By Anders Berntell and Anders Jägerskog This September, when the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, presents the Palestinian bid for UN membership at the UN headquarters in New York, many Palestinians worry as much about issues closer to their daily lives, such as access to water. The shortage of water is evident in […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 09/08/2011 04:54 Proposal would allow desalinated water to account for 85 percent of domestic consumption by the year 2013. Talkbacks (6) The Palmahim desalination plant has submitted a proposal to the Interministerial Tenders Committee for Water Desalination to increase its output by 45 million cubic meters per year. That would allow desalinated […]

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By Taylor Luck THE KINGDOM is on track to spend over $4 billion on its national energy bill in 2011 in what is to be the most expensive year on record. According to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khaled Toukan, Jordan will have spent 22 per cent of its gross domestic product on energy […]

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By Wassim Mroueh The Daily Star BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Parliament approved the electricity bill at a legislative session Thursday following the consensus reached between rival politicians over the draft law a day earlier. Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who had originally proposed the draft law, met with Berri prior to the session. This was the […]

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Approval expected despite objections from green groups and housing, environment ministries. By Zafrir Rinat The government is expected to approve a proposal calling for the creation of 10 new communities in the desert area around the town of Arad. The project is a new settlement program that is opposed by both the Environmental Protection Ministry […]

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Establishing new communities in the Negev stands in stark contradiction to Israel’s long-term planning principles. Haaretz Editorial The cabinet is expected to approve the establishment of 10 new communities in the Arad area, in the framework of a project described as part of “the Zionist vision to make the Negev bloom,” and in keeping with […]

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By JOANNA PARASZCZUK 09/22/2011 06:33 Tents on beach part of campaign against new tourist resort; ILA says protesters misleading public. The High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction on Wednesday preventing the Israel Lands Authority from demolishing an environmental protest encampment set up on Nahsholim beach last Thursday, moments before an eviction order was […]

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By Muath Freij AMMAN – Around 50 young people on Wednesday held a demonstration on Queen Rania Street in protest against the suspension of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. The protesters brought along an “Express donkey”, symbolising the failure of the project, to the venue of the demonstration, a stretch of the street where […]

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By Rana Husseini AMMAN – Police are searching for suspects in connection with a shooting incident on Monday that targeted engineers working on the Disi project in the southern region, official sources said. The incident, which occurred at 10:00am, involved four Jordanian and foreign engineers who were in a vehicle on the Azraq-Jafer highway, Police […]

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Nehama Ronen, director of ELA Recycling Corporation, says Israelis have reached record results in terms of plastic recycling Navit Zomer Published: 09.15.11, 16:43 / Israel Activism Share on TwitterShare on Facebook share Nehama Ronen, director of ELA Recycling Corporation, is praising Israel’s ultra-Orthodox residents for their recycling efforts. “The haredim have begun recycling too,” she […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 09/16/2011 17:21 National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau talks with the ‘Post’ about cooperation with the PA on water and sewage management. Talkbacks (5) As Israel enters a new year, with significant renewable energy allocations signed in July and natural gas development churning at highspeed, The Jerusalem Post sat down on Wednesday with […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 09/14/2011 04:22 Society for the Protection of Nature, Ir Amim launch dual campaigns against government plans to privatize 120 national parks. Talkbacks (5) Both the Society for the Protection of Nature and liberal NGO Ir Amim have launched in the past two days parallel but unrelated campaigns against government plans to privatize […]

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By Fahed Fanek The cost of imported energy, in the form of crude oil, other petroleum derivatives and electricity, rose during the first six months of this year by JD751.5 million compared to the same period of last year. Thus, the increase in world energy prices for the whole year is expected to cost Jordan […]

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Israel Nature and Parks Authority believes less than 40 nesting pairs of Griffon vultures are left in Israel, as opposed to nearly 1,000 before the establishment of the state. By Zafrir Rinat Protecting Israels endangered scavenger birds, especially the majestic Griffon vulture, will be the main agenda item at an international conference in Tel Aviv […]

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Egypt says Ethiopia’s planned Nile project “could be source of benefit” as two countries open new chapter in relations. Ethiopia and Egypt have agreed to review the impact of a planned $4.8bn Nile river dam, which Addis Ababa announced in March, in a bid to open a “new chapter” in once-strained relations. Ethiopian Prime Minister […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – Water-saving devices will be installed in public schools and mosques in Amman starting today to reduce consumption of water, a precious and limited resource in Jordan, according to officials. Mosques and schools, which are categorised as large water consumers, will be equipped with the new fixtures to lower their consumption […]

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By SHARON UDASIN 09/15/2011 03:12 Groups says conservation is more effective at job creation; Landau stresses importance of diversifying water-saving methods. Talkbacks (5) Regional green group Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) attests that an increased focus on water conservation as opposed to streamlining efforts into expanding desalination facilities will be a more effective […]

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By Hana Namrouqa AMMAN – The Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) is currently examining the preparedness of the country’s major dams for storing rainwater as winter approaches, a government official said on Saturday. A plan to carry out maintenance on the dams will be implemented after a committee studies the situation of the reservoirs and the […]

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Environmental History and the History of Water in Israel and Palestine: International Conference. Sunday–Monday, September 18–19, 2011 The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, 43 Jabotinsky St., Jerusalem, Tel. 02-560-5222 www.vanleer.org.il Sunday – September 18, 2011 10:30 – 10:45 – Greetings Prof. Gabriel Motzkin, Director, The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute Prof. Menahem Yaari, Deputy Chair, The Israeli-Palestinian […]

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note: Information about this conference just arrived. Interested persons may write to Cornell to see if they are still accepting papers. Abstract deadline extended to August 21 Background An international conference will be held at Cornell University to bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines engaged in research that addresses the crisis of fresh […]

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