MIDEASTENVIRONET - The Middle East Environmental Network

THE JERUSALEM POST

tamar lafontaine,

Jun. 21, 2007

The battle against the Safdie Plan, which called for building 20,000 housing units on 24,000 dunams in the hills west of Jerusalem, mobilized one of the largest coalitions of activists ever assembled in the city, comprising environmental, planning and social action groups as well as MKs, artists and intellectuals. The effort garnered more than 16,000 public objections, including that of Mayor Uri Lupolianski.

The scope of the opposition campaign, and the Safdie Plan's subsequent rejection by the National Planning Council in February of this year, renewed the public's confidence in its ability to effect change. It also raised questions about the efficacy of the planning process itself, which only involves the public at the objections stage, after a significant amount of time and money has already been spent developing a plan.

According to SPNI's national director of community development Naomi Tsur, the "Safdie debacle," which saw a decade and a half spent commissioning, finalizing and promoting the Safdie Plan only to have it be overturned, highlights the glitches in the planning system and reaffirms the need for its restructuring.

"The opponents of Safdie maintained throughout the campaign that the planning process was upside down, and that all the debates and discussions that took place in the last couple of years should have taken place before the whole thing began," explains Tsur. "It illustrates that if you did things differently you could save a lot of public funds."

According to Tsur, the Safdie Plan is one of many plans with a similar story. A plan to develop the Valley of the Gazelles, the 227-dunam plot of open space that sits at the corner of Rehov Herzog and Sderot Begin, was in development for 10 years but was overturned at the objections stage. Similarly, the Israel Lands Administration tried to push through a plan for a hotel complex and a 150-meter-tall observation tower along the Sherover Promenade in Armon Hanatziv. That plan faced objections in 1999, then passed through the subsequent stages of the planning system until it was finally rejected this year. And the city center, particularly along Jaffa Road, she adds, has been left undeveloped for decades, as the process has been held up by landowners fighting over building percentages.

A multi-stakeholder process, Tsur asserts, comprising not only the planning authorities and landowners but business interests, the public and the transportation system, could go a long way in improving the planning system, and ultimately the look and feel of the city. "If you change the planning course, you change the future. Any act of planning constitutes a future segment of our city."

Tsur, together with the Coalition for a Sustainable Jerusalem, is pushing for a revision of the planning process to include greater public participation. Presently, Tsur reveals, the public is only involved after a plan has already been approved by the local and regional planning committees. And even then, she adds, the public's role is as objector rather than proactive contributor.

AS BENJI HYMAN, a lawyer who specializes in planning and building law, writes in his book Planning and Building Law: A Public Guide, "Objections are submitted and heard relatively late in the planning process, after the planning authorities have already determined that their basic stance is to authorize the plan. The objector is in a position of weakness; he has to persuade the planning establishment to reconsider its decision and not to authorize the plan at all or at least not according to its original features."

Submitting an objection also requires a tremendous investment of time, money and knowledge. Private individuals can hardly compete with the vast resources available to investors, politicians and public officials.

The lengthy bureaucratic procedures for filing an objection are deliberate, contends Tal Perry, a resident of Givat Mordechai. The notion of public participation is more "fashionable than sincere," she says. "Authorities trying to adopt the concept don't really want to know what the public knows and thinks, or to hear what they have to say."

Rather than encouraging partnership between the public and the government, Tsur says, the system works to alienate the public. "These are not major decisions of state. These are about what neighborhoods are going to be like in the future, and who has a better right to be part of that than all the people living in the area?"

Planning professionals agree. "The negative form of public inclusion is not enough and reflects an outdated world view that the public is a nuisance," says local urban planner Nili Baruch. "The public knows best. Their local knowledge needs to be combined with the planner's professional expertise - they can't be separated."

"We have to change the mind-set of the decision makers from 'dictators' in charge of the building process in Jerusalem into 'public servants,' with much more sensitivity and will to learn from the public," says Jerusalem city councilman and opposition leader Nir Barkat, who sits on the District Planning Committee. "An earlier phase of getting public input for every building permit must be added to the approval process."

"The basis for improving the system is information and inclusion," says Hyman, "It needs to be much better organized and accessible, with willingness for real dialogue. The different perspectives of the planning authorities and public balance each other and it's important that both are present."

Although the public is frequently faulted for prolonging the authorization of plans, in fact, Hyman notes, a 1986 study by the Technion found that on average, plans that are objected to only extend the process of approval by two weeks.

"What is to blame for the planning process's lengthy timetable is not the public, but the leisurely approach of the planning institutions themselves," he says. "There are more than 100 set deadlines within the planning process, but the planning institutions don't stand by any of them, and there are no sanctions for doing so. I would be surprised if [only] one or two plans nationally met their deadlines."

"There is also a very important issue, which is the identity of residents with the city and their own responsibility to the city," Tsur adds. "Part of Jerusalem's problem is people getting up and leaving, and one of the reasons they're leaving is they don't see a solution to the problems that face them."

According to Tsur, a planning process that encourages public input earns the public's goodwill and stems negative migration by granting more power to its citizens. "By inviting anyone who wants to give their input and understanding about how the city should be planned, you will have a city where people want to stay," because its residents will feel a greater sense of control over their circumstances.

"The public doesn't always have a comprehensive vision," adds Katamon resident Michaella Cohen, "but it's important for the public [to be involved] because it's our life that building plans have the potential to improve or worsen."

JERUSALEMITE PINI Lozowick, a longtime supporter of the Coalition for Sustainable Jerusalem, recently took initiative on the matter by hosting a private gathering of some 50 locals, in hopes of creating a consortium of Jerusalem "stakeholders," or people who have an interest in the future planning of the city. Among those present at the meeting were special guests Daniel Drukarz and Allan Ledden, planning specialists from London who were invited to share some of the lessons and ideas that underpin strategic planning matters affecting the UK's sprawling capital city.

In 2004, London implemented a new planning strategy known as the London Plan, a spatial planning blueprint for the city. The plan was drafted by the city's fledgling strategic planning authority, the Greater London Authority, which is headed by the mayor.

"London was previously regulated by 32 independent boroughs, each pointing in a different direction," explains Ledden, one of the authors of the London Plan. "And it was, perhaps, a lot easier for the development industry to pick them off one by one, isolate them and push through their development plan without having a strategic authority in place. That's a lot more difficult to do now when you've got a mayor with planning powers and he is able to enforce the terms of the London Plan."

The changes to London's planning system came about in response to significant population growth projections for the city. "By 2015, a city the size of Jerusalem [700,000-800,000 people] will be added to London's population. So London faces a core issue, which is how it can plan properly for population growth in an environmentally sustainable way," says Drukarz, who heads the Planning and Regeneration group for the London law firm Pitman Solicitors.

Although the London Plan has been in effect for only a few years, Ledden and Drukarz say it has already had a positive influence on development in the city.

"Before the Greater London Authority was in place, there was a feeling, particularly at the local level, that the development industry was calling all the shots [and] that it was building where it wants, both in location and in the kind of development it wanted. [The feeling was] that there was nothing in it for the community itself, and that the community wasn't involved in the process," says Ledden.

"Also, little or no regard was being paid to the environment so that these schemes were coming forward with… little thought about the impact the development would have on the community as a whole. Would it require more green space? Would it require more health services? All those issues were being ignored by the development industry, because they weren't part of the requirements to comply with.

"Now that they're enshrined in the London Plan," Ledden explains, "it adds a degree of certainty. Everyone knows that these issues have to be addressed before you put a development proposal in place - they can't be stuck on as afterthoughts."

He adds: "We're not saying that London is perfect by any shape, way or means, or that we've solved all of our problems. All we're saying is that there's a process in place which helps us identify what those problems are, and opens a debate as to what the solutions should be."

One key component that lies at the heart of the London Plan and the city's planning process in general is partnership between local and national government, NGOs and community groups. The other key component is public participation, which consists of ongoing consultation with the community and transparency in the process.

As part of this, Ledden explains, an annual monitoring report is published. "There are set objectives and targets within the plan, and at the end of each year there is a report done to see to what extent have these targets and objectives actually been achieved, and if they haven't, what changes need to be implemented to enable those targets to be achieved."

The reports are prepared by the Greater London Authority and given to the mayor of London, and he, along with the 32 boroughs and several other public-interest groups, consult on all these matters.

"It's very much an ongoing process," says Ledden. "It's not just here's the plan, this is what we are going to do in the next 10 to 15 years."

"The whole process is very transparent," Drukarz adds. "All the information is available to the public on the Internet in real time and everybody's view is welcomed, accepted and taken into consideration in formulating and reformulating policy. Nobody is shut out of the process."

"People are invited to make written representation, and there's also an opportunity for them to be heard at a public hearing. Those representatives are heard by an independent, third party government-appointed inspector, who writes a report based on everything he's heard and then makes recommendations based on it," Ledden explains.

Furthermore, "Each of the 32 London boroughs has to produce plans which must be in conformity with the London Plan. Before they can follow their own plan, they have to produce a certificate of public participation, which shows what steps they have made to get people to participate in the process and are they sufficient.

"Most boroughs go far further than the required minimum and have public meetings, information available on the Internet, conduct petitions, put stuff in the local newspapers - everything you can think of to get people to understand the process, participate in it, and have their comments made so that they feel, at the end of the day, that they own the process, that this is not some high in the sky back plan that's been imposed by central government, and that this is their plan that they've helped to write and that they are helping to enforce."

PUBLIC RESPONSE to the London Plan, Ledden says, has been very positive. "You cannot please all of the people all of the time, but you can make them feel that they've had an opportunity to have their say and for their say to be taken into account."

"And that's such an important part of the process," he continues. "It means that it's much more likely that the aspects of the London Plan are going to be followed, and that people are going to put forward development proposals that incorporate that plan because they know this is what the local community wants."

"I think that following the public meeting organized by the SPNI," says Ledden, "it became obvious from local residents there that they are very keen to participate in the planning process, but feel they aren't able to do so under the current way that the planning system in Jerusalem is organized.

"We're suggesting that a debate needs to be opened as to what Jerusalem's planning problems are and everyone needs to participate, both national and local government, NGOs, and the local community in particular, so that you can then identify solutions."

Drukarz adds: "The fact of the matter is, it's worked in London and if it can work in London, which is different than Jerusalem but is many times the scale in magnitude, it can work in Jerusalem."

However, cautions Tsur, "None of this can happen if it's [just] Sustainable Jerusalem becoming friends with the people who were involved with the London Plan… There is no way that non-government civil groups can do it alone. What we hope to do is to enter into a dialogue with City Hall, and to create a new process," she says. "The city could invite over this team of experts from London and we could all start this brave, new world. I don't know if it can happen, but we've certainly got to give it a try."

Barkat agrees. "Experience from London can really help a great deal, since learning from success is the best way to improve, much better than re-inventing the wheel. I believe they [London planning professionals] can help change the attitude of current municipal leadership to be more open to the public," he says.

"Jerusalem must recognize the flaws in the current planning system… and spend time re-planning and learning from others. Only then, I believe, can we continue."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1182409606127&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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Jordan Times

By Khalid Neimat

AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Monday announced the second
phase of its Master Plan, termed the “Corridor Intensification Strategy.”

The Master Plan provides clear direction for the sustainable development of
the capital over the next 20 years, in accordance with new planning legislation.

The strategy focuses on intensifying construction in designated areas of the
city to meet an expected surge in the city’s population by 2025.

In February, GAM announced the first phase of the plan in which high rise
developments were earmarked for Abdali, Abdoun, Jbeiha and the airport road.

Under the second phase, developments will take place along the capital’s
major corridors in a manner that respects the character of the city, Amman Mayor
Omar Maani said.

“We can’t afford to continue our current development trend because it will
lead to unprecedented urban sprawl that will exacerbate our transportation
problems and eat up some of Jordan’s most productive agricultural land,” he added.

According to the mayor, Amman’s population will grow from the current 2.2
million to 6.4 million by 2025.

The “Corridor Intensification Strategy” will encourage a variety of densely
populated areas within strict guidelines to ensure adequate transportation,
urban design and other considerations, such as creating a pedestrian and
green city, he said.

The strategy will also transform the character of some of the capital’s
major corridors into streets that will “define” the city, Maani said, adding that
Zahran will become the capital’s “signature street.”

The height of buildings in such streets will be restricted to four stories,
with special programmes to conserve the most prominent old buildings, he added.

The segment of Zahran between the sixth and eighth circles will be
transformed into a “green boulevard” lined with residential, commercial and retail
developments. Much of the land along this corridor is currently vacant or
underutilised.

“The vision we have for Zahran between the sixth and eighth circle requires
a partnership between GAM and land owners to realise the full potential of
this important street,” Maani said.

“We will provide incentives to the economic community on the street, through
increased zoning density… we will also provide the urban design expertise to
ensure this corridor develops in an integrated way,” he added.

An important component of the “Corridor Intensification Strategy” will be
the upgrading of the capital’s transportation system.

“It is a cornerstone of the Amman Master Plan in that the sustainable growth
of capital cannot be accomplished without a modern transit system,” Maani said,
adding this is currently the responsibility of the government that GAM is
hoping to play a role in.

GAM has introduced a policy to encourage mixed-use residential development
along the corridors to reduce traffic congestion, he said.

“The concept of mixed-use is not new to Amman. It’s what makes the old parts
of the city so special. In many ways the wonderful street life of old Amman is
what gives the city our soul.”

Posted by MEEF at 09:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YNET

The Northern California Israeli community, of course, that hosted over15,000 people in the annual 'Israel in the Gardens' festival

Eyal Marcus

Published: 06.25.07, 12:35 / Israel Activism

Residents of San Francisco are used to weird scenes but it is possible that their jaws dropped as a procession of children screamed "Hevenu Shalom Aleichem" (We bring you peace) through the city's streets. "Israel in the Gardens" is the annual festival of Northern California Israeli community. The event – held for the 11th year – unites thousands of Israelis and Jews. This year over 15,000 people attended and carried an environmental message.

The celebrations were opened with a children's procession carrying signs calling to save the Red Sea's reefs. What is the connection between San Francisco and the Red Sea? The answer is Zvika Livnat, a producer of environmental marine films: "I came to share with the Jewish schools' children the wonders of the Red Sea," he said. Before the procession he spoke in front of 2,000 students. "The sea is a wonder of nature but it suffers from many ecological and environmental problems caused by lack of awareness."

"In past years we noticed Israel evokes various connotations and many regard 'Israel in the Gardens' as a political or religious event," said the festival's organizer Ronit Jacobs. "We regard it as an Israeli cultural event and since the environment and alternative sources of energy are hot topics, we decided to show that Israelis too care about them."

Livnat was surprised to learn how much the children already knew about the topic. "They are concerned about the Red Sea's situation and demonstrated their concerned in the pictures they drew for the event," he said. "At the same time they were amazed to discover this Israeli natural treasure. For the procession, the older children made an Israeli flag out of recycled plastic bags they collected."

According to Jacobs, the "Green" theme was the focus of the entire festival which included workshops about recycling, a fashion show of garments the children made from newspaper scarps, presentations of environmental organizations and a live show of the popular Israeli singer Rita. "We succeeded in raising awareness of Israel's role in protecting the environment," Jacobs said. "This event presents the best in Israeli; fashion, cinema, theater, and environmental commitment."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3417115,00.html

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The Daily Star

Friday, June 22, 2007

By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff

SIDON: Official negligence has led to unprecedented levels of pollution in the Siniq River a few kilometers outside Sidon, area residents said Thursday. Even from its banks, the riverbed of the shallow waterway is almost completely obscured by murky water. Discarded furniture, wood, tires and all kinds of garbage, including industrial waste, can be seen floating on the surface.

Some residents said blood from a nearby slaughterhouse was also present.

"We are suffering from a total absence of cleaning operations," a woman who wished to be identified only as member of the Saad family told The Daily Star on Thursday.

"The river is turned into a stinky swamp, filling the area with diseases and insects," the angry woman added. "It's become a breeding ground for bugs and rats."

Umm Mohammad Qablawi, another resident of the Siniq area, also expressed disappointment about "the neglect of the river" despite repeated calls for a clean-up.

"No one cares about us," she said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=83256

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Arab Environmental Monitor

Source: Jordan Business
June 2007

By: Nina Robertson

When Khaled Bushnaq decided 16 years ago to set up a firm that would provide technical consultancy in the field of energy conservation, most people were more than a bit skeptical. Energy conservation was almost entirely unheard of in the Middle East, and businesses were certainly not factoring energy-saving measures into their budgets.

Ignoring the cynics, Mr. Bushnaq, along with a business associate, established Energy Management Services (EMS) in Jordan in 1991, with a paid-up capital of JD30,000. Two years later, the company received the Special Recognition Award at the 16th World Energy Congress in the U.S. Today, EMS capital is JD2 million and is the leading energy service company (ESCO) in the Middle East, providing its services to over 500 companies in Jordan and the region.

After setting up new headquarters in Dubai in 1997, EMS last year opened additional branches in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain. Since inception, EMS has implemented projects that have delivered savings worth millions of dollars in investments and operational expenses for its clients – and made the Middle East a more environmentally-friendly place.
Casting a new light
Mr. Bushnaq came up with the idea of establishing EMS after the second oil crisis of 1970s. At that time, the ex-engineer was living in England, and was impressed by the UK’s promotion of energy conservation. “We were taught simple but very effective energy saving measures, like how to wash a car using a cup of water,” Mr. Bushnaq told Jordan Business. “I wanted to implement what I learnt in Jordan."

Trying to create an unconventional industry in a virgin market proved at first to be an uphill struggle; it took some time before the company was able to secure any clients.
Recalling the beginnings of EMS, Mr. Bushnaq said: “We were basically talking Chinese to almost everyone we approached. People thought energy was something uncontrollable and that energy conservation would be a financial burden. It was very difficult convincing people that they could actually save money [by conserving energy].”

Realizing that credibility would help the company get a following, EMS began offering its services free of charge to some local big name corporations. It also created the Shared Energy Scheme, a program that provided EMS services to clients who were either unconvinced about seeing a return on investment or who could not finance implementation of the project. Under the scheme, clients are not required to make an initial investment. EMS finances the project and receives payments from the clients’ monthly energy savings. When companies started seeing an immediate reduction in their energy costs, word spread and EMS’s client list grew. So, too, did the company itself.

Cleaning up their Act
Although regional businesses are more environmentally aware than ever before, EMS’s main selling point continues to be its cost-cutting services. According to Mr. Bushnaq, EMS can save businesses up to 30% in total energy costs by using technology to cut their consumption of electricity, water and gas. The services EMS offers include energy audits designed to identify the pattern of consumption in existing buildings and then identifying the best energy-saving measures. “Once we understand the energy consumption, we start looking into where energy is being consumed but not delivering a service, for example, lights being left on in an empty room,” Mr. Bushnaq explained.

The energy saving measures EMS will recommend range from what the CEO describes as “the simplest forms of saving energy,” such as turning off equipment when it is not being used, to more complex measures, including tackling wasted energy in escalators and lifts. Other measures include efficient lighting, reduced air-conditioning consumption, efficient boilers, decreasing refrigeration costs, reduction of heat loss through steam and installing renewable energy sources such as solar panels and windmills.
EMS also tracks its clients’ energy consumption levels from its Central Command Center in Dubai. Digital meters are linked to a client’s facilities through telephone lines and can monitor consumption levels on an hourly, daily, weekly and monthly basis.
While the company’s offerings have remained the same, EMS’s focus has shifted. The region’s construction boom has opened up a massive market for EMS, and the company is increasingly focusing on new facilities. It has carried out detailed analyses of hundreds of buildings at the design stage, from factories, hospitals, towers, residential and commercial buildings to resorts, hotels and other establishments that demand a high level of energy and water consumption.

Taking the LEED
Currently, EMS is helping over 500 businesses improve their energy efficiency. Most of them are large corporations and government institutions in Jordan and elsewhere in the region. According to Mr. Bushnaq, more developers and companies in the Middle East are working towards achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, an official recognition that was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, which is based on a ratings system. In fact, Mr. Bushnaq has seen a change in the way developers operate in the last few years. Instead of focusing on who can build the tallest or largest building, developers are now starting to tout their environmental responsibility. “People are not only becoming more aware of the cost of energy, they are also more aware of the environmental impact,” explained Mr. Bushnaq. “It’s catching on fast and becoming a trend. Generally, businesses want to become environmentally friendly because it is beneficial for them to be labeled as that. Developers are very keen on the Green Building ideas.”

Unsurprisingly, the Gulf states are taking the lead in this area. In Dubai, Emmar Properties has called on EMS to help it conduct an Energy Value Analysis (EVA) across all of its projects, which includes the illustrious Burj Dubai. Investment and real estate services firm Union Properties has also assigned EMS to carry out energy saving services on its projects, the latest of which was MotorCity, the region’s first fully integrated automotive and motor sports facility.

In December 2006, EMS launched an innovative project alongside the Dubai Municipality. The Sewage Reduction Program is designed to reduce water usage to minimize the burden on Dubai’s sewage network. As an incentive for building owners to adopt the scheme, EMS will be involved in preparing and installing the devices, which Mr. Bushnaq says will reduce the volume flow by a minimum of 30%.

One of EMS’s current projects is Energy City Qatar (ECQ). A $2.6 billion project, ECQ is the Middle East’s first hydrocarbon industry business center, for which EMS will provide tailor-made “green” solutions. Through these solutions, experts are predicting that ECQ will become one of the region’s most viable environmentally-sound business centers.

Opening the Gates to Investors
As the construction boom continues to sweep across the region, the cost of energy is also increasing. This has been a major challenge for property investors in recent years. According to EMS, Jordan’s energy demands are expected to reach 2,399 mega watts over the next decade, costing the country a whopping $3.1 billion. This substantial figure only serves to underscore the importance of energy-saving schemes.

Developers and businesses in Jordan and the UAE have lauded EMS for “drastically” cutting their energy costs. The Commercial Bank of Dubai head office, for example, reported a 15% reduction in its annual energy expenditure over a period of 10 months; the DNATA building in Dubai witnessed a 50% saving.

At the same time, new investment laws in both Jordan and Dubai have helped attract several hundred million dollars of investment in the real estate and property development sector, resulting in the construction of new “green” towers and luxurious residential complexes. “I think this highlights the importance of energy efficiency and environmental awareness that is taking place in the region with big investors and developers,” Mr. Bushnaq said. “It is a trend that will definitely continue, especially in light of developers’ and investors’ move towards the Green Building concept.”

Graining ground and growing
Indeed, with the Green Building concept gaining ground, last year saw the launch of the Emirates Green Building Council (EGBC), of which EMS is a founding member. Made up of a variety of companies and professionals from across the country, the EGBC seeks to promote Green Building principles and, in the process, protect and conserve resources. “EGBC is the only one of its kind in the Middle East. It is establishing the benchmark and the criteria for all of the new developments,” explained Mr. Bushnaq. “No permit will be issued to a new building if it does not meet the minimum criteria set out by the Green Building Council. This is something that has to happen everywhere in the region.” Mr. Bushnaq added that there are plans to establish a Green Building Council in Jordan in 2008. Putting energy savings costs aside, what is perhaps most commendable about EMS are its continuous efforts of spreading the “green” message in a region where environmental awareness lags far behind others. The company has been instrumental in promoting environmental campaigns alongside the Jordanian and UAE governments to encourage people to change their behavior in and outside of the workplace.

