Haaretz
August 5, 2007
By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The cabinet on Sunday approved a second five-year term for Israel Nature and Parks Authority Chairman Eli Amitay, despite criticism of his management.
Continue reading "Cabinet extends tenure of parks' authority head despite criticism" »
DEMOCRACY
By Karin Kloosterman August 03, 2007
Doctor Livingstone, Columbus, and Neil Armstrong had at least one thing in common: all three were keen on chartering new territory. Today it isn't so easy for adventurers to set their sails towards land never before encountered. Instead, the adventurous are turning to other realms of discovery - bridging the distance between cultures.
Continue reading "Israelis teach social justice 'out of their backpacks' in Nepal" »
DEMOCRACY
By Karin Kloosterman August 03, 2007
Doctor Livingstone, Columbus, and Neil Armstrong had at least one thing in common: all three were keen on chartering new territory. Today it isn't so easy for adventurers to set their sails towards land never before encountered. Instead, the adventurous are turning to other realms of discovery - bridging the distance between cultures.
Continue reading "Israelis teach social justice 'out of their backpacks' in Nepal" »
The Jerusalem Post
Aug. 5, 2007
Shmuley Boteach
Every year my family and I take a summer RV trip out into nature. This year we are in Alaska, where I am filming a family TV show. The beauties of this wondrous land are difficult to describe but are perhaps best captured in the words of a secular Jewish lawyer friend of mine who said that seeing Alaska was like seeing the face of God.
Jerusalem Post
Aug. 2, 2007
meredith price
Every night before Ron Shani's father dropped him off at the children's house in
Kibbutz Amiad, he would ask whether he wanted to hear a story about an inventive
patent or world news. "It didn't matter which one I picked, he always told me a
story about water," says Shani, 39, an engineer. "This is where my knowledge of
water originated. I grew up learning about water filters and solutions from my
father."
Haaretz,
August 4, 2007
By The Associated Press
Israel is reviving plans for a nuclear power plant in the Negev Desert, Army Radio quoted Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) as saying on Friday.
Continue reading "Ben-Eliezer: Israel reviving plan to build nuclear power plant" »
Haaretz
August 5, 2007
By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The cabinet on Sunday approved a second five-year term for Israel Nature and Parks Authority Chairman Eli Amitay, despite criticism of his management.
Continue reading "Cabinet extends tenure of parks' authority head despite criticism" »
The Jerusalem Post
Aug. 1, 2007
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
A group of Israeli bee experts has gone to the US to study the reasons for the mysterious reduction in that country's bee population, which threaten to affect Israeli bees as well.
6 August 2007
MEDIA RELEASE
WORLD BANK TO HOLD FIRST SET OF PUBLIC HEARINGS ON "RED DEAD" CANAL PROJECT
On Sunday, August 12th, the World Bank will hold its first public hearing on the
Terms of Reference of the Feasibility Study for the "Red Dead Conduit" project.
Continue reading "World Bank to hold public hearing on Red Dead Canal" »
Haaretz
By Michael J. Caduto
News from the Middle East usually describes conflicts and their root causes in
politics, religious fundamentalism and the struggle between Israelis and
Palestinians for a homeland. Threats to peace and security are indeed a
backdrop for daily existence, but that is only part of the story.
Haaretz
August 2, 2007
By Nadav Shragai
Avri Ran is a leader of the Hilltop Youth movement from the West Bank settlement of Itamar. He has been acquitted of charges of assaulting an Israeli Arab and a left-wing activist, and residents of the Arab village of Yanun accuse him of harassing villagers. But Ran's right-wing activities are not his only claim to fame: He is also one of the largest suppliers of organic eggs in the country.
Haaretz
July 30, 2007
By Ido Solomon
Workers at the building housing the Tel Aviv branches of government offices will launch labor sanctions this morning, in protest over Finance Ministry delays in fixing a faulty ventilation system and other problems they say constitute health hazards. The 1,700 workers will come to work, but will not provide services to the public, nor answer the phones.
Continue reading "Civil servants protest unhealthy work environment at TA government complex" »
Haaretz
August 2, 2007
By Jack Khoury
From a distance, the eastern neighborhood of the Galilee village of Majdal Krum looks pastoral, its relatively new homes sitting along green hills. Yesterday at dusk, a lone horse was even wandering in the fields. To the south, the nearby villas of Karmiel come into view. But as you come closer, you quickly see why residents call it "Sewage Valley."
Continue reading "In 'Sewage Valley,' no solution in the pipeline" »
Haaretz
July 31, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked to put off the removal of the fish cages from the Eilat Gulf by two years, despite a cabinet decision two years ago stating that they must go within three years.
Continue reading "Ministry blasts delays in removing Eilat fish farms" »
August 12, 2007
see http://www.foeme.org/events.php?ind=42 for hot links below.
On August 12, 2007, The World Bank has scheduled a public hearing on the issue
of the Terms of Reference for the Feasibility Study of the "Red Dead Canal".
Continue reading "Red Dead Canal / World Bank Public Hearing" »
Haaretz
August 1, 2007
By Eli Ashkenazi
Interest in Lake Kinneret goes deeper and wider than its water level or its recreational aspects, as seen by Monday's seminar marking the establishment of the Authority for the Conservation of Lake Kinneret.
Continue reading "New authority seeks to conserve soil in Kinneret basin" »
Haaretz
August 2, 2007
By Haaretz Editorial
The many visitors to the Kinneret this summer are in for a disappointment. Most of the lake's shores are still surrounded by fences and an admission fee is charged. If this was not enough, entering some of the beaches is impossible because of pollution caused by raw sewage flowing into the water.
The Jerusalem Post
Aug. 1, 2007
rory kress
The Kinneret Basin Authority was established this week to protect the soil in the region surrounding Israel's largest freshwater source.
Lake Kinneret has long been an environmental concern due to its receding water level, and most recently, last week's forced closing of its public beaches due to sewage contamination of the water.
Continue reading "Kinneret Basin Authority formed to revive area" »
The Daily Star
July 25, 2007
By John Ehab
Special to The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The non-governmental organization Bahr Loubnan urged the Environment Ministry on Tuesday to remove polluted sand accumulated along Lebanon's shores during efforts to clean up an oil spill cause by an Israeli attack in 2006. An Israeli air strike on the Jiyyeh power plant during last summer's war spilled over 15,000 tons of crude oil into the Mediterranean, polluting much of Lebanon's coast.
Continue reading "Environmental group presses ministry to clear coastline of polluted sand" »
Haaretz
July 23, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
Residents in Arab and Jewish communities near the Hilazon Stream in the Galilee are fed up with its sewage problem. Last week, they decided to share their troubles with National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, sending him a petition describing how fecal sewage flows undisturbed into the stream, endangering their children's health. They demanded that Ben-Eliezer order the national sewage authority to immediately address the problem.
Continue reading "Galilee residents make a stink about sewage problems" »
Jerusalem Post
Jul. 24, 2007
RORY KRESS
Gidon Bromberg, founder and Israel director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, loves his job not just because it allows him to fight for the environment, but because it gives him an opportunity to build bridges between Israelis and Palestinians.
Continue reading "Cross-border efforts focus on greening Wadi Abu Nar" »
Haaretz
July 10, 2007
By Eli Ashkenazi
Five eagles were set free from the Carmel wildlife reserve yesterday, including among them Mendelssohn, the first eagle chick to hatch in the reserve after 53 years.
Continue reading "Five eagles answer the call of the wild" »
Haaretz
July 25, 2007
By Eli Ashkenazi
A tiny wasp that has ravaged eucalyptus groves in the Mediterranean Basin, Africa and the Far East, and which arrived in Israel a few years ago, has proven anew that no organism is eternally dominant. Israeli researchers have found a predator one millimeter in length called Closterocerus, which thwarts the wasp's advance.
Continue reading "Israelis discover bug that saves eucalyptus groves" »
Haaretz
July 25, 2007
By Mijal Grinberg
Towering over the trees of the Yatir Forest on the southern slopes of Mount Hebron is a green metallic building. Passersby may mistake it for just another weather forecast station, but in fact, the research conducted there could help combat desertification around the world. The research station, operated by the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, is the only facility in the Middle East capable of measuring greenhouse gases.
Continue reading "Lacking water, trees turn to carbon dioxide" »
The Jerusalem Post
Jul. 19, 2007
MATTHEW KRIEGER
The long awaited multi-billion dollar deal with the British energy company BG Group will be signed "imminently," a high-ranking official in the National Infrastructure Ministry told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Continue reading "Exclusive: Israel-BG deal 'imminent,' official says" »
Ma'an
July 20, 2007
تكبير الخط تصغير الخط
Bethlehem - Ma'an - Israel and the Palestinian Authority are reportedly in talks over signing the largest mutual economic agreement since the Oslo Accords, the Israeli Maariv daily reported on Friday.
Continue reading "Israel and PA preparing to sign $4 billion gas deal, Maariv reports" »
Peres Center For Peace
In June 2007, within the framework of the "Olives – The Symbol of Peace" project, which is a sub-project of the Peres Center's "Integrated Crop Management" program, the Peres Center, together with the General Council of Marseilles, France, held a 3-day Israeli-Palestinian-French workshop which focused on the improvement of olive oil quality and marketing techniques.
Continue reading "Olive Oil Workshop in Provence, June 2007" »
The Jerusalem Post
Jul. 17, 2007
Ron Friedman
A series of "green" motions were passed in the Knesset on Tuesday, as part of a day dedicated to environmental causes.
In their attempt to make Israel a more environmentally-friendly country, "Green" lawmakers and activists decided to start from the top. The leaders of the Knesset Socio-Environmental caucus, together with environmental student organization "The Green Course," submitted a report to the Knesset providing practical proposals for making the country's governing body more environmentally conscientious.
Haaretz
July 19, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
A few weeks ago, several school principals gathered excitedly at the Environment Ministry to receive their "green accreditation," certifying that their schools are committed to educating their pupils to protect the environment. To win accreditation, a school must devote at least 30 hours to environmental studies, make intelligent use of resources including water and energy, and operate a program involving community-oriented activity. Green accreditation has been awarded so far to 90 schools and 25 kindergartens. But while the phenomenon is growing, a new study claims that the levels of pupils' knowledge and commitment to the environment are still in desperate need of improvement.
Continue reading "Study: 'Green' education at schools is in poor shape" »
Haaretz
July 19, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
The Water Commission warns of possible exposure to poisonous fumes that could spread from polluted land and water sources on sites planned for construction projects in the Dan region, which includes Tel Aviv and Givatayim. Such plans include the "City Project," located in a major commercial and industrial area in the Givatayim municipality, just south of the diamond exchange. The Water Commission has been running tests of the ground water and land pollution levels in the Dan region for the past three years.
Continue reading "Poisonous fumes threaten building plans in Dan region" »
The Jerusalem Post
Jul. 17, 2007
Etgar Lefkovits
A 5,500-dunam area of natural forest and park land on the periphery of Jerusalem will be designated as Emek Refaim Park and declared a "green area" where construction is forbidden, the municipality said this week.
Continue reading "Jerusalem to declare massive 'green area'" »
The Jerusalem Post
Jul. 19, 2007
RORY KRESS,
The mayors of Palestinian Baka a-Sharkiya (East Baka) and Israeli Baka al-Gharbiya (West Baka)-Jat signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to protect Wadi Abu Nar, a stream that runs through both municipalities.
Continue reading "Exclusive: Palestinian, Israeli mayors battle pollution" »
MA'AN
July 19, 2007
JERUSALEM, 19 July 2007 (IRIN) - Two mayors - one Israeli and one Palestinian - signed a joint declaration on 19 July agreeing to improve cooperation between their towns in water and waste management as well as conservation.
Jordan Times
July 16, 2007
By BEN WINOGRAD, Associated Press Writer
SHEIK HUSSEIN VILLAGE Jordan
For years, Ibrahim Alayyan watched in frustration as rats ravaged the date crop at his lush family farm.
Having no luck with pesticides, the retired Jordanian heart surgeon was only too eager to try a pest control agent widely used in fields just across the Jordan River in Israel owls.
Friends of the Earth Middle East
July 10, 2007
Six Mediterranean countries make the splash to clean up their Rivers
On Sunday, July 15th, six (6) Mediterranean countries will simultaneously JUMP into their local Rivers, joining the European bi-annual BIG JUMP event that calls on governments to take action in cleaning up their local waterways.
Ma'an News
July 12, 2007
BETHLEHEM - On July 15th, residents of six Mediterranean countries will simultaneously jump into their local rivers, joining its counterpart, the European bi-annual 'Big Jump' event, that calls on governments to clean up their local waterways.
Haaretz
July 12, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
The Civil Administration and the Water and Sewage Authority recently approved the construction of a pipe to channel purified sewage to irrigate agriculture in the Jordan Valley.
But environmental experts say the move will prevent an overall solution to the problem of the flow of sewage from Jerusalem and Bethlehem into the Kidron Stream toward the Judean Desert and the Dead Sea.
Continue reading "Pipe to channel purified sewage for farming, but problems abound" »
Haaretz
July 14, 2007
By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent
Authorities on Saturday banned bathing at beaches near the Alexander River estuary after a routine inspection revealed its waters had been dangerously contaminated.
Continue reading "Bathing banned at 3 beaches due to water contamination" »
Haaretz
July 11, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
Two years ago, the Elcon Recycling Center wastewater treatment plant in Haifa Bay received the approval of the Environmental Protection Ministry to transfer hypersaline waste (fluids that contain unusually high concentrations of salt) to treatment pools in an industrial zone in the Galilee region. The ministry later received data that indicated that Elcon's purification process had failed to rid these brine-like substances of dangerous pollutants. Transport of the hypersaline waste to the Galilee was halted. The ministry now maintains it is taking action to remove this environmental hazard.
