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 May, 2017

Consumers buy and waste ‘more than usual’ at Ramadan start – Jordan Times

There was a 500-tonne increase in the volume of waste collected from the capital and the central region on the first two days of Ramadan, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday. Basem Tarawneh, deputy director for districts and environmental affairs at the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM), said that the municipality’s workers on Sunday […]

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Vegan campaign puts a damper on dairy ahead of Shavuot – Jerusalem Post

By JPOST.COM STAFF 05/29/2017 “For decades the dairy industry has brainwashed the public with billion-shekel ad campaigns,” says organizer. Report finds Israeli cows are most productive in the world. A huge billboard featuring a cow and its calf has popped up on Tel Aviv’s main Ayalon highway this week, just in time for the Jewish […]

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Government approves plan to overhaul east Jerusalem sewage, waste systems – Jerusalem Post

By SHARON UDASIN 05/29/2017 Jerusalem residents suffer from some of the worst air pollution levels in the country. Aiming to significantly curb the environmental hazards plaguing the capital city’s Arab neighborhoods, the government has approved a NIS 177 million plan to upgrade waste and sewage infrastructure in east Jerusalem. The Environmental Protection Ministry program, approved […]

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Gaza power authority says it has receive no reply from PA over electricity crisis – Maan

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Gaza Strip’s power authority said on Sunday that it had met all of the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) stipulations to end the electricity crisis in the besieged coastal enclave, but that the governing body in the occupied West Bank had yet to respond. The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories […]

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Energy Authority says no agreement on ending Gaza electricity crisis – WAFA

RAMALLAH, May 29, 2017 (WAFA) – Responding to reports by the Hamas-run energy authority in Gaza regarding an agreement reached between Gaza and Ramallah to solve Gaza’s worsening electricity crisis, the Ramallah-based Energy and Natural Resources Authority denied Monday reaching any such agreement. It said in a statement that “after reviewing the proposal submitted by […]

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Israel to cut over a quarter of electricity provided to Gaza – YNET

As part of a power struggle between the PA and Hamas, Abbas decides to cut down the amount of money the PA pays for Gaza’s electricity, leading Israel to reduce the electricity to the strip accordingly. Elior Levy|Published: 25.05.17 , 17:09 In two weeks’ time, Israel will cut over a quarter of the electricity it […]

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Hamas warns Israel of ‘consequences’ if electricity supply is reduced – Maan

GAZA (Ma’an) — One day after an Israeli official announced in a BBC Arabic interview that Israel would be reducing its electricity supply to the Gaza Strip, the Hamas movement released a statement on Friday warning the Israeli government of unspecified “consequences,” should the reductions be implemented. Hamas, the de facto ruling party of the […]

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Upon PA request, Israel to reduce electricity supply to Gaza Strip amid deepening crisis – Maan

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — Head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — the agency responsible for implementing the Israeli government’s policies in the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip — Yoav Mordechai said in an interview on Thursday with BBC Arabic that Israel plans on reducing its electricity supply to Gaza, […]

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Syrian refugees help solve Jordan’s rubbish crisis (video link) – Al Jazeera

video link http://www.aljazeera.com/video/news/2017/05/syrian-refugees-solve-jordans-rubbish-crisis-170529050535108.html The Jordanian government is struggling to contain a mounting rubbish crisis as dumps across the country start to reach capacity. A new initiative to encourage recycling is looking to Syrian refugees to help lead the way out of the problem. Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab reports from Mufraq in northern Jordan. Imtiaz Tyab

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US CONGRESS MEMBERS LOBBY TRUMP ON ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN WATER ISSUES – Jerusalem Post

BY SHARON UDASIN MAY 21, 2017 02:37 “In your effort to build peace between Israelis and Palestinians… we urge you to prioritize the issue of water,” the lawmakers wrote Trump in an official letter. Ahead of Donald Trump’s trip to Israel this week, a bipartisan group of congressmen and women called upon the president to […]

