between the pollution in the Kishon River and the illness […]

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Protest over parking garage plans at Beirut Jesuit Garden – Daily Star

June 15, 2013 09:22 PM (Last updated: June 16, 2013 12:09 PM) By Brooke Anderson BEIRUT: In a city where green spaces are scarce, some people fear that a planned parking garage at a public garden will destroy one of the few public parks in the Lebanese capital. On Saturday afternoon, hundreds of neighbors, environmentalists, […]

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Three wells selling untreated water in west Amman closed – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa | Jun 18, 2013 | 23:17 AMMAN — The Water Authority of Jordan (WAJ) on Tuesday sealed three wells in west Amman’s Al Kursi neighbourhood whose owners were selling the water, which doesn’t meet local standards, according to an official. The three wells are illegal and were drilled for pumping water and […]

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Over 100 young volunteers plant trees in Wadi Qatar – JORDAN TIMES

JT | Jun 18, 2013 | 23:25 AMMAN — US Ambassador to Jordan Stuart E. Jones joined more than 100 young volunteers for a tree planting community service project in Wadi Qatar earlier this week, according to an AMIDEAST statement. The event marked the launch of the “10,000 Trees Campaign” in celebration of the 10th […]

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Ethiopian refugees face dam backlash in Egypt – Al Jazeera

Persecuted ethnic Oromo demand UN protection amid xenophobic attacks and government hostility over the Blue Nile dam. Leyland Cecco, 19 Jun 2013 Cairo, Egypt – For months, Gutama Gallatobati, a proud farmer and mechanic of Oromo descent languished in an Ethiopian prison over accusations he burned an Ethiopian flag. While inside, guards physically abused him. […]

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“Refutrees:” A Better Way to Do Development in Palestinian Refugee Camps

Refutrees is a new, grass-roots organization working in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and Lebanon to build sustainable, eco-friendly projects that respond to community needs. Muftah  caught up with the organization’s  project coodinator, Pauline Le Rolland, to learn more about the group’s work by Pauline Le Rolland Source: Muftah, Apr 17, 2013 Can […]

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