Haaretz
July 10, 2007
By Tamara Traubmann
In the early afternoon, Tami Zuri picks lavender, melissa and mint from the flower pots on her balcony in north Tel Aviv. She is preparing a drink for the participants in a workshop she will be giving shortly on producing vegetable dairy products.
Continue reading "Green life in the city: Clothes from the street, recycled water" »
Jerusalem Post
July 13, 2007
Shelly Paz
Israel ranks 31st out of 108 countries for environment and social responsibility according to a new international report.
The State of Responsible Competitiveness 2007 is a biennial report that sums up the conduct of private and public businesses in 108 countries and examines their achievements regarding encouraging environmental public policy and civilian involvement.
Continue reading "Report ranks Israel 31 in social and environmental responsibility" »
Haaretz
July 4, 2007
By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent
Dozens of turtles were moved to a new home Tuesday, the recently built sewage treatment facility of the Bnei Shimon regional council in the Negev.
Continue reading "Dozens of turtles given new life in new mud" »
Jerusalem Post
July 4, 2007
By Etgar Lefkovits
A Jerusalem court has renewed a ban on the opening of a major new thoroughfare in the capital until repairs are made to environmental and landscape damages caused by the paving of the road court documents released Tuesday show.
The Jerusalem District Court accepted an appeal late Monday that was 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.
Continue reading "Court once again delays opening of Jerusalem highway" »
Haaretz
July 3, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
A new highway, aimed at substantially alleviating traffic congestion in the entrances to and exits from Jerusalem, will not open until repairs are made to environmental and landscape damages caused by the paving of the road.
The Jerusalem District Court on Monday received a petition, filed by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, seeking to prevent the highway from being opened.
Continue reading "J'lem highway opening delayed due to environmental damage" »
Haaretz
July 2, 2007
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz Correspondent
The Knesset approved the third reading of a bill Monday calling for solar powered water heaters to be installed in all public housing apartments so that poverty stricken families will be able to reduce their electric bills.
Continue reading "Bill passed requiring solar powered water heaters in public housing" »
Al Hayat
July 2, 2007
Walid Khadduri
Beirut - Natural gas production and export in the Mediterranean waters off of the coast of Gaza strip bring an added dimension to the ongoing conflict between Fatah and Hamas over the political control of the strip.
The Gaza marine field was discovered in the late 90's by the British Gas company BG Group, but its development was belated on account of the political complications and issues related to the Palestinian cause and the Israeli debate on the safety of gas installations from an Arabic source.
Continue reading "The Conflict in Palestine and its Repercussions on Gaza Gas Export to Israel" »
Jordan Times
July 8, 2007
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN - Jordan will begin supplying the West Bank city of Jericho with all electricity needs at preferential prices before the end of this year, an official said on Saturday.
Haaretz
July 8, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
Tel Aviv area beaches could become heavily polluted due to repairs being done to a cracked sewage pipe in the city.
The Dan Municipal Union for Environment and Sewage, a body responsible for the transfer of sewage across the Gush Dan area, has identified a crack in one of the main sewage lines in northern Tel Aviv. If the crack is not repaired, the pipe could collapse, spilling large amounts of sewage into residential areas. However, while the pipe is being repaired, the sewage would be spilled into the sea, causing large-scale pollution to area beaches.
Continue reading "Repairs on cracked Tel Aviv sewage pipe could pollute beaches" »
Israel 21c
July 01, 2007
DEMOCRACY
By Ilana Teitelbaum
From the moment we wake up in the morning and open a box of cereal to the hours we spend at work among printers, faxes, and copying machines, to times spent relaxing in the evening with a magazine or mass market paperback, we are constantly surrounded by paper.
Continue reading "Israeli discovery paves way for cost-efficient wood alternative" »
Israel 21c
July 05, 2007
TECHNOLOGY
By Nicky Blackburn
You can tell Joseph Cory is a dreamer. Turn to his company's web site, Geotectura.com, and you see a host of ideas ranging from the wild - a one-meter square movable 'house' for the homeless, to the wacky, electro-magnetic skyscrapers that float above the ground. But out of this riotous imagination, Cory, a new breed of environmental architect, has developed a number of award-winning schemes that could help deal with some of the world's most pressing problems - lack of renewable energy, and water scarcity.
Continue reading "Israeli inventor puts his head in the clouds and his feet on the ground" »
The Jerusalem Post
Jul. 9, 2007
MATTHEW KRIEGER
Calling his new program "agriculture in service of the environment," Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon on Sunday unveiled his ministry's plan to reward those farmers who demonstrate "eco-friendly" farming practices.
Israel 21c
July 08, 2007
DEMOCRACY
By Michelle Levine
They may come from worlds apart, but leading political and environmental figures from Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority have found a common theme to bring them together - the Great Rift Valley.
The Great Rift Valley is a series of geological rifts stretching 4,000 miles, from southern Turkey to Zimbabwe, running through Syria and Lebanon, along the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea until Kenya, at which point it splits into two branches. Five hundred million birds use the valley route to migrate twice a year from Europe to Asia.
Continue reading "Environmental concerns bring Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians together" »
Haaretz
July 7, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
Vehicular emissions count for one-fifth of the total amount of global warming-gas carbon dioxide emitted in Israel each year, according to a report issued last week.
Continue reading "Study: Israeli cars emit more than 14 million tons of CO2 anually" »
The Palestine Center
Edited transcript of a presentation by members of the Negotiation Support Unit of the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department on Water
“For the Record” No. 280 (27 June 2007)
At a 14 June 2007 Palestine Center briefing, Dr. Shaddad Attili, Mr. Fuad Bateh and Mr. John Murray of the Negotiations Support Unit of the PLO’s Negotiations Affairs Department, proposed a positive-sum approach for the resolution of the water crisis in the Middle East. As for the allocation of water, both on the political and topographical level, they maintained that an equitable allocation of water is not only essential for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state but will also help restore relations with Israel and its neighboring countries. They also emphasized the dire need for clean water in Gaza and the creation of a much needed desalinization plant. Ultimately, the question of a viable and sustainable Palestinian state and the long-term interests of all the water-sharing parties—Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syrian and Palestine—depends on a sound and just resolution to the water conflict.
Continue reading ""Palestinian Water Crisis: Bilateral and Regional Perspectives"" »
THE JERUSALEM POST
July 2, 2007
SHARON WROBEL
The government on Sunday agreed to increase the limit of Israel's desalinated water resources to 505 million cubic meters annually, as the country may be looking at a significant water shortage within the next 10 years.
"It has become clear around the world that we need to prepare for a situation of water shortage and Israel is no different and thus we need to adjust accordingly to rectify this situation," said National Infrastructures Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who presented the proposal leading to the government's decision.
Continue reading "Gov't to desalinate more water to avert shortage" »
Haaretz
July 2, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
It will be difficult to meet projected water demand for 2008 if next winter's rainfall levels are similar to those of last winter, said the head of the Water Authority Council, Prof. Uri Shani.
Lecturing at the Hebrew University Faculty of Agriculture in Rehovot last week, Shani warned that Israel's water problems will worsen significantly in the coming years unless the production of desalinated water rises sharply. The lecture was not intended for media coverage.
Continue reading "Water Authority chief warns of possible shortage in 2008" »
Haaretz
June 26, 2007
By Eli Ashekenazi
In a few years, hikers at the Hula Lake marsh will be able to sample locally produced buffalo mozzarella. The birth of the first water buffalo calf at the marsh yesterday was a significant milestone in efforts to increase the existing herd and attract new visitors to the site. Effi Naim, director of the Jewish National Fund project in the Hula marsh says, "We decided to bring buffalos to the site three years ago as part of the concept of reconstructing life at the lake before it was drained."
Haaretz
June 27, 2007
By Tahal Frosh
The failure to rehabilitate land once used by a military factory is costing the state $1 billion in revenues. A seriously polluted 450-dunam (110-acre) plot in Herzliya's Nof Yam neighborhood used to be the site of an Israel Military Industries plant, and the Israeli Union for Environmental Defense is sponsoring legislation to get it cleaned up. The "green" advocacy organization says the state could make about $1 billion in betterment tax on the land if it were to be cleared for construction, based on the local norm of $5 million per dunam. The organization also estimates Herzliya's lost tax revenues at NIS 21 million annually. Developers could see net profits of $900 million from construction at the site.
Continue reading "State delays rehab of severly polluted land, loses $1 billion tax revenue" »
THE JERUSALEM POST
Jun. 27, 2007
Sheera Claire Frenkel
Nature filled the Land of Israel with olive, cypress, tamarisk, acacia, and carob trees. Now, after years of planting pines in their place, the Jewish National Fund is replenishing the trees native to Israel's northern forests which were devastated by the Second Lebanon War.
Continue reading "War-ravaged northern forests get makeover" »
Haaretz
June 27, 2007
By Yigal Hai, Haaretz Correspondent
Four fires blazed Wednesday in Petah Tikva and the surrounding area, three in open fields and one in an apartment building. There were no reported injuries.
Continue reading "Asbestos fumes rise over Petah Tikva in indutrial zone fire" »
Haaretz
June 27, 2007
By Uri Blau
Last December, as part of the lesson-learning process in the wake of the Second Lebanon War, the Environment Ministry established a public committee chaired by Major General (Res.) Herzl Shafir to examine the preparedness of facilities containing hazardous substances in the north of the country for emergency situations. Initial and partial conclusions of the committee were made public, and seemed to be quite innocuous. Now it turns out that the true dynamite that turned up in the Shafir Committee's hearings remained classified. Haaretz has obtained the complete data about the dangers of the industrial plants in Haifa Bay, as it appears in the committee's internal documents.
Jordan Times
June 25, 2007
AMMAN (AFP) --
Eleven firms have qualified to submit a feasibility study to build a canal which would save the slowly evaporating Dead Sea by replenishing it with water from the Red Sea, an official said Monday.
The 25-year project to build a canal linking the two seas would also solve a severe water shortage in the region of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, officials said.
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.
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.
Continue reading "What does the reef in Eilat have to do with a parade in San Francisco?" »
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.
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.
Continue reading "Technion researchers generate energy from balloons" »
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.
Continue reading "Green Chemistry' promises a cleaner country" »
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.
Continue reading "Green groups protest plan to build military town in Negev" »
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.
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.
Continue reading "Jordan River among world's 100 most endangered sites" »
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Continue reading "Environment Ministry threatens to slap fines on beach polluters" »
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.
Continue reading "'Rehabilitated' Kishon Stream still filthy" »
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.
Continue reading "Out of sight maybe, but not out of mind" »
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.
Continue reading "Companies with hazardous materials unprepared for missile attacks" »
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.
Continue reading "No light at end of tunnel for new Jerusalem road" »
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.
Continue reading "'Congestion charge' needed to boost public transport" »
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.
Continue reading "New sinkholes threaten roads around the Dead Sea" »
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.
Continue reading "New sinkholes threaten roads around the Dead Sea" »
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."
Continue reading "EU urges regional cooperation on energy use" »
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.
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 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.
Continue reading "'Green power' could help solve many problems" »
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
Continue reading "On World Environment Day, PCBS reveals the state of the Palestinian Environment" »
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.
Continue reading "Sewage remains primary pollutant in Lebanese waters" »
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.
Continue reading "Elderly wild leopard to 'retire' at Hai Bar animal reserve" »
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.
Continue reading "Man catches leopard in bedroom with bare hands" »
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).
Continue reading "Negev resident traps leopard who crept into his home" »
(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.
Continue reading "Bitterlemons May 28/07 edition: Peacemakers or peace industry?" »
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.
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 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.
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 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.
Continue reading "Critics flay official response to Jiyyeh spill" »
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.
Continue reading "Jain Irrigation of India buying 50% of Na'an Dan" »
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.
Continue reading "Nearly half of Israel's factories pollute air" »
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.
Continue reading "2006 report: 46% of factories exceed pollution standards" »
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.
Continue reading "AG submits guidelines for prosecution of environmental offenders" »
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.
Continue reading "Ormat Technologies signs 20-year contract in US" »
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.
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.
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.
Continue reading "Maiman: EMG can sell Israel as much gas as BG can, for less money" »
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.
Continue reading "British Gas to sign $4 billion deal with Israel" »
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.
Pollution Online
May 21, 2007
Beersheba, Israel — A new and valuable tool for fighting soil and ground water pollution has been developed by Dr. Ofer Dahan, a researcher at the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research (ZIWR) at the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research. The information was made public as part of the 30th Anniversary celebrations of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research as part of the University’s 37th Annual Board of Governors meeting. At the same event, the new building for the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research was dedicated.
Continue reading "Researcher Develops Tool For Fighting Soil And Groundwater Pollution" »
Haaretz
May 8, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
Last week the future of the mineral water plant next to the Ein Gedi nature reserve was ensured. The Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INNPPA) signed an agreement with Kibbutz Ein Gedi, one of the owners of the plant, to make it possible for the kibbutz to use a large quantity of the water from the springs. In return, the kibbutz will supply the nature reserve with flood water that it pumps from the slopes of the streams in the region.
Haaretz
March 7, 2007
Reuters
For some the rocket barrages of last summer's war trapped people inside, for others weekends home were particulary poignant for weary fighters and their partners. The war, in short, triggered a baby boom, according to Channel 10 television yesterday. It quoted health maintenance organization statistics that the number of women now in their fifth, sixth or seventh month of pregnancy was 35 percent higher than the figure a year ago.
Continue reading "HMO data: Lebanon war lead to baby boom" »
The Jerusalem Post
Mar. 5, 2007
Sheera Claire Frenke
Despite Israel's carcinogenic waterways, local companies lead the world in clean-water know-how, and 2007 is set to be a banner year for foreign sales of the blue-and-white technology.