A great deal has been achieved by EMS in 16 years, but Mr. Bushnaq believes that there are greater strides for the company to take. “The region is still a new market for us and there is still so much that can be done in this field,” said Mr. Bushnaq. “Luckily, people know now the importance of environmental awareness and energy conservation; it is the future.”
http://www.arabenvironment.net/archive/2007/6/252309.html

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Jordan Times

Listing Jordan River among the top most endangered cultural heritage sites
in the world comes as no surprise.

The Friends of the Earth Middle East Society and the World Monument Fund,
the renowned international watchdog of cultural heritages worldwide, have
sounded the alarm about the inevitable demise of the river and showed what
protecting it from becoming altogether extinct entails.

The guilty parties are Israel, Jordan and Syria, which continue to divert
the already limited water flow for their agricultural needs.

Moreover, instead of protecting this precious body of water, safeguarding
its biodiversity and helping its ecological rehabilitation, the riparian states
treat the river as a dumping ground for their waste.

Protecting the Baptism Site because it is a praised tourist place is fine,
but not enough. More is needed, from all the countries along the river banks.

Even though Article 18 of the Jordan-Israeli Peace Treaty calls on the two
sides to conserve the river, they are not fulfilling this commitment and therefore
are not living up to their treaty obligations.

Lest it should be forgotten, the fast evaporation of Dead Sea water has a
lot to do with the diversion of the Jordan River water for farming purposes. The
Dead Sea has become a casualty of ill-conceived farming policies and is on the
road to extinction as well.

All sides have the duty to exert efforts, joined if needed, to breathe new
life into the river. That entails halting water diversions and stopping dumping
waste and sewage into it. And the international community should also lend a
helping hand.

This sacred river, part of the world heritage, deserves to be preserved.
That is not to say that other threatened life-giving bodies of water, and they are
many, should be ignored.

Deforestation, greenhouse gas emission, all man-induced despoiling of nature
already show what the devil-may-care attitude of few generations can result
in.

We owe it to our children to leave unspoiled the gifts entrusted by the
bountiful nature upon us. Steps can be taken, before it is too late.

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Jerusalem Post

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Jun. 24, 2007 22:36 | Updated Jun. 25, 2007 0:04

A new way to produce electricity using helium balloons coated with solar cells has been devised by researchers at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

Scientists from the Department of Aeronautical Engineering, Architecture and City Construction have already installed two models, one in the city and one in a desert area that lacks power.

Dr. Pini Gurfil, who heads the environmentally friendly project, said that to produce electricity from solar energy, one needs a large area - about 400 dunams - for a power station large enough for commercial use. "Therefore, the balloons should be used at a low altitude in the sky," he explained.

Gurfil and doctoral student Yossi Corrie developed a technique of using helium-filled balloons coated with solar energy cells to provide electricity. The same cable that brings the helium to the balloon will also carry the electricity to the ground.

The Technion researchers estimate that each home or apartment would need only two balloons. If they were mass produced, their cost could be reduced below the estimated $700 per square meter of today's solar cells.

The pair filed a patent application for their invention and hope the technology will compete with existing power producers.

Coated helium balloons could be used, at first, to supply electricity to ships and homes in jungles, deserts and other isolated spots off electricity grids. Beyond that, Gurfil and Corrie hope that homes in cities around the world will get their electricity from such balloons.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1182409629380&pagename=JPost%2FJP
Article%2FShowFull

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Jerusalem Post

By MATTHEW KRIEGER
Jun. 21, 2007 21:38 | Updated Jun. 22, 2007 4:45

Plastic from corn, biological-weapons neutralization and the vanquishing of pollutants from munitions were among the topics discussed at this month's "Green Chemistry" conference at Tel Aviv University, the first such meeting held in Israel.

"The development of the field of green chemistry in Israel is of tremendous importance to the future of industrial and academic development in the country, as well as to the health of the public and the environment in the region," said officials at TAU's Porter School of Environmental Studies, which hosted the two-day event.

The conference, entitled "Green Chemistry - Applications, Research and Trends," included sessions on commercial applications of green chemistry; raw materials recycling, toxicity reduction, renewable fuels, energy efficiency - a novel academic approach; environmental and health aspects of home and commercial use of chemicals; and global and national policy on chemical use.

According to the university, the main purpose of the conference was to "introduce academia, industry, government and NGOs in the region to the field and for the conference to serve as a starting point for numerous other activities, involving industrial associations, government and academia, to bring forward a more sustainable agenda for chemical R&D in the region."

Among the featured presentations were several introducing breakthrough technology in green chemistry geared specifically toward some of the environmental challenges facing Israel, including a new process that can efficiently and effectively remove the poisons deposited in the ground by the numerous munitions factories found in the country.

"These poisons are not only dangerous to this generation - causing cancer and other ailments - but they are also affecting the next generation as they can do serious damage to the body's reproductive system," said Dr. Arie Nesher, director of the Porter School.

Dr. Dave Henton, chairman of the NatureWorks LLC company, discussed the possibility of using corn to make more than just ethanol, but also plastic. "Today, plastic is produced from crude oil, which releases many harmful pollutants into the air and ground over the course of production," Henton said.

Prof. Terry Collins, director of the Institute for Green Oxidation Chemistry at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, spoke about his invention, Fe-Tami, a green chemical that can effectively neutralize the substances, such as anthrax, released in a biological attack.

Separately, the Israel Electric Company announced earlier this month that in honor of International Environment Day, they will be publishing the findings from an internal investigation into the amount of pollution generated by the company's factories around the country, saying in their statement that although energy production has continued to rise over the last few years, pollution from the electric power plants has fallen considerably.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1182409609769&pagename=JPost%2FJP
Article%2FShowFull

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YNET

Activists claim air pollution caused by waste management site of Ramat Hovav
will endanger lives of soldiers who will serve in new IDF compound
Dana Levy
Published: 06.24.07, 11:16 / Israel News

Environmental organizations continued their protest against the government's plan to build a "military town" south of Beersheba, which will house all of the IDF's training bases.

The town is set to be built only 10 kilometers away from the waste management facility of Ramat Hovav, which deals with large quantities of hazardous materials, and is responsible for a severe problem of air pollution in the region.

The Green groups claim that the pollution caused by the site is behind the dramatic increase in the number of cancer patients and respiratory problems among the local Bedouin population. If the army builds a huge base in the area, they added, this will put the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers at risk as well.

As part of their struggle, the Green Course organization launched Sunday a new campaign, which included life-size posters with the images of parents of pre-army teens, carrying the caption, "The military town in Ramat Hovav – a death sentence to my son."

The posters were placed at various spots in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The Green activists explained that they did not oppose the idea of relocating the army bases to the south, a move that is expected to strengthen the region, but that this should not be done at the expense of the soldiers. "The ideal answer would be to find a solution to the pollution in Ramat Hovav, before building the city."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3416676,00.html

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THE JERUSALEM POST

June 14, 2007

RON FRIEDMAN

Jerusalem cleaned up at last week's Green Globe awards, held to honor leaders in environmental protection. The ceremony, organized by Life and Environment, an umbrella organization that includes over 95 groups, was held at the Duhl Center in Tel Aviv to celebrate World Environment Day, a UN initiative.

Among those present were Minister of Environmental Protection Gideon Ezra (Kadima), Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski, MK Dov Kheinin (chairman of the Knesset Socio-Environmental Lobby) and former MK Yosef Tamir, who is regarded as the father of the environmentalist movement in Israel. The event was hosted by veteran journalist Yael Dan.

Life and Environment recognized the cancelation of the Safdie Plan for the development of west Jerusalem as the major environmental achievement of the year. The cancelation of the large-scale construction project, aimed at erecting 20,000 housing units in the hills of west Jerusalem and which, according to environmentalist groups, would have caused irrevocable harm to the environment, earned Lupolianski a Green Globe.

"I thank you for awarding me with the Green Globe. Everything that we've done, we did for the residents of Jerusalem. The municipality and the green organizations are not on opposite sides. We both care about our future and the future of our children. In our collaboration, we have set the path for future cooperation. In this way we will be able to bring about the 'green revolution' in Jerusalem," said Lupolianski.

A second award was given to members of the Coalition for the Preservation of the Jerusalem Hills, an umbrella organization of Jerusalem-area environmental groups that played an important role in raising awareness about and rallying opposition to the plan.

"All of the large successes are a product of cooperation between the organizations. Everyone brings their knowledge, their expertise, their people, and together we succeed," remarked Life and Environment Director-General Alona Schaefer.

"The environmental revolution has arrived in Israel," she continued. "It has arrived and we are all taking part in it. We are taking environmental issues away from the fringes and into the center of the political, economical and business agenda. That is our mandate and our vision - to bring these issues to the forefront, to influence the public debate and usher the environmental revolution into Israel."

"We all want to achieve all of the goals we set out for ourselves, but we have to realize that they won't be achieved overnight," minister Ezra said. "Don't send me books, send me a list of your priorities ... and I promise you that I will examine them all and act to bring about solutions."

Ezra was a recipient of the Green Globe award last year for his part in the closing of the Reading power plant in Tel Aviv, which despite extensions had failed to switch its power source from crude oil to natural gas. Ezra returned the award when the power plant reopened and received it again when it was finally converted to run on natural gas.

The ceremony also included the awarding of the Black Globe Award, given to the person or organization that has done the most harm to the environment. This year the "prize" was given to Nehama Ronen, head of the Ela Corporation, which collects plastic bottles for recycling. The company was accused of consistently failing to meet the requirements of their mandate under the law.

Ronen, who was director-general of the Environmental Protection Ministry prior to heading Ela, reacted to the allegations on the popular talk show London and Kirshenbaum, which was broadcast live from the Duhl Center earlier that evening. "The law itself is problematic and needs to be changed," she said. "I admit it, we cannot make the quotas we're committed to. We cannot collect 85% of the bottles. If you want, you can try to find somebody else who can."

A lifetime achievement award was given to former MK Tamir for his decades-long commitment to environmental causes. Tamir was the original founder of Life and Environment and started his activism in the 1950s.

Awards were also given to Haredim for the Environment (a religious environmental group), Solel Corporation (a solar panel manufacturing company), Citizens for the Environment in Galilee, and the Foundation for Quality of Life and the Environment in Nahariya.

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Daily Star

June 15, 2007

Daily Star staff

Environment Hotline

BEIRUT: Although it was intended to help shape a spacious agricultural venue in the Chouf region of Sibline, plastic waste from the capital's Normandy landfill has been dumped in several areas across Lebanon, raising fears among the Lebanese about the toxicity of the materials, said a report published in this month's edition of Environment & Development magazine.

After conducting tests and impact assessments of the Sibline project, the
Environment Ministry decided to transfer the plastic waste to Sibline for
the proposed venue, but since then the same waste has wound up in the landfills
of several towns and villages, including Sidon, Zahrani and Bhamdoun.

Chouf residents have staged numerous demonstrations in recent months to
protest the waste transfer, while several media reports have also warned about the
toxicity of the unexpected plastic waste arriving in the landfills.

In response to growing public dismay, real-estate giant Solidere issued a
statement in April saying the plastic waste being shipped from Normandy to
landfills in the Chouf region was not toxic.

"Normandy is free of waste and contains a limited quantity of treated
material made up of soil and plastic products that are harmless to the environment,"
the statement said.

The Normandy landfill is a byproduct of the 1975-90 Civil War in Lebanon.
During those years, the city of Beirut discarded large quantities of its municipal
waste in Normandy Bay along the Mediterranean coast.

A laboratory analysis conducted at the American University of Beirut showed
that the waste being dumped at the Sibline project and in other areas was all of
the same composition: a nontoxic blend of plastic materials and earth.

The analysis, however, also raised several questions about why the plastic
waste was being shipped to regions where no clear-cut developmental projects were
being conducted.

Solidere operations manager Diab Ayoub said his firm had signed a contract with
one of its subcontractors to have the plastic waste shipped to Sibline for
the agricultural project there.

"However," he added, "it seems some trucks expelled their contents in other
locations for one reason or another."

While the town of Bhamdoun succeeded in getting rid of a large portion of
mistakenly transferred waste, even larger quantities are still buried in the
soil of the mountainous village.

Waste randomly thrown throughout Bhamdoun's natural surroundings has
partially filled its well-known valley, stopped up the area's waterways and caused
drastic changes in the local agricultural sector. - Environment Hotline, The Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=83055

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Jordan Times

June 18, 2007

Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN -- Jordan's 1 per cent of green cover is expected to disappear in the coming few years, unless serious measures are taken, the Jordanian Society for Desertification Control and Badia Development (JSDCBD) warned on Sunday.

"The Kingdom's forests are decreasing as a result of illegal logging and random grazing of livestock by ranchers. People are uprooting trees for constructing investment projects and houses, instead of planting trees," JSDCBD President Abdul Latif Arabiyat told The Jordan Times yesterday.

The Kingdom, along with the rest of the world, yesterday marked the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD), which is annually observed on June 17.

WDCD seeks to highlight the urgent need to control the process of desertification and strengthen the visibility of the serious drylands issue on the international environmental agenda, according to the United Nations Environment Programme website.

Celebrated this year under the theme "Desertification and Climate Change -- One Global Challenge," the international event seeks to highlight the connection between climate change and desertification and draw attention to the significant benefits of an integrated approach to tackling these two major environmental challenges, according to the website.

Mahmoud Jneidi, an international expert on the environment and wild plants who heads the scientific committee at the JSDCBD, called desertification "one of the major dangers threatening the country's environment and wildlife."

Desertification, as defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, is land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities.

"Most of the country's drylands were once green areas housing different wild animals, but extensive cutting of trees exposed these lands to rainfall and winds, thus causing desertification and soil erosion," Jneidi told The Jordan Times.

He said deserts constitute up to 92 per cent of the country's total area, while only 8 per cent is suitable for agriculture. The increase in population, however, coupled with a similar rise in construction, is damaging this land.

In its attempts to limit the spread of desertification, the JSDCBD replants desert lands with trees and organises campaigns to raise awareness on its negative consequences.

The society also implements several programmes for combating desertification, including the "Green Belt" project, which seeks to plant trees from the north to the south as well as grow rare and endangered trees in 150 dunums (150,000sqm) of land.

Arabiyat said improving the badia is one of the key solutions for addressing desertification. "There is an urgent need to develop the badia in order to absorb the increase in population and limit the negative effects of desertification at the same time," he said.

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Jordan Times

June 17, 2007

Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN -- The Ministry of Environment will set up special task forces to address Zarqa Governorate's environmental problems.

"Zarqa Governorate poses major environmental challenges as it is home to several environmental hotspots, which require exceptional efforts to improve the situation there," Minister of Environment Khalid Irani said during a recent meeting of the ministry's planning committee.

He added that enhancing cooperation and partnership among concerned ministries, institutions and the private sector would help tackle some of the worst problems affecting the area.

Zarqa is home to 52 per cent of the country's industries. Phosphate accumulation and emissions from the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company are among the governorate's major environmental problems.

The area is also affected by emissions from the Al Hussein Thermal Station, industrial wastewater, and the dust from brick and stone quarries.

Irani said cleaning up the Zarqa River will be the starting point for tackling these issues.

As part of its emergency plan announced early this year, the ministry will establish a treatment plant for industrial wastewater generated from factories along the river's banks.

So far, it has created a system to limit the random dumping of wastewater into the river and conducted maintenance work on drainage systems in Zarqa and Amman.

The plan also includes the establishment of a 21-kilometre sewage pipeline from the west Zarqa pumping station to the Khirbet Al Samra plant between the Zarqa and Mafraq governorates.

A new slaughterhouse will also be established, as the current Greater Amman Municipality facility is considered one of the river's main pollutants.

Zarqa will witness several projects worth JD50 million during the next few years that aim to improve the governorate's environment.

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Jordan Times

Jun. 18, 2007

Paul Tate

AMMAN -- A lack of cooperation and political will among regional states is hampering efforts to address the worsening ecological condition of the Jordan River, environmentalists said on Sunday.

According to Friends of the Earth Middle East, a regional environmental organisation of Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians, poor regional water management has led to the complete demise of one of the world's most famous rivers.

The comments came in response to the lower Jordan River's inclusion last week in the top 100 most "Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites" by a leading international watchdog.

Announced every two years, the World Monuments Fund's list aims to galvanise international public attention on threatened cultural sites across the globe.

"The watch list of the World Monuments Fund is now sounding the alarm bell loud and clear to all those who care about the River Jordan," Mira Edelstein, the organisation's Tel Aviv campaigner for the rehabilitation of the river said in a press statement.

According to the organisation, "90 per cent of the river's natural flow has been diverted by Israel, Jordan and Syria for domestic and agricultural use, with sewage flowing in its place. The region's current policies treat the river as a backyard dumping ground."

Munqeth Mehyar, the organisation's chairperson and Jordanian director, described the river's inclusion in the list as "expected".

"We have been campaigning for a long time now on this issue and we welcome this news. It is good publicity for our cause and may help us finally focus the attention of the world on the gravity of the situation."

The activist said past efforts to lobby the respective governments had proved fruitless, despite the fact that both Israel and Jordan have signed agreements to preserve the environment along their shared border.

Under Article 18 of the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, both parties pledged to cooperate to conserve natural resources and protect biodiversity, including the "ecological rehabilitation of the Jordan River" and the environmental protection of water resources.

But Mehyar said the reality is that both governments are happy to shift the blame.

"When we talk to Jordanian officials they tell us if the Israeli side gives the go ahead, then we will follow suit and vice versa -- meanwhile, nothing is done and the two countries continue to dump their waste into the river and divert water for agriculture."

No one at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation was available to comment.

Mehyar said a comprehensive regional solution is now needed which encourages farmers to grow less water-intensive crops while focusing more efforts on exploiting the region's tourism potential.

"The governments should have programmes in place to educate farmers on the benefits of growing drought-resistant crops like dates instead of continuing to use huge amounts of water growing citrus, tomatoes and bananas," he said.

Despite the economic disadvantages, regional governments continue to subsidise farmers who grow water intensive crops.

Israel currently uses 65 per cent of its freshwater supplies for agriculture, which accounts for just 2 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, he said.

Similarly, Jordan's agricultural sector contributes a mere 8 per cent to its GDP but uses 70 per cent of available water resources.

Mehyar said in cases where Jordanian farmers had diversified their crops, they had not only significantly reduced water usage but had increased revenues.

"We have a clear model to follow here, but sadly, officials have failed to convince other farmers to follow suit."

After years of receiving no response from the concerned governments, two weeks ago the organisation sent a joint letter to the ministries of water and irrigation in both Jordan and Israel but have so far received no response.

The environmental organisation now hopes the inclusion of the river on the World Monuments Fund's 100 most endangered sites will spur regional states into taking action.

"It is sad that only through international pressure will our governments act to rehabilitate this valley of cultural and natural heritage," said Edelstein.

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Haaretz

June 17, 2007

By Gideon Levy

"Sof haderekh: mota shel medina" ("The End of the Road: Death of a Country") by Tzur Shizaf, Am Oved, 314 pages, NIS 79

To live in an Arab house in Jaffa and claim to be a leftist; to suspect all of your Arab neighbors of having collaborated with the burglars who broke into your house and yet consider yourself enlightened; to think that concrete and asphalt are more destructive than fire and explosives; to equate damage done by the separation fence with that caused by Highway 6; to have more compassion for the eastern strawberry tree, the plane tree, the oak tree and the noble, scented laurel than for residents of this country, who may not be as noble or sweet scented - and then to write a book about all of it in bad Hebrew.

I confess: I am not crazy about nature lovers and I am not a dues-paying member of the Society for the Protection of Nature. I am not a fan of those who care more for the land than for the people who live in it. In a country so bloody, oppressive, brutal and discriminatory, the struggle needs to be shaped by human criteria: Human beings come before nature.

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Quality of the environment is also determined first and foremost by just and ethical treatment of a country's inhabitants - not by bulldozers. After Israel becomes a just society that treats its citizens fairly, then it can address the bitter fate of flowers and lizards.

This is not to say that one cannot write a worthy book about the destruction of the Israeli landscape. But it has to preserve some human dimension and it has to be properly written. Tzur Shizaf does neither.

Where's the editor?

So is it the "end of the road"? Are we looking at the death of the country? Maybe, but not because of Highway 6 (the Trans-Israel Highway), and not because certain species of crabs are disappearing from our shores.

Let's put aside for the moment the content. Let's talk about the writing. It's been a long time since I've read a book so lowbrow, coarse and sloppily written, without the slightest attempt having been made to edit the grammar or style. When you love a country, shouldn't you also love its language? Is language not a part of a country's beauty? There are countless examples of shoddy writing; they appear on every page: "Arrogance and thinking you know it all is the reason for how this country looks"; "The Sun 'n Sea wall is the place to practice how not to give a damn about what is known as the little man"; "They shit on their own lives and stick their head under a pile of crap"; "That is maybe one of the surprising things about the Israeli beast. They never accept the blame for anything."

Not that there are no attempts at lyricism: "The bananas radiated health"; "the spring water babbled"; "the water had a dark, damp smell." But however harsh the indictment may be, it is impossible to keep mum when reading such garbled sentences as "[Nahal] Amud is one of the delightful places that the inspector who was evicted from it turned into a paradise by reconstructing terraces, fruit orchards and water conduits"; or, "the quintessence of the Syrian-African rift, one of the best places in the world." Best place for whom? Best place for what?

In the very first chapter, Shizaf presents his warped credo: "Concrete and asphalt are much more destructive than fire and explosives." Do you really mean that, Shizaf? That concrete kills? That asphalt burns? One can be against lawless, harmful construction in this country without heading off into such extreme analogies. But from someone who is equally horrified by Highway 6 and the separation fence, I wouldn't expect more. "The separation fence is an element that can't be ignored," writes Shizaf, paying lip service to the construction project that inflicts the most harm on the people, the flora and fauna, and the landscape of this country. But it is only Highway 6 that he calls "despicable." A wall that has torn families apart, separated farmers from their land, kept employees from reaching their workplace and irreversibly scarred the landscape is less harmful in his eyes than a road that may be detrimental to sea daffodils.

Shizaf gets upset about road signs and overly sharp curves. "Israel is raping the landscape?" So what about its rape of people, especially those who call themselves Palestinians? An environmentalist who can't see that is not a genuine environmentalist. Maybe that explains why no respectable green organization of the European variety has ever been established here. Over there, the greens are affiliated with a real left - not an ersatz one.

Even when Shizaf denounces the separation barrier, he keeps to his own agenda: The project could ruin Wadi Qelt, the delightful springs under Batir or even Mahras Dalal, heaven forbid. In a country where the fence was rerouted so as not to harm protected irises on Mount Gilboa, while the needs of the Palestinians living nearby continued to be blithely ignored, Shizaf's voice may find a sympathetic ear. Around here, more people will stand up for the rights of chickens in a chicken coop than for the rights of the caged Palestinians.

