Jordan Times
July 30, 2007
King urges speedy work on "King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz Al Saud Residential
City" designed to ensure citizens reasonably-priced housing
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN -- King Abdullah on Monday issued instructions to the government to
accelerate efforts to build the King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Residential City In Zarqa.
Continue reading "Zarqa residential city project to start in August" »
Jordan Times
July 30, 2007
King urges speedy work on "King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz Al Saud Residential
City" designed to ensure citizens reasonably-priced housing
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN -- King Abdullah on Monday issued instructions to the government to
accelerate efforts to build the King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz Al Saud
Residential City In Zarqa.
Continue reading "Zarqa residential city project to start in August" »
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" »
Jordan Times
July 2, 2007
Family planning saves women’s and children’s lives and improves the quality
of life for the family as a whole, according to the Population Reference
Bureau.
It is one of the most effective investments for helping to ensure the health
and well-being of women, children and communities, and is a key component of
quality reproductive health services.
Continue reading "Family planning as part of life planning" »
Arab Environmental Monitor
Monday, July 02, 2007
By: Batir Wardam
You will have to search several locations in the World to find a situation similar to Aqaba’s: Jordan’s only outlet to the sea. This is a unique case of a confined, fragile and exquisite ecosystem subject to the cumulative effect of the “triangle of environmental threats”: Industry, tourism and transport.
Continue reading "Aqaba's Environmental Prospects 2007-2010" »
Jordan Times
Agence French Presse
July 5 2007
Laith Abou-Ragheb
Giant islands taking shape off the coast of Dubai are sparking interest not only from celebrities but also from environmental campaigners jittery about the man-made structures so large they can be seen from space.
Continue reading "Green campaigners keep watch on Dubai's man-made isles" »
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"" »
Jordan Times
June 27, 2007
Multimillion-dinar residential city named after Saudi Monarch
AMMAN (Petra) — A multimillion-dinar residential city will be built near Zarqa to tackle overcrowding and help citizens on low and limited incomes buy suitable housing.
The 70,000-unit project, to be built on 21,000 state-owned dunums, was announced at a Royal Court meeting attended by King Abdullah and Saudi King Abdullah, who concluded yesterday a key two-day visit to Jordan.
Jordan Times
June 27, 2007
AMMAN (JT) — The 2007 State of the World Population report, entitled
Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth, will be officially launched worldwide today.
“In 2008, for the first time in history, more than half of world population, 3.3 billion people, will be living in urban areas. By 2030, this is expected to swell to almost 5 billion. Most of the new urbanities will be poor… most cities will struggle to meet current needs,” according to the report, released by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.
Continue reading "2007 population report to be launched today" »
Jordan Times
June 28, 2007
By Linda Hindi, Jordan Times, Amman
AMMAN -- Jordan and other developing countries need to acknowledge and prepare for the inevitable surge in urban growth, which is expected to double by the year 2030, according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The 2007 State of the World Population Report released on Wednesday warns governments to take immediate action before negative consequences outweigh positive potentials.
Continue reading "Speed, scale of urban growth unprecedented -- UNFPA" »
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.
Jordan Times
By Khalid Neimat
AMMAN — The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Monday announced the second
phase of its Master Plan, termed the “Corridor Intensification Strategy.”
The Master Plan provides clear direction for the sustainable development of
the capital over the next 20 years, in accordance with new planning legislation.
Continue reading "GAM launches second phase of Master Plan" »
Jordan Times
June 18, 2007
Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN -- Jordan's 1 per cent of green cover is expected to disappear in the coming few years, unless serious measures are taken, the Jordanian Society for Desertification Control and Badia Development (JSDCBD) warned on Sunday.
"The Kingdom's forests are decreasing as a result of illegal logging and random grazing of livestock by ranchers. People are uprooting trees for constructing investment projects and houses, instead of planting trees," JSDCBD President Abdul Latif Arabiyat told The Jordan Times yesterday.