Dozens of groups from across the globe are planning trips to Israel this year with an eye toward purchasing some of the environmentally friendly technology being developed by Israeli scientists. The industry brought approximately one billion dollars last year, but Avraham Israeli, head of Water and Environmental Technology at the Israel Export Institute, said Israel's slice of the international pie could be $10 billion.
Continue reading "Israel's green technology leads world, but not at home" »
Haaretz
March 7, 2007
By Reuters
For some the rocket barrages of last summer's war trapped people inside, for others weekends home were particulary poignant for weary fighters and their partners. The war, in short, triggered a baby boom, according to Channel 10 television yesterday. It quoted health maintenance organization statistics that the number of women now in their fifth, sixth or seventh month of pregnancy was 35 percent higher than the figure a year ago.
Continue reading "HMO data: Lebanon war lead to baby boom" »
Haaretz
March 8, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
To this day, Israel has not managed to follow in the footsteps of countries like Japan or the United States in constructing buildings and various infrastructures that can withstand powerful earthquakes. Geologists are currently presenting the National Infrastructures Ministry with a study on a sophisticated system that - while not preventing destruction - may help the civilian population reach safety during an earthquake and aid the public and private sectors to institute functioning emergency systems and essential infrastructures.
YNET
March 5, 2007
Pollution costs as mush as Israel's defense budget; new bill proposed to deal with air pollution, cut costs
Amir Ben-David
Israel Money
Air pollution in Israel places a financial burden of NIS 11 billion ($2.7 billion) on the country, equal to 2.26 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). This figure is the amount the state pays on such expenses as sick leave and medical treatments for those who suffer from severe illness and early death fueled by pollution.
Continue reading "Israel loses up to NIS 11 billion a year on air pollution" »
Haaretz
March 2, 2007
By Eli Ashkenazi
Many countries have a national flower, bird or animal, and some places have certain districts that glory in their own representative plants or animals. Choosing a national animal is part of the culture of nature-loving nations and a tool to generate local identification. It is also a way to raise the issue of environmentalism and animal protection.
Continue reading "Looking for a national bird - does the bulbul fit the bill?" »
Haaretz
March 1, 2007
By Jonathan Lis
Last Monday morning, a team at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo dropped in on a compound housing Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx - known in Hebrew as Reem halavan, the white oryx). They quickly chose two 2-year-old female oryx, and tranquilized them with a dart gun. The staff tagged them with transmitters and fitted plastic pipes over the animals' long horns to protect the workers. After receiving inoculations, the oryx were put into special crates, and started heading toward freedom.
Haaretz
March 7, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
The coastal plain used to be full of winter ponds that would fill with rainwater and dry up in the summer. After years of construction and agricultural use, most have disappeared, and only three large winter ponds remain in Israel.
One is in western Herzliya, and the municipality is seeking to build a park in its place. Part of the area does indeed suffer from neglect and disuse, but a careful survey found it is a hidden trove of flora and fauna that may disappear along with the pond.
Haaretz
March 3, 2007
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
Police arrested 27-year-old Or Yehuda resident Shlomi Kedem on Thursday, on suspicions he attacked an television crew Wednesday, which was filming a report for Channel 2's "Uvda" on the role of organized crime in bottle recycling at Kedem's Or Yehuda business.
Continue reading "Journalists filming report on organized crime role in recycling attacked" »
Haaretz
March 8, 2007
By Pe'er Visner
It's just like Israel to take a great idea and execute it badly, wasting taxpayers' money and even putting lives at risk.
That's the case regarding the idea of levying congestion tax on travelers using the Ayalon Freeway, to reduce traffic in Tel Aviv.
The Jerusalem Post
Mar. 8, 2007
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
The greater the air pollution over hilly land in semi-arid regions, the less rain the area will get, according to an Israel-Chinese research team led by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's department of atmospheric sciences, whose study has just been published in Science.
Continue reading "More air pollution means less rain in hilly areas" »
The Jerusalem Post
Feb. 22, 2007
LISA ALCALAY KLUG
In summer, fig trees bear their succulent fruit; in autumn, boughs of olives suggest the impending harvest; by winter, citrons hang heavy with scent.
This is Neot Kedumim, Israel's biblical landscape reserve.
The Jerusalem Post
Mar. 1, 2007
ryan nadel
One p.m. at the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall. A choir of Chinese Christians serenely sings hymns as a bearded man hocks tefillin to passersby. Just meters away, a self-declared prophet preaches redemption and a steady stream of shoppers stroll by without taking note.
Welcome to Jerusalem's city center.
Haaretz
March 1, 2007
By Avi Bar-Eli
All month a private consultancy has been assessing the possibility of imposing congestion charges to ease traffic in Tel Aviv.
Transportation engineers, academics, economists, pollsters and other professionals at the consultancy recently completed a survey of congestion charge implementation around the world and have begun to think of a plan for Israel.
Continue reading "Tel Aviv mulling London-style congestion fees" »
The Jerusalem Post
Mar. 1, 2007
shelly paz
Dozens of Greenpeace activists demonstrated in front of the Rabin Lights power station near Hadera on Wednesday under the slogan, "Pollution is returned to the polluter."
The protesters used pipes to blow thick, gray but harmless smoke toward the facility, and later spoke with Hadera residents.
Continue reading "Greenpeace protests at Hadera power plant" »
Jordan Times
Feb. 28, 2007
AMMAN -- The Greek government is to contribute $1 million for the feasibility study of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project.
Ambassador of Greece to Jordan Troyphon Parakevopolos on Tuesday submitted a letter from Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Evripidis Stylianidis to Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali, affirming his government's commitment in this regard.
Continue reading "Greece to co-finance feasibility study for Dead-Red project" »
Haaretz
February 26, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
The government of Israel lined its pockets with plenty of cash last week through the privatization of the Haifa-based Oil Refineries and also ensured handsome revenues for the new controlling shareholders. The calculation of monetary profit has already been made, but another calculation - environmental and health - remains unresolved.
Haaretz
February 27, 2007
By Mijal Grinberg and Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondents
Representatives of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Society for the Preservation of Nature said Tuesday they would battle against plans to establish new communities in the northern Negev for families evacuated from the Gaza Strip.
Continue reading "Green agencies oppose construction for Gaza evacuees" »
Haaretz
Updated March 1, 2007
By Haaretz Editorial
The theft of private land and lawless construction, with the authorities' collaboration, have long been routine in the land of the settlers. The scope of these deeds and their seriousness are described extensively in the report on illegal outposts compiled by Talia Sasson, formerly a senior state prosecution attorney. The report was buried almost two years ago.
Haaretz
February 22, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat
A new report released yesterday by Peace Now says that several West Bank settlements have annexed land from nature reserves for construction purposes.
The group's claim is based on a comparison of aerial photographs of settlements and outposts and nature reserve maps.
Continue reading "Peace Now: W. Bank settlements annexed nature reserve land" »
Haaretz
February 20, 2007
By Tzafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces has begun planning a town in the Negev that will accommodate several army training camps currently located in the center of Israel, Haaretz has learned.
The town will be erected in the northern Negev, some ten kilometers south of the Ramat Hovav industrial zone. IDF planners received the go-ahead after the Ministry of the Environment and Ramat Hovav factories reached a settlement agreement on the treatment of environmental hazards, which delayed the army's final decision on whether to build the town.
Continue reading "IDF begins mobilizing on 'training camp' town in Negev" »
Haaretz
February 14, 2007
By Avi Issacharoff and Aluf Benn
A group of Palestinian entrepreneurs yesterday presented plans to create a new Palestinian city in the West Bank, located between Ramallah and Nablus.
The group, headed by businessman Abd al-Malik Jabbar, presented its plan to Israeli, Palestinian and U.S. officials during an economic conference at the home of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Richard Jones.
Continue reading "Palestinian Authority proposes building new city in West Bank" »
The Jerusalem Post
Feb. 22, 2007
LEAH GRANOF, THE JERUSALEM POST
A single snapshot could capture the entire settlement of Haruv's long row of temporary houses built on a solitary street. But that picture would hardly encapsulate the essence of this community, 20 kilometers east of Kiryat Gat. Located next to the agricultural community of Shekef, Haruv's one street, adorned with playgrounds at each end and dogs cavorting with unabashed freedom, is only a temporary stopover for the community of 35 families awaiting construction of a permanent location atop the green hills two kilometers away.
Haaretz
February 22, 2007
22.2.07 | 10:31 By Sharon Kedmi
After years of delays and procrastination, a tender for building Israel's first solar-power plant is to be issued this year.
The 250-megawatt plant will be built on 4,000 dunams (1,000 acres) in the Ashalim complex in the Negev.
Continue reading "Israel to get its first solar plant, at last" »
MA'AN
February 2, 2007
تكبير الخط تصغير الخط
Jericho - Ma'an – On Thursday, the training center of the Jerusalem electric company concluded a customer-service training course for their employees for when they conduct technical works or collect money. They were trained to reply positively to citizens' inquiries.
Continue reading "Solar power station to be established near Jericho" »
Haaretz
February 19, 2007
By Sharon Kedmi
The incompetence surrounding the plans to construct a highway connecting Modiin to Rishon Lezion just can't seem to stop. Now it appears that the cost of building the segment of Highway 431 inside the city of Modiin will be double the original budget, or around NIS 280 million, instead of NIS 147 million.
.
Continue reading "Road to Chelm: Highway 431 to cost double the budget, or NIS 280 million" »
Haaretz
February 18, 2007
By Ronny Linder-Ganz
The green Star of David stamped on products to indicate that the product is environmentally friendly does not appear to be backed up by any environmental criteria, testing or supervision, an investigation by TheMarker, in conjunction with consumer law expert Dr. Shmuel Becher, has found.
Continue reading "Green Star of David isn't backed by solid criteria" »
Haaretz
February 7, 2007
By Ronny Linder-Ganz
The green Star of David stamped on products to indicate that the product is environmentally friendly does not appear to be backed up by any environmental criteria, testing or supervision, an investigation by TheMarker, in conjunction with consumer law expert Dr. Shmuel Becher, has found.
Continue reading "Green Star of David isn't backed by solid criteria" »
The Daily Star
February 20, 2007
Conflict wiped out ambitious plans of growing industry
By Assem Abi Ali
Special to The Daily Star
RAMLIEH, Aley: Eco-tourism suffered greatly during the summer 2006 war with Israel, and one of the main victims was the Aley village of Ramlieh, where local investors and other stakeholders had been planning an extensive program before hostilities broke out on July 12.
Continue reading "Eco-tourism sector struggles to recover from wounds of war" »
The Daily Star
February 20, 2007
Conflict wiped out ambitious plans of growing industry
By Assem Abi Ali
Special to The Daily Star
RAMLIEH, Aley: Eco-tourism suffered greatly during the summer 2006 war with Israel, and one of the main victims was the Aley village of Ramlieh, where local investors and other stakeholders had been planning an extensive program before hostilities broke out on July 12.
Continue reading "Eco-tourism sector struggles to recover from wounds of war" »
Haaretz
February 15, 2007
By Ora Coren and Amiram Cohen
The Netafim irrigation systems company means to start manufacturing via a
chain of plants outside Israel.
Continue reading "Netafim opening irrigation systems plant in Mexico" »
Greenpeace
February 18, 2007
International — Greenpeace today called for urgent discussions about a Nuclear Free Middle East to create a region free of all nuclear technology, civil and military, as essential to increasing peace and stability in the region. The international peace and environment group said nuclear technology is not the solution to either national security or energy needs.
Continue reading "Greenpeace calls for a Nuclear Free Middle East" »
YNET
February 18, 2007
Government slated to okay proposal for privatization of Israel Electric Corp and its division into several subsidiaries
Tani Goldstein
Continue reading "Cabinet to approve Electric Corp. reform" »
Haaretz
Last Update February 25, 2007
By Ofri Ilani
The wind ruffles the leaves of the date sapling in its planter, and Dr. Elaine Soloway quickly shields it. "There's only one plant like this in the world, and I'm still worried about it," she says. Methuselah - that is the sapling's name - is indeed unique. In 2005, Soloway, from Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava, germinated it from a 2,000-year-old date seed found at Masada.
Continue reading "2,000-year-old date seed grows in the Arava" »
Haaretz / Jordan Times
February 15, 2007
By Margaret Beckett
[listserve note: published in both Jordan Times and Haaretz, unusual for the region]
All too often the news is dominated by conflict and disagreement. Then a threat of such magnitude comes along that it forcefully reminds us of our common humanity - in other words just how much all of us, whatever our background, creed or colour hold in common. For our generation that threat is climate change.
Haaretz
Last Update: February 24, 2007
By Esther Zandberg
Apart from any other implications, the affair of the new Mugrabi bridge is an extreme example of the dark and covert way in which Israel's professional and political planning world conducts itself. This case is neither an exception nor a surprise. This is how the sector has conducted matters for years - as if it were the government's secret service. It is no secret that planning is conducted under a veil of total secrecy. Very few things filter out to the general public in an orderly fashion - and when they become known, it is often too late to do anything. The difference is that this time the affair did not merely leak out, it burst out with a resounding blast.
Continue reading "The architectural conspiracy of silence" »
Haaretz
February 16, 2007
By Ora Coren
A car travels from Hadera to Ashdod on Road No. 6. The driver should pay for every section of toll road used during the trip. How much will the driver pay at the end of the journey? Don't rush to answer. Sometimes the answer is: Nothing.
Continue reading "Toll-busting trick provides car leasers with a free ride" »
Haaretz
February 16, 2007
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
Recently completed research indicates the problem of serious groundwater contamination is widespread throughout the greater Tel Aviv region and covers huge areas of Gush Dan, with several contamination sites.