"Maybe it's because I know what war looks like, and how futile it is, with great masses of people and material being pulverized," he writes about the last war, again without nary a word about the killing and destruction that took place on the other side of the border. Is it too much to expect of a committed environmental activist, concerned about the future of his country and the world, to devote a few words to the destruction Israel needlessly caused in Lebanon? Over there it's not an environment?

True, a number of myths are dashed in this book, for example the myth about Lake Kinneret being a vital source of drinking water, or the importance of phosphate production, but all this is dwarfed by Shizaf's selective vision and double standards.

'I didn't know'

The author is a resident of Jaffa who lives in an abandoned Arab house. Not everyone would be mentally and morally prepared to live in a building whose legal tenants and owners are rotting in some refugee camp, and at the same time sit there and moans about the destruction of the landscape. To one extent or another, we all live on land that once belonged to someone else. But to live in a home where the lives of others were forcefully torn asunder?

"When I moved to Jaffa almost a decade before the intifada, I can't say I had any profound thoughts," writes Shizaf, "I didn't know from nothing. I never thought about war, or refugees, or feelings. I wanted to live in an organic neighborhood where the houses weren't built according to a uniform plan and I could see the sea from my window."

Stolen houses constitute an "organic neighborhood"? Now that's a new way of looking at things, I have to admit. But even now, all Shizaf sees from his window is the sea. Does he ever see the owners of the house in his mind's eye? The people who built it and handed it down from one generation to the next? Where are they now? Has such a thought ever entered the mind of Shizaf, who is out to "save the world"? "Dorit, the woman I share the house with, says that living in Jaffa is like a Turkish movie," he writes. For the original tenants of the house, I'm sure a Turkish movie would not be the first image that comes to mind.

The house has been broken into twice. Not fun. The Arabs of Jaffa are not nice. The fact that they live in poverty and deprivation, the first generation after their national tragedy, makes no difference. Who is responsible for the break-in? His Arab neighbors. Shizaf is sure they collaborated with the burglars and told them when he wouldn't be home. Would he think that way if he lived in Ramat Aviv?

His blindness reaches new heights as he looks out the window facing the sea and says: "Jaffa hasn't changed much since the days of the British Mandate." The city once known as the "bride of the sea," most of whose inhabitants were forced to flee, with only the weak ones staying behind, "hasn't changed much."

What can one say? Maybe it is the end of the road. Maybe we are looking at the death of this country.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868449.html

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The Jerusalem Post

Jun. 15, 2007

PINCHAS LANDAU

The fear stalking financial markets this week was that the weakness in the bond markets presaged a drying up of liquidity. After all, as noted here so often, the whole global financial boom is predicated on the easy and plentiful availability of money - which in market jargon is called "liquidity."

But in the real world, a much greater and more substantive fear is that real liquidity will dry up. Unlike financial liquidity, which is make-believe stuff created by central and commercial banks - i.e. fallible humans playing God - real liquidity is water and it can't be "created," it has to exist first somewhere in the physical world. But, as is well known, there isn't enough of it, hence the concern that parts of the world will dry up, causing great hardship to vast numbers of people.

Like other themes that can easily be dressed up as apocalyptic in the most literal sense (think global warming…), the idea of a global water shortage is juicy fodder for the media. I once listened to a long and seemingly thorough analysis of the water problem on the BBC in which umpteen experts discussed many different aspects of both problems and solutions. No one in this program, however, so much as mentioned the question of price. If you charge users of water a price that represents its true - i.e. replacement - value, many of the "massive problems" of wastage, misuse and abuse will simply, er, evaporate.

That much is obvious to any professional economist. Brokers and investment analysts, however, want to go further and see how the supposed threat of a global water shortage is actually an opportunity for a broad range of companies to make profits from technological, engineering and infrastructure construction issues that the world is beginning to grapple with in the context of water.

This investment debate has been intensifying over the last two to three years. This month, Credit Suisse has published a large, thorough and serious report on water as an investment sector. Investment banks are not in business to save the world, but to make money; however, making money by helping other people save the world is not a bad thing either - and that's what investing in water is about. Someone has to figure out who and which among all the entrepreneurs, inventors and products active in the field have the best chances of succeeding.

The report notes that several corporate giants, such as GE and Dow Chemicals, expect to make large investments and excellent returns from water over the coming years and decades. However, in the overall context of GE, water is, er, a drop in the bucket. You can't use GE as a "water play." But there are many companies around the world, some very small, others of not insignificant scale although still minuscule compared to GE, for whom water is a major, sometimes sole, business focus. These are the companies that Credit Suisse and its rivals are trying to identify, assess and choose between.

Interestingly - but not surprisingly - Israel shows up in the very first paragraph of the report, in the context of recycling: "Water recycling makes up just 4% of global supply (according to the World Bank). The potential is much larger: in Israel, government plans are in place for recycling to deliver 25% of water supply, and in Australia 11%."

Fortunately, the authors of the report don't realize what kind of place Israeli government plans are in - but in the end, the recycling plants will be built in this country because, as the report notes: "at the Ashkelon plant in Israel, [desalination] costs are 50 cents per 1,000 gallons - in line with the normal cost of water in Israel." That's the key to desalination as a potential solution to the water problem, since there is obviously no shortage of water in the world, but most of it is salty seawater.

Israel, however, is likely to be a much more active player in the water sector than merely a builder and user of desalination plants. Israeli drip irrigation is the most obvious example of the country's contribution to conservation or efficient usage - another key area. But Israeli scientists and entrepreneurs are already active across the spectrum of challenges that the water problem presents, and may be relied upon to play a disproportionate and perhaps even a leading role, at the global level, in addressing the challenges and solving the problems - thereby achieving tikun olam and wealth in tandem.
landaup@netvision.net.il

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Haaretz

June 14, 2007

By Yoram Gavison

Aggressive buying by a foreign investment firm that operates in Israel spurred shares in Ormat Industries (TASE: ORMT) to a 12% gain on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, on enormous turnover of NIS 358 million. That's ten times its average daily volume of trade in the last three months. No less than 6.3% of the company's stock changed hands yesterday alone, and TheMarker has learned that the buyer is none other than Gazit Inc., which belongs to real estate developer Chaim Katzman.

In mid-morning Thursday, Gazit released an announcement confirming that it had bought 8,455,000 shares in Ormat Industries in and off the floor, for an average share price of NIS 47.91.

Gazit Inc now owns 14,255,000 shares in Ormat Industries, it declared, comprising 12.1% of the energy company's issued and paid-up share capital., and voting rights.

It began investing in Ormat during the first quarter of 2007, Gazit stated, and has so far invested a total of NIS 688 million in the company.

Traders had speculated that Gazit began buying on Wednesday morning, from Gmulot's provident funds and Migdal's profit-sharing insurance policies.

Gazit paid a substantial premium over Ormat Industries' Wednesday-opening share price.

"We are happy to announce that from today, Gazit Inc is an interested shareholder in Ormat," Katzman stated, adding that it had already owned a smaller stake in the company and has been watching it closely. "Once an opportunity arose, we took advantage of the conditions on the market and increased our holdings in the company. We believe in the company and in its management, and believe in the field of alternative energy."

Based on the speed of the action and the willingness to pay a premium over the share price, market sources had surmised that the buyer was an investment company wanting to obtain a substantial stake in the geothermal energy company. They were right.

Ormat actually engages in alternative ("green") energy of different types. Mainly it builds and operate geothermal and heat-recovery power stations.

In the United States, subsidiary Ormat Technologies has become one of the three biggest green-energy players.

Traders surmise that Gazit began the Wednesday session already owning nearly 5% of Ormat Industries' shares, and that it increased its stake to around 12%. In parallel Gazit also bought shares of Ormat Technologies on Wall Street.

Gazit is not believed to be planning a hostile takeover of Ormat, which is run by Yehudit and Lucien Bronicki. More probably Katzman wants representation on Ormat's board of directors.

The Bronicki's own 27.7% of Ormat Industries' shares. In turn Ormat Industries owns 64% of Ormat Technologies, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange at a market cap of $1.4 billion.

Shares in Ormat Technologies shot up 7% on Wall Street last night.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/871046.html

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The Jerusalem Post

Jun. 14, 2007

Barry Davis

If you asked most Tel Aviv cyclists if they would consider wheeling their way from home to work (and possibly even do a little shopping) if they lived in Jerusalem, you would probably get a blank stare of incredulity in response.

"But what about all those hills?" is the general reaction.

While cyclists in the less topographically challenging parts of the country may have things somewhat easier, the number of human powered two-wheelers on the capital's streets has clearly increased in recent years. There are at least 23 bicycle stores dotted around town, a testament to the growing interest in cycling. Just 10 years ago, there were less than half that number.

"It's wonderful to see so many Jerusalemites on bikes," says Oz Nahum, coordinator for the Bicycles for Jerusalem pressure group, adding that the city may be less difficult to navigate on two wheels than is commonly believed. "There are plenty of routes that don't involve too many inclines."

One such route has become a bone of contention. The now disused train tracks that run parallel to Emek Refaim (from Derech Beit Lehem in the direction of Malha), would appear to be an ideal conduit for cyclists. For now, there are plans to construct a light rail route along the old tracks, ultimately stretching from Malha - where the new train station is situated - to the area of the old Jerusalem station. "There have been all sorts of rumors about what will actually happen there," says Nahum.

According to Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) Jerusalem director Naomi Tsur, the authorities are not always taking the lead in developing bicycle-friendly infrastructure for the city. "We would like to establish a kind of community input in developing the cycle path [along the old train tracks]. We would then have to ask the Jerusalem Development Authority to cooperate with this, but they haven't in the past taken a very positive view on community input and public participation."

There was certainly some "public participation" a few months ago at a cycling conference held in Jerusalem. Tsur was greatly encouraged by the conference proceedings. "One of the interesting things said at the conference was the facility with which you can convert an old railway line into a bike path, although there can be obstacles."

There are also some interesting logistical aspects involved. "One of the things a train line does is divide the area into two. On the other hand, if the railway line becomes a bike path you have interaction between the two sides. You have a meeting of the community on both sides of the path, and the possibility of community initiatives that can enrich the neighborhoods and create what is called a corridor park."

Recently, a community event organized by the nearby Keshet School involved a march from the school to the disused train tracks, as a way of conveying to the municipal powers-that-be that the locals really do want a cycle path there.

Shai Beitner, a teacher at Keshet and one of the organizers of the march, is in favor of Jerusalem residents taking the initiative, and is keen to ensure the area is used for environmentally friendly purposes. "A bicycle path and walking path have been approved for the route of the train tracks but there is also a large open area which has been earmarked for a road - Route 34 - leading from the train bridge between Talpiot and Beit Safafa to the Oranim junction."

According to Beitner, along Route 34 (which was initially approved 20 years ago), all the relevant community interest groups are united in their opposition to the new road. "There was a meeting at the Jerusalem Municipality a couple of months ago which was attended by all the community administrative planners. All of them, without previously coordinating their positions, said the road was superfluous and that there should only be a bike and walking path there."

Currently, there is an extreme dearth of cycle paths in Jerusalem, the only one on offer being the route that starts near the Valley of the Gazelles and continues through Sacher Park. And even that was temporarily out of use recently when the park pathways were resurfaced. The cycling route markings have yet to be restored.

Nahum is convinced the rising popularity of cycling in Jerusalem is no passing fad. "Bicycles are good for this city, hills notwithstanding," he says. Nahum also sheds some light on the cycling renaissance which, he says, is fueled by often contradictory developments. "For a start Jerusalem is beginning to recover from the intifada, and more and more young people are moving here. And there are, unfortunately, a lot of people in Jerusalem who can't afford a car, and some of them use bicycles instead."

Those reasons are augmented by the tough time motorists in Jerusalem have endured for several years now, as work on the light rail continues to play havoc with many of the city's major thoroughfares, and all manner of repair work takes place in the city center.

"I think people are getting fed up with the traffic jams," Nahum continues, "The municipality is finally getting the message that they cannot carry on planning transport programs based on the car. Don't forget, downtown Jerusalem will soon be closed to private vehicles. That should also encourage people to start cycling.

"There are now over 20 bike shops in Jerusalem in a population of 700,000. I was in Chicago last summer. In the city there are three million residents and over 10 million in the greater urban area. And they have only 40 bike shops listed there. So I don't think we are doing too badly."

The old adage about every cloud having a silver lining could well apply to Jerusalem's current cycling predicament. With all the disruptions and seemingly endless work on the light rail, the project actually is a golden opportunity to set a workable cycling infrastructure in place, alongside or near the new urban train routes.

Shmuel Tsabari, director of the Jerusalem Light Rail project, appears to be in favor of promoting cycling in the city. "There are bike paths planned adjacent to, or near, some of the light rail lines," he says, adding that the light rail project is, in fact, just one aspect of a multi-transport system. "We are really talking about an accessibility plan that allows people to get from one point to another by any means possible. The great advantage of the project is that it allows us to redesign the public space - how much room you allow for pedestrians, public transport, cars and bicycles. This may be our last opportunity to do something in this area."

Tsabari's plans also include secure bike parking facilities. "We want to allow people to cycle to the light rail stations, leave their bikes there, and continue on by train. And we hope there will be adequate bike paths for people who want to cycle all the way to their destination."

Unfortunately, Tsabari adds, it won't always be possible to build bike paths along the light rail routes, although he hopes more paths will be added over time. "The Herzl Boulevard light rail route, for example, won't have a bike path because it simply isn't logistically possible. But I hope bike paths will be placed next to new light rail lines as they are built."

There are also significant health and financial advantages to be gained from promoting cycling as a viable mode of urban transport. "Oz [Nahum] presented some figures at the cycling conference that indicate that, while it would cost around NIS 500 million to construct bike paths all over Israel, the savings in health-related costs would be somewhere in the region of NIS 2 billion," says Tsur. "People are not getting enough physical exercise. Twenty or 30 minutes of cycling, for instance, which could be cycling to and from work, could cut down the incidence of heart disease, strokes, certain kinds of cancer by about 50 percent."

Add to that a possible increase in tourism revenue. "Having cycle paths in downtown Jerusalem can help to bring in tourists who not only want to see the sites of this historic city, but also to spend their time and money in an ecologically correct way."

At the end of the day, however, Keshet teacher Beitner believes it is down to the laws of the jungle. "There will be cycle paths alongside the light rail and elsewhere if we apply enough pressure. That's what it is all about."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813030900&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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The Jerusalem Post

Jun. 17, 2007

JPost.com Staff

As the Environmental Protection Ministry launched a new campaign on Sunday to clean up the country's beaches, a Jerusalem Post reader from Amsterdam wrote in he was disgusted by the dirty beaches in Tel Aviv.

Robert Heilbron, 61, said that while walking on Tel Aviv's Hilton Beach on his last day in the country - June 14 - he stood on a bent, dirty syringe, which had pierced the sole of his sandal.

Heilbron received first-aid treatment from the beach lifeguard, but upon his return to Amsterdam, he immediately went to visit his doctor over concerns that he had contracted Hepatitis B or HIV.

"At the same beach there are many tourists, Israeli children and youngsters playing every day," he wrote. "This incident can happen to anyone as long as the Tel Aviv authorities don't clean the beaches very carefully."

Coincidentally, the Environmental Protection Ministry published a survey on Sunday indicating that 10 percent of the country's beaches are "dirty," 30% are "mediocre" and 60% are "clean to very clean."

Among the dirty beaches listed by the ministry were the Kiryat Haim Beach in Haifa, the Caesarea Aqueduct Beach, the Sdot Yam Beach, the South Herzliya Beach, Hatzuk Beach in Tel Aviv and the Gan Raveh Beach.

Due to these findings, it said, the ministry and the Nature Protection Authority were beginning a large-scale operation to clean the beaches.

As part of the operation, inspectors would impose heavy fines on people caught polluting beaches.

At the same time, garbage bags would be handed out to beachgoers in the framework of a public relations campaign against dirty beaches.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181813056475&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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Jordan Times

June 7, 2007

By Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN -- Demographic changes and migrations have created an imbalance between available water resources and demand, Minister of Water and Irrigation Thafer Alem said on Wednesday.

In his remarks at the opening session of a regional forum on local water governance entitled "Water is everybody's business," Alem said per capita water supply in 1943 totalled 3,400 million cubic metres annually, but following demographic changes as a result of regional wars and crises, an individual's share of water is now 146 cubic metres.

Water demand in the country currently stands at 1,250 million cubic metres (mcm), while available resources don't exceed 830mcm annually, he added.

Meanwhile, the drinking water deficit stands at 25 per cent and in irrigation 50 per cent, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ziad Fariz said in his opening address.

Fariz, who deputised for His Majesty King Abdullah at the opening, said countries in the region could tackle their water problems by adopting joint policies and strategies and establishing regional projects.

Underlining the importance of the event, the minister said challenges facing the water sector are on the rise, particularly as competition for joint water resources between countries is leaning towards escalation and quotas instead of dialogue and finding practical solutions.

He added that using advanced irrigation techniques, increasing the volume of investments in the field of water treatment and improving water infrastructure were means of addressing these challenges.

For his part, Palestinian Agriculture Ministry Undersecretary Azzam Tabileh told participants that per capita water supply in the Palestinian territories stood at 100 cubic metres, the lowest in the world.

"This is all because the Israeli authorities control Palestinian water resources... Israel exploits over 80 per cent of underground water and prohibits Palestinians from using water from the Jordan River," Tabileh said.

Average water availability per 1,000 square kilometres world is 17,700 cubic metres in the region, while it is above 316,000 cubic metres in the rest of the world.

The Kingdom mainly relies on rainwater, but only 1.1 per cent of its total area receives an average of 400-600 millimetres of water.

Alem said the ministry will implement a pilot project in cooperation with donor countries to develop water-harvesting techniques, not only through dams but also by collecting rainwater from roofs of houses and buildings.

Several water projects worth $400 million have been implemented over the past two years, and the ministry drew up an investment programme for projects valued at more than $1 billion to be implemented over the next 15 years, Alem told the participants.

Held by the Euro-Med Participatory Water Resources Scenarios (EMPOWERS) Partnership and supported by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the event brought together more than 200 specialists representing decision-makers in the Arab world's water sector and representatives of donor organisations and water networks as well as regional and international NGOs and academia.

The EMPOWERS Partnership, cofunded by the European Union's MEDA Water Programme, is a regional project implemented in Jordan, Palestine and Egypt.

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Jordan Times

June 8, 2007

By Dalya Dajani, Jordan Times, Amman

AQABA -- Beneath the pristine waters of this Red Sea resort, a concrete paradise is giving Mother Nature and the local fishing community a helping hand.

Emerging from a featureless sandy bed in the northernmost tip of the Aqaba coast, an artificial reef has been steadily thriving over the past two years as a safe haven for the fragile marine species of this ecosystem.

Salim Moghrabi, who has been overseeing the project under the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority's (ASEZA) environmental department, said a whole new settlement of marine life has already made it home.

"The project has been progressing remarkably well," said Moghrabi, who conducted a firsthand exploration of the site this week. "We now have a natural settlement of hundreds of coral species and hundreds of invertebrates, as well as rapid growth of the coral saplings transplanted there," he added.

For Moghrabi, a professional diver and head of ASEZA's Permitting and Environmental Impact Assessment section, the thriving reef is an important asset for the area.

Aqaba's marine paradise attracts hundred of tourists each year with its unique coral treasures and pleasant clime. But its limited coastline of fringing coral reef -- half of Aqaba's 27- kilometre coastline -- particularly shoreline reefs at the northern limits, are under intense pressure.

The area already attracts hundreds of divers every month who come to explore the coral treasures. This, along with regular environmental and pollution threats, will inevitably cause greater stress to the fragile marine and coral habitat.

The artificial reef project, implemented in cooperation with the Regional Organisation for the Conservation of the Environment of the Red Sea and Gulf, will not only provide a safe haven from which marine life can thrive, but also relieve stress on current dive sites and foster recovery of other coral reefs by offering creative new sites for divers. To build the artificial reef, divers deployed 200 cement blocks on 2,000 square metres of featureless sandy seabed to create the needed solid substrate required for reef production, where coral saplings can be planted manually and coral larvae settle down naturally.

Divers then worked to build a city-like habitat with 12 structures ranging from one to four metres in height that mimic characteristics of natural reefs that can accommodate all kinds of marine species.

The reef was designed to have its own special touch, with a nine-tonne Royal crown adorning the top of the gates leading into the underwater city.

Divers utilised orphan coral samples they found during cleanup campaigns and transplanted the coral saplings in the blocks at depths of 10 and 14 metres.

According to Moghrabi, some 33 fish species representing 22 families were recorded in the first four months of the project, including 21 invertebrates representing 16 families. In addition, two species of fish, Jordan's damsel (Teixeirichthys jordani) and the domino fish were noticed spawning over the artificial reef only days after deployment.

As a tool for integrated coastal management and tourism planning, the artificial reef project also serves the local fishing community.

In many parts of the world, artificial reefs are a valuable resource for fishermen, as they attract various species of fish.

Acting as fish refugia, these reefs become sources of food for them from the biomass developing at the bottom of the structure which increases fish stock in the local ecosystem.

ASEZA, which banned fishing in the southern coastal waters to safeguard coral reefs in the protected area, allows fishermen in this section.

Moghrabi, however, did not consider this a good idea because of the risk of nets snagging and damaging the reef, given that the project is still in its infancy.

But he said it was the only option for now until a final plan was formulated to manage the site.

"Under the management plan, we were to close the area off to fishermen for the first two years in order for the reef to flourish, but this did not work out," Moghrabi told The Jordan Times.

"Our objective is to balance the environmental needs of the area with local community needs, which under the circumstances, is a challenge," he added.

Moghrabi said the artificial reef was a valuable resource for fishermen, adding that waiting at least two years would allow for greater fish communities to form.

The Marine Science Station and the Aqaba Marine Park had earlier proposed a regulation obliging fishermen to use biodegradable nets that would be less harmful to the reef, but the idea was put on hold due to financial and regulatory issues.

For now, one of the most exciting aspects of the programme is the "Adopt a Coral Sapling", initiative, which gives divers the opportunity to take part in the development of this marine habitat by transplanting coral saplings during their dives and monitoring their growth on future visits.

"Divers can transplant a coral saplings in the artificial reef and come back to check up on it one day, or even expand the trail by telling a friend to check on its progress if they plan to head here," Moghrabi said.

"That way, the reef also contributes to sustaining the flow of tourism here while seeing it flourish," he added.

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Haaretz

June 9, 2007

By Eli Ashkenazi and Fadi Eyadat

A couple of hungry cormorants circled last week above a school of fish at the mouth of the Kishon Stream running through Haifa. Several fishermen on the banks were also waiting for fish, which were tough to spot. In the past month, the water has grown murky from the booming algae growth that resulted from high concentrations of chemicals in the stream. Despite the cleanup efforts, the Kishon remains polluted.