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Cross-border water pollution threatens Israeli security, watchdog says – Jerusalem Post

SHARON UDASIN 05/16/2017 EcoPeace: The state comptroller’s report presents “a scathing assessment of failure for more than two decades of Israeli government action and inaction.” Describing water pollution as nothing less than Israel’s most serious cross-border environmental hazard, State Comptroller Joseph Shapira called upon the government authorities to join forces to reduce the contamination of […]

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Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian venture seeks help on Gaza resource crisis – Jerusalem Post

By Sharon Udasin May 4, 2017 Trilateral co-directors of EcoPeace Middle East send letter to Norway urging for participation of third-party mediator on water and electricity issues. A regional environmental group is calling for the participation of a third-party mediator on water and electricity issues in Gaza in hopes of averting a humanitarian, ecological and […]

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Farmers to receive reduced water supply as wet season ends – Jordna Times

JVA to take stricter measures over summer to preserve and sustain water stored at dams By Hana Namrouqa – May 19,2017 AMMAN — As the wet season has ended with “discouraging” storage of water at dams, farmers in the Jordan Valley are expected to receive reduced water for irrigation, according to a government official. Storage […]

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Hariri Chairs Ministerial Meeting on Litani Pollution, Vows ‘Serious’ Approach – Naharnet

Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Friday presided over a ministerial meeting aimed at addressing the pollution that is affecting the Litani River, stressing that this topic is among his priorities. “Our efforts on the issue began a month ago,” Hariri said ahead of the meeting. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Energy and Water Minister Cesar […]

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Red-Dead project ‘everlasting solution’ to water shortages in Jordan – Jordan

By Hana Namrouqa – May 17,2017 AMMAN — Unconventional water sources are the Kingdom’s long-term solution to its water dilemma, government officials said on Wednesday, indicating that increasing demand on water has exhausted surface and underground water sources. Now that the Ministry of Water and Irrigation has utilised all available methods to meet the increasing […]

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Aqaba calls for listing coral reefs on UNESCO world heritage list – Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa – May 09,2017 Marine conservationists are rallying support to list the coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba as a UNESCO world heritage site (Photo courtesy of JREDS) AMMAN — Marine conservationists are currently rallying support to list the coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba as a UNESCO world heritage site. […]

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Israel Launches Criminal Investigation Into Water Treatment Execs Over Sewage Spill – Haaretz

Raw sewage from treatment plant north of Tel Aviv is going into the Yarkon River; the officials responsible say the plant gets four times its design capacity Zafrir Rinat May 19, 2017 The Environmental Protection Ministry said on Wednesday that its enforcement unit is launching a criminal investigation against the heads of the Southeastern Sharon […]

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Authorities tackle 30,000 violations on water resources since 2013 – Jordan Times

By Hana Namrouqa – May 06,2017 AMMAN — As the national crackdown on violations on water resources and networks enters its fourth year, authorities on Saturday announced that over 30,000 violations on water mains and resources have been prevented. The campaign, started by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in the summer of 2013, has […]

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Water Authority employees shot at, car rammed at illegal drilling well site – Jordan Times

by Hana Namrouqa – May 14,2017 Three Water Authority of Jordan employees were hospitalised on Sunday when they were shot at and assaulted after preventing the drilling of an illegal water well in the northern Ramtha district in Irbid Governorate, according to a government official (Photo courtesy of Water Authority of Jordan) AMMAN — Three […]

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Sewage from Ramallah attracting swarms of mosquitoes to Modi’in Illit – YNET

The effluent is distressing residents of the West Bank settlement; Ramallah population growth and construction are apparently the cause; government says it’s working on a plan. Elisha Ben Kimon|Published: 14.05.17 The mostly ultra-Orthodox residents of Modi’in Illit in the West Bank have recently been dealing with seemingly biblical plague of mosquitoes due to an effluent […]

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