Six years ago, when the Tel Aviv Water Authority discovered serious contamination on the site of the former Israel Military Industries factory Magen, it thought the problem was contained.
Continue reading "Greater Tel Aviv area riddled with serious groundwater pollution" »
Haaretz
By Sharon Kedmi
The momentum of the past few years in the laying of infrastructures, to the
unprecedented tune of tens of billions of shekels, has gradually turned Israel
into an effectively smaller and even more accessible country than it was
previously. Hundreds of kilometers of train lines have been laid, connecting
one town to another. En route, they often cross through open areas and have a
detrimental effect on the surroundings. How can the balance therefore be found
between the immense investments in infrastructure and the maintenance of the
values of nature and scenery that some will contend are no less vital to the
common weal than train lines?
That was one of the central questions under discussion last week at a conference
on nature preservation in the face of infrastructure investment, which took
place at Tel Aviv University.
An example of this dilemma is the public argument over the future of the express
train line to Jerusalem, A1, which is destined to cut across nature preserves,
according to Alona Shefer-Karo, the director of Life and Environment, the
umbrella group for the country's non-governmental environmental organizations.
She says that the environmental groups have for years been calling for massive
investments in a rail line to Jerusalem, but today are pondering whether the
ecological price that will be paid for the line's development is not too high.
Many times, she says, there is internal disagreement among the
environmentalists about the order of priorities.
Yeshayahu Ronen, who is in charge of transportation planning in the
Transportation Ministry, says there is no point in claiming that train lines do
not cause harm to the surroundings, but argues that in view of the alternatives,
the lines are the lesser of the evils. Ronen says: "The efforts in this respect
must be focused on finding the right formula, and not on presenting the train
as the enemy of the environment."
One of the most decisive views was expressed by Prof. Eran Feitelson from the
Hebrew University's Federmann School of Public Policy and Government. He said
that the train, like any other form of transportation, is not an end in itself
but rather a means for furthering social objectives. The questions that need to
be asked are what objectives the train is supposed to further, and how these
objectives will be integrated with the objective of preserving nature.
The extent to which railway lines harm nature is not uniform, but rather varies
from line to line. The most problematic lines are those that run through
relatively open landscapes. Therefore the most troublesome lines are those in
the peripheral areas: Beit She'an, the line to Carmiel, the line between
Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva, the Eilat line, and to a lesser extent the new line
to Jerusalem - even though these are the lines which, on the face of it, could
open up new opportunities for the periphery. Projects in which additional lines
are added in parallel to existing lines, like most projects in the center of the
country, are from this point of view less problematic.
>From the point of view of intra-generational equality, the question must be
asked whether the train benefits weaker populations or weaker areas, and if so,
if it is the most effective tool for doing so. As a general rule, the train is
not a cheap means of travel and for the most part it is possible to supply
cheaper means of public transport. In this respect, travel by bus on parallel
lines, such as the route to Be'er Sheva, costs less than the same ride on a
train. This means that the train serves the middle class principally, the
weaker sectors less, with the exception being soldiers, who travel for free.
Feitelson says that Israel is currently investing many billions in a system
whose effectiveness has not been sufficiently tested. On the other hand, it is
possible to determine its effect on nature relatively easily. He believes there
should be a moratorium on additional investments in the more troublesome lines,
in terms of natural resources, until a detailed feasibility study that examines
the effect on the environment is carried out, with the participation of external
experts.
Hanoch Tsoref, who is administers the railway project on behalf of the Jewish
National Fund, says that experience of many years has taught that correct
planning, including with regard to the environmental issues, cuts down on
building time in the long run, and reduces both costs and damage to the
surroundings. Correct planning, not merely with regard to the Jerusalem line,
can be carried out in a short time.
Today, since many billions have been allocated to Israel Railways for immediate
work, there is pressure to start the work even before the necessary planning
stages have been completed.
Surprisingly, the voice of the government office in charge of protecting the
environment has hardly been heard. According to Ephraim Schlein, who heads the
planning division in the Environmental Protection Ministry, the infrastructure
development for railway lines has been accompanied by constant improvement of
the attitude of the planners to environmental considerations.
The upgrading of the Nahal Soreq line, in the area between Beit Shemesh and
Jerusalem, was a good lesson, he says, in a move that did not internalize the
aspects of nature preservation in the planning stages, but today the situation
has changed. "If a few years ago, Israel Railways regarded demands about nature
and the environment with amazement," he says, "today demands for alternatives to
the route, made at an early stage in planning, on the basis of considerations of
nature and environment, are part of the planning process. The landscape aspect
is examined in a professional manner when the lines are being planned."
Haaretz
By Haaretz Editorial
The latest data shows that the water quality in the coastal aquifer - one of
Israel's three main freshwater sources - is in steady decline to the point of
threatening the integrity of water resources. More than 10 percent of the water
holes drilled into the aquifer have been closed in the past five years due to
contamination stemming from industrial waste, agricultural fertilizer and urban
sewage. In the Tel Aviv area alone, more than half the water holes have been
closed over the past 25 years, and those that continue to operate are permeated
by toxic heavy metals and carcinogenic substances.
It is certainly no consolation for consumers that for the time being, the
concentration of these materials is lower than the maximum quantities allowed
in drinking water. In at least one Sharon-area community, residents are forced
to use mineral water for drinking and cooking, because their groundwater source
was polluted and an alternative connection has yet to be made available.
The coastal aquifer provides hundreds of millions of cubic meters of water per
year. In years with exceptionally high rainfall, the aquifer can store large
quantities of water - about two billion cubic meters. By comparison, the
country's two other major freshwater sources - the mountain aquifer and Lake
Kinneret - are capable of storing several hundred million cubic meters, thereby
underscoring the strategic importance of the coastal aquifer when it comes to
freshwater availability.
The quality of water in the coastal aquifer reflects continuous core problems in
dealing with natural resources here. One of these is the inability to invest in
environmental infrastructure, such as sewage treatment centers or installations
for upgrading wells, in order to enable the use of polluted water that undergoes
purification. Another problem lies in planning that does not take into
consideration the environmental impact. In many locations it would have been
possible to build towns and roads in ways that could drain the pollution in an
orderly way, thereby retaining open spaces in which rain water would seep
underground and enhance the aquifer.
As in many other countries, the prevalent approach in recent years here is that
it is possible to deal with pollution problems through technological
alternatives. One preferred option regarding contamination of the groundwater
is creating additional installations for desalinating seawater. However,
desalination plants are expensive and occupy land along the coast. Therefore,
the proper way to deal with contamination of the coastal aquifer is to address
the fundamental causes of pollution, and recognize that the issue requires
long-term planning and monetary investment.
The planning authorities and ministries must establish clear regulations for
expanding towns and commercial/industrial zones in ways that the sewage
produced will not contaminate the environment, as well as intensify enforcement
against many ongoing sources of pollution.
In addition, a multiyear recovery plan must be initiated, one that would include
all the methods deemed appropriate for removing the contaminants in some of the
affected areas so as to limit the amount of pollution reaching the groundwater.
These actions may lead to a gradual improvement in the situation, and may save
this essential reservoir of groundwater in the long term.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/825083.html
By Zafrir Rinat
Last update - 02:12 22/01/2007
Nitrate pollution in the drinking water of a number of communities in
the Sharon area may spread if the overall rise in this type of
pollution continues. "The whole coastal plain is facing exceptional
nitrate levels," Shalom Goldberger, environmental health engineer at
the Health Ministry, said last week.
In a few communities, the ministry has already made special
preparations to allow water use. "In Rishon Letzion a facility to
treat nitrates was established, and in Nes Tziona polluted water has
been diluted with water from another source. We have instructed the
residents of Bet Oved not to drink the water or cook with it, but
residents continue to do so," Goldberg said.
Use of the local tap water for cooking and drinking has been
prohibited for the past few weeks in Moshav Benai Dror in the Sharon
due to nitrates that exceed allowable levels.
Nitrate pollution occurs when sewage and chemical fertilizers
containing nitrate compounds penetrate the water table. Last year's
Hydrological Service report on the situation in 2005 revealed high
concentrations of nitrates in agricultural areas from Binyamina in the
north to Rehovot in the south.
About half the water in the coastal plain aquifer is currently
provided by local suppliers and not by the national water company,
Mekorot. To overcome the pollution these suppliers must either find
ways to purify the water, or connect to the Mekorot system.
In most places where nitrates exceed allowable levels, those levels
are determined by new standards. When the old standards were in place,
no particular health problems associated with exposure to nitrates
were noticed.
Goldberger says that while no immediate danger is posed, standards
must be maintained because the presence of nitrates in the water is a
health problem in general.
By Zafrir Rinat
Last update - 02:12 22/01/2007
David Litvinoff, the head of the Tamar Regional Council, has lived
most of his life at Kibbutz Ein Gedi, near the Dead Sea. But he made
his first visit to neighboring Jordan only last week. His main reasons
for finally taking the trip were the houseflies that plague residents
on both sides of the Dead Sea, and the realization that the
ever-shrinking sea is also a common problem.
Litvinoff and a delegation of regional council heads from the area met
in the Jordanian city of Safi with officials of the Jordan Valley
Authority and district governors. He and the head of the Jordan River
district, Ghaleb al-Shamaila, signed a memorandum of understanding to
work together against the flies and to establish a border crossing for
merchandise and workers on the Dead Sea's southern shore. They also
pledged to work to establish a regional peace park south of the Dead
Sea and to bring public pressure to bear on the issue of the Dead
Sea's desiccation.
The visit to Jordan was organized by the joint Israeli, Jordanian and
Palestinian Friends of the Earth-Middle East (FoEME). "It is a rare
event in which the representatives of so many Jordanian bodies meet
with Israelis, as political pressure usually prevents such meetings,"
FoEME's Israeli director, Gidon Bromberg, said. He stated that the
shared nature of the issues on the local level had created the level
of trust needed to reach the understandings.
"We've tried everything against the flies," Litvinoff said. "We
brought in specialists and used every kind of pesticide. The flies
continue to come from the Jordanian side. Some months, you can't even
sit outside."
The Israeli delegation came face to face with the source of the
problem in the fields near Safi: a fertilizer that attracts the winged
pests. "People here are poor, and they don't have money to buy
suitable fertilizers," said Dr. Farouk Arslan, a Jordanian ecologist
accompanying the group.
"This fertilizer gets wet and attracts the female flies, and that's
how the next generation develops," explained Shlomo Abadi, a pesticide
expert advising both sides.
The participants resolved to conduct a study on various methods of
decreasing the legions of flies. Bromberg and his Jordanian
counterpart, Munqeth Mehyar, met last week in Amman with the U.S.
ambassador to seek his help in establishing a compost facility that
will not attract flies.
The Jordanian side of the Dead Sea is in many respects a mirror image
of the Israeli side, complete with potash works and their evaporation
pools and a large number of hotels. The outstanding difference is that
the population on the Jordanian side is much larger, and poorer, than
on the Israeli side.
The Jordanians led their Israeli guests through a banana plantation in
which a huge sinkhole had opened, similar to the hundreds of such
holes on the Israeli side. The holes, which open without warning, are
created due to the drop in the level of the Dead Sea, which allows
fresh water to penetrate through salt layers beneath the surface,
dissolving them and causing the surface to collapse.
Ahmed Bukhri, a Jor dan Valley Authority engineer, said that there are
about 50 sinkholes in Jordanian fields. "We tried to block some of
them, but they reappear," he noted. As opposed to Kibbutz Ein Gedi,
which has stopped cultivation in the fields where the sinkholes
appeared, the Jordanian farmers appear to have no choice and continue
to work their fields, although there are sinkholes all around.
The shrinkage of the Dead Sea requires intervention at a higher level
than mayors on both sides, but the mayors are trying to raise
international awareness of the importance of preserving the area. At
their meeting, both sides agreed to continue their efforts to persuade
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) to declare the Dead Sea basin a World Heritage Site.
We are looking for masters students in environmental studies for the
AKIS/AIES program. We accept students with BA or BSc who are looking
to work in topics related to the environments. Currently we have few
positions:
§ Masters on environmental legislation and policy. Hebrew
reading and writing, BA or BSc, subject less important. Date of start
25th February 2007. Need to apply ASAP.
§ Masters on the impact of grazing on biodiversity. The study
looks at Bedouin decision making regarding grazing, for example: where
to take the herds at different seasons, ratio of goats to sheep, herd
size, who herds them. Also it looks at the behaviour of the goats and
sheep and the impact on desert plants. Could chose one of the above
subjects only. Requires BSc in biology, agriculture or related
subjects, or BA in humanities. Date of start 25th February 2007. Need
to apply ASAP.
§ Masters on domestication of desert plant species in Jordan.
Wild plants that have undergone domestication can be grown for
agriculture. We would like to try and introduce some of them to
Jordan. Requires BSc in biology, agriculture or related subjects.
Date of start 14th October 2007.
§ Masters on conservation of rare desert plants. In an attempt
to save rare species, we will look for populations in Jordan. Requires
BSc in biology, agriculture or related subjects. Date of start 14th
October 2007.
Haaretz
24.1.07 | 11:15 By Amiram Cohen
Israel's farmers are making hay as the sun shines in the Middle East and storms
whip at California, the source of most things orange in the U.S.
The icy weather and pounding precipitation destroyed 70% of the state's citrus
crop, and counting.
The damage in California, which is the world's largest citrus producer, is
estimated at a billion dollars.
How does Israel benefit? Japan is taking advantage of the citrus crisis as an
opportunity to renew its imports from Israel for the first time since 1988,
says Tal Amit, head of the citrus sector at Israel's Plants Production and
Marketing Board.
Japan had stopped importing citrus from Israel for economic reasons. But
recently Israeli farmers received orders to ship 800 tons of oranges a week.