For decades the Kishon was one big sewage canal. The chemical plants and refineries in Haifa Bay dumped their waste into the stream, and the water fowl and fish disappeared. When it looked like the waterway was past saving, the government decided to clean it up - and succeeded. By 2003 dozens of fish species had returned, along with the soft-shelled turtle, cormorants and coots, and rare flora.

But the momentum didn't last. More than five years ago the government ordered a stop to the dumping of industrial effluents into the Kishon, yet these continue to pollute the stream. The adoption of strict pollution standards also remained on paper, while the pollution is growing.

The Kishon Stream Authority, which monitors the stream periodically, recently ruled the Kishon's health status as "extremely bad" because of poor water quality. Pollution measured downstream along the final 7-kilometer stretch reached a substantially higher level than the standard set for the Kishon. The nitrogen level was 450 percent higher than allowed; the concentration of ammonium nitrate, a substance dangerous to animals, deviated from the standard by 280 percent; 21 kilograms of phosphorus are dumped in the stream every day. These substances encourage algae growth, which disturbs the stream's ecosystem.

Last year five plants - the Haifa Oil Refineries, Gadot Biochemical Industries, Deshanim, Haifa Chemicals and Carmel Olefins - as well as the Haifa waste management plant, dumped some 7.7 million cubic meters of waste into the Kishon. The dumping meets the guidelines of the Environmental Protection Ministry, but these demand that plants meet pollution standards suitable for dumping waste into the sea, which are significantly more lenient than the standards required for streams.

Last October, the ministry returned to a solution it had suggested years ago: building a pipeline to the sea for dumping industrial waste. The office of Minister Gideon Ezra told Haaretz yesterday that the plants will pay for the pipeline's planning and construction, in accordance with the ministry's requirements and under its supervision. But there are still no signs of the pipeline's construction.

In the meantime, the stream is forced to absorb massive amounts of industrial waste, endangering the ecological triumphs achieved at the beginning of the decade. Last year, waste thought to have come from Haifa Chemicals killed large numbers of fish. In response, the Environmental Protection Ministry linked the plants' monitoring systems online to the Kishon Stream Authority headquarters. The link-up is expected to be completed shortly. Hopefully this step is not too little, too late.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868462.html

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Haaretz

June 12, 2007

By Zafrir Rinat

Up until a year and a half ago, the vast majority of visitors to Canada Park, one of the most popular hiking and picnic sites on the way to Jerusalem, had no idea that the park was built on the ruins of three Palestinian villages whose inhabitants were forced to leave in the wake of the Six-Day War. It was only after the Keren Kayemet LeIsrael-Jewish National Fund agreed to the demands of the Zochrot non-governmental organization and posted signs in the park about two villages, Yalu and Emmaus, that their existence first became known to hikers. But since their posting, someone has already made sure to tear down one of the signs and vandalize the other.

But the members of the NGO have not given up. The director of Zochrot, Eitan Bronstein, recently turned to the JNF and asked its director to examine the possibility of posting signs to mark abandoned Palestinian villages at all the sites it administers. The NGO offered its professional help in locating the remains of the villages and finding important details about life in them.

The JNF did not reject the request out of hand. Its administration held a discussion last month on the matter and issued the following response to Bronstein: "For the purpose of concentrated handling of the subject, the JNF administration would like to receive information from you about the additional sites where, in the opinion of the NGO, there is room to mark the Palestinian communities that existed until 1948. The JNF has research tools for examining the subject, and therefore we are asking at this stage only to receive the list of the relevant sites."

As far as Zochrot is concerned, marking the location of Palestinian communities that were destroyed in 1948 is part of the effort to make Israel recognize its responsibility for the Nakba ("The Catastrophe"; the Palestinians' term for the 1948 war), and for the right of the refugees to return to their villages. This goal is unacceptable to most Israelis. But providing information about these villages also contributes to knowledge of the country's history and culture, and to greater awareness of the factors that have shaped the Israeli landscape. This has taken on added importance mainly in light of recent efforts byplanners and environmental protection groups to preserve "cultural landscapes" - in other words, areas whose landscape was shaped by human activity.

What may appear to hikers as a product of nature is usually a landscape that has undergone human adaptation that began thousands of years ago and ended with the Palestinian villages. The terraces (graduated steps on the hillside used for farming), the orchards, the aqueducts and various aspects of the landscape were shaped and plowed by farmers through generations. This is especially apparent in the Jerusalem hills, the shfela (Judean lowlands) and the Galilee.

Hundreds of agricultural structures that once served a magnificent and successful network of irrigation in the Palestinian village of Ein Kerem can still be found around Ein Kerem, now a Jerusalem neighborhood. On the hills of Beit Nataf adjacent to Beit Shemesh, an area which the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPA) wants to turn into a national park, the orchards of the Palestinian village that once stood there continue to shape the landscape.

Historians who are very critical of the Zionist movement, such as Dr. Ilan Pappe, claim that disregarding the existence of Palestinian villages is part of a deliberate effort to erase their history in favor of creating a new one that suits the Zionist narrative of a country that was barren, and only flourished thanks to groups like the JNF. In a study he published, Pappe analyzes the information that JNF provides on several sites, including the Biria Forest, the Jerusalem Forest, the area of Ramat Menashe and the Sataf site near Jerusalem. "The Palestinian orchards are presented as a product of nature, and the history of Palestine is relocated to the period of the Bible and the Talmud," he writes in his discussion of the site of the village of Ein Zeitun in the Biria Forest.

Pappe also points out that the JNF publishes information about unique sites in the Jerusalem Forest and Sataf that testify to the extensive agricultural activity in the region. The information emphasizes the presence of terraces, describing them as ancient, even if they were built and maintained by Palestinian villages.

A recent study conducted by Noga Kadman (as part of her studies in the Department of Peace and Development Research at Goteborg University in Sweden, under the tutelage of Prof. Oren Yiftachel of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), found about 86 Palestinian villages inside the JNF forests - sites she describes as "emptied." Most of the sites have directional signs, but only 15 percent of them mention the villages by their Arab name. Most of the pamphlets and brochures do not even mention the villages. And in half of the literature where the villages are mentioned, the fact that their inhabitants were Arabs is elided. Only in one case did it say how many people lived in the village, and only in isolated instances is there any discussion of the lives of the inhabitants.

"In most cases, the fact that the villages ceased to exist is not specifically mentioned," writes Kadman. "This can be concluded from the text regarding most of the villages, which are called 'abandoned,' and are described as ruins or remains, or mentioned in the past tense."

Bronstein has already submitted Kadman's list of villages to the JNF. He also intends to approach INNPA and ask that it, too, mention the location of abandoned villages in nature reserves and national parks. The INNPA said in response that no site is given preference or ignored because of national or religious affiliation, and that there are several Palestinian villages that are mentioned in signs and in the informational material prepared by the authority.

Yehuda Ziv, who heads the Government Names Committee's subcommittee for community names, and is considered one of the leading experts in Israel in the field, supports the idea of marking the location of abandoned Arab villages.

"I support the mention of the Arab names of various sites, including villages, streams and other places, and I think that they should not have been erased from the map," says Ziv. "One reason is that these names often teach us about the country's Jewish past. There is an additional reason, and that is the fact that these names teach us the history of the country and its landscape. I claimed that original Arab names of existing communities should be added as part of a first map of Israel in Arabic being prepared by the Israel Mapping Center, but I was told that there is no room for that. However, regarding destroyed villages, I think that we should make do simply with a mention of the name of the village."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/870315.html

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Haaretz

June 13, 2007

By Ora Coren

Central Israel is studded with companies that store hazardous materials on site. Yet practically none have prepared for missile attack.

Many believe that Israel faces another war this summer, that could include its northern border. One of the worst-case scenarios involves long-range missiles hitting central Israel, yet almost none of the companies have prepared protection for their hazardous materials, says the Manufacturers Association committee on "lessons learned" - or not - from the Second Lebanon War last summer.

Few have contingency plans for a state of emergency that lasts for more than a month.

The report adds that "a large quantity of hazardous materials located in the Haifa Bay area constitutes a threat to the quality of life of residents in the area."

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The Jerusalem Post

Jun. 11, 2007

Etgar Lefkovits

Motorists to Jerusalem awaiting the much-touted opening of a major city road which is meant to alleviate the congestion at the entrance to the capital need to put brakes on their expectations of imminent traffic relief.

A Jerusalem court will hold another hearing later this month over the opening of the road, which has been held up by the court partly as a result of environmental concerns, officials said.

The thoroughfare, Road Nine, which will run from the main Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway and will directly connect to the city's Begin Road without entering the congested entrance to the capital was originally supposed to open in 2008, a spokesman for the Moriah construction company said.

A request by Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski to speed up work on the road so that it could be inaugurated last month in conjunction with the start of celebrations marking the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem has been held up by a Jerusalem court following an appeal filed by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel which argued that required environmental work in and around the road has not been completed as required by law.

"The Jerusalem Municipality and the Moriah construction company systematically worked against the law in the construction of the road, and in their attempt to open the road in violation of the law," said SPNI official Shaked Avraham who filed the appeal on behalf of the environmental group.

Moriah is a sister-company of the Jerusalem Municipality.

Avraham added that critical fencing work to prevent animals from entering the road must be completed before the road can be opened.

Additional work - including cleaning piles of debris - also needs to be done as well, Avraham said.

Moriah spokesman Yehoshua Mur-Yossef denied the allegations of wrongdoing, and said that Moriah had subsequently reached an agreement with the SPNI over what work needed to be done in order to open the road, but has since been stymied by the Interior Ministry as a result of the original agreement between the two sides.

A ceremony marking the opening of the road last month was nixed at the last moment as a result of the dispute and ongoing legal wrangling.

The Jerusalem court will hold another hearing on the case later this month, while the Interior Ministry will meet next month to take up the legal issue.

The half billion shekel road will run 3.5 km and includes three bridges and two tunnels. The opening of the road will allow motorists from Tel Aviv to reach Jerusalem's Malha Mall or the city's Teddy Stadium without going through a single traffic light.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1181228590406&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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Haaretz

June 12, 2007

By Avi Bar-Eli

The director general of the Transportation Ministry, Gideon Siterman, has said big cities may have to introduce a congestion charge to discourage drivers from using their own vehicles.

"Drastic steps must be taken to encourage the use of public transportation, whether by diverting budgets to public transportation infrastructure, or by taking steps that will force the public to use public transportation" said Siterman at a conference of privately owned companies in the public transport business, which was held on Sunday at the Dead Sea.

"We have already redirected NIS 2 billion from the budget allocated to paving roads, toward public transportation infrastructure, and there is no choice but to implement a congestion charge to discourage entrance of automobiles into cities and encourage the use of public transportation" added Siterman. "The future is in public transportation, simply because we have no choice."

Commenting on the continued privatization in the sector, the comptroller of the Transportation Ministry, Eran Heimer, said that "if it were only up to us, we would do so [privatize] as quickly as possible." Heimer added that the rate of privatizations should be doubled, and reach 50 percent of the bus lines.

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Jordan Times

June 8, 2007

Hana Namrouqa

ZARQA -- The Jordan Biogas Company in Ruseifa is currently conducting negotiations with the government of Finland to sell biogas generated from the Ruseifa landfill, the company's director, Hatem Ababneh, said on Thursday.

"Selling the biogas to Finland is an outcome of Jordan signing the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992 and the Kyoto Protocol, which allow industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in emission-reducing projects in developing countries," Ababneh told reporters, during a tour of the company's headquarters yesterday organised by the Ministry of Environment.

Jointly owned by the Greater Amman Municipality and the Central Electricity Generating Company, the biogas plant was established in 1997 and started operating in June 2000.

The plant reduces methane emissions by utilising solid waste for generating electricity and producing organic fertilisers.

The factory, expected to reduce 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, generates 20,000 megawatts of electricity annually, thus limiting the emission of 5,000 tonnes of methane and saving 6,000 tonnes of diesel for the use of generating electricity.

"The plant absorbs the gases emitted from the Ruseifa landfill, 60 per cent of which is methane, one of the major gases causing climate change," Ababneh said.

The ministry recently carried out a study to identify sources and absorption of greenhouse gas emissions in the Kingdom, which revealed that garbage dumps emit some 400,000 tonnes of methane annually.

Another project targeting the reduction of emission of greenhouse gases is the Samra Electric Power Generating Company, which generates up to 24 per cent of the country's electricity needs by using heat and gases produced from electricity generation machines.

The project, which started operating in 2005, generates around 330 megawatts of electricity per hour.

Environment Ministry Secretary General Fares Juneidi, Environment Police Department Director Colonel Abdullah Abdullat and the ministry's spokesperson Isa Shboul took part in the tour.

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Haaretz

June 5, 2007

By Zafrir Rinat

A disaster not covered by any law or security framework and unrecognized by everyone - that is how a recent government policy paper described sinkholes in the Dead Sea basin. And according to a recently released report by the Geophysical Institute of Israel, the problem is only getting worse.

The report found that there are already more than 1,700 sinkholes - depressions in the earth's surface that can cause serious damage to infrastructure, tourism and agriculture - on the Dead Sea shore. Some of these sinkholes are located less than 100 meters from Route 90, the sole road that passes near the sea. The Megillot Regional Council warned last year that the depressions could endanger traffic in the area.

In their study of the area, institute researchers found that while new sinkholes have been developing at a slightly slower pace, there are still an average of 200 new sinkholes every year. The sinkholes vary in size, but some reach a diameter of over 12 meters and some a depth of five.

In the Dead Sea basin, such depressions are caused by dissolution of the underlying salt. The sinkholes have their roots in the ongoing reduction in the water level - by about one meter per year - that is occurring because water that was supposed to flow into the Dead Sea from the Jordan River and elsewhere has been diverted for drinking and irrigation purposes in Israel, Jordan and Syria. The water level reduction means that there is less salty groundwater and more sweet groundwater, which dissolves the underground salt bed and causes underground depressions. As the salt dissolves, spaces develop underground and the ground surface can collapse, sometimes taking with it a house or roadway.

The Jordanian side of the Dead Sea also has some sinkholes, but far fewer than the Israeli side, due to the steeper structure of the Jordanian shore.

The researchers who compiled the Geophysical Institute report also demonstrated that experts today can predict which areas will develop sinkholes, on the basis of a geological analysis of field conditions. Three years ago, institute researchers mapped out areas that they thought were likely to develop sinkholes, and the report shows that all the new sinkholes found since then did indeed develop in those high-risk areas.

In the Ein Gedi region, which sees heavy local and international tourism, the sinkholes have already led to the closure of a parking lot and a ban on entering some of Kibbutz Ein Gedi's date orchards. Several sections of roadway have also been damaged.

"The sinkholes are forcing us to abandon areas designated for the development of tourism and agriculture," said Dov Litvinoff, head of the Tamar Regional Council, which includes part of the Dead Sea coast. He urged environmental groups to allow tourism and/or agriculture in nature reserves in the area.

"At present, we can't develop east of Route 90 because there are sinkholes there, and we can't develop west of the road because there are nature reserves there," said Litvinoff. "The environmentalists have to compromise and allow the development of tourism or agriculture in nature reserves as well. Otherwise, we won't be able to survive here."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/867039.html

Posted by MEEF at 06:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haaretz

June 5, 2007

By Zafrir Rinat

A disaster not covered by any law or security framework and unrecognized by everyone - that is how a recent government policy paper described sinkholes in the Dead Sea basin. And according to a recently released report by the Geophysical Institute of Israel, the problem is only getting worse.

The report found that there are already more than 1,700 sinkholes - depressions in the earth's surface that can cause serious damage to infrastructure, tourism and agriculture - on the Dead Sea shore. Some of these sinkholes are located less than 100 meters from Route 90, the sole road that passes near the sea. The Megillot Regional Council warned last year that the depressions could endanger traffic in the area.

In their study of the area, institute researchers found that while new sinkholes have been developing at a slightly slower pace, there are still an average of 200 new sinkholes every year. The sinkholes vary in size, but some reach a diameter of over 12 meters and some a depth of five.

In the Dead Sea basin, such depressions are caused by dissolution of the underlying salt. The sinkholes have their roots in the ongoing reduction in the water level - by about one meter per year - that is occurring because water that was supposed to flow into the Dead Sea from the Jordan River and elsewhere has been diverted for drinking and irrigation purposes in Israel, Jordan and Syria. The water level reduction means that there is less salty groundwater and more sweet groundwater, which dissolves the underground salt bed and causes underground depressions. As the salt dissolves, spaces develop underground and the ground surface can collapse, sometimes taking with it a house or roadway.

The Jordanian side of the Dead Sea also has some sinkholes, but far fewer than the Israeli side, due to the steeper structure of the Jordanian shore.

The researchers who compiled the Geophysical Institute report also demonstrated that experts today can predict which areas will develop sinkholes, on the basis of a geological analysis of field conditions. Three years ago, institute researchers mapped out areas that they thought were likely to develop sinkholes, and the report shows that all the new sinkholes found since then did indeed develop in those high-risk areas.

In the Ein Gedi region, which sees heavy local and international tourism, the sinkholes have already led to the closure of a parking lot and a ban on entering some of Kibbutz Ein Gedi's date orchards. Several sections of roadway have also been damaged.

"The sinkholes are forcing us to abandon areas designated for the development of tourism and agriculture," said Dov Litvinoff, head of the Tamar Regional Council, which includes part of the Dead Sea coast. He urged environmental groups to allow tourism and/or agriculture in nature reserves in the area.

"At present, we can't develop east of Route 90 because there are sinkholes there, and we can't develop west of the road because there are nature reserves there," said Litvinoff. "The environmentalists have to compromise and allow the development of tourism or agriculture in nature reserves as well. Otherwise, we won't be able to survive here."

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/867039.html

Posted by MEEF at 06:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jerusalem Post

Jun. 6, 2007

Talia Dekel

The European Union is working to promote more efficient usage of energy in the Middle East, which will in turn strengthen ties between Israel, Jordan and the EU, Ambassador Ramiro Cibrian said Tuesday.

The ambassador, who heads a permanent delegation of the European Commission in Israel, spoke at a conference aimed at turning sustainable energy into "a catalyst for regional economic development."

Cibrian noted that the EU, Jordan and Israel share a common problem - that none is self-sufficient in terms of its energy resources. The EU, he said, will reduce its energy consumption by 20 percent by 2020. If other industrialized countries are also prepared to reduce their output, the EU promises to minimize its entire energy consumption by a total of 30% by the same year.

Furthermore, the delegate explained, the EU expects to draw 20% of its energy from renewable sources such as hydropower, solar energy, and wind.

In Israel, renewable resources are expected to comprise two percent of the nation's total energy resource consumption by the end of 2007; this figure is expected to reach 5% by 2016.

By "breaking monopolies of the energy market" worldwide, Cibrian noted that all consumers - private or industrial - will have a "choice of products" and a certain "degree of liberalization."

According to Cibrian, the EU wishes to enhance its relations with its immediate neighbors, Israel and Jordan. The ambassador introduced the concept of a joint action plan, through which Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority could work together to develop renewable energy resources.

"The promotion of energy efficiency," said the ambassador, "lies at the heart of EU efforts today."

In order to implement the plan in all its forms, the EU would have to wait until it had "a viable government with which to cooperate," he added, referring to the PA.

The conference, the first of its kind, is being held in Eilat and ends today.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180960626990&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Posted by MEEF at 06:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

June 6, 2007

Hana Namrouqa

AMMAN -- Jordan will continue implementing programmes and projects seeking to address environmental hotspots in the country, Minister of Environment Khalid Irani said on Tuesday in a statement marking World Environment Day (WED).

Celebrated annually on June 5, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action.

This year's celebration is organised under the theme "Melting Ice -- a Hot Topic?" in support of International Polar Year, according to the World Environment Day website.

In this regard, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that are responsible for climate change top the ministry's priorities.

A biogas project in Ruseifa, established by the ministry along with other stakeholders, is expected to reduce 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, while the Aqaba Thermal Power Station and Al Samra Plant will use gas instead of heavy fuel to generate electricity.

"Jordan is not one of the countries producing greenhouse gases, as it only contributes to less than 1.0 per cent of greenhouse emissions, yet it is exposed to the dangers of climate change," Irani said.

Climate change is a concept referring to the variation in the earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. It describes changes in the variability or average state of the atmosphere over time-scales ranging from decades to millions of years.

So far, climate change has caused a 30 per cent reduction in the country's surface water resources,

Irani said, as well as a decrease in the volume of rainfall and agricultural production, which are pillars the country and the Arab world heavily rely on.

He pointed out that the increase in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide is a result of human activities.

In 1992, Jordan along with 189 other countries became party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which seeks to come up with plans to reduce global warming and to cope with whatever temperature increases are inevitable.

By signing the agreement, Jordan benefited from the protocol's clean development mechanism, which allows industrialised countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment to invest in emission-reducing projects in developing countries.

The ministry also initiated several projects to address environmental hotspots, such as the Zarqa River, which is severely polluted due to wastewater leakage, nearby factories, car wash stations, flooding manholes and sewer systems.

A plant for treating industrial wastewater generated from factories will be established along its banks, the ministry announced recently, and a manifest system will be implemented to limit random dumping of wastewater into the river in a bid to limit the negative impact of industries on humans and the surrounding environment.

Zarqa Governorate houses 52 per cent of the Kingdom's industrial plants. In addition, the ministry will establish a new wastewater treatment plant in Irbid Governorate to address environmental and health problems resulting from the Ikeider holding area, where sewage from Al Hassan Industrial Estate is channelled.

In the transport sector, the ministry announced it would reduce the use of leaded petrol by 70 per cent this year, in preparation for a complete shift to unleaded petrol by the beginning of next year.

The county is shifting to unleaded fuel because short-term exposure to high levels of lead can result in brain and kidney damage, while chronic exposure could affect the blood and central nervous systems, blood pressure, kidneys and the body's ability to metabolise vitamin D.

Highlighting the significance of cooperation between the economy and environment sectors, Irani said the success of conservation efforts depends on integrating environmental considerations with the policy-making process.

Posted by MEEF at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haaretz

June 5, 2007

By Dan Rabinowitz

Forty years after June 5, 1967, a variety of symposia, conferences and discussions are being held that stress the malignant effect of the occupation - on the Palestinians, of course, but also on morality, society, solidarity and politics in Israel. A few weeks ago, when those who have fond memories of 1967 tried to celebrate what they call "the reunification of Jerusalem," the result was a limp demonstration of nostalgic blasts on trumpets. It is good that this week, sane, critical voices are being heard. This will help many people to identify, in anger and anxiety, the depressing future that the occupation is passing down to us for years to come as well.

The struggle for memory and memorialization is important, because it never deals solely with the truth of the past. The things that we choose to remember and commemorate define our identity, bring it up to date and thus affect the shape of our future. Therefore, it is also important to think about the other significance of the date June 5 - the date on which World Environment Day is marked internationally.