Continue reading "Jordan's forest areas threatened by desertification, logging" »
Jordan Times
June 7, 2007
By Hana Namrouqa
AMMAN -- Demographic changes and migrations have created an imbalance between available water resources and demand, Minister of Water and Irrigation Thafer Alem said on Wednesday.
In his remarks at the opening session of a regional forum on local water governance entitled "Water is everybody's business," Alem said per capita water supply in 1943 totalled 3,400 million cubic metres annually, but following demographic changes as a result of regional wars and crises, an individual's share of water is now 146 cubic metres.
Continue reading "Pilot water-harvesting techniques to be adopted" »
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 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.
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 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.
Jordan Times
May 26, 2007
AMMAN (JT) — The UNESCO Amman office, in collaboration with the Swedish-based NGO Life-Link Friendship-Schools (www.life-link.org), brought together school teachers from different countries in the region in a two-day workshop this week.
Continue reading "Conference involves schools in environmental programmes" »
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" »
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
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
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" »
Jordan Times
February 22, 2007
AMMAN (Petra) — His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday reiterated the importance of the land use plan, part of the Amman Master Plan prepared by the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).
Continue reading "King reiterates importance of land use plan" »
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.
(from Stuart Schoenfeld)
Subject: Jerusalem Post, Fri, 22 Sep 2006 08:12:16 -0400
Demography's bottom line
Evelyn Gordon, THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 20, 2006
Does anybody in Kadima still remember the "existential demographic threat" that
supposedly motivated its plan to unilaterally withdraw from most of the West
Bank - and hence the party's very formation?
Judging by the proposed 2007 budget, the answer is no - because the budget
contains not a single measure aimed at dealing with this threat. That might
have been excusable some months ago, when the jury was still out on whether
budgetary measures actually affect birthrates. But recent data seems to have
conclusively answered this question: In Israel, unlike in Europe, money is a
major factor in deciding whether to have more children.
This point was dramatically illustrated by last month's Central Bureau of
Statistics data on total fertility rates - the number of children an average
woman will have in her lifetime. According to the bureau, the TFR for Israeli
Muslims, which remained steady at 4.7 from 1985 to 2000, crept down to 4.5 over
the next three years. But between 2003 and 2005, it plunged from 4.5 to 4.0 - a
drop of half a child in only two years.
Among southern Beduin, the drop was even more dramatic: Between 2003 and 2005,
the TFR fell from 9.0 to 7.6 - a decline of 1.4 children in two years.
In contrast, the Jewish TFR remained at 2.6-2.7, just as it has for the past
decade.
WHAT HAPPENED in those two years to so dramatically change Muslim birthrates,
while leaving Jewish birthrates unaffected? The only plausible answer is the
drastic reduction in child allowances that began in June 2003.
Until then, child allowances were graduated: NIS 144 apiece for the first and
second child, NIS 195 for the third, NIS 454 for the fourth and NIS 522 for
each child thereafter. Thus a family of two would receive only NIS 288 a month,
but a family of six would receive NIS 1,981 - at that time, about 60 percent of
the minimum wage.
In 2003, however, the government decided to gradually cut child allowances to a
flat NIS 140 per child by 2009. For families with one or two children - some
two-thirds of all Jewish families - the change was negligible, and therefore
did not affect birthrates. But for families with four or more children - i.e.
most Muslim families - the financial impact was dramatic. And hence, the
dramatic drop in Muslim birthrates.
Then, in September, published data indicated that the converse also holds true:
Unlike elsewhere in the West - where the number of children declines as income
rises - in Israel, the number of children increases as income rises. Citing
Central Bureau of Statistics data, the article noted that while the average
Israeli household numbers 3.7 people, in families with monthly incomes of NIS
50,000 or more, the average rises to 4.3.