Amit said yesterday that he expected additional citrus orders by Japanese and
South East Asian markets. He doesn't believe the shortfall in California would
affect prices here, though.
This potential boon comes at a point where citrus prices have climbed
considerably over the past year.
During the third week of January, retail prices of red grapefruit were 33
percent above the same period last year. Similarly, prices are up for white
pomellos (19 percent), red pomellos (35 percent), and pomelits (78 percent).
In the wake of the disaster, Spain and Morocco, both major citrus suppliers to
the European Union, decided to redirect a considerable share of their crops to
the U.S., leaving the EU out in the cold.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/817279.html
Israel21c
Israelis raise coral out of the blue
By Karin Kloosterman January 21, 2007
Israeli scientist win US award for ecological research
While other criminal lawyers are spending their afternoons preparing court
cases, Israeli attorney Ofer Almalam is taking off his tie and heading over to
an unusual aquatic farm to dote on some special clients.
In a secret location not far from the city of Haifa, Almalam and his partner
Alon Efergan, a former engineer, are working around the clock raising coral for
their new company - Advanced Coral Propagating Technology (ACP Tech).
The coral they produce - about 8,000 pieces of 6 cm. coral a year - is living
proof that coral can be cultivated in captivity and in a closed system. It is
the first large-scale operation of its kind in the world where coral are reared
with no connection to nutrients in the sea.
The zoological research done by the unlikely pairing of a lawyer and an
engineer, they hope, may one day save the world's coral reefs from extinction -
or at least make it to the pages of National Geographic.
Pet stores and reef keepers around the world are taking notice of ACP Tech,
which has been having a hard time meeting the demand for their colourful sea
creatures. Distributed by Israeli food and agriculture giant Agrexco, major pet
store distributors in the US such as Segrest Farms in Miami and Merit Import are
placing orders faster than they can be delivered. The wholesale cost - about $15
apiece.
Like the secret location of the tanks, the precise methodologies used in raising
the finicky coral are under wraps until the company acquires patents. What they
can say is that it has taken them late nights of hard work, a whole lot of
intuition, and a special combination of technologies that give the coral the
specific conditions needed to grow.
Coral reefs in the sea serve as one of the world's most important marine
ecosystems. The exoskeletons of the small animals are home to thousands of
other aquatic plants and animals. Coral are necessary for nutrient cycling in
the sea; they are important for tourism in island economies, used in medical
studies for skin grafts and could be sources of new medicines.
But coral are sensitive to the smallest fluctuations in pH, chemical mixtures
and temperature. Global warming, fish farming, pollution and a whole host of
man-made activities are proving to be disastrous to their survival. Some
scientists believe that one-third of all coral in the sea has already died.
This year, reports CNN and New Scientist, has seen record amounts of coral
die-off.
"I feel that we are heading into a period where the coral will become extinct,"
Almalam told ISRAEL21c. "They have existed for 500 million years and have
passed a few extinctions. But we are going into an era that may have
immeasurable consequences for their survival."
"And hard corals, like the ones we are growing, are the most sensitive kind,"
says Almalam. "They need special conditions to live and require components in
the water present in a narrow range that includes such chemicals like calcium
and strontium."
Feeding his coral what he jokingly terms a "body-builder's" diet, Almalam helps
the coral grow twenty times faster than they would if they were growing
naturally in the sea. Those grown on his farm are more colorful than the native
sea varieties; they also adapt better to aquarium life.
The way ACP Tech packs and ships its coral, in special brine, also ensures a
near one-hundred-percent survival rate for coral that have to brave the long
journey from Israel to the United States.
Although environmentalists try to sway people from stealing coral in the sea,
the marine animals remain a hot commodity for hobbyists looking to add them to
exotic home aquariums.
By propagating and selling coral, Almalam says, ACP Tech is helping to offset
illegal poaching of coral. At any rate, he adds, poached coral has a low chance
of survival once someone removes it from the sea.
Much of what ACP Tech does is under wraps until the company receives patents on
their technologies and methodologies. What they can divulge is the fact that
the coral is propagated from smaller pieces of the substance through a process
known as fragmentation; the pieces are glued to a cube of concrete and then
placed in an aquarium environment that contains minerals and elements in the
"perfect" combination that coral love.
And "love" is the word Efergan uses when describing the most important
ingredient in the rearing process. "I give them the best that I can- like the
love I give to my children," he says. "I also give them the highest quality
food. They speak with me. I can feel how they feel."
"The environmental aspect is also important for me and I live the principles I
believe," added Efergan, a vegetarian who doesn't eat fish.
After studying mechanical engineering at Tel Aviv University, Efergen decided to
try his luck in the pet store business. It was then, about five years ago when
Almalam took an interest in aquariums, the two met.
Within three months of raising lionfish, Almalam had moved on to soft coral,
hard coral and then a 600 liter aquarium that found a home in his living room.
Besides buying materials and equipment from Efergan, Almalam was ordering
specialty supplies from the US and the UK.
Through their mutual love of coral and environmentalism, Almalam and Efergan
forged a bond like brotherhood, they say.
Today the aquariums are too large for the house and have been moved to a small
village outside the coastal city of Haifa.
Almalam's father Avraham Almalam an engineer with a background in agriculture
also deserves credit for ACP Tech's success. "Of course," says Almalam's
father, it was a dream of his and his wife's that their son would grow up and
become a lawyer. But it was no surprise that he would end up dedicating the
better part of his day to growing coral.
"Ofer always cared about animals and has since he was a young boy. He raised
snakes, dogs, butterflies and many kinds of varieties of mice at our home. He
grew up knowing how to be close to animals," says his father. "Developing a
closed system of raising coral was not a strange thing for my son to do. And it
is such an important thing for the world."
ACP Tech could one day - if the right investor comes along, they say- supply
coral to every corner of the world. Already, they have started supplying coral
to reef-keepers used for transplanting them in the natural environment in
efforts to keep reefs alive.
"Our production could be higher at the moment," says Almalam. "We just don't
have the system big enough to satisfy the demand."
Karin Kloosterman is a freelance reporter living in Israel.
http://www.israel21c.org/bin/en.jsp?enDispWho=Articles%5El1531&enPage=BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enVersion=0&enZone=Democracy&
Friends of the Earth Middle East
Issue No. 41 (December 2006)
GOOD WATER NEIGHBORS BULLETIN
This is a monthly electronic bulletin on water and environmental issues in our
region, produced by Friends of the Earth Middle East. Friends of the Earth
Middle East (FoEME) is a regional environmental organization of Jordanians,
Israelis and Palestinians working together to promote sustainable development
and peace building through environmental awareness.
REGIONAL UPDATES FROM THE GOOD WATER NEIGHBORS PROJECT
The most important happening of November was the result of the quick response
from FoEME’s staff on the notification that work will start on the Separation
Barrier between the Good Water Neighbors (GWN) communities of Tzur Hadassa on
the Israeli side and Wadi Fukin on the Palestinian side. FoEME’s Tel-Aviv
branch responded by appealing to the Israeli Civil Administration, which
resulted in the work being postponed until a decision is made on the issue. In
the event of a negative response, FoEME is already preparing a petition to the
Israeli Supreme Court against the barrier in Wadi Fukin.
Another important issue was the second meeting between the mayors of the GWN
communities of Beit She’an and Sheikh Hussein, where a Memorandum of
Understanding was drafted as a first step to restore the streams of Nahal Harod
and Wadi Ziglab, both important tributaries to the Jordan River.
NEWS IN BRIEF [HEADLINES REPRINTED ONLY; FOR FULL STORIES SEE THE FOEME WEBSITE
OR SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEWSLETTER]
Since 'Operation Summer Rains', 90% Gazans Eat Less than Three Meals a Day, Only
a Third of Gazans have Running Water
(Ma’an News -- www.maannews.net, Palestine, November, 17th, 2006)
_____________
Cost of water to farmers to rise 20% over five years
(Ha’aretz, Israel, November 16, 2006) By Amiram Cohen
_____________
A 15 meter sink hole appeared in Deir Allah
(Al-Dustor, Jordan, November 1, 2006)
_____________
Evaporation and Israel Threatens to Vanish the Dead Sea
(Al-Jazeera Net, www.aljazeera.net, Palestine, November, 14th 2006)
_____________
ISO certificate for the water ministry
(Al-Ghad, Jordan November 21, 2006)
_____________
Israel and Jordan fight sea pollution
Ha'aretz, November 16th, 2006
_____________
Sink holes threatening the lives of South Ghour residents
(Al-Arab Al-Yaum, November 22, 2006)
Municipality of Tulkarm Urged the Residents of the District to Pay their Duties
for Electricity and Water Services
(Ma’an News -- www.maannews.net, Palestine, November, 1st, 2006)
An Israeli-Jordanian Agreement on water issues
Ha'aretz, November 23rd
This bulletin is part of Friends of the Earth Middle East's regional project:
Good Water Neighbors.
The bulletin aims to bring up to date information from the region on pertinent
water issues facing communities, focusing on water provision, allocation and
good management practices.
All issues of Good Water Neighbors bulletins are also available online at:
www.foeme.org
Contributions to this bulletin are welcome. Please send by the 24th of each
month to: info@foeme.org
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of FoEME and/or of
individual contributors and not necessarily those of our sponsors. The Good
Water Neighbors Project recognizes the support of the European Union
Partnership for Peace program, the UK Government's Global Opportunities Fund
and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.
This newsletter or portions thereof may be freely distributed. All quotations
from material enclosed herein should be properly cited. If cited in other
publications, please send us copies.
This project document has been produced with the financial assistance of the
European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of
EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East and can under no circumstances be
regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.
www.foeme.org
By Fadi Eyadat
Haaretz- 10:36 25/01/2007
Two garbage containers stand in front of MK Ami Ayalon's house at
Moshav Kerem Maharal - one for general and the other for organic
garbage. The Ayalons are among the community's 161 residents who
recycle their organic garbage for compost production.
The trash cans were provided by Ayalon's former navy subordinate and
neighbor, Amiad Lapidot, who initiated the Kerem Compost project.
Lapidot, 38, founded the Eretz Carmel non-government organization
(NGO) in July to process organic garbage at Kerem Maharal and turn it
into compost, or plant fertilizer. The NGO won this year's Ford
Foundation first prize for environment preservation.
Moshav residents separate organic garbage - food leftovers, fruit and
vegetable peels, tea bags, coffee and matches - from the rest of the
garbage. Lapidot, the NGO's director, collects the organic garbage on
his three-dunam farm. "We bring eight tons of garbage here a month.
There are no flies or stink here, although hundreds of tons of garbage
have passed this site," he says.
This is because of the natural decomposition process that turns the
garbage into compost. The organic garbage must be put into the pile
with grass clippings, hay, leaves, newspapers, sawdust and weeds.
Microorganisms (bacteria and fungi), earthworms and insects work in
the compost pile to break down the materials into compost. The
temperature rises to 60-70 degrees Celsius, sterilizing
disease-causing bacteria.
After a month and a half, special worms of the Eisenia Fetida species
are introduced into the pile.
"The worms eat the organic materials and leftovers, break them down in
their bodies, and their secretions are the best fertilizer," Lapidot
says.
After the pile has decomposed for six months, the parts that have not
broken down are taken out, leaving plant compost. "This could be done
anywhere in the country or city. It doesn't stink, and doesn't bother
anyone," he says.
When organic garbage is not separated from plastic bags and other
garbage, it decomposes without oxygen, a process that emits methane
gas and contributes to global warming and "climate imbalance," Lapidot
says. "Without recycling, we are enhancing the greenhouse effect."
Almost 40 percent of Israel's household garbage consists of organic
materials that can be recycled into fertilizer. "We create an organic
circle that could go on forever," Lapidot continues. "The food I eat
goes to the compost pile, with which I fertilize the tree that
provides my food. This food goes to the compost heap and so on," he
says.
The garbage recycling in Kerem Maharal prevents the emission of
500,000 cubic meters of "greenhouse" gases into the atmosphere,
Lapidot says.
Lapidot built his house with earth bricks and straw, and uses dew for
cleaning and irrigation. Now he is thinking of producing methane gas
from his home's sewage for heating. In the summer, he cools his house
with a pipe stuck a meter deep in the ground, where the temperature is
16 degrees Celsius. Thus he saves water and energy. "My motto is to
live without infringing on the future generations' ability to
survive," he says.
Globalization, population growth and consumption have increased
environmental damage, he says. Israeli culture has "mutated." "It's
built into our society, we are raised to compete, to consume
endlessly, regardless of the laws moving the earth. There are laws,
and we've decided to ignore them. We must understand that we live by
the same laws that move and manage the planet," Lapidot says.
He is dedicated to creating a model to balance out modern
globalization and consumption, and preserve an environment "rich with
nature's free services."
"We must create a situation in which everything we do enriches the
environment. A tree, for example, develops and grows, yet it
contributes to cleaning the air, and produces fruit."
Lapidot is operating this model by recycling organic garbage, living
in his his earth-brick and straw home, and using dew. "I am the
environment," he says.
"As educators, we must teach others about nature's laws so that future
generations are able to survive," he says.
By Sharon Kedmi 25/01/2007
Haaretz
The National Infrastructure Committee last night approved plans to
upgrade Road 1 between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, which will transform it
into a three-lane highway at a cost of NIS 2.5 billion.
The statutory processes should be completed by the end of the year,
and 2008 will be dedicated to detailed planning. If the necessary
funding is found, work can begin in 2009 and will continue over three
years.
The project's main purpose is to improve and pave the road according
to safety standards that will enable a steady flow of traffic along
its entire route. The project will include the drilling of a 600-meter
tunnel beneath the Harel interchange and Mevasseret Zion, connecting
the road to new entrances into Jerusalem, and upgrading the Shoresh,
Neve Ilan, Hemed and Harel interchanges.