On June 5, 1972, a commission comprised of representatives of many countries and leading scientists from the field of the environment and resource management convened in Stockholm. One outcome of the conference was the establishment of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), an organization that has since been behind the earth summits held in Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg, navigated the establishment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), steered the Kyoto process and advanced many environmental programs at the local level. In retrospect, it can be said that what started out as an elitist debating club and could well have resulted solely in the establishment of a bureaucratic mechanism for improving the quality of life in wealthy countries has instead become a key organization in humanity's current effort to define its strategy for survival.

The Stockholm conference also became famous because of the book Limits to Growth, edited by a number of the participants. As far back as 35 years ago, this book, which has been translated into dozens of languages and has become a milestone in the history of the international environmental movement, set a giant question mark over the story invented by the modern economy about the world that we consume. It challenges the economic axiom that growth is dependent only on human intelligence, suitable technology and efficient organization, which implicitly assumes that the earth's resources are infinite and creates the illusion that it is possible to keep on growing forever.

Petroleum and coal have perhaps not run out since 1972, but some of the earth's resources are disappearing - the atmosphere, for one. There is still plenty of air to breathe, but what has been mortally damaged is the ability of the thin layer of air that envelopes us to take in and purify the tremendous quantities of carbon and sulfur oxides that we cram into it. When the ability to absorb and purify has reached its limit, the excess emissions accumulate in the atmosphere, gradually creating a transparent, impervious sheet that traps the heat on the earth and brings abut what is known as "global warming."

This climate change, and the destructive effects that it has already caused (chronic droughts and starvation in Africa, storms and diseases) and will yet cause (a shortage of drinking water for two billion people, a rise in the level of the oceans, tens of millions of environmental refugees), means that a new geopolitical era is already at the gates. If in past centuries wars sprang mainly from ethnic-territorial conflicts, in the current century, it is the environmental crisis that will, directly and indirectly, cause the corpses to pile up.

Conflicts like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will undoubtedly exist in the future as well. However, the context in which they will take place, and the extent of the international community's interest in neutralizing them, will be determined by the environmental crisis.

So what day is it today? Today, we commemorate two anniversaries. One reminds us that the wars of the past did not really have any victors. The other reminds us that the future of the human race will be assured only if human leaders worldwide, including in this country, are wise enough to halt the environmental-social crisis with a squeal of the brakes and change directions without delay.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/867051.html

Posted by MEEF at 06:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haaretz

June7, 2007

By Avi Bar-Eli

Hagihon, the largest water and sewage company in Israel, is preparing to issue 20 percent of its shares at a company valuation of NIS 1 billion, TheMarker has learned. The company, which serves Jerusalem and the surrounding area, intends to raise NIS 200 million, in order to finance infrastructure development.

The company's management has met with the heads of the Israel Securities Authority to examine the necessary arrangements, and hopes to complete the issue within a few months.

Hagihon has operated as a municipal company since 1996, and as a water and waste corporation since 2001. The company invoices about NIS 500 million annually in some 1.2 million water and sewage bills, of which more than 90 percent is collectable. Demand for water increases at a rate of about 2 percent annually. The company's annual report has not yet been completed, but its profits are estimated at only a few thousand shekels.

The company also owns a controlling share in its subsidiary, the Jerusalem Sewage Treatment Plant, which operates the country's largest sewage treatment plant, in Nahal Soreq. Hagihon raised NIS 80 million for infrastructure renovation from institutional investors, paying 5.8 percent interest, in an April 2005 issue.

The company is currently updating its survey of assets, which include the Nahal Soreq sewage treatment plant, established at a cost of NIS 350 million; a 10-dunam water reservoir, the largest in Israel, located in the Bayit v'Gan neighborhood of Jerusalem; and 20 other water reservoirs in Jerusalem and the vicinity. The company also intends to issue a build-operate-transfer tender for a new NIS 80 million desalination plant that will serve residents of eastern Jerusalem and the neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze'ev and Mount Scopus.

Hagihon chair Moshe Klatzin confirmed the news yesterday, saying, "Water is a monopoly, the collection rate is high and the company operates very well. If the Tel Aviv municipality were rated AAA (for a municipal offering), we will certainly rate AA+ at least." Klatzin added that Hagihon has already begun some water projects, and is about to sign a cooperation agreement with Siemens and General Electric to develop water purification technology.

Raising of capital, like the issue itself, was made possible by virtue of the law for water and waste corporations (2001). The law enables local authorities to establish independent corporations for management of municipal water and waste facilities. It also enables the issue of 25 percent of the corporation's stock.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868011.html

Posted by MEEF at 06:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

June 4, 2007

Aqaba’s diving sites contain some of the world’s most pristine coral reefs

By Dalya Dajani

AQABA — This city’s unique marine habitat is beginning to lose its appeal among several tourist diving groups, who cite serious coral reef damage as a result of littering and other issues compromising their safety.

A prime attraction for divers worldwide and a key resource for tourism,
Aqaba’s diving sites that contain some of the world’s most pristine coral reefs, are
drawing criticism from several groups that expressed shock and dismay at
their current condition.

In letters addressed to clubs in the area, several diving groups said the
quality of certain dive sites was seriously affected by litter, while others
wrote that they were looking to other destinations for future dive holidays.
“All of our group had good words to say about you and… the people of Jordan…
but are unlikely to come back to Jordan for a diving holiday,” wrote British
diver and reef conservationist David Prentice, following a diving expedition in Aqaba.

“Both divers and snorkellers were disappointed in the quality of the dive
sites [for coral and fish] and angry about the general condition of the reef and
shore as far as litter and pollution are concerned,” he added. With
extensive experience in reef conservation work around the world, Prentice acknowledged
the challenges facing the Kingdom in this regard, but expressed concern for
the future of diving centre businesses in five years time unless conditions were “improved quickly”.

A hotspot for thousands of Jordanians during the weekends, the southern
shoreline is a key part of the problem. The beach is often littered with all
kinds of rubbish by the end of the day — from cigarette butts, soda cans and
plastic bags, to diapers, charcoal and even, on one occasion, the carcass of
a goat — which find their way into the sea.

Although the Royal Marine Conservation Society (JREDS) and other
community-based organisations conduct periodic clean-up campaigns to prevent additional
damage to the marine habitat, the problem prevails due to the lack of public
awareness and weak enforcement of regulations.

JREDS Executive Director Fadi Sharaiha, who has led several awareness and
clean-up drives in the area over recent years, said attempts to change
public behaviour and understanding of the environment has been a challenge.

He acknowledged that the majority of the public have no regard for the
conservation of the coral reef or the state of the public beach.

“We have done a lot over the past few years to step up awareness about the
environment and the importance of the coral reef, but this has been
difficult,” said Sharaiha.

“Trying to change the mindsets of some of the older generation is as good as
hopeless, that is why we are focusing our education programmes on young
people,” he added.

An authority in marine environment, JREDS has been working with kindergarten
students as well as police and environmental rangers operating under the
Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and the Aqaba Marine Park.

Even these efforts, he said, are a drop in the ocean for the change needed
to produce results.

“As a nation, we have a problem when it comes to maintaining public places,”
Sharaiha said.

“We need to educate people on the importance of the environment and its
impact on tourism life and future. We’re working with youth clubs as well as
rangers and advocating for changing laws,” he added.

Sharaiha said the problems exists at various levels, starting from the
regular citizen all the way to those responsible for enforcement.

Currently, ASEZA and environmental rangers are responsible for monitoring
violations and are authorised to issue fines.

Those littering can be fined between JD20-JD25, while Article 25 of the
Environmental Protection Law stipulates a minimum penalty of JD10,000 for
damaging coral, but it is usually never enforced, according to observers.

There have been some positive steps, however, with ASEZA undertaking
awareness efforts and preventive measures to protect the marine habitat.

For example, fishing within the marine park area has been banned and ASEZA
is raising awareness on the importance of marine life in schools and with the
concerned authorities. A coral replantation programme is also under way in
the northern coast of the port city.

Sarah Lyle, a diver and underwater photographer from Ireland who has been
travelling to Aqaba since 1998, commended these efforts.

But she expressed concern about the inadequate efforts to solve the problem
of littering.

“The coral reefs in Aqaba are almost unique in the Red Sea in that they have
not been devastated by over-diving, but from the level of rubbish that is being
left on the beaches,” Lyle told The Jordan Times.

“Without the pristine reefs, diving tourists will stop coming to Aqaba and
probably opt for the cheaper, more accessible Egyptian Red Sea resorts,” she
added.

Lyle said ASEZA should be praised for the trash bins placed on the beaches,
but added that “their efforts would be better spent educating people not to
litter in the first place”.

Divers also raised concerns regarding their safety, citing the dangers posed
by fishing and glass-bottom boats in the area.

In a petition to one of Aqaba’s diving clubs, a group of Italian and British
divers said the small fishing boats that come too close to shore could
“injure or even kill people and scare tourists who are here to enjoy the beauty of the
reef and are obliged to risk their safety to do so”.

Lyle said glass-bottom boats had sailed over her on two occasions at the
entry/exit point of her dive without any regard for her or others in the
water.

She noted similar threats from waves caused by the ferry to Nweibeh,
suggesting that a regulation be enforced to oblige these ferries to reduce their speed and
alter course to minimise the effects, as well as carry warning signs alerting
water users about strong swells when they pass.

A British tourist who took a trip on a glass-bottom boat last month, noted
that he saw “more discarded cans on the seabed than fish and healthy coral”.

But the tourist was even more shocked when the boat struck a reef and broke
off bits of coral a number of times during the trip.

JREDS worked with owners of 70 glass bottom-boats on safety regulations and
awareness against littering last year.

But for now divers and observers are wondering when there will be serious
efforts to address these issues, with one remarking that it would probably
take a fatal accident to prompt the required action.

Posted by MEEF at 06:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

June 4, 2007

Aqaba’s diving sites contain some of the world’s most pristine coral reefs

By Dalya Dajani

AQABA — This city’s unique marine habitat is beginning to lose its appeal among several tourist diving groups, who cite serious coral reef damage as a result of littering and other issues compromising their safety.

A prime attraction for divers worldwide and a key resource for tourism,
Aqaba’s diving sites that contain some of the world’s most pristine coral reefs, are
drawing criticism from several groups that expressed shock and dismay at
their current condition.

In letters addressed to clubs in the area, several diving groups said the
quality of certain dive sites was seriously affected by litter, while others
wrote that they were looking to other destinations for future dive holidays.
“All of our group had good words to say about you and… the people of Jordan…
but are unlikely to come back to Jordan for a diving holiday,” wrote British
diver and reef conservationist David Prentice, following a diving expedition in Aqaba.

“Both divers and snorkellers were disappointed in the quality of the dive
sites [for coral and fish] and angry about the general condition of the reef and
shore as far as litter and pollution are concerned,” he added. With
extensive experience in reef conservation work around the world, Prentice acknowledged
the challenges facing the Kingdom in this regard, but expressed concern for
the future of diving centre businesses in five years time unless conditions were “improved quickly”.

A hotspot for thousands of Jordanians during the weekends, the southern
shoreline is a key part of the problem. The beach is often littered with all
kinds of rubbish by the end of the day — from cigarette butts, soda cans and
plastic bags, to diapers, charcoal and even, on one occasion, the carcass of
a goat — which find their way into the sea.

Although the Royal Marine Conservation Society (JREDS) and other
community-based organisations conduct periodic clean-up campaigns to prevent additional
damage to the marine habitat, the problem prevails due to the lack of public
awareness and weak enforcement of regulations.

JREDS Executive Director Fadi Sharaiha, who has led several awareness and
clean-up drives in the area over recent years, said attempts to change
public behaviour and understanding of the environment has been a challenge.

He acknowledged that the majority of the public have no regard for the
conservation of the coral reef or the state of the public beach.

“We have done a lot over the past few years to step up awareness about the
environment and the importance of the coral reef, but this has been
difficult,” said Sharaiha.

“Trying to change the mindsets of some of the older generation is as good as
hopeless, that is why we are focusing our education programmes on young
people,” he added.

An authority in marine environment, JREDS has been working with kindergarten
students as well as police and environmental rangers operating under the
Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and the Aqaba Marine Park.

Even these efforts, he said, are a drop in the ocean for the change needed
to produce results.

“As a nation, we have a problem when it comes to maintaining public places,”
Sharaiha said.

“We need to educate people on the importance of the environment and its
impact on tourism life and future. We’re working with youth clubs as well as
rangers and advocating for changing laws,” he added.

Sharaiha said the problems exists at various levels, starting from the
regular citizen all the way to those responsible for enforcement.

Currently, ASEZA and environmental rangers are responsible for monitoring
violations and are authorised to issue fines.

Those littering can be fined between JD20-JD25, while Article 25 of the
Environmental Protection Law stipulates a minimum penalty of JD10,000 for
damaging coral, but it is usually never enforced, according to observers.

There have been some positive steps, however, with ASEZA undertaking
awareness efforts and preventive measures to protect the marine habitat.

For example, fishing within the marine park area has been banned and ASEZA
is raising awareness on the importance of marine life in schools and with the
concerned authorities. A coral replantation programme is also under way in
the northern coast of the port city.

Sarah Lyle, a diver and underwater photographer from Ireland who has been
travelling to Aqaba since 1998, commended these efforts.

But she expressed concern about the inadequate efforts to solve the problem
of littering.

“The coral reefs in Aqaba are almost unique in the Red Sea in that they have
not been devastated by over-diving, but from the level of rubbish that is being
left on the beaches,” Lyle told The Jordan Times.

“Without the pristine reefs, diving tourists will stop coming to Aqaba and
probably opt for the cheaper, more accessible Egyptian Red Sea resorts,” she
added.

Lyle said ASEZA should be praised for the trash bins placed on the beaches,
but added that “their efforts would be better spent educating people not to
litter in the first place”.

Divers also raised concerns regarding their safety, citing the dangers posed
by fishing and glass-bottom boats in the area.

In a petition to one of Aqaba’s diving clubs, a group of Italian and British
divers said the small fishing boats that come too close to shore could
“injure or even kill people and scare tourists who are here to enjoy the beauty of the
reef and are obliged to risk their safety to do so”.

Lyle said glass-bottom boats had sailed over her on two occasions at the
entry/exit point of her dive without any regard for her or others in the
water.

She noted similar threats from waves caused by the ferry to Nweibeh,
suggesting that a regulation be enforced to oblige these ferries to reduce their speed and
alter course to minimise the effects, as well as carry warning signs alerting
water users about strong swells when they pass.

A British tourist who took a trip on a glass-bottom boat last month, noted
that he saw “more discarded cans on the seabed than fish and healthy coral”.

But the tourist was even more shocked when the boat struck a reef and broke
off bits of coral a number of times during the trip.

JREDS worked with owners of 70 glass bottom-boats on safety regulations and
awareness against littering last year.

But for now divers and observers are wondering when there will be serious
efforts to address these issues, with one remarking that it would probably
take a fatal accident to prompt the required action.

Posted by MEEF at 06:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

June 6, 2007

AMMAN -- A regional forum on local water governance entitled, "Water is everybody's business" opens today.

The Euro-Med Participatory Water Resources Scenarios (EMPOWERS) Partnership, supported by the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, is holding the forum under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah.

More than 200 specialists representing decision-makers in the Arab world's water sectors, representatives of donor organisations, water networks, as well as regional and international NGOs and academia are attending the forum, organised by 15 local, regional and international organisations.

The forum is based on the argument that solutions for water problems in any community are viable only if water management plans are implemented in a participatory manner, according to a statement released by the organisers.

It, therefore, aims to promote the involvement of local communities and officials in the decision-making process, planning and implementation of water activities -- regarded as one of the most important pillars of good local water resources governance.

Active community participation in planning and decision-making in the water sector, whether at the local or national level, is based on enforcement of policies and legislations that are supportive of this societal role which the world now considers as a solution to many water management problems, the statement said.

These problems have gained extra weight in the Arab world where water scarcity has reached unprecedented levels. An outcome of this situation is that many water users claim priority for themselves for getting a bigger water share which would be at the expense of other users, according to the event organisers.

Long-term solutions require the adoption of a systematic approach based on an integrated management of water resources, which cannot be achieved except by the participation of citizens from all social and economic classes, the statement added.

Participants will focus on the efforts required to enhance this participation and on coordination mechanisms among all community groups to achieve their visions and strategies.

This requires building the capacities of intermediate-level stakeholders to be able to facilitate involvement of ordinary citizens and create awareness on the active role they can play in water resource management.

The forum will also address the importance of making credible water-related information available to all citizens as such data is the infrastructure for any successful planning process.

The EMPOWERS Partnership, co-funded by the European Union's MEDA Water Programme, is a regional project implemented in Jordan, Palestine and Egypt.

Posted by MEEF at 06:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jerusalem Post

Jun. 6, 2007

SAUL ELBEIN

Outsourcing, global warming and terrorism are very different problems, but "green power" could wean the West and the developing world off cheap oil and its accompanying problems, New York Times Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Thomas L. Friedman said Wednesday.

Friedman, speaking at a panel discussion at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that environmentalism is not a moral issue, but a practical one.

"Jobs, terrorism and temperature are the biggest challenges facing America in the 21st century," Friedman said. "Green, as a redefined ideology, could actually bridge Republican and Democratic differences on those issues."

He called on the American government to help companies bring much-touted green technology down to a competitive price. The power of the market, he suggested, would do the rest, ushering in a green revolution.

Cutting carbon emissions and oil prices would work to fight both global warming and regimes that fund terror, he argued. Also, because green products would be by definition "smarter" and more energy efficient, "to the extent that we shift the debate to making 'green' part of the DNA of every product that we make, we in America - and we in Israel - create jobs that cannot be outsourced."

The New York Times columnist spoke mostly about the "green movement" in the US, where environmentalism and alternative energies have been slow to catch on. "Green has gone Main Street," he said, "but it hasn't gone very far down Main Street."

This, he argued, was a problem of cost: because of America's failure to support alternative energy, green power has been unable to compete with fossil fuels. Changing this would take government commitment to green power on a level yet unseen, he said.

While Friedman believes that a mass movement can bring about a green revolution in America, professor and fellow panelist Avner De-Shalit was more cautious. Change would be difficult, he argued, because while Americans know an impressive amount about the environment - what he called "environmental literacy" - they fail to integrate that knowledge into their daily lives. He also suggested that even if they did so, it might not matter.

"To take an example," he said, "Ninety percent of [Israel's] air pollution is the result of only 80 factories. When the problem is that concentrated, it doesn't help to convince me to pollute less."

But while agreeing with the need to be realistic, moderator Yaron Ezrahi cautioned against discounting idealism in favor of "crass realism." "Realism has never affected significant social change," he said. "What has are utopias. Unrealistic dreams. They are, of course, not fully realizable, but they are powerful social motivators."

"We should not discount the power of utopias," Ezrahi added. "Especially in this country."

This, ultimately, was Friedman's solution as well. While global warming, outsourcing, and terrorism are all practical issues, the people who they will most harm - and who a green revolution will most benefit - are still unborn. Thus, it will take idealism to solve the "climate-energy" crisis.

"This issue demands something very unusual of us," he concluded. "We must be stewards and assume sacrifices for a generation that hasn't been born yet. Our parents did this for us. That's why we call them the Greatest Generation. Our kids will not call us the Greatest Generation unless we are also the Greenest Generation."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180960627096&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Posted by MEEF at 06:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ma'an News Service

June 5, 2007

Bethlehem - Ma'an - On the occasion of World Environment Day, celebrated every year on 5 June since 1972, when the United Nations declared World Day at the opening of the Stockholm conference on human environment, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) has issued a press release on the state of the Palestinian environment.

Population density

Regarding population density in the occupied Palestinian territory, PCBS
estimates that population density will reach 667 persons/ km² in mid 2007.
In the West Bank, the density will be 445 persons/ km² and in the Gaza Strip
the density will rise to an incredible 4,108 persons/ km².

Water

According to PCBS's data, 88.6% of households in the Palestinian territory
are connected to a public water network. This still leaves 70,103 households
that are not connected to a public water network, PCBS's data reveals. 5.2% of
households depend on household water wells, PCBS adds. Of the connected
households, 121 localities (29.0%) obtain water from the Israeli water company, Mekorot.

As for wastewater, less than half (45.3%) of the households in the occupied
Palestinian territory are connected to a wastewater network, PCBS finds.

Regarding water quality, PCBS found that only 4.5% of households in the Gaza
Strip consider their water to be of good quality.

PCBS recalls that the Israeli occupation authorities took a decision on 7
June 1967, immediately after the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,
to transfer the responsibility for water in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to
the Israeli Military Governor. PCBS says that this decision was followed by
others "that restrict and decrease Palestinians’ usage of their water rights
and prohibit them from digging agricultural and household wells." PCBS also
notes that many wells were dug in the illegal Israeli settlements in order
to provide Israel with water from the Palestinian aquifer.

Since the beginning of the occupation until 30 April 2006, more than 420
artesian wells and additional water resources were polluted, PCBS reveals.
Today, Israel is controlling more than 85% of the Palestinian water
resources and, consequently, the Palestinian per capita drinking water use has
decreased to less than 90 cubic meter per year.

PCBS also discovered that the area that has been isolated on the western
side of Israel's illegal separation wall is located over the major northern and
western aquifers which have an annual discharge capacity of 507 million cubic
meters, whereas the entire eastern area, located on the West Bank side of the wall,
is located over the eastern aquifer, which has an annual discharge capacity of
172 million cubic meters.

Waste

PCBS also found that 2,844 tons of household solid waste are produced daily
in the Palestinian territory. The average household daily production of
household waste in the Palestinian territory was estimated to be 4.6 kg.

PCBS also discovered that, in 2005, 27.8% of the localities in the
Palestinian territory did not have a solid waste collection service.

In terms of dumping sites, PCBS's statistics reveal that out of a total of
164 dumping sites in the Palestinian territory, only three are found in the Gaza
Strip. These dumping sites are not monitored by the Palestinian Ministry of
Health.

Land

Since the beginning of the occupation until 30 April 2006, more than 1.39
million trees, and more than one million dunums of agricultural lands, were
destroyed, PCBS reveals.

During the last five years, the construction of Israel's illegal separation
wall has led to the confiscation or isolation of more than 349,000 dunums of West
Bank Palestinian land, PCBS says. By the end of 2005, it had also destroyed
or isolated more than 90 wells in the West Bank and a large number of springs.

More information is available at http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/
http://www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=22671

Posted by MEEF at 06:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

June 1, 2007

Samir Ghawi

AMMAN -- The environmental pollution worsened so much at the Himmeh tourist resort that the company operating the site had no choice but to demolish the whole facility.

"The Himmeh facility was operated intermittently during 2006 as the site was closed several times by the official health and environment authorities because the water at the resort was contaminated by wastewater leaking from cesspools of private houses adjacent to the tourist area," the Jordan Himmeh Mineral Company said in its 42nd annual report.

The report added that in light of repeated closures by the authorities, the decline in the resort's operations and the deteriorating financial and technical situation, the company's board of directors decided to permanently shut down the facility.

The shutdown in September 2006 included the termination of services of 15 workers, selling all assets and tearing down the chalets, rooms and other service buildings in addition to 52 adjacent housing units out of 55 houses -- the cesspools of which were contaminating the springwater of the resort.