Special attention is being given to upgrading without interfering with
traffic flow or closing lanes. Efforts to cooperate with environmental
groups have helped its plans obtain unanimous approval.
The Israel National Road Company noted that the road's main problems
include the lack of an additional lane and proper shoulders on both
sides of the road. In addition, geometric improvements at certain
relatively unsafe sections are required.
There are two routes leading into to Jerusalem from the west - Road 1
and Road 443 from Modi'in.
According to forecasts, there will be a need to substantially upgrade
the current network, which is on the brink of collapse, while
conditions during heavy traffic hours are an intolerable nuisance for
drivers. The final road system leading to the capital will include a
complete upgrade of Road 1, construction of missing intersections on
Road 443, completion of a train line, and new road from Road 6 near
Kiryat Malachi to the Begin Highway near Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium via
Tsur Hadassa.
Subject: Greening Your Beat (TreeHugger)
Greening Your Beat
Treehugger.com by Karin Kloosterman, Tel Aviv
29 January 2006
It’s not just the Mad Professor who likes coming to Israel... Thanks
to a tipster at WorldChanging (David Zaks), we are about to back-comb
our hair and wax it into natty dreadlocks in preparation for Israel's
Reggae Environmental Education Concert. The event will take place on
February 22 with a desert vista at Kibbutz Ein Herod on the Dead Sea.
Reggae party organizer Island Galambos says Jamaican reggae artist
Pato Baton will perform and lecture at the green event. “We are going
to be promoting an earth friendly environment with guest speakers
discussing Solar Energy, Bio-Diesel, Recycling, Organic Foods, Clean
Air, and more,” writes Galambos. During his 2006 visit to the Holy
Land, Galambos writes that he has made “wonderful contacts and
friends and wants to invite all to this event.” If you are over here
in the Holy Land or are making land holy in your own land, give
Galambos a shout out to help plan the environmental sides of green in
Israel (you weren’t imagining some other sort of green were you?).
Email Island Galambos
707-845-1114 (Northern California number).
By Sharon Kedmi 25/01/2007
Haaretz
The winning group in the tender for the Tel Aviv light rail has been
announced, but the battle surrounding the excavation method isn't over
yet. TheMarker has found that the Green Party and environmental
factions in Tel Aviv have approached National Infrastructure Minister
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, urgently requesting the suspension of the
project until the issue of excavation is clarified. They have also
demanded that the water authority be included in the process
immediately, and threaten to turn to the courts if these steps aren't
taken.
The environmentalists are demanding that Ben-Eliezer, as the authority
responsible for the water economy in Israel, intervene immediately.
The concern, TheMarker found, is the deep mining method proposed by
MTS, the company awarded the tender, which could cause environmental
damage due to the large quantities of ground water that will have to
be pumped out during digging.
According to estimates made by rail-engineering consultants, the
mining method MTS proposes involves pumping 50 million cubic meters of
water during the five-year construction period, as compared to about
four million cubic meters in the conventional "cover and cut" method
proposed by tender loser Metro Rail. Additionally, there is a risk of
emission of poisonous subterranean gases along part of the route.
Metro Rail has also approached the tenders committee on the issue. A
discussion among the specialists on the committee, however, concluded,
on the basis of the information available to them, that the deep
mining method poses no problem.
Ben-Eliezer's office confirmed that the protests had been received,
and said they had been forwarded to the authorized entities in the
Water Commission.
Sam Ser, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 11, 2007
If you've ever held a magnifying glass over a piece of paper on a bright summer
day, you can appreciate the potential of concentrated solar energy. What
scientists have had to do to realize some of that potential, though, has turned
that simple phenomenon into a complicated operation that now entails p-n
junction diodes, depletion regions and the Czochralski process.
Different approaches to capturing and transforming solar energy have led to a
number of amazing technologies.
The simplest, called a hot box, goes back 240 years - when a Swiss scientist who
took notice of the greenhouse effect, in which a glass enclosure traps heat from
the sun, started building contraptions to do just that. By the end of the 19th
century, crude systems for heating water had been developed; today their
descendants, not much more complex than the originals, can be found on rooftops
all over the country (and the world). The same concept can be used to make
low-tech devices offering a cheap, safe cooking method for the world's poorest
people.
That the sun can produce heat seems obvious. That it can be used to produce
electricity is another matter, and requires a whole lot more engineering. There
are essentially two ways to go about it. One way exploits the heat of the sun's
rays, while the other exploits its light.
The Israeli company Luz developed one of the world's most stunning examples of
solar thermal power by utilizing parabolic troughs. These curved mirrors
reflect and amplify the sun's heat, directing it onto a pipe carrying a liquid
that is capable of reaching and maintaining very high temperatures. The liquid
flows to a facility where its heat turns a turbine, and the turbine generates
electricity. With rows upon rows of troughs in a large solar field - and with
improvements to the technology from Beit Shemesh-based Solel significantly
increasing its efficiency - the method can produce enough electricity to power
hundreds of thousands of homes.
"So far," notes Prof. David Faiman of the National Solar Energy Center in Sde
Boker, "this approach has proved the most economically viable."
A similar idea is to use flat mirrors arrayed in a circle or a semi-circle to
reflect sunlight onto a central tower, where the heat can be used to create
electricity. This is the approach used by the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot.
An alternative to solar thermal energy is using the sun's light to manipulate a
metal's molecules.
As their name implies, photovoltaic (PV) systems turn light into electricity.
Photons in sunlight come zooming through the atmosphere and smacking into an
absorbent material, knocking electrons loose and setting off a reaction that
gets a direct current (DC) flowing. An inverter turns this into alternating
current (AC), which can then be directed into your home to power your
appliances.
PV technology is highly adaptable. Since a series of breakthroughs in the
mid-1950s that allowed satellites to use solar panels to power themselves in
space, PV systems have been used for a wide variety of applications - from
solar-powered wristwatches to solar-powered factories and villages.
In Israel, PV panels power remote Beduin encampments, small schools and
cash-strapped clinics, street lights and even irrigation systems. The traffic
probe readers that monitor the Trans-Israel Highway and its automated billing
system are powered by PV panels; the system is the first of its kind in the
world.
A major downside of PV technology is its reliance on silicon. Although the
wafers of semiconductive material used in solar panels are incredibly thin,
they still amount to a huge expense because the material is scarce and very
expensive to create. Competition with the computer industry for access to
silicon has been fierce; both fields are growing at a tremendous rate, and
production of silicon is limited.
Researchers around the world, including numerous teams here, are developing
alternative materials that can be made into multi-layered, thin-film composites
and used instead of silicon. Other avenues include light-absorbing dyes and even
more complicated technologies such as photoelectrochemical cells, polymer solar
cells and nanocrystal solar cells. None of these has proven yet that it can
replace silicon. And in the meantime, silicon systems are being designed with
greater efficiency to reduce the amount of the material needed.
Taking that idea a giant step further, the contraption that Faiman and his
colleagues set up in Sde Boker uses only one silicon solar cell. Like the solar
thermal systems, it uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight - for its light in this
case, not for its heat.
No matter which of these approaches is used, though, solar electricity is
hampered by one obvious drawback: the sun only shines for half the day.
In theory, this is not as big of a problem as it seems. Peak energy demand time
is during the day; there is much less demand for electricity at night. Since a
conventional power plant cannot just be shut down after sundown, because it
needs to be kept firing constantly - a huge waste of resources, alternative
energy proponents note - most of the electricity that a conventional power
plant creates at night just goes to waste. That's why electricity costs much
less at night than it does during the day. In that sense, a solar plant is much
more efficient.
However, there is no denying that at least some power needs to be generated at
night. To overcome their inability to function after dark, solar power systems
can be outfitted with supplementary power generators fueled by coal or natural
gas, if need be. The combination of the two would provide the efficiency of
solar power with the stability and on-demand production of conventional power.
(Another solution would be to add batteries to a solar power plant to store
excess energy from the day for use at night. At present, such storage solutions
are impractical, but a commercial-level model may be ready within a few years.)
For now, it seems that solar power is destined to augment, rather than replace,
conventional electricity. Even for those involved in solar power's development,
like Faiman, that's not a bad scenario.
"I think that, for now, one doesn't want to replace conventional electricity,"
he says. "First of all, there is a tremendous amount of money invested in the
infrastructure, and to simply junk that would be a major perturbation to any
country's economy.
"Secondly, major international companies rely on these power plants to keep them
in business, and if you were to threaten to put them out of business, you would
generate a backlash and they would probably destroy you. What is necessary is
for them to perceive solar power not as a threat, but as something that they
themselves could eventually offer."
- S.S.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1167467710557&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Haaretz
By Zafrir Rinat
Residents of Moshav Bnei Dror, who are unable to use their tap water for
drinking or cooking because it is polluted, are threatening legal action if
they are not either supplied with an alternative water source or reimbursed for
the bottled water they are currently using instead.
The Sharon-area moshav's water was declared unsafe to drink a few weeks ago,
after the level of nitrates in the local well exceeded the permitted maximum.
The Health Ministry had warned the local water corporation a year ago that the
nitrate level was approaching dangerous levels, but the problem has still not
been solved.
In a letter sent yesterday to the health, environment, national infrastructure
and interior ministers, the moshav's lawyer, Nava Sendar, threatened legal
action unless the residents' problem is solved promptly.
"Not one of the authorized bodies is trying to resolve the situation," she
charged.
In her letter to the ministers, Sendar wrote that while the moshav was slated to
be connected to the Mekorot Water Company in June, it was untenable to demand
that residents continue to buy bottled water for the next six months.
The residents would have to purchase the bottled water their own expense.
The problem of high nitrate levels in water has surfaced in a few other
Sharon-area communities. In those areas, too, residents have been forced to
stop using tap water.
YNET
Israel may soon ‘sell’ air at special ‘stock market’ trading oxygen emitted by
trees
Amir Ben-David
Published: 01.16.07, 12:30
Air stock market? Yes, there is such a thing. There is also a chance that Israel
will join it and start making money off the rockets that fell during the second
Lebanon war .
Allow us to explain. Human actions on earth, mainly the burning of fuels and the
emission of gases, as well as the interference with various natural processes,
have brought about the interruption of the natural balance which previously
existed here.
The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
is the main international system designed to deal with that issue.
Among other things, the protocol allows for entities which “stop” the emission
of toxic gases into the air (buy planting trees) to calculate the amount of
gaseous activity their intervention actually prevented.
The protocol also allows for the “worth” of the above gases to be sold in a
special international “stock market”.
Those who pay are the operators of industrial factories and other international
companies which are required to cut down on the amount of toxic gas they emit,
although that proved to be a difficult task.
It is here that the Jewish National Fund (JNF) enters the picture along with the
many trees consumed by fires during the Lebanon war.
Money could be used to maintain forests
The head of strategic planning at JNF, Yishai Schechter, said that planting new
trees would increase Israel’s contribution to the prevention of unwanted gases
being emitted into the air.
If enough trees were planted in place of the ones burned down during the war,
JNF would be able to join the Kyoto Protocol and earn an income of hundreds of
thousands of shekels each year – money which could then be used to maintain
forests.
JNF was looking into whether the replanting of over 12 thousand dunam (3
thousand acres) of trees burned during the war would count as replanting and
not “restoring” the forest, which would not earn Israel points at the
international air stock market, otherwise known as The Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM).
Another point being looked into was whether or not it was profitable to replant
the number of trees needed for Israel to join the protocol.
JNF's estimates showed that the addition of any less than 10 thousand dunam
(2,500 acres) of forest area would not be profitable due to the high expenses
involved in the process.
FOEME
Mayor of Tamar Regional Council, Israel and Governor of South Ghores, Jordan
Sign on MoU to Advance Sustainable Development in the Southern Dead Sea Basin
January 18, 2007
Yesterday, at the initiation of Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), a
Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Mayor of the Tamar Regional
Council in Israel, Mr. Dov Litvinoff and the Governor of South Ghores in
Jordan, Mr. Ghaleb Al-Shamayleh.
The MoU was signed with the understanding that cooperation is necessary in order
to promote sustainable development in the Southern Dead Sea Basin.
According to Dov Litvinoff, Mayor of the Tamar Regional Council, “the signing on
the MoU is a breakthrough in regional cooperation between us and the Jordanians
on issues of environment, quality of life and raising awareness of the general
environmental issues at the Dead Sea”. Mr. Litvinoff added that “the Regional
Council has declared 2007 as the year of environmental protection and regional
cooperation.”
The Dead Sea Basin is suffering from severe environmental degradation:
• The dramatic decline of the Dead Sea causes the formation of sinkholes to
appear, endangering lives of those in the area.
• Use of fertilizers that have not been properly composted, mainly on the
Jordanian side of the border, creates a significant fly problem.
• Without a border crossing in the area, tourism development and cross border
trade is being delayed.
The mayors, in signing the MoU, have identified the social and ecological
importance of the Dead Sea area, and see its inscription for a UNESCO World
Heritage Site as an important mechanism to rehabilitate the area.
In addition, they promise to work towards finding sustainable solutions to the
economic and environmental issues at hand, through the building of a compost
station, the building of an ecological cross border Peace Park at the Southern
end of the Dead Sea, and call for the opening of an additional border crossing
to promote tourism and trade crossing.
Gidon Bromberg, Israeli director of Friends of the Earth Middle East, says “this
MoU confirms the need to solve the environmental problems at the Dead Sea and
proves the ability of the communities in the area to rise above political
difficulties and work together.”
Arab Environment Monitor
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Jordanian magazine "Jordan Business" has recently published a thorough
analytical article on the joint statement by Jordan, Israel and Palestine to
conduct a feasibility and environmental impact study for the proposed Red-Dead
Canal.