Up until the end of 2006, the company bought and paid JD656,000 in compensation to the owners of the evacuated houses. The remaining three homeowners have adamantly refused to sell and evacuate their houses and hand them over to the company, prompting the firm to take their cases to the Jordan Valley Authority.

According to the annual report, the Jordan Himmeh Mineral Company conducts monthly testing to determine the quality of the springwater.

"The testing results showed improvement in water quality especially after the rainfalls," the company asserted.

"This proves that the housing units around the resort's spring and the waste from those residences were a main cause of the water pollution," it elaborated.

Financially, the operational earnings declined from JD108,121 in 2005 to JD67,243 in 2006. After taking other incomes and expenses into consideration, the end result was a JD156,313 loss compared to JD19,406 profit in 2006.

Prior to its closure, Himmeh, with its modest facilities, was the sole resort in the north of the Kingdom visited by Jordanians and tourists seeking therapeutic treatment with its mineral water.

At present, the company has entrusted a specialised firm to prepare the necessary designs and plans to rebuild and develop the resort in light of higher prices for building materials.

Under a JD10 million future development scheme, Jordan Himmeh Mineral Company will be building a 4-star hotel consisting of 136 rooms and other supportive facilities.

Zara Investment and its subsidiaries own 278,886 shares of the company's 500,000 shares/dinars capital.

Posted by MEEF at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Daily Star

June 01, 2007

Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: Last summer's fuel-oil spill into the Mediterranean Sea is not the main cause behind the Lebanese coast's pollution, despite what many people think. In fact, the key factor contributing to the pollution of the sea around Lebanon has never changed: sewage, according to an article in this month's issue of Environment and Development magazine.

Environment Hotline, an environmental research team affiliated with the magazine, said an analysis of samples from Lebanon's seawater showed the amount of oil had become inconsiderable and "does not endanger beachgoers' lives ... but high levels of the fecal coliform (FC) bacteria in sewage that is being dropped into the sea can lead to severe health problems, especially for children and elderly people, who have lower levels of immunity."

Bacterial-testing results showed that seven beach resorts were safe for visitors, while seven were totally unsafe and one was "borderline," the team said. The tests were conducted in 15 public and private beach resorts across the country in May.

"Six beaches witnessed a decrease in bacterial pollution in comparison to 2006, while three preserved the same level of pollution and the remaining six witnessed a hike in the level of pollution," the hotline said. "The amount of FC should be below 100 colonies in every 100 milliliters of water."

In North Lebanon, the La Palma beach resort in Tripoli registered a decrease in the amount of FC from 83 units per 100 milliliters in 2006 to three units in 2007, while the FC in the region's public beach decreased from 300 units to 102.

Amsheet's public beach witnessed a slight increase in the FC amount from zero in 2006 to 1 unit in 2007.

In Jbeil, two units of FC were registered in Edde Sands and La Voile Bleue, in comparison to zero in 2006. Those are negligible changes.

The Nahr al-Kalb coast, which includes several private and public beaches, witnessed a decrease in the FC amount from 300 to 236.

As for the Antelias-Dbayyeh coast, the FC amount exceeded 1,000 units, which exposes beachgoers to serious danger.

While the American University of Beirut's beach is virtually free from bacterial pollution, the public beach in Ramlet al-Baida registered high levels of bacterial pollution exceeding 1,000.

The FC levels in th e waters off the Movenpick Resort is estimated at 220 in comparison to 71 in 2006, while that of waters facing the Coral Beach Resort totaled 86, in comparison with 117 in 2006.

Moving to Damour in the South, the FC level in the Oceana resort's waters were 1 unit in 2007, compared to zero in 2006.

In Rmaileh, La Voile and La Guava beaches registered a decrease from 65 to 38, while Sidon's public beach saw a slight increase from 200 to 244.

"The Sidon beach is also suffering from the problem of solid waste, which collapses every now and then into the sea from the area's notorious dump," the hotline said.

In the Baissarieh public beach in southern Sidon, the FC amount decreased from 900 to 206, while the FC amount in Tyre's public beach remained safe despite an increase from zero to 35.

Some beaches, particularly those along the Akkar coast and around the Sidon dump, have been classified as inappropriate for swimmers, mainly due to scattered solid waste.

Environment Hotline urged swimmers to stay away from mouths of rivers, sewer outlets and waste dumps, where bacterial and chemical pollution is highly concentrated.

"Cleanup operations succeeded in removing most of the spilled oil from the sea during the four months that followed the bombing of the Jiyyeh power plant and nature took care of most of the remaining, reducing the quantity of fuel-oil to a very low level," the article said, dismissing claims that Lebanon's sea is still highly polluted by the spill. The remaining oil pollution is mainly concentrated in the oil-mixed waste collected in containers after the spill, which are still deposited unsafely along some shores.

An estimated 10,000-15,000 tons of fuel-oil spilled into the sea after Israeli planes bombed fuel tanks at the Jiyyeh facility in the first days of the war. The spill polluted approximately 150 kilometers of shoreline.

Mary Abboud Abi Saab, research director at the National Center for Marine Sciences (NCMS), said the quantity of oil had become negligible.

"Light oil flows on the surface of water and evaporates," Abi Saab told the hotline. "As for the remaining oil on the sand, it can be described as annoying rather than harmful, because it melts with the increase in temperature and sticks to beachgoers' bodies."

NCMS director Gaby Khalaf said tests carried out on samples of fish between August and November 2006 showed that the oil spill had not polluted fish.

"But I advise people to avoid consuming mussels and oysters, because studies showed that they are polluted, as they accumulate concentrated levels of heavy metals," Khalaf said.

Najib Saab, publisher and editor-in-chief of Environment & Development magazine, said that when the magazine published the first coastal survey in June 2005, that highlighted danger zones with dangerous bacterial pollution, he expected immediate remedial measures to be taken by the authorities.

To his dismay, weeks after the results were published; the government announced the opening of six public beaches, three of which were located in some of the most polluted areas, namely Ramlet al-Baida, Saida and Baisariyeh.

Saab points out that no action was taken after releasing the 2006 survey, as the oil slick from the July war prevented the use of beaches any way. He hopes necessary measures will be taken this season based on the survey, starting from closing unsafe beaches, to halting the flow of pollution from the source, by operating the planned sewage treatment plants immediately.

Saab stresses the need to analyze samples from the beaches on weekly basis during the swimming season, and publish the results along with weather forecast to alert swimmers. In spite of the widespread pollution, he still believes there are enough clean and safe beaches for Lebanese to enjoy, "but will the prevailing situation in the country allow them to reach those beaches?" - The Daily Star

Pollution levels at key locations off the coast

The National Center for Marine Sciences (NCMS), affiliated with the National Council for Scientific Research, has been monitoring the Lebanese coast for 25 years. NCMS conducts monthly tests in 21 spots between Tripoli in the North and Naqoura in the South.

The table shows the minimum and maximum levels of bacterial pollution between January 2006 and April 2007 in 13 locations. Three locations suffer from permanent pollution: Antelias, Manara and Ramlet al-Baida. Three other locations suffer from temporary pollution: Nahr Ibrahim, Tabarja and Sidon's sand coast. Nahr al-Kalb and Ouzai coasts, both polluted, do not fall within the center's framework.

Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=82687#

Posted by MEEF at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jerusalem Post

May. 29, 2007

Judy Siegel-Itzkovich

Although the wild leopard that barged into the home of a sleeping Sde Boker family on Monday is slowly recovering, he is quite old, and suffers from a stiff spine and joints, as well as infertility, according to a veterinarian who treated him at the Hebrew University Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Beit Dagan.

Dr. Zahi Aizenberg, head of the hospital's imaging unit, lead the team that treated the leopard, estimated be be around 15 years old.

"He weighs only 26.5 kilos, but a male of his size should weigh 40," said Aizenberg, who has treated several leopards, most of them from zoos.

Only about 10 of the leopard species native to Israel have been seen recently here, said Aizenberg, "but there could be some more."

The leopard found at Sde Boker on Monday, near exhaustion because his joint problem prevents him from hunting wild animals, forcing him to feed on pet dogs and cats, has already been released at the Hai Bar animal reserve near Kibbutz Yotvata.

Aizenberg doubts he would be able to survive in the wild. "He hunted the pets because he couldn't catch wild animals on the run," he said.

The leopard entered the children's room at the Du Mosch residence in the middle of the night through a patio door left open to cool the house, attacked the family cat, awakened the dog, and then walked into the master bedroom of Arthur Du Mosch, 49, an immigrant from Holland who works as a nature guide.

Instead of shooing the leopard away - as Aizenberg said he would recommend to anyone not a veterinarian - Du Mosch caught the animal with his hands and held him, finally holding him in a plastic garbage can until Nature Reserve wardens arrived to take him to the veterinary hospital.

Aizenberg said the staff did not want to give the leopard a name, as he should not be regarded as a pet. Before being taken to the nature reserve, he underwent general anesthesia and blood and urine tests, ultrasound and CT scans. The wild feline was given food and an infusion for his dehydration, as well as treatment against worms, which may have caused him to be emaciated.

A scan showed that he had bones in his stomach, so he had eaten recently, probably a meal of pets. There is no treatment for his spinal and joint problems, said the veterinarian. "He probably has a few years left."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180450949922&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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YNET

May 28, 2007

Leopard chases cat into sleeping couple's bedroom, husband awakes, catches leopard with bare hands, saving his beloved cat
Anat Bereshovsky

A Negev resident woke up early Monday morning to find a leopard in his bedroom.

The wild animal had been chasing Arthur Damush's beloved cat around the house, and when the two animals entered his bedroom, Damush did not hesitate, and knew exactly what he had to do.

The Midreshest Ben-Gurion resident instinctively jumped out of his bed and caught the wild creature with his bare hands.

In the past two weeks residents of the area noticed that cats were slowly disappearing, and occasionally spotted the leopard sneaking between houses. This time, however, the leopard decided to pay the Damush household a visit.

Raviv Shapira, head of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority's southern district, told Ynet, "Around 3 am, a cat ran into the house, with the leopard chasing after him. The two animals lunged into the bedroom.

"The homeowner who was sleeping with his wife woke up and yelled: 'Leopard!', and at first thought he was seeing things. When the leopard used its teeth to grab the cat by its neck, the homeowner pounced on it and caught it with his hands."

Shapira added that this was the first time he had ever encountered a leopard entering a home.

The leopard. Photo: Amram Tsabri, Israel Nature and Parks Authority

After catching the animal, Damush told his wife to call their neighbor, Yossi Sinai, a Nature and Parks Authority inspector.

"The wife called me and she was very nervous and asked me to come over," Sinai said. "We arrived at the house, and saw Damush holding the leopard with his hands. We took over from that point. The fact that Damush was able to overpower the leopard is outstanding."

The leopard was taken for medical examination in order to determine if it had any diseases and to find out what caused it to get so close to the houses. A transmitter was fixed to the leopard in order to provide information on its whereabouts at all times.

The cat was lightly wounded and Damush, who was slightly scratched, was also taken for testing.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3405509,00.html

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Haaretz

May 28, 2007

By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent

Negev resident Arthur Dimosh trapped a Leopard Sunday night after the feline had crept into his bedroom in Sde Boker while chasing a cat.

Dimosh awoke from the barking of his dog, to find himself face to face with a leopard. He immediately leapt on the animal, grabbed him by the neck and asked his wife to call the Nature and Parks Authority (NPA).

Officials from the NPA arrived shortly after and managed to get the leopard into a cage by first transferring him into a trash bin.

In the last few weeks the leopard has entered the desert community to prey on cats and dogs. NPA officials staked out the area in the past few nights in an attempt to scare the leopard off with firecrackers.

Authorities think that the leopard has begun hunting inside communities because it has found it difficult to catch prey in the wild, a possible indication that the leopard is suffering from physical problems.

It is because of this that the leopard was taken to the Beit Dagan Veterinary Hospital where it will be determined if the leopard is capable of returning to the wild.

Experts asses that there are eight to ten leopards left in the Judea Desert and Negev. In the past some leopards were tagged with transmitters, however all of these leopards have died. Today there are no leopards in the wild tagged with a transmitter.

In the Judea Desert there apparently remains only one leopard, who occasionally wanders into the Ein Gedi Kibbutz. In the past few years, there has not been a organized and continuous study of the leopards in the desert so there is only partial information about them.

The leopards lived in other countries in the region in the past, however seem to have only survived in Israel.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/864089.html

Posted by MEEF at 02:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(subscribers may follow the link to the recent discussion of this issue;
topics
and authors listed below - ed.)
http://www.bitterlemons.org/previous/bl280507ed19.html

Peacemakers or peace industry?

. Something radically different by Yossi Alpher
With respect, we don't belong to any forums of Israeli and Palestinian peace
organizations.

. No compensation for substance by Ghassan Khatib
Peace organizations were only ever meant to be supporting actors to the
headlinecast.

. The "peace merchants" have disappeared by Ron Pundak
It is this seam between the two publics that the peace organizations
inhabit.

. More fraud than friend by Akram Baker
The West bought out the secular, leftist organizations by creating a
parallel PA, the NGO world.

Posted by MEEF at 02:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Entries can be found at:
http://www.arabenvironment.net/archive/2007/5/235559.html

Calls to introduce 'pay as you throw' scheme in the Gulf

Green buildings hit the UAE

Dubai real estate developer establishes Emirates Environmental Group

Focus on Environmental Applications in the Arab World

Building projects put strain on potable water resources in the Middle East

New minimum standards to be implemented for desert campsites in Jordan

Regional Strategy for the Conservation of Arabian Oryx

Jordanian School Teachers Discuss Environmental Education Programmes

Bahrain More Aware of Climate Change Threats

Bahrain's coral reefs a bed of rubble

Arab countries tackle environment enforcement issues

Arab States Urged To Upgrade National Standards On Water Use
Jeddah to Have 50 Ne

Posted by MEEF at 02:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YNET

March 30, 2007

Joint venture could help save the environment while forging stronger collaborative ties in Middle East
IEICI
Published: 05.30.07, 18:07 / Israel Money

An Israeli-Jordanian automotive project is taking a big leap forward. Executives from Renault and Toyota have been speaking to officials from both sides, in an attempt to launch a joint venture for a factory specializing in
environmentally-friendly electric cars. According to the plan, the location of this factory would be near the border between Israel and Jordan, in an area called Peace Valley.

Direct discussions between Israel and Jordan were held a week and-a-half
ago, at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, which took place May 18-20 on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. They involved high-ranking officials from both sides – King Abdullah of Jordan, Israel's
Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Israel's Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai.
According to reports, Peres promised tax incentives and government grants to car
manufacturers willing to take part in the project.

Informal talks on the same issue, which involved executives from Renault and
Toyota, were also held in Davos. Toyota has set high environmental standards in
car manufacturing with its Prius hybrid electric-and-gas vehicle, and is now
enjoying the returns of that investment with global initiatives such as the
Peace Valley car factory.

One of the leading figures in this joint project is Shai Agassi, former
chief technology officer of the software giant SAP AG. After quitting SAP earlier
this year, Agassi claimed he wishes to concentrate on "green" issues. According
to Agassi, Israel should attempt to be independent of oil within 10 years.
An electric car industry would be an indispensable step towards achieving such
a goal.

Reprinted with permission of The Israel Export and International Cooperation
Institute

Posted by MEEF at 02:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jerusalem Post

May. 31, 2007

Gil Zohar

Jerusalem's reputation for the ludicrous was enhanced on May 20, when Jerusalem District Court ruled against the opening of a new expressway that was planned to relieve the perpetual traffic jam at the entrance to the capital. As reported in In Jerusalem ("Warning: Construction ahead," May 18), the road was scheduled to open on May 21.

The court was responding to a petition by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, charging that Moriah, the municipal agency that built Road 9, failed to construct passages enabling wildlife to cross the busy road without being hit by cars, an environmental component required by the project's contract.

It will be at least mid-July before the animal crossings can be completed, and Moriah spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yosef did not know when the work would be finished.

The new north bypass road, built over the past six years at a cost of NIS 500 million, was to have been dedicated May 21 in a festive ceremony with the participation of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Mayor Uri Lupolianski. The divided four-lane expressway curves and tunnels east from Motza past Beit Iksa to Ramot, where it reconnects with Route 1. From there, Route 1 continues around the city to the north and east before descending to Ma'aleh Adumim and the Dead Sea.

"If the Moriah Company had related in recent months to the requests of the SPNI and the Interior Ministry as it should have, then it would have been possible to avoid the present situation," said Nir Papai, head of the SPNI's preservation department. "We hope that the lesson will be learned for future projects."

"We express sorrow over the damage being caused to the residents of Jerusalem and those coming there because of the delay in opening Road 9. The company will honor the court's decision and continue to rehabilitate the landscape in the area," read an official statement released by Moriah.

The delay in opening Road 9 will also impact the further construction of the Jerusalem ring road.

The eastern link of that beltway will continue south along the eastern edge of the city, following the West Bank security fence. This segment will lead to the Nahal Daraja valley between East Talpiot and Sur Bahir where it will join Derech Moshe Baram.

The proposed western link will continue south and west from the junction of Roads 1 and 9, crossing the east side of Mount Heret (via a bridge and a tunnel), and passing below the Hadassah-University Medical Center, Ein Kerem, before joining Route 39 in the Refaim Valley. Here another new highway, the Western Train Road, would complete the circle.

However with the cancellation of the Safdie Plan for the development of west Jerusalem, it is not clear if the western link of the Jerusalem beltway will ever be built. An alternative route would use Sderot Menachem Begin to form the western side of the capital's ring road.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180527974291&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Posted by MEEF at 02:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Jerusalem

May. 30, 2007

YORAM DORI

It is said of Israel that she is a mini-cosmos. A country of immigrants hailing from more than 120 countries: fair-skinned and dark-skinned, Chinese and Indian, haredim and atheists. An 80 percent Jewish majority that lives alongside an Arab minority, mostly Muslims, an island in an Islamic sea in the throes of a power struggle between Shi'ite and Sunni hegemony, and counting a population of 7 million spread over an area (sovereign Israel) that measures a mere 20,770 kilometers.

The world, led by the United States, is facing a number of challenges that are undermining its very existence and threatening its social fabric: the destabilization of homeland security at the hands of Islamist terrorism and the failure of efforts to democratize the Arab world, in addition to ecological issues and global warming, dwindling water reserves in parts of the world and the risk of their becoming polluted in others, as well as the steep price being paid for dependency on oil and the spiraling prices of this commodity as a result.

DUE TO its composition, size, location and borders, Israel constitutes an incubator or, more precisely, a model, which can serve to find solutions for global issues and implement them.

Take democratization and modernization: Some 1.5 million Arabs live in Israel. Given that ever since its establishment Israel has been a democratic country that accords full rights to all of its citizens regardless of gender, religion, race or nationality, this has had an impact also on its Arab minority.

Israel's Arab sector is tangible proof that there is no in-built contradiction in terms between democracy and Islam. Israel counts over 100 local authorities in the Arab sector: municipalities and local and regional councils that are voted in by democratic elections, with the participation of over 60 percent of the Arab electorate or more. Most of these authorities are situated in northern Israel (the Galilee), where the population is 50 percent Jewish and 50 percent non-Jewish, and southern Israel (the Negev) with a 25 percent Bedouin population.

Aside from democratization, the Arab sector is also on the path towards modernization. Over 19,000 Arab students enroll every year in institutions of higher education; a large percentage of doctors and nurses in northern Israel hospitals are Arab, and the Jewish patients have no misgiving in consigning their lives to their hands. Industrial zones are being founded in the Arab sector and at present the Vice Prime Minister's Office (Shimon Peres) is advancing the establishment of joint Jewish-Arab industrial zones. Arab Nazareth and nearby Jewish populated Nazareth Ilit are promoting an initiative to establish a joint academic research complex, and a considerable number of projects are being implemented with government funding to stimulate outstanding achievements among the Bedouin population of the Negev, as are also vocational programs for Arab women.

THEN THERE is homeland security: Israel is possibly the only country in the western world that has never requested the American army to fight on her behalf. Not one American mother or father needs to worry about the fate of a son fighting on Israeli soil for its protection. Despite the serious disadvantage of being small in number, Israel is nevertheless able to produce from its ranks brave and highly trained soldiers equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and, above all, motivated by a spirit of justice and moral values. Today, Israel is developing anti-terrorist weapons based on nano-technology (sensors, miniature batteries and communication networks, to name just some) that will at the end of the day be of service to the whole of the enlightened world in its fight against the madness of those who employ terrorism seeking to kill for the sake of killing and destroy for the evil pleasure of destroying. Ecology and alternative energy represent another area where Israel has something to offer the world. Israel has decided to fight waterway pollution and the Ministry for Environmental Protection together with the Vice Prime-Minister's Office are funding extensive initiatives in this field. The latest and most important project is a plan to clean up the Jordan River.

Shared by Israel and Jordan, this is a river which, by the way, is richer in public relations than water, and its rejuvenation calls for dialogue between former enemies and a great deal of good will. It can therefore serve as a model of ecology in the service of peace for many a country around the world.

Israel's efforts, in cooperation with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the Palestinian Chairman's Office, are testimony of the advantages emanating from the determination to overcome political obstacles through environmental leverage.

ISRAEL, A country that lacks natural resources, invests considerable assets in developing alternative sources of energy, such as solar energy - a whole settlement in the Negev, Darijat, enjoys a supply of electricity generated by a grid of solar heaters deployed on the village roof-tops - and pursues R&D on other energy approaches, among them shale and giant chimneys. Because Israel is to all intents and purposes an island operating within confined borders because of its neighbors, the country constitutes an exceptional experimental site to test electric-generated vehicles. The greatest distance one can drive in Israel is a few hundred kilometers, ideal conditions for the usage of vehicles operating on rechargeable batteries.

Israel's meager water resources have turned it into a development center for desalination plants, reducing the cost of water production. Israeli desalination installations have been erected in neighboring Cyprus and similar plants can serve as a solution for the shortage of water in some of the dry Islamic countries. The government has recently erected a special center for water technologies in the Negev which is developing the means of safeguarding water, reducing wastage and leakage, maximizing effective water usage and making other water-related advances. This center is a dream project for every potential investor in this field.

ISRAEL THUS constitutes the definitive model for addressing, and finding solutions to some of the major challenges on the global agenda. Israel can serve as a Garden of Eden in identifying advanced solutions for homeland security, ecological issues, rising energy prices and the fight against desertification and water shortages. Our little "mini-cosmos" can benefit humanity as a whole. That's the role we'd like to play and that's the role we should be playing with the right kind of backing from those who share our vision.

The writer is the senior strategic adviser to Shimon Peres.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180527965663&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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IMEMC (International Middle East Media Center)

May 26, 2007

by Timothy Seidel

The view from the Palestinian village of Nahhalin, in the west Bethlehem area, is sobering. This small village—along with the villages of Husan, Battir, Wadi Fuqin, and Al Walaja—are becoming more and more isolated from Bethlehem.

As Israeli colonization in the Etzion bloc grows and as the Wall continues to cut deeply into the West Bank strangulating these communities, these Palestinian villagers have little access to the rest of the Israeli occupied West Bank. Even now, Israel is burrowing out a tunnel under the major settler bypass road running through the Etzion bloc, that will provide “transportational contiguity” for this one of many isolated islands of land on 40 to 50 percent of the West Bank that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice want to sell to the world as “the state of Palestine.” [1]

Stuck between the “Green Line”—the 1949 Armistice Line that separates Israel from the West Bank—and the Wall, Palestinians from Nahhalin find themselves among some 60,000 Palestinians living in the “seam zone,” that is that western segregation zone between the Wall and the Green Line which includes roughly 11 percent of the West Bank and that will ultimately be annexed to the “state of Israel” in Israel’s unilateral plan to define its own borders.

When I last visited Nahhalin, I was joined by my friends at the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ). [2] ARIJ had begun a waste water treatment project in Nahhalin that will now be duplicated to provide rural Palestinian areas in the West Bank with new sources of water for irrigation. ARIJ’s water and environment research unit will install on-site waste water treatment systems for 180 homes, providing direct benefits to about 1,800 people. The project gets underway this year and will be completed in 2010.

Nader Sh. Hrimat from ARIJ pointed out to me that scarcity of fresh water supplies and restricted access to traditional water supplies creates ongoing shortages of water for agricultural purposes. These new systems will not only improve access to water, they improve management of waste water, said Nader, explaining that the re-use of treated wastewater for irrigation is now considered to be one of the most feasible and economical ways to utilize household waste water in a sanitary manner.

The anticipated success of expanding this project to 180 homes is expected to encourage more Palestinian villages to install on-site treatment systems. In addition to addressing water shortages and water pollution concerns, these systems are also expected to increase agricultural productivity and food security, a function all the more important considering that over a third of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are, with another 12 percent at risk of becoming, “food insecure.” [3] Treatment units will be manufactured locally and create much-needed employment opportunities here where rampant unemployment has contributed to a poverty rate of over 33 percent (with a quarter living in “deep poverty”). [4]

On the surface, this might simply appear to be another development project, one that is similar to many others around the world. However, in this context of ongoing Israeli colonization and occupation of Palestinian life and land, such simple acts of waste water treatment and sustainable development are not only peacebuilding initiatives in their own right but they also become powerful acts of nonviolent resistance.

Another example would be the next phase of a hydrology project in the northern part of the West Bank with the Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG). [5] I recently joined Abdul-Latif from PHG in a field visit to the Palestinian villages of Jayyus and Kafr Jammal near Qalqilya where farmers are cut off from their agricultural lands by the Israeli separation barrier. This hydrology project in its various phases has sought to assist farmers in keeping a presence on their lands on the other side of the Wall, the “seam zone,” by maintaining well pumps and irrigation systems.

Projects such as these give Palestinian people greater control over their natural resources, explained Nader. Water resources, he noted, are particularly vulnerable because Israel controls over 80 percent of the Palestinian groundwater resources in the West Bank, restricting access to water for agricultural irrigation and other purposes. [6]

Abdul-Latif also pointed this out to me. With Israeli control over water resources, and Palestinians captive to Israeli water companies, Abdul-Latif asks, “Where is the infrastructure for this ‘Palestinian state’?” Abdul-Latif then pointed out to me the citrus lying on the ground having rotted off the trees as another sign of the economic strangulation on these communities. These fruits go unpicked because Palestinian farmers have very limited access to a market of any sort to sell their goods due to the Israeli closure system in the West Bank. And when they can sell their goods somewhere, Israel has flooded the market with cheap fruits from Israel (and Jordan) that these farmers simply cannot compete with.

These indicators point to what many see as the imminent demise of a “two-state” solution to this terrible conflict and the solidification—through this structure of occupation, colonization, and apartheid—of Israeli domination over the Occupied Territories. And with the absence of any viable economic infrastructure, those calling for investment in Palestinian society as a “positive” response to the “critical” call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions need to understand the context of this structure that holds Palestinians captive in “Bantustans” as cheap laborers and consumers—a structure that will not benefit Palestinians or Israelis in the long run.

A hydrology initiative such as this is the form that a relevant nonviolent resistance has taken in the Occupied Territories. And it goes unnoticed by many in North America because it is not as recognizable as demonstrations or sit-ins. But in a context where so many pressures are exerted on Palestinian communities to leave their homes due to economic, social, or political forces (or other softer forms of what is essentially ethnic cleansing), assistance by the international community to help these communities simply be, simply exist, is the most salient form of nonviolent resistance that Palestinians live out on a daily basis.

This is why when I hear people ask, “Where is the Palestinian Gandhi, or the Palestinian King, or the Palestinian Mandela?” (once again blaming the victim for their victimhood and absolving the oppressor by placing the responsibility and the initiative on the shoulders of the oppressed, which makes one want to respond with a “Where is the Israeli Mandela or de Klerk?”) I think of the Nader’s and Abdul-Latif’s of Palestine who exercise courage, persistence, and steadfastness in the face of all of these pressures of dispossession, colonization, occupation, and most recently international boycott, and through the seemingly mundane acts of farming, reclaiming land, and water and food security initiatives truly resist injustice and truly pursue a sustainable peace born of justice in this broken land.

-Timothy Seidel is a peace development worker with Mennonite Central Committee in the Occupied Palestinian Territories where he has lived for the past three years.

Notes:

1. See Jeff Halper’s recent comments on this in “The Livni-Rice Plan: Towards a Just Peace or Apartheid?” ICAHD.org, 2 May 2007, http://www.icahd.org/eng/news.asp?menu=5&submenu=1&item=433.

2. See http://www.arij.org/.

3. See the IRIN report, “One-third of Palestinians ‘food insecure’,” The Electronic Intifada, 22 March 2007, http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6713.shtml and “Growing poverty, unemployment threaten Palestinians’ ability to feed their families,” UN News, 22 February 2007, http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6583.shtml or “Poor Palestinians unable to purchase enough food,” WFP Press Release, 2 February 2007, http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2377.

4. See “Financial boycott sends Palestinian poverty numbers soaring, finds UN report,” UN News, 24 November 2006, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20725&Cr=Palestin&Cr1= and Rory McCarthy, “UN plea for millions in Palestinian aid amid fears of economic collapse,” The Guardian, 8 December 2006, http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1967251,00.html.

5. See http://www.phg.org/.

6. See the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department summary on water at http://www.nad-plo.org/listing.php?view=nego_permanent_water

http://www.imemc.org/article/48626

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Avoiding a Water Crisis
asharq alawsat

May 19, 2007

Hussein Shobokshi

With the growing number of reports and books confirming the words of political experts and strategic analysts that the next war in the Middle East will be fought over water and water resources, it is extraordinary that another type of war is actually being fought now.

The Saudi Minister of Water and Electricity has launched Saudi Arabia's largest ever campaign for water rationing. Some humorists even joked that the campaign was so successful that it resulted in an interruption to the water supply in some towns for a number of days and nights. Saudi Arabia's water problem is now disturbing. With this major plan for rationing water in place and considering it is home to the world's largest desalination plants and an all-time large national budget, further interruptions to the water supply are no longer acceptable. The water problem is not limited to Saudi Arabia in the Arab region. The situation is even more tragic in a number of Arab countries. Rivers in Syria, for example, are continuously experiencing a critical drop in their water level. In Lebanon and due to the Israeli aggression on water resources, only the Litani River will survive…possibly. Jordan is suffering tremendously from Israel's aggressions on- and stark violations of- water resources in Wadi Araba. Even Egypt, where the world's longest river flows, is also suffering enormously from unprecedented fluctuations in the water level and record degrees of pollution at more than one point along the course of the Nile.

For many years, people dealt with water from a withdrawn and theoretical perspective rather than from a serious strategic or security standpoint. The lack of water planning over many years is now having its grave impact, not only in terms of the quantity but also the quality of water. Water failure is not confined to the development of the necessary infrastructures to provide water; rather, it is also an environmental failure due to the failure of Arab states to have a real approach to the recycling of water for irrigation, cleaning streets and cars and industrial usage. When Egypt's prominent geologist and space scientist Dr. Farouk El-Baz made his famous statement that the “Arab world will go through a stifling water crisis,” nobody believed him. His claim that many rivers had been buried under the sand seemed to be a prediction of the future. Water and its challenges are a critical issue that needs to be resolved.

http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=9007

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The Daily Star

May 28, 2007

An israeli attack caused the disaster, but environmentalists say Lebanese inaction made it worse
By Dona Challita
Special to The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Several forms of pollutants have fouled the sea off Lebanon for decades, including industrial effluents, untreated sewage and runoff from coastal garbage dumps. As though this were not enough, an Israeli attack during the war last summer added another hazardous element to the mix when the destruction of the storage tanks at the jiyyeh power plant south of Beirut released an estimated 15,000 tons of fuel oil into the Mediterranean.

Experts immediately warned of an environmental catastrophe threatening biodiversity, public health and the country's crucial tourism industry. Yet nine months after the spill, environmentalists say Lebanon's coastal areas are still contaminated by considerable amounts of the oil, even though many of the clean-up operations have been concluded.

"Lots of areas are still polluted along the Lebanese coastline," said Nina Jammal, an environmental activist from Green Line, a local non-governmental organization (NGO).

Extensive local and international media coverage of the spill and its aftermath has stoked greater public interest in environmental issues, especially one with the potential to cause so much harm. People want to know whether it is safe to swim in the sea, eat fish caught in coastal areas, or even lie on the beach during the summer.

The impression from environmentalists is not encouraging: They say it will take plenty of time and millions of dollars to undo the damage caused by what has been described as the greatest environmental disaster in the country's history.

"Even if Lebanon is able to mop up, the marine ecosystem could take years to recover," said Jammal.

Estimates of the price of the clean-up vary between $100 and $200 million. These are based on the approximate cost of cleaning up 1 ton of oil, which the Energy Ministry pegs at between $10,000 and $15,000 depending on the difficulty of accessing the area that needs to be cleaned up.

After the attack on Jiyyeh, which sits about 30 kilometers south of the capital, the slick quickly began to spread northward, contaminating some 150 kilometers of Lebanon's coast, and even part of Syria's. Affected areas included several popular beaches and as well as the historic harbor at Byblos and the Palm Islands Nature Reserve. Small ports used to berth fishing boats and pleasure craft are also polluted by the spill.

Following a request for assistance issued by the Lebanese Environment Ministry, many countries and international organizations came forward with offers to help. Lebanon received around $15 million worth of donations from both international organizations and government bodies, among them the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

For instance, a protocol agreement was signed between Lebanon and Switzerland to clean the coast between Anfeh and Tripoli, including the Palm Islands Reserve. USAID has donated about $5 million for the clean-up and contracted an American company, SEACOR, to work on the stretch of coast between Byblos and Anfeh. The Environment Ministry's efforts to clear both sandy and rocky beaches, as well as remove oily water, have benefited from funding and equipment provided by several foreign governments, including those of Kuwait, Norway, Finland and France. This equipment ranges from specialized skimmers and high-pressure pumps to absorbent booms and manual shovels. Experts and technicians have also been brought in to help direct and carry out parts of the clean-up.

At present, the main challenge is to determine the next phase. Local environmentalists told The Daily Star that the Environment Ministry has still not decided what to do with the contaminated water and sand that have been collected thus far. Most of the recovered oil still sits in barrels near where it was collected. Environmentalists fear that rain and other climatic factors might cause the oil to escape and cause a new contamination with a potentially huge impact on human health and the environment. They blame disorganization and a lack of follow-up for the situation.

"The coordination between the government and local NGOs was weak," said Jammal.

According to the Environment Ministry, both the floating oil and fouled sections of the seabed have been totally cleaned up.

In order to dispose of the collected oil, many suggestions have been proposed - such as the re-use of the liquid oil by burning it for electricity - but no decision has been taken. The use of the sandy oil can be used in the glass and cement industries. Local environmentalists said the oily waste was toxic to humans and should be stored with other hazardous wastes.

Studies have been conducted by international organizations in order to find effective solutions.

"They cost ... tens of thousands of dollars, and nothing happened until now," said Habib Maalouf, head of the National Environmental Party.

For all the criticism leveled at the government over its performance in dealing with the spill and its aftermath, NGOs who contributed to clean-up operations have been also criticized.

"People who think that by covering up a visual eyesore they are solving the problem need to know that they are just making things worse for the environment," said a local environmentalist who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"At Jbeil's beach, for instance, clean sand was placed over dirty polluted sand and the polluted sand is still on the shore," the environmentalist added.

The indirect cost of the oil spill increases with every passing day. People are prevented from consuming local fish and going to beaches. The type of oil that hit the shores has been classified as "heavy/medium fuel oil."

Testing carried out by Italian experts show that the oil contains several harmful substances, including benzo(a)pyrene, a highly toxic material.

Experts said the oil pollution could have a long-term impact on people's health, raising the risk of cancers, immunity problems, and skin rashes. Some possible short-term effects might include nausea, headaches and dermatological problems in residents living close to the affected areas or in beachgoers who come in contact with the oil.

To date, the sea water has not been yet tested to determine if it is safe to swim in or not. According to environmental experts, people can be harmed by inhaling fumes in the air, consuming contaminated water or fish caught in it, and even skin contact.

Leyla Serhal, a swimmer and diver, said that even though she is not confident about the safety of the water, she will go to the beach this summer.

"People who are used to going to the beach won't change their habits," she explained.

According to Maalouf, the National Environment Party intends to test the sea water in cooperation with laboratories and international organizations. It also plans to launch an awareness campaign at the beginning of the summer.

"If people are afraid to go to beaches, the majority of beach clubs that have swimming pools can pick up the slack" said Hussein Cherefeddine owner of the Pangea resort in Jiyyeh.

He expects that business won't be affected as 85 percent of his clients usually prefer swimming pools.

"Business will be similar to last year before the war," he predicted.

In his opinion, the sea pollution will not deter beachgoers. "I will be the first one to swim," he said.

Environmentalists note that the beach is not just a place where people go to sunbathe: It is also a living ecosystem, they stress, and marine species have been the worst hit.

The oil spill has destroyed parts of the habitat for some species of coastal marine life. A significant amount of oil was also deposited on rock and pebble shorelines, which are more difficult to clean than sandy beaches and will therefore have a more lasting impact on local ecosystems and the species that live in them. The pollution has threatened some rare marine species in Lebanese waters, for instance the endangered loggerhead turtles, by fouling the beaches that they normally use to lay their eggs.

"July is hatching season for turtle eggs and baby turtles have to reach deep water as fast as possible to avoid predators. With the oil in their way, they will not survive," said one local environmentalist who spoke on condition anonymity.

Environmental activists said that even after the completion of the clean-up work, seafood should be carefully inspected before it enters the market because it may be toxic. Crops and animal products from coastal farms close to the spill sites might also have to be tested for hydrocarbon content.

To evaluate the risks associated with consuming seafood affected by fuel pollution, the National Center for Marine Research conducted a study. The evaluation was based on the concentration levels of toxic pollutants especially polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) accumulated in seafood. The study showed that the concentration was allowable, and fish is safe for consumption.

But Jammal wonders about the safety of fish.

"The negative impact might appear with time after the bio-accumulation of heavy metals," she said.

Rick Steiner, an oil expert and member of the World Conservation Union's Commission on Environmental and Economic Social Policy who worked on the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, said that PAHs can cause cancer; they can accumulate in organs and cause long-term impacts such as the sudden collapse of fish populations, years after contamination, as happened in Alaska.

After the oil spill, the Environment Ministry issued a report that included a warning for the citizens to stay away from polluted sites along the coast. The ministry advised against fishing along the coast from Jiyyeh to Heri-Chekka until the complete scope of the pollution could be assessed.

In addition to the oil spill, other factors have polluted the sea in recent years. The direct discharge of sewage, industrial waste and household refuse without prior treatment and with no sanitary measures has fouled many beaches.

In addition, the sea has been polluted by chemicals, plastic bags, aluminum, and numerous heavy metals. The industrial sector contributes several sets of pollutants, especially those associated with combustion processes. Major sources of pollution are effluent from tanneries, fertilizer production, soap and paint factories, food-processing facilities, and waste disposal into the water from ships.

A study on fish in 1997 found that 30 percent of all the fish caught along the Lebanese coast had plastic in their stomachs and divers commonly complain about the presence of plastic under the sea. Traces of mercury and pesticides have been found in measurable concentrations in fish offshore. And sediment from soil erosion or stirred up during coastal construction has destroyed or deteriorated many of the species' breeding grounds.

Copyright (c) 2007 The Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_ID=1&article_ID=82549&categ_id=25#

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Haaretz

May 27, 2007

Sources: Management preferred its offer to Netafim's over concern about their positions
By Amiram Cohen

The Indian agriculture conglomerate Jain Irrigation Systems is buying 50% of Israel's Na'an Dan Irrigation at a company valuation of NIS 140 million.

The two firms will be entering a memorandum of understanding on the transaction next week.

Sources in Israel's agriculture sector say that Na'an Dan preferred the Indian offer, even though Israeli company Netafim's offer was more attractive in many respects.

Among other things, Netafim undertook to maintain the operation of the two production centers on Kibbutz Na'an and Kibbutz Dan, and to continue to employ the workers.

Sources in the agriculture sector predict that the Indian company will transfer the production lines to India, which will result in layoffs.

The sources say that Na'an Dan rejected Netafim's offer because Netafim demanded a controlling share in the company, raising concerns that Netafim would take steps to integrate the management activities of the two companies, sending Na'an Dan's management home.

Sources in the irrigation sector say that any employees laid off as a result of the Indian acquisition would be easily incorporated into Netafim's production center at Kibbutz Yiftah.

Kibbutz Dan sold its 31% share in Na'an Dan to Kibbutz Na'an last week, which is currently the sole shareholder in the company.

In other Naan Dan news, the firm announced a $2 million deal selling technology and equipment to a tea plantation in India. It is not known whether the deal is connected with the Jain takeover.

Naan Dan has also sold $1.8 million worth of technology to Japanese tea plantations.

Antitrust commissioner Ronit Kan confirmed that the Antitrust Authority had received unofficial feelers from Israeli irrigation sector companies regarding a merger with Naan Dan, feelers that sector sources said came from Netafim. Kan indicated that she would disallow any mergers between irrigation technology companies, even if they sell 90% of their products abroad, if their union would impair competition in the local market.

www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=862836

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Jordan Times

May 23, 2007

Hani Hazaimeh
AMMAN -- A four-year project implemented by Jordan in cooperation with CARE International, has been educating citizens since 2003 on the best practices in water management to provide sustainable livelihoods for Jordan Valley communities.

The Euro-Med Participatory Water Resources Scenarios Project (EMPOWERS), which concludes next month, also worked to bridge the communication gap between government officials and local citizens on key issues of concern, such as poverty and unemployment.

Director of the CARE International office in Jordan Fadi Shreideh told a group of journalists visiting two of the project's nine sites yesterday, that EMPOWERS works at creating new resources for low-income communities to alleviate poverty in rural areas.

"Over the past four years, the targeted communities developed their own village level vision and water development plans," Shreideh told reporters.

Representatives from the ministries of agriculture, environment, health and water took part in the tour.

Seham Faqir, president of Umm Ayyash Women's Society in the Deir Alla District of the Jordan Valley, said the four-year project had yielded positive results.

"Encouraging results have been achieved as citizens are increasingly able to manage their water resources and improve planning on water availability and its use. They have also learnt to negotiate their needs with government officials," she told The Jordan Times.

Faqir added that the project had supplied the village with a tanker that now delivers water to houses located in steep and isolated areas.

In Rowaiha, Cooperative Society President Yousef Jitawi said the EMPOWERS programme had increased the per capita share of water by 20 per cent, while providing loans to citizens to dig concrete underground sewage tanks to prevent land pollution.

EMPOWERS, a regional programme working in Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank and Gaza, seeks to improve long-term access and rights to water by vulnerable populations.

Jordan's water scarcity remains one of the main challenges to economic development, particularly the agricultural sector, which already consumes 62.4 per cent of available resources.

The Kingdom is one of the 10 poorest countries in the world in terms of water resources, with an annual deficit of around 500mcm.

In order to address this problem, two major projects are being considered.

The first involves importing water from Turkey while the second is the proposed Red-Dead canal, which, if implemented, will increase water availability to Jordan by as much as 850 million cubic metres annually.

Last month, the World Bank invited international companies to bid on a $15.5 million feasibility study to examine the environmental and social impacts of the project on surrounding countries.

The bank said the company that wins the project must submit its report within two years. The eventual construction of the canal is expected to cost around $5 billion.

Posted by MEEF at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

May 26, 2007

Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and members of the Cabinet attend a meeting at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Thursday (Petra photo)

AMMAN (Petra) — The Ministry of Water and Irrigation is exerting efforts to reduce the ratio of lost water in the Kingdom, which currently stands at 42 per cent, by 3 per cent each year.

“Each per cent of lost water accounts for three million cubic metres of
water,” Minister of Water and Irrigation Thafer Alem said yesterday during a meeting with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit.

Alem, who noted that Jordan was among the 10 poorest countries in water, said
addressing the issue of lost water was a prominent challenge to the ministry.

During yesterday’s visit to the ministry, Bakhit reiterated the government’s
commitment to implement His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives to address
the challenges in the field, noting that the issue of water tops the priorities
in the National Agenda.

He said the government is currently working on implementing several projects
in the field of water to address the country’s water deficit and meet the needs
of the citizens.

The premier was briefed on the water situation in the Kingdom, with the
demand set to increase during the summer, when an influx of Jordanian expatriates
return to the country on holiday as well as tourists from the Gulf.

In this regard, Alem said the ministry prepared a budget for water
distribution during the summer in all areas of the Kingdom.

Under the summer budgeting and rationing programme, announced last month 169
million cubic metres (mcm) of water were allocated for drinking purposes
across the Kingdom.

Per capita water supply will increase this summer to 170mcm, from 156mcm in
2006, while the capital was allocated an annual volume of 400,000 cubic
metres of water.

The ministry will continue implementing the rotating system, under which
water will be pumped to different areas around the Kingdom once or twice a week,
for three to five hours.

Meanwhile, in a response to a query on the Disi Water Conveyance Project,
Bakhit said offers for the project were currently under discussion, stressing that
the government was concerned about the price of water. Such a project, he said,
requires patience.

According to Alem, the ministry has completed all studies and technical
issues related to the project and a feasibility study is under way.

Posted by MEEF at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jordan Times

May 26, 2007

AMMAN (JT) — The UNESCO Amman office, in collaboration with the Swedish-based NGO Life-Link Friendship-Schools (www.life-link.org), brought together school teachers from different countries in the region in a two-day workshop this week.

The workshop, designed to raise awareness on the environmental and culture
of peace programmes among educators from the Middle East, was held under the
patronage of Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and
Scientific Research Khalid Touqan.

School teachers and coordinators from Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and
Palestine were provided with the necessary knowledge, skills and commitment to become
involved in the Life-Link Programme global campaign “Youth Caring and
Sharing Actions Worldwide 2000+.”