This is the full text of the article:
Last month, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Israel launched a two-year
feasibility study for a project to replenish the rapidly disappearing Dead Sea
by way of pumping water into it from the Red Sea. Nisreen El-Shamayleh reports
on the meeting at the lowest-lying body of water on Earth.
The Red-Dead Canal project has been on the drawing board for years but has yet
to enter the construction phase. The feasibility study, to be conducted by the
World Bank, is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2007.
Officials hope that the two-year feasibility study and environmental and social
assessment will recommend a multibillion-dollar project to link the Dead Sea
with the Red Sea, using a pipeline or canal to suck 1,900 million cubic meters
(mcm) of water annually from the Gulf of Aqaba.
France, the U.S., the Netherlands and Japan attended last month’s Dead Sea
meeting in Jordan together with the World Bank and the riparian states and have
already contributed $8.8 million to fund the $15 million study.
Ministry of Water and Irrigation Official Spokesperson and Assistant General
Secretary, Adnan Zoubi, said the three regional players had decided to initiate
a feasibility study after meeting at the World Economic Forum in May 2005.
Political developments, including the rise of Hamas to power in the
Palestinian territories, delayed the launch. Jordan, which has said it is
prepared to cooperate with the Palestinians, “whether led by Hamas or any other
party,” invited the Israelis and the Palestinians, along with the main parties,
to attend last month’s gathering.
The study became possible after the international community stepped in with the
financing and after Israel apparently dropped its Med-Dead Sea canal project,
which many experts say is not feasible. The Israelis had proposed building a
canal extending from the Mediterranean coast to the Dead Sea, including a
desalination plant that would sell freshwater to both Jordanians and
Palestinians. Such a project would have left the tap under Israeli control, a
set up neither Jordan or the Palestinians would have accepted.
Construction of the project, if determined feasible, would cost around $4
billion, last over 10 years and would link the Dead Sea with the Red Sea
through a series of pipelines, canals and tunnels. The intended 180-kilometer
conduit would carry around two billion cubic meters of seawater per year to
associated power, reverse osmosis desalination facilities and would increase
freshwater availability to Jordan, Israel and Palestine by an annual 850 mcm.
The project will also include a hydro-electric plant to capitalize on the drop
in level of 400 meters from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, generating 550
megawatts of power, which will be used to operate the desalination plant and to
nourish electricity networks in the Kingdom. The Israelis and Palestinians will
also benefit from the generated power. The proposal also envisages a shared
cross-border airport and an industrial city.
Dr. Dureid Mahasneh, former co-chairman of the Jordan-Israel Water Coordination
Committee, said Jordan is expected to get 570 mcm of freshwater through
desalination and the remaining 280 mcm would be divided among Palestinians and
Israelis annually. While Israel’s water share is not yet clear, the Israelis
see the project as a means of cementing relations with its Arab neighbors. The
Dead Sea is depleting at the rate of about 80 centimeters per year, and will be
completely dry by 2050 if urgent action is not taken. The Red-Dead project will
quash the 25-meter fall in the level of the Dead Sea over the past century.
Experts say the reduction has been caused mainly by the diversion of the Jordan
River, which feeds the Dead Sea, for irrigation and drinking water - mostly by
Israel, but also by Jordan and Syria. Today, less than 7% of the river’s
original flow reaches the Dead Sea.The annual drop in the level of the Dead Sea
has already left the nearby lands unstable and susceptible to sink holes,
which puts infrastructure, including roads, hotels and chemical plants around
the sea, in jeopardy. The natural environment has also been disrupted,
affecting bird migrations and desert wildlife.
Dr. Mahasneh said the completion of the study doesn’t necessarily mean execution
of the costly project will follow. However, he pointed out that getting funds
for the mega-project is not as difficult as it used to be five or 10 years ago
because through a build, operate and transfer basis, consumers will be paying
for the desalinated water so investors may be more tempted. He added that the
liquidity in the region could make it easier to attract investors, especially
that the project will spin off to include resort areas, fish ponds, and lakes
in Wadi Araba to bolster tourism.
Although many studies have been conducted to explore the feasibility of the
project, Dr. Mahasneh said the new study is “using totally different techniques
and is not intended to complete or build on what has been done in the past.”
Water politics
There is no doubt that the Red-Dead Canal project is highly political and not
just another water project. Professor of Hydrogeology at the University of
Jordan, Dr. Elias Salameh said the project may enhance peace and lessen
tensions in the region through joint research and scientific studies - a
sentiment shared by all the parties. “The project is very important since it
will deepen the meaning of peace in the region through joint projects and
practical work,” Mr. Zoubi said.
Now key players, the Palestinian Authority was represented by President Mahmoud
Abbas’s economic advisor, Mohammad Mustafa, who described the study as
“essential in promoting sustainable development of the entire Jordan Valley
basin.” In 1990, the Palestinians were excluded from the Red-Dead Canal
trilateral committee, consisting of Jordan, Israel and the U.S., which was
responsible for the development of the Jordan Rift Valley.
At the launch of the feasibility study in Jordan, Israeli Minister of National
Infrastructure Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told reporters the project goes beyond
protection of the Dead Sea because the economic cooperation would fortify the
peace process. The Israelis are also keen on protecting their touristic
investments along the Dead Sea.
Shimon Peres, the Israeli deputy prime minister, said the “project of the canal,
or the Peace Conduit…is vital for the preservation of the Dead Sea, but just as
much for peace and prosperity in this area,” he said. “In the Middle East we
have used too much diplomacy and strategy, and too little economy,” he added.
Regardless of these declarations there is still skepticism of Israeli
intentions, especially that it has taken more than its fair share of water. He
explained that the Israelis “falsely presume that the [new] desalinated
freshwater for the Palestinians might replace the freshwater they illegally
take from the West Bank underground aquifers.” Israel still controls 75% of
underwater aquifers in the West Bank. Drilling, licensing and water allocation
are also under Israeli control.
But not everyone supports the closer cooperation. Jordan’s Islamic-led
opposition rejects the project, which it says has the primary aim of promoting
normalization with Israel.
“From a principled attitude, we view the project a political move that has the
key aim of normalizing ties with the Zionist entity,” Secretary General of the
Islamic Action Front (IAF), Zaki Bani Ershaid, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur
after the launch of the study.
Environmental critics
Critics on opposite shores of the Dead Sea say the project is a pricey endeavor
that fails to address the root cause of the depleting sea, which could destroy
the very sea that they are trying to resuscitate. Some environmentalists have
warned that the two bodies of water may not mix well and that siphoning out
large volumes of water from the Gulf of Aqaba may damage its fragile ecosystem.
Some say that pumping less salty water into the Dead Sea could kill its delicate
micro-organisms and harm its appeal to tourists. Others argue that the Dead Sea
used to be replenished from fresh water from the River Jordan, so it should not
be harmed.
Friends of the Earth warned that mixing water from the Red Sea with the unique
chemical soup of the Dead Sea could create a natural disaster. “The [Dead
Sea’s] mix of bromide, potash, magnesium and salt is like no other body of
water on the planet,” said Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli director of Friends of
the Earth in the Middle East. “By bringing in the marine water, this
composition will be changed. There is concern about algae growth and we could
see the sea change from deep blue to red and brown and the different waters
could separate.”
Some environmentalists have gone as far as charging that Red-Dead is driven by
the interests of Israeli and Jordanian construction companies eager to
capitalize on the mega-project. The Red-Dead canal is not the only solution to
the water problem; neither is it going to undo the mismanagement of Jordan’s
reources, Dr. Mahasneh explained. “Re-exporting water in the form of
watermelons and tomatoes is part of our water mismanagement that also has to
stop,” he said.
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent
Mekorot Water Company workers repaired a faulty water pipeline Wednesday that
has failed to supply water for the past 48 hours to tens of thousands of
residents of settlements and Palestinian villages in the Dolev-Talmonim and
Nili Na'aleh areas in the West Bank.
Escorted by security, the Mekorot workers repaired the Kiryat
Sefer-Herevta-Dolev water pipeline and restored the water supply to the homes
of some ten thousand settlers and tens of thousands of Palestinians.
The emergency reservoir planned for Talmon has yet to be built, due to Defense
Minister Amir Peretz's refusal to authorize the project.
Peretz contends that the emergency reservoir is slated to be built in an area
for which an urban construction plan has not been officially filed, and
therefore the area is essentially being developed without a permit. Peretz is
also refusing to authorize a "pinpoint" construction plan that would give
permission to build the reservoir, as is accepted procedure in such cases.
In recent months, there have been several water stoppages in the area, which in
recent years has seen significant population growth, primarily among the
Palestinians.
The Binyamin Regional Council distributed water tanks Tuesday to the affected
settlements.
Thu, 4 Jan 2007 06:27:20 -0500
Haaretz
By Zvi Zrahiya
The Knesset Economics Committee yesterday reduced the minimum 2006 recycling
threshold of 1.5 liter bottles for ELA (the Recycling Corporation) from 85
percent to 65 percent. The committee thus accepted the claim that ELA was
experiencing difficulties meeting the legal target set by the Environment
Ministry and allowed the corporation to avoid a NIS 50 million fine set by law.
Committee chair Moshe Kahalon of Likud expressed bitterness ELA didn't show up
to confirm claims that the demands of the law were putting the company in
danger of collapse. Kahalon abstained, but both Shas MKs, Amnon Cohen and
Yitzhak Vaknin, voted in favor to carry the day.
Gilad Ostrovsky of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (IUED) said
yesterday the target was set in order to expand collection points, based on
extensive research conducted in Israel and abroad, and not on demands by ELA.
The IUED contends that were the ministry to collect the fine from ELA each
year, the corporation would make more of an effort to meet the 85 percent
target. If the fines were to reach a cumulative NIS 200 million, it would be
possible to purchase automated machines for recycling bottles and containers
and returning bottle deposits, the environmental advocate agency added.
The Environment Ministry commented that forcing ELA to pay the fine would cause
it to collapse.
Jordan Times
AMMAN (IRIN) — Pollution, overfishing and the destruction of marine habitat are
driving commercial fisheries in the port city of Aqaba, 250km south of Amman,
to the brink of collapse, according to environmentalists and fishermen.
“Immediate action must be taken to stop the ongoing depletion of fish stocks and
damage to the ecosystem,” said Fadi Sharaiha of the Royal Marine Conservation
Society of Jordan.
Halting the destruction of coastal habitats, taking steps to control and reduce
pollution, and preventing the use of dynamite in fishing would help to restore
productivity in the area, he said.
“In a few years’ time, there will be no fish to catch in Aqaba Port,” said
Sharaiha, who is urging authorities to implement strict measures against
vessels that dump garbage and toxic waste in the sea.
Fears are growing that the fishing community may lose its livelihood, which
would have profound social consequences with resulting high unemployment.
For the past few months, tens of fishermen have stopped casting their nets into
the nearly empty waters. Out of the 147 fishermen authorised to venture into
the gulf, more than 80 have permanently anchored their boats on the shores.
Abdul Rahman Mahmoud, 44, who has been fishing since he was 12 years old, has
already started looking for a new job.
“Everyday we hear about laws and plans to protect the sea. We need deeds not
words,” Mahmoud said.
Ever-increasing marine traffic in the port and building construction onshore has
compounded the fishermen’s problems.
The government turned Aqaba into a special economic zone nearly five years ago
in a bid to attract foreign investment and transform the area into a commercial
hub.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were pumped into real estate projects on the
seafront, while marine traffic nearly tripled.
“We cannot have it all. We either make Aqaba a free trade zone, bustling with
marine traffic, or [we make it] a tourism destination,” Mahmoud said.
As a result of its semi enclosed form, the Gulf of Aqaba is susceptible to
marine pollution and ecosystem degradation.
Officials from the Ministry of Environment said they were aware of the problem
but admitted their hands were tied.
“We cannot create hurdles in front of investment projects,” Isa Shboul,
spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, said.
Recently, Parliament endorsed an environment law to protect the country’s
fragile ecosystem, which set penalties that include one year in prison and
hefty fines.
The government also proposed to fishermen to ply their trade in international
waters off the coast of Yemen, but the fishermen were not interested.
Abu Ali, 55, said the long journey was not feasible. “Our boats are too small to
handle the expenses of a long fishing journey that lasts for weeks,” said Ali.
“This is our water, we must be able to fish here, not hundreds of miles away.”
By Haaretz Service
The awarding of the Tel Aviv light rail tender to the MTS group, headed by
Africa Israel, ostensibly heralds a new age of transportation. In practice, the
company faces many obstacles. Above all, it will have to prove - possibly in
court - that the massive tunneling that its construction method entails will
not damage groundwater resources. Afterward, it will have to cope with the
planning agencies of five different local authorities and the challenges of
funding a complex project. At the same time, it will be forced to prove that
its passenger cars are suitable. Construction will take several years, during
which time the region's main traffic arteries will be adversely affected.
Despite these difficulties, we welcome the fact that the plan for the mass
transit project has finally been launched. The plan, which began when Golda
Meir was prime minister, was revived and given priority during Yitzhak Rabin's
term and was shepherded through the advanced planning stages by then finance
minister Avraham Shochat.
The plan, which was developed by Metropolitan Mass Transit System (NTA),
formerly the Tel Aviv Rail Administration, presents a much greater challenge.
At first, there was talk of building a subway similar to those operating in
cities around the world. The advantages of this type of system include
unlimited right of way (underground routes that avoid above-ground traffic
signals, jams and other vehicles), large passenger capacity (due to size,
speed, closely-spaced stations and high frequency of travel), and minimum
environmental impact.
After Rabin's murder in 1995 and the political changes it engendered, all
successive Israeli governments have been wary of spending the enormous amount
required to build a subway. Africa Israel is now taking on a patchwork,
compromise project: a train that will run only partially underground - and,
unusually, not in the city center but rather in intercity stretches. Most of
the train's route will be on the surface, where it will not have the benefits
of speed, high capacity or the right of way.
For now, only the project's Red Line, connecting Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat
Gan and Jaffa-Tel Aviv, to Bat Yam, has been approved. This will reduce road
traffic but is not part of the future traffic network (which remains undefined)
and does not offer a solution to transport in the center of Tel Aviv.
An effective transit system is critical in Tel Aviv, to open up the traffic
blockages that exact a high economic price in Israel's urban center. Following
the impressive development of Israel Railways, ridership has increased from 4
million to 20 million passengers a year in the past eight years. Car owners
have willingly left their cars behind. It is not too late for Tel Aviv. There
is still time to consider building a subway, and to plan a multi-branch
underground system whose speed and convenience will encourage more people to
give up their cars within the city as well. The underground rail system could
still change from being merely a means of transport into the agent of historic,
transportational and economic change.
Jordan Times
AMMAN (JT) — There is copper in the Wadi Araba district worth $1.5-2 billion,
according to local geologists.
In a statement this week, Jordan Geologists Association President Khalid
Shawabkeh said the international rise in prices of this metal make investment
in copper mining feasible.
He made the remarks as he and other association leaders were finalising a report
on the prospects of copper in the area. They will present the document to
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Khalid Shraideh early next week.
The minister has requested the syndicate’s opinion on the best mechanism to mine
copper deposits in the southern region without degrading the environment.
Over the past few years, the association has called for utilising copper in the
southern part of the Dana Reserve at the edge of Wadi Araba, triggering
protests from the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).
A previous study showed that Dana, which once bordered King Solomon’s copper
mines, contains significant reserves of copper that could be extracted over a
period of 20 years with estimated direct and indirect proceeds to the
government of $700 million over the entire period, or $35 million per year. The
remaining $1,050 million would go to the mining firm.
Proponents of this study said they want to expropriate one-fifth of the Dana
land and convert it into a copper mine. Opponents, on the other hand, said Dana
has the potential to bring the government and Jordan much more than copper,
since it is a key product of the tourism industry, which earns the country
about $1.5 billion.
The RSCN has set up small income-generating socio-economic projects in the
reserve, where local residents, who are among the poorest in the country, are
engaged in preparing and packaging herbs and spices, and crafting jewellery and
other items inspired by the area’s wildlife.
Established in 1989, Dana Reserve is home to rare animals like the Nubian ibex,
the mountain gazelle, wolves, foxes, jackals, badgers, hyraxes, porcupines,
hares, striped hyenas, Indian crested porcupines and wild rabbits.
In 1993, the Dana Nature Reserve was officially registered with the government
as a protected area and is preserved as a model of sustainable development.
Four years later, the Natural Resources Authority tried to enter the Dana Nature
Reserve to take samples of copper deposits, but the project was halted, thanks
to the efforts of environmentalists who argued that mining is an
environmentally destructive activity and a threat to natural resources and
habitats.
Haaretz
08.1.07 | 13:47 By Tzipi Iser-Itzik
How do you advance a project as complicated and grandiose, as expensive and
intricate, as building a canal between two seas? It's an issue that keeps
popping up in the public debate and then disappearing again because it's so
terrifically unfeasible .
First of all give it a name that can't be resisted, like "Peace Conduit". Once
it's become synonymous in international circles with regional amity, who the
hell cares if it's economically and environmentally feasible?
Yet so many formulas for peace have come and gone in the annals of history that
caution is warranted. Before starting any project, let alone one on which peace
in the Middle East is supposed to depend, one should check in advance if it's
sustainable.
Building a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead one, while blithely ignoring
the tremendous potential damage it could wreak on the water sources and ecology
of the Bay of Eilat and the Arava, could prove to be an incompetence that will
bear an enormous cost.
If risks are not evaluated ahead of time, we may find ourselves in a dreadful
situation whose solution is bad.
How? The canal is supposed to save the Dead Sea from drying up once and for all,
by pumping 1.5 billion cubic meters of water a year, which is 3 times the amount
of water transported through the National Conduit, from the Red Sea.
Is it even possible?
The Arava valley has aquifers of sweet and brackish water, that serve for
drinking and agriculture. Leaks of briny water from the canal could salinate
the water sources. Is this not a risk that should be addressed in advance?
There are plenty of other examples.
How will pumping hundreds of cubic meters of seawater affect Eilat's ecology?
The project calls for hundreds of "fish cages", for farmed fish, to be built
along the canal. These could poison the regional water supply through leaks.
The plan calls for a desalination plant to be erected, using water that drops
from the heights to 400 meters below sea level (which is how low the Dead Sea
is). But from there, the water has to be propelled 800 meters upward: how will
this effect the environment?
The seas in question sit right smack in the crack of the Great Rift Valley, that
splits the earth from southern Africa up to Syria. The entire area is prone to
earthquakes. A bad quake could badly damage the infrastructure, leaving to
potentially grave environmental damage if the canal is ruined; this too
warrants examination in advance.
Perhaps for a change, given the vastness of the project, we should replace the
empty slogans with actual thought about how to create a project sustainable for
generations.
The author is the executive director of the Israel Union for Environmental
Defense, known locally as Adam, Teva V'Din.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ArticleContent.jhtml?itemNo=810860
By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff
Thursday, January 11, 2007
NABATIEH: The head of the Confederation of Municipalities Union in Shqif on
Wednesday warned residents of villages in the Nabatieh area against piling
their garbage in the street following the closure of the Arnoun dump. The dump,
closed at the end of 2006, was notorious for receiving 100 tons of waste a day.
Serious environmental concerns had been raised due to the dump being
precariously perched atop a hill next to the Khardali River.
"We closed the dump because it is harmful [to the environment] ... I warned
mayors of 28 villages and towns two months ago of its dangers and asked them
not to throw garbage there by the end of 2006," Samih Halal told The Daily
Star.
Halal urged the government in Beirut to find alternative means of disposal for
the region's waste.
"The state should find a location where Shqif's municipalities could bury their
waste," he said. "Otherwise it should set up a waste-separation plant."
"The most important point today is to deal with the current situation after the
dump was closed," he added. "Piles of waste have started to appear in Nabatieh
and the surrounding areas due to a lack of dumps."
Acting Arnoun Mayor Rafik Hamdan said the decision to close the area dump was
made after repeated charges of negligence were leveled against the disposal
company responsible for waste collection in the area.
"The dump caught fire many times and the company was totally careless," Hamdan
said.
Environmental studies recently conducted in Arnoun said the location of the dump
was "inappropriate," he added.
"The dump is close to the Khardali River, which made the municipality of Arnoun
file a lawsuit against the [waste disposal] company," the acting mayor said.
"We have had enough of bearing the trash of around 30 villages for the past
four years."
Environmental Issue Overrides Outdated IDF Decision FOEME
2006-12-31
Israeli military reverses previous decision against a solid waste facility in
Israeli-controlled parts of the West Bank
Tel Aviv, 31st December 2006
In response to pressure from environmental groups, the Israeli military has
approved the establishment of a landfill to be built on land previously
restricted to Palestinian development.
The new landfill site will be constructed near the village of Dir Dibwan, east
of Ramallah in "Area C," land under full Israeli military control.
The site will replace two antiquated dump sites in Al-Bireh and Ramallah -- both
of which lack basic environmental infrastructure, resulting in pollution of the
Mountain Aquifer's groundwater, as well as air pollution.
"The decision is a victory for the citizens of Ramallah, who have long been
forced to live with the stench, public health hazards and polluted air
generated from the atrocious state of the cities dumps," said Nader Khateeb
Director of FoEME's office in Bethlehem.
Responding to calls by Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), support for the
site's approval was secured by Mr. Hagai Alon, advisor to Defense Minister
Peretz.
The former objection to the site was justified by the military due to plans to
construct an eastern separation barrier, which would have separated the
proposed waste disposal site from Ramallah and the adjacent village of Dir
Dibwan.
"Despite the fact that the barrier plan was abandoned by the government as early
as 2004, Israeli military objections to the site remained," said Zach Tagar,
Deputy Director at FoEME's office in Tel Aviv. "Reversal of the decision is a
hopeful sign of changes in the New Year. Moreover, the decision facilitates the
advancement of a 14 million Euro German investment in protecting shared ground
water resources by providing a solution to waste disposal for over 350,000
people."
Approximately sixty million cubic meters of sewage and solid waste pollution
seep into the Mountain Aquifer every year, threatening the fresh water supply
for Israelis and Palestinians, both of whom are dependant on the fresh
groundwater resources of the Mountain Aquifer.
For more information or to join a site tour, please contact Zach Tagar at: 03
5605383 (ext. 7) or 057 7492201.
For background information on sewage and solid waste pollution please see the
FoEME publication Seeping Time Bomb at: http://www.foeme.org.
Haaretz
By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent
Defense Minister Amir Peretz has called for a halt in the construction of a
section of the separation fence routed to run through the Judean Desert, until
conclusive research about the environmental impacts of the fence can be done.
Peretz's decision comes after head of the Labor faction in the Knesset, Yoram
Marciano, requested that Peretz assess the possibility of changing the route of
the fence in order to avoid the expected negative impact it would have on the
views and nature of the area.
Recently, environmentalists and settlers have launched joint efforts in nature
preserves and settlements in the area of Hebron mountain to stop the
construction of the fence within the Judean Desert, which they maintain will
cause great harm to the ecology and aesthetics of the region.
Mount Hebron Regional Council Chairman Tzvika Bar-Chai recently met with
official from the Israel Defense Forces' Central Command in an attempt to
persuade them to reroute that section of the fence, or to cancel its
construction altogether.
Bar-Chai enlisted the support of one of the founders of the Israeli conservation
movement, Ezriya Alon, who in turn contacted GOC Central Command Yair Naveh.
"The essence of the Judean Desert is wholly unique in all of Israel. The fence
will amputate the desert and destroy its vistas and appeal for backpackers and
tourists, dealing a severe blow to the living world," Alon said in his
statement to Naveh.
Dr. Yossi Lashem, former general secretary of the Society for the Protection of
Nature in Israel and one of the country's foremost aviary researchers, sent a
letter on Wednesday to IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Defense Department
General Secretary Gabi Ashkenazi. In the letter, Lashem warned that the planned
route of the fence would prevent animals from moving freely and would destroy
food access for birds of prey.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/811440.html
Jordan Times
Yusuf Mansur
Can the dead be revived? No, but if we are speaking of the Dead Sea, it is
possible, and with water, too!
How simple the cure is. The new-old initiative of connecting the Red Sea with
the Dead Sea is the most important economic project for the sustainable
development of the Kingdom in the long term.
The Dead Sea is two-thirds its size in the 1970s, in terms of water surface, and
where it used to be 395 metres below sea level, it is now 417 metres, a 22-metre
drop in 30 years; and the rate of loss is accelerating as population and unfair
usage escalate. Thus, speeding up the untimely demise of one of the most
important cultural and historical sights in the world, at the current rate, the
Dead Sea will disappear by 2050.
The unfair uncoordinated usage of the resources that feed the sea is emblematic
of the Tragedy of the Commons, a well-known concept in economics, where two or
more parties share a common resource with no penalty or fee for usage.
Consequently, since usage is costless, each party has an incentive to draw from
the resource more than the others do.
When completed, the canal will mean more to Jordan than saving one of its
greatest tourist attraction sites. It will bring with it power generation from
the hydraulic stations on the canal, water desalination capabilities (Israel is
considered the world leader in water desalination and currently uses nuclear
energy for that purpose) and a renewable water source.
Agriculture will also blossom on both sides of the canal as irrigation water
becomes available, instead of using the water of the Disi aquifer in the south
of Jordan, thus wasting one of the cleanest water resources on a low-return
product, and draining possibly the oldest aquifer in the world to plant
watermelons for export to make Jordan, one of the ten water-poorest countries
in the world, a de facto exporter of water.
Tourism and tourist projects will also pick up as the canal comes to provide
unmatched scenery in a warm spot of the world. Aqaba will become even closer as
buildings and structures will appear between the Dead Sea and Aqaba and the
economic activity will see a population shift to the Jordan Valley, where
Jordanians won’t have to worry about heating their homes with expensive fuel in
the winter.
Thousands of skilled and semi-skilled jobs will be created. Billions of dollars
of investment will accompany the canal in order to benefit from the
opportunities it generates. The canal itself will be a tourist attraction and
economic activity will grow into truly sustainable economic growth and
development.
The cost of the project is not forbidding. It would be much easier for officials
to ask for aid and grants to finance this project than had been the case when
asking for finance for less sustainable and economically feasible projects.
Besides, investors could pick up the tab for the capital outlays through a BOO
(build, own, operate), BOT (build, operate, transfer), BOOT (build, own,
operate, transfer), or any other financing scheme.
The sad fact remains that this project had been thought of in Jordan more than
30 years ago; but since there was no peace treaty between Jordan and Israel at
the time, it was considered an embarrassing taboo. Jordan presented this
project among its mega-investment projects at the MENA Economic Conference held
in Amman in 1995. It remains there, in the literature. The cost of the study,
estimated then as now at $15 million, is paltry relative to the losses
associated with losing the Dead Sea every year. The simplest cost/benefit
analysis will show the economic feasibility and the high economic return to
Jordan and its neighbours from such a project.
Jordan should continue the drive to build the canal, reviving the Dead Sea
before it is too late.
Questions and comments can be directed at: ymansur@enconsult.com
http://www.jordantimes.com/tue/opinion/opinion4.htm