The objective of such a campaign is to promote and initiate concrete caring
and sharing actions in and among schools worldwide in areas such as the
environment, human rights, conflict resolution and constructive
collaboration, as a way to achieve a world of security, according to a UNESCO statement.

As a complementary step participants at the workshop also studied ways to
integrate the Life-Link Programme in the UNESCO Associated Schools Project
network (ASPnet) (www.unesco.org/education/asp), a global platform of some
7,900 educational institutions in 176 countries, ranging from preschools and
primary to secondary schools and teacher training institutions, who work in
support of quality education in practice.

A total of 454 schools in the Arab states region are already part of this
network, out of which some 120 private and public schools are Jordanian.

Synergies between the Life-Link Friendship School Programme and UNESCO’s
ASPnet Programme represent a new step in helping countries achieve the goals of the
International Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, as well as
the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children
of the World (2001-2010).

Both decades were proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in 2002 and 1998,
respectively, and UNESCO was designated as the lead agency to actively
promote them.

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Jordan Times

May 27, 2007

WADI RUM (JT) — Representatives from seven Arab countries convened in Wadi Rum last week to look into the reintroduction of the Arabian Oryx into countries of the Arabian Peninsula, which are considered its original habitat.

During the two-day meeting, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Chief Commissioner Nader Dahabi briefed members of the coordination committee entrusted with the preservation of the endangered animal on Jordan’s experience, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) established the country’s first nature reserve of Shaumari in 1975, mainly to reintroduce species that had been extinct, including the Arabian Oryx, one of the most endangered animals in the world.

This magnificent desert animal was saved from the edge of extinction by
international rescue efforts. Shaumari was the first reserve to have this
animal live on Arabian soil again, according to the RSCN.

Eight animals were flown over in 1978 from the World Breeding Herd in
Phoenix Zoo, Arizona, and by 1999 — 20 years later — the herd grew to over 200
animals, some of which have already been released in the wilderness of Wadi Rum.

The reintroduction of the species was carried out in stages to help the
animal adapt to the new environment, Dahabi said.

During the first stage, the technical committee in charge of the project
faced several difficulties because of technical and financial problems, Dahabi
added.

Therefore, it was decided to broaden the breeding area, providing the
animals with a larger vegetation cover, the ASEZA chief commissioner said.

President of the Coordination Committee Majed Mansouri, who is also
secretary general of the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, told the meeting that a
comprehensive strategy is being drawn up to coordinate all efforts to
preserve this animal.

There are 8,000 head of Oryx in the region, distributed among the United
Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Oman, Mansouri said, highlighting efforts to
reintroduce it in other Arab countries.

Several countries in the region have programmes to protect the Arabian Oryx
and reintroduce them into the wild.

There are captive populations in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.

Wild populations of Oryx are found in the Uruq Bani Maarid protected area of
Saudi Arabia, established in 1995 with captive-bred animals from elsewhere
in the country, as well as at Jiddat Al Harasis in Oman where the animals were
reintroduced in the early 1980s.

Director of the Wadi Rum Reserve Khalil Al Abdullat said an integral
programme had been prepared to reintroduce the first herd of this rare animal through
a memorandum of understanding reached with the Abu Dhabi environment agency —
first in the reserve, then to be set free at a later stage to become part of
the country’s natural habitat.

The Arabian Oryx is also expected to provide a boost to tourism in Wadi Rum,
which it used to inhabit at one time, as rock drawings of the animal can be
found throughout the area.

Arabian Oryx began to decline due to overhunting in the mid-19th century and
by 1914, few survived outside Saudi Arabia.

Modern firearms and four-wheel-drive vehicles accelerated the decline of the
species, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.

By the 1960s, Oryx only survived in the wild on the border where Saudi
Arabia, Yemen and Oman meet, and in the Wahiba area of northeast Oman.

The last Arabian Oryx to survive in the wild were located in the Jiddat Al
Harasis in Oman in 1972.

Posted by MEEF at 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YNET

May 28, 2007

Sampling by Environmental Protection Ministry show 46 percent of Israeli factories emit more air-pollutants than allowed, sanctions taken against 22. Over all improvement shown in most factories
David Hacohen

Forty-six percent of Israeli factories emit more air-pollutants than allowed in the Environmental Protection Ministry's guidelines, according to a samplings taken by the Environmental Protection Ministry in 2006.

The sampling was made up of 334 surprise inspections made at 48 factories. But the results show some improvement over 2005, when 55 percent of the factories were found exceeding the norm.

The inspections included taking air samples from the smokestack of 22 factories and analyzing them in the ministry's laboratories.

Out of 12 factories sampled in northern Israel, eight were found as exceeding air-pollutants levels. Two factories were found lacking in the Tel Aviv area and seven more were found at fault in southern Israel.

Sanctions were taken against those found exceeding normal air-pollutants levels, including issuing some factories with subpoenas to appear before the environmental protection ministry's board. A few of the factories are under official investigation.

Environment Minister Gideon Ezra said Sunday that the ministry would not compromise the public's health, and that he was willing to go as far as shutting down any factory which would not comply with the environmental protection guidelines.

"The statistics published by the environmental protection ministry show, again, how lacking the ministry is at enforcing its guidelines," said a statement by Israel's Green Party.

"The fact that so many factories bluntly ignore the guidelines shows a tougher approach is needed in both enforcement and penalties," the statement said.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3405021,00.html

Posted by MEEF at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haaretz

May 28, 2007

By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent

The Environment Ministry published on Sunday its annual report which revealed that 46 percent of factories tested in 2006 exceeded air pollution standards.

The figure represents a 20 percent decrease from the previous year.

2006 was the sixth year during which spot checks have been carried out on factories in Israel, as part of an Environment Ministry initiative to enforce environmental regulations. The ministry attributed 2006's drop in pollution to the spot checks.

Excess emissions were discovered in 22 of 48 factories over 334 spot checks carried out in Israel's northern industrial areas. The emissions included known carcinogens as well as substances damaging to the kidneys, heart and liver, respiratory and nervous systems, and substances that can cause eye and throat irritations.

According to the report, several chemical plants exceeded acceptable carcinogen levels by up to 3000 percent. Many facilities also surpassed permissible levels of poisonous dioxin, methanol and pollutant particles known to penetrate and seriously damage the respiratory system.

The Israel Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva V'Din) said the report illustrates the urgency of passing the Clean Air Law, which gives measurable targets and schedules for reducing pollution in Israel.

The legislation is currently awaiting second and third readings by the Knesset's Environment and Interior Committee. Chairman of the committee, MK Dov Khenin has vowed to increase pressure on lawmakers to authorize it.

Environment Minister Gideon Ezra said he will continue to take steps to force factories to abide by air pollution regulations, including closing down factories that will not take steps to reduce excess emissions.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/863760.html

Posted by MEEF at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haaretz

May 24, 2007

By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on Thursday submitted to State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, and to the Environment Ministry, policy guidelines for the prosecution of environmental offenders by local authorities.

The guidelines emphasize the necessty of transferring the legal
responsibility for upholding environmental regulations to local authorities.

The guidelines do not alter the current laws for the protection of the
environment.

In the guidelines, Mazuz notes that when a given local authority fails to
uphold environmental laws, and there is a direct correlation between that
authority's neglect and the resulting environmental damage, said local authority could
be subject to prosecution by the government.

Mazuz also writes that in extreme cases it is possible to prosecute senior
officials within the authority, including the head of the authority.

Mazuz's legal stance is based on a High Court of Justice ruling from 2006
that broadened the responsibility of local authorities for environmental damage
in their areas of jurisdiction.

Posted by MEEF at 04:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

YNET

May 25, 2007

New geothermal plant to be constructed by Israeli company at geothermal site
in rural Nevada

Israel Money
Ormat Technologies, Inc announced Thursday that one of its subsidiaries had
signed a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Nevada Power Company, a
subsidiary of Sierra Pacific Resources, for the sale of energy produced from
the Grass Valley Geothermal Power Plant to be built in Lander County in
northern Nevada.

The PPA is subject to the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of
Nevada and is projected to come on line in late 2010.

This new plant is expected to increase the total output supplied from Ormat
to Sierra Pacific Resources by between 18 and 30 megawatts (MWs).

This agreement is the 13th PPA between Ormat and Sierra Pacific Resources,
and the seventh executed since the enactment of Nevada's aggressive renewable
portfolio standard (RPS) legislation in 2001.

Dita Bronicki, CEO of Ormat said, "This new agreement characterizes Ormat's
successful collaboration with Sierra Pacific to develop Nevada's vast
geothermal potential, through an aggressive RPS program."

Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a vertically-integrated company primarily
engaged in the geothermal and recovered energy power business. The Company designs,
develops, builds, owns and operates geothermal power plants. Ormat is a
pioneer in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology and a leader in the manufacture of
ORC power equipment.

Posted by MEEF at 04:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Middle East Times

May 26, 2007

Marian Houk

JERUSALEM -- Movement was reported this week on an Israeli government decision to authorize a long-term agreement to purchase gas from Gaza's offshore wells at market price from the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli cabinet made the decision to go ahead with negotiations to buy Palestinian gas on April 29.

The exploitation of the offshore gas field is expected to generate much-needed revenue for the Palestinians. Some analysts argue, however, that the main advantages of the deal are not only financial - it is hoped that the mutual dependency that will be created by the deal will help create an atmosphere more conducive to peace.

One problem, however, is precisely the matter of exploitation. If the 15-year deal is expected to be worth $4 billion, then how is it that the revenues expected to accrue to the Palestinians will be reportedly only some $1 billion? Another sticky problem is the matter of negotiating such an important deal while one party is occupying the other, and while there is on-going violence.

The Gaza gas wells are located in the Mediterranean sea about 20 miles (32 kilometers) off the coastline off the Gaza Strip, one of the most densely populated parcels of land on earth, where years of Israeli occupation and punitive closures have left most of the population living in poverty and severe distress. Under international law, the unilateral Israeli "disengagement" from Gaza in mid-2005 did not end the Israeli occupation.

In an area where so much is disputed, there is rare agreement - officially, at least -
that the Palestinian Authority has control over the undersea gas fields, which The Times of London this week called "the Palestine Authority's only natural resource."

The fishing resources off the coast of Gaza are another potential asset for the Palestinians, but the Israeli Defense Forces have continued to restrict Palestinian fishing.

An Israeli challenge to Palestinian control of the Gaza maritime gas field was rebuffed by a ruling of the Israeli High Court in 2000, which determined that the Oslo agreements had settled the matter.

It is not entirely clear exactly when the Gaza undersea natural gas field was first discovered, but the 1994 "Gaza-Jericho first" Agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) demarcated a 20-mile maritime zone for Palestinian fishing and economic activities Gaza's Mediterranean coastline, and this was subsequently re-confirmed in the 1995 Israel-Palestinian Interim Arrangements Agreement.

A official map delineating this zone, which runs straight out to sea perpendicular to the coast, starting 1.5 miles south of the Israel-Gaza border and 1 mile north of the Egyptian-Gaza border, is signed by the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and attached to both Agreements.

The BG Group acquired the exploitation license for the gas field in an agreement with the Palestinian Authority in 1999, and the late Yasser Arafat signed off on the contract during a visit to London in the same year.

In the second half of 2000 - following the failure of the Camp David peace talks sponsored by US President Bill Clinton between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and
Palestinian President Arafat - BG Group dug two offshore wells, Gaza Marine-1 and Marine-2 wells, which both tested successfully - and which fall smack within this demarcated Palestinian maritime economic zone.

The Gaza gas production could supply some 10 percent of Israel's energy needs.
It is not clear what proportion of Palestinian energy - which is currently supplied by Israel - could be met by the Gaza gas.

Previous talks with Israel over a possible deal were abruptly cut off when agreement could not be reached, around the time of Israel's disengagement. Talks were then opened with Egypt instead. BG's spokesperson Fahey said Friday that "We did look quite hard at delivering gas to Egypt - and it's still an option." But, she said, it is less economic for the company than a direct sale to Israel.

BG built, in 2005, two storage trains for liquefied natural gas in Egypt to take gas from "designated suppliers," and was considering building a third to take the Gaza production, Fahey explained, but the Gaza Marine field is estimated to hold 1 trillion cubic feet of gas, which would fill just one-third to one-half of a storage train.

Buying the Palestinian gas would also be a better deal for Israel, because purchasing gas from Egypt would cost twice as much, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. Until very recently, Israel was trying to get an even better price, but BG insisted that the Palestinian gas would be sold at the market price.

The Times of London is reporting that outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair intervened personally with BG to give a second chance to negotiations on a deal with Israel.

Exactly what the Palestinians will get out of this remains to be seen.

Interfactional Palestinian fighting which has dominated the headlines from Gaza in recent months, is also a factor in the gas negotiations. British journalist Alan Johnston, who reported for the BBC World Service, was kidnapped in Gaza in March and is still being held, as in an Israeli soldier who was grabbed by Palestinians nearly a year ago near the Kerem Shalom area where the borders of Israel, Gaza and Egypt meet - and not far from the unusable runways of Gaza's international airport which were badly damaged for a second time by Israeli bombardment in 2002.

It is inconceivable that a final deal on the gas sale will be reached until these captives are released. The price for their release, according to reported claims by some Palestinian groups, will have to be the release of a significant number of nearly 10,000 Palestinians currently being held in Israeli detention.

"We've been in discussions with Israel for over six months," BG Group spokesperson Petrina Fahey said from London in a telephone interview on Friday. "But we're not going to speculate on when we might conclude a deal, or describe every single meeting we're having," she said.

BG Group's vice-president in the region, Nigel Shaw spends half of his time in Israel and Palestine, and half of his time in London, Fahey said, and was on the plane back to London from Israel Friday. Press reports predict more talks with Israeli officials next week.

There are two strands to the talks that BG has been conducting, she indicated. "We need to complete commercial arrangements with the government of Israel." Why are these negotiations only with the government of Israel? Because the government of Israel will be the buyer, Fahey answered. Commercial arrangements include the terms and conditions of sale, and issues like price and royalties.

The second strand depends on a discussion between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to make the necessary bilateral arrangements to seal the deal - but the Israeli government refuses to deal with any part of the Palestinian National Unity government other than President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Israeli cabinet has recently decided that representatives of the foreign and defense ministries will be involved in the talks, in addition to representatives of the finance and infrastructure ministries. The Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported Thursday that the Israeli negotiating team will be headed by finance ministry director-general Yarom Ariav, and that "national infrastructures minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said this week he expected the state to close the deal within three months."

The Palestinian side is being represented by a member of Abbas' office. So far, the BG Group has been acting as the intermediary.

The secretive negotiations may only heighten Palestinian skepticism about the motives and interests of their leaders.

All sides have misgivings. The Times of London, which Wednesday broke the news about the possible pending breakthrough on what it called a "historic" deal, reported Thursday that Hamas official Ziad Thatha, the present economics minister in the Palestinian Authority National Unity government, likened it to an "act of theft."

According to The Times story Thursday, Mohammad Mustafa, economic adviser to Abbas, expressed hope that obstacles will be overcome and a deal concluded. In the same story, The Times also reported that the Israeli foreign ministry wants to conclude a deal as soon as possible.

The BG Group Web site reports that it now "holds 90 percent equity in the license, which would be reduced to 60 percent if Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and the Palestine Investment Fund exercise their options at development sanction."

The World Bank has reported that the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF) made substantial contributions to the devastated Palestinian economy in recent years - the PIF accounted for more than 10 percent of the Palestinian Authority's budgetary support in 2006 - thus depleting the Fund's assets.

The CCC, whose managing office is now in Athens, also has offices in 25 other countries and over 69,000 employees, with 2004 revenues of over $2.1 billion. Its Web site says it was one of the first Arab construction companies and it is now one of the largest - and was incorporated under Lebanese law in 1952. Its founders were Hasib Sabbagh, originally from Haifa, who left Palestine in April 1948 and went to Lebanon, and who remains the company's chairman; Said Khoury, originally from Safed - also the hometown of Abbas - who is the company's president; and the late Kamel Abdel-Rahman. Its US subsidiary is the Morganti Group, which reportedly owned shares - insured by the US government Overseas Private Investment Corporation - in the Gaza electricity plant bombed by Israel in anger June 2006 following the kidnapping of the very soldier whose return will be necessary to secure the conclusion of BG's Israeli-Palestinian gas deal.

http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070526-033515-3404r

Posted by MEEF at 04:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Middle East Times

May 27, 2007

Energy Watch
By Andrea R. Mihailescu
UPI

BG faces criticism for bid to sell Palestinian gas to the Israelis

BG Group wants to sell Palestinian gas to Israel, in a deal brokered by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

According to London's Evening Standard, Hamas leaders denounced BG for attempting to pull off the deal as political and military tensions heat up between the Israelis and the Hamas-led Palestinian government over retaliatory attacks in Gaza and the arrests of prominent Palestinians on the West Bank.

BG is looking to sell some $3 billion worth of natural gas to Israel from the offshore Gaza Marine field, discovered by BG but described as the Palestinian people's only sovereign natural resource, the report said.

The deal also comes in the midst of the latest BG controversy over a bribery scandal in Italy.

Aurelian Oil to acquire stake from Europa Oil in Bilca project

Aurelian Oil & Gas Plc said it agreed to purchase Europa Oil & Gas Plc's 28.75 percent stake in the Romanian Bilca gas production project, increasing its stake in the concession to 62.5 percent.

The exploration and production company, which specializes in Central Europe, also said it will seek Europa's 28.75 percent stake in the Cuejdiu project by paying 18.75 percent of the costs on the concession.

Aurelian said in a statement it will also seek Europa's 47.5 percent stake in the Bacau project.

Separately, Europa said it plans to use the proceeds primarily to construct its production levels with further exploration and development activities in the British East Midlands.

Indian firm makes large gas discovery

India's Reliance Industries said it discovered two large natural-gas reserves on its eastern and western coasts but may not be able to exploit them immediately due to delays in the delivery of rigs.

Reliance's eighteenthth discovery came in the prolific KG-D6 block (KG-DWN-98/3) in the Krishna Godavari basin off the east coast, when its well KG-D6-R1 encountered two gas-bearing zones.

"The commerciality of the two discoveries is currently under evaluation," Tushar Pania, Reliance spokesman, said.

"These recent discoveries demonstrate the further upside potential of the blocks in the Krishna Godavari and opens up a new corridor in the Gujarat-Saurashtra basin for future exploration. We plan to begin gas production from the first two discoveries made in the block by the second half of 2008," he said.

Reliance, operator of the block, said the discovery is located in the center of India's largest natural gas field, with a 90 percent equity stake, while Niko Resources of Canada holds the remaining 10 percent, according to Indian press reports.

The block, awarded in 1998 in the first round of bidding under the New Exploration Licensing Policy, is estimated to hold some 50 trillion cubic feet of gas and 1 billion barrels of oil.

The state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. is having similar problems at its Mahanadi field.

http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070527-034331-2853r

Posted by MEEF at 04:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Haaretz

May 27, 2007

By Avi Bar-Eli

Yossi Maiman avers that the Israeli-Egyptian natural gas consortium EMG can sell Israel gas for less than British Gas can.

Maiman owns an interest in Merhav, which owns an interest in EMG. He argues that if the state decided to buy and market natural gas itself, it must hold a tender and allow potential suppliers to compete over price.

"I would be happy to bid in a tender," Maiman wrote in a letter to the director-general of the Finance Ministry, Yarom Ariav.

Maiman claimed in his letter that EMG, which sells Egyptian gas, could provide Israel with the same amount proposed to originate from a Palestinian field being developed by BG off the shore of Gaza - "for significantly less money" than the price BG is reported to demand.

He adds that in December 2006, he met with the former director-general of the treasury, Joseph Bachar, and proposed that negotiations commence immediately on buying more gas from Egypt. However, his proposal was never answered.

The Finance Ministry commented that Maiman's letter only arrived at the end of last week, and will be handled.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/863659.html

Posted by MEEF at 04:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ynet

May 24, 2007

London Times reports British Gas close to signing deal to supply Israel with gas from off-shore field near Gaza. Hamas says will block deal

The BG group, former owner of British Gas is about to sign a four billion dollar deal to supply Israel with gas found in an off-shore field near Gaza, the London Times reported Thursday.

Representatives from British Gas are scheduled to meet an Israeli team
chosen by the Cabinet, to sign the 15-year contract. The Israeli Foreign Ministry,
according to the Times, wants to close the deal "as soon as possible"
regardless of the escalating violence in Gaza and the West Bank.

Natural Gas
Cabinet approves gas sales from Gaza / Tani Goldstein
Government approves Olmert's proposal to cooperate with British Gas and its Palestinian partner, CCC
Full story
The proposed deal will enable British Gas to develop what is the Palestinian
Authority's only natural resource – an off-shore gas field. The field can
supposedly supply ten percent of Israel's over-all gas requirements, giving
the Palestinians one billion dollars in royalties.

"We are making progress. There are commercial issues to be completed and we
also require bilateral agreement between the two governments to get this project
across the line," Nigel Shaw, BG Group vice-president in the Middle East
told the London Times Thursday.

"This is a chance for greater economic prosperity in Palestine and that is
only good for peace,” he added.

British Gas first discovered the gas field in 2000. The field is said to
contain a trillion cubic feet of gas, equaling 150 oil barrels.

According to the Times, about three weeks ago, the Israeli Cabinet approved
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's proposal to buy gas from the Palestinian
Authority, recognizing the need for new energy sources for Israel’s rapidly
growing economy.

Hamas officials told the Times Thursday that they will challenge the deal,
and do what even necessary to block it.

Posted by MEEF at 04:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ma'an

May 23, 2007

Bethlehem - Ma'an - British newspaper The Sunday Times has reported that
British Gas (now BG Group) is about to close a deal worth $4 billion, to supply
Palestinian gas to Israel.

The gas was discovered off the Gaza coastline and representatives from BG
Group are to travel to Israel next week to agree the terms of a 15-year contract.

The Sunday Times reported that the gas is the Palestinian Authority's only
natural resource. The gas is expected to meet 10% of Israel's annual energy
requirement. Palestinians are to receive a payment of $1 billion.

The BG Group discovered the Gaza Marine field in 2000; it contains one
trillion cubic feet of gas. Israel's Supreme Court challenged the Palestinians' legal
right to the discovery.

BG Group was engaged in a deal with Egypt before British Prime Minister Tony
Blair intervened and asked the company to choose instead to supply to
Israel.

When the discovery was made, Ariel Sharon refused to buy gas from the
Palestinians. But three weeks ago, the Israeli cabinet, recognising Israel's
growing need for new energy sources, approved a proposal from Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert to buy gas from the Palestinian Authority.

The gas is to be transported from the Gaza marine field to the Israeli
seaport of Ashkelon via an undersea pipeline. Doubt still surrounds the deal as
questions remain about how revenues will be issued to the Palestinian Authority.

The Israeli defence ministry want Palestinians to be paid in goods and
services and demand that no money is paid to the government.

Posted by MEEF at 04:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)