Nor is this surprising: According to a survey conducted by the Jewish Agency
last year, the average Jewish Israeli family would like at least three children
(the averages were 3.0 for secular couples, 3.6 for traditional couples, 5.5 for
religious Zionists and 8.9 for haredim). And the primary reason cited by
respondents for having fewer children was lack of money.
THUS THE bottom line is that in Israel, money is a powerful tool for influencing
demography. And since two-thirds of Jewish Israeli families have only one or two
children, while Muslim families average four, this money should clearly be aimed
at encouraging second or third births.
One way to do this would be to increase child allowances for the first and
second child - which would even make some financial sense, since the first
child is when a family incurs the "big-ticket" expenses (crib, high chair,
stroller, etc.). Raising the allowances enough to really matter might
eventually require a budget increase, but the initial step would be
budget-neutral: The money saved by the ongoing reduction in allowances for
large families could simply be redirected into larger allowances for the first
and second child.
THE OTHER possibility is to reduce the costs associated with having children -
particularly day care and education.
For low-income families, where two earners are often essential, subsidized day
care is critical to encouraging the birthrate. Currently, child care for
children below school age can cost thousands of shekels a month, meaning that
women who earn the minimum wage (about NIS 3,450 a month) come home with almost
nothing after paying for day care. Such women therefore have a strong financial
incentive to avoid having more children.
Theoretically, subsidized day care would help Jewish and Muslim families
equally. In practice, however, the main impact would probably be on the Jewish
birthrate, since in the Muslim community the social prejudice against working
women remains strong.
The second issue is schooling. By law, "free" public schools are allowed to
charge significant sums each year: Last year, for instance, the legal maximum
was NIS 1,493 per student for high schools. And in practice, schools often
exceed this limit: According to the Education Ministry, high schools actually
charged an average of NIS 3,939 per student last year.
To this must be added thousands of shekels a year for textbooks, which our
"free" public schools do not provide. Nor can textbooks be recycled from child
to child: Not only do they change frequently, but many are actually workbooks,
meaning they can be used only once.
FINALLY, many middle-class families spend thousands of shekels a year on
extracurricular schooling, since that is the only way to ensure their children
a decent education.
Taken altogether, these expenses are an obvious disincentive to additional
children for all but the wealthiest families. Significantly reducing these
outlays - for instance, by eliminating school fees and requiring schools to
provide textbooks - would make extra children much more affordable.
Again, this would theoretically affect Muslim and Jewish birthrates equally.
However, given the two communities' differing educational patterns, that might
not prove true in practice.
Thus if the government truly cares about the demographic issue, there is much it
could do to affect the situation. And this would be a far better use of its
energies than squabbling about inquiry commissions.
This article can also be read at
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1157913671284&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
From: Stuart Schoenfeld
Central Bureau of Statistics data show that since 2000 Jewish population
decreased by 1.8 percent, while Muslim population increased by 1.1 percent
during past five years by 1.1 to 1,140,600; majority of population (82 percent)
satisfied with their lives
Ynet
Published: 09.19.06, 11:43
According to Central Bureau of Statistics data published on Tuesday, the
population of the State of Israel at the end of 2005 was comprised of 6,990,700
people, of which 5,313,800 were Jewish (76 percent of the entire population),
and 1,377,100 were Arab (19.7 percent) according to data published by the
Central Bureau of Statistics.
The data also showed that since 2000, the Jewish population has decreased by 1.8
percent, while the Muslim population has increased during the past five years by
1.1 to 1,140,600.
According to the report, the 8800 people evacuated from Gaza settlements and
northern Samaria as part of the August 2005 disengagement relocated mostly to
the south (65 percent), but also to the north (11.5 percent), the West Bank
(9.1 percent), and to the country's central area (8.4 percent).
The Israeli population is considered relatively young. Children aged 0-14 make
up 28 percent of the population, compared to 17 percent in other western
countries. On the other hand, Israel’s older population bridges the gap, with
adults aged 65 and above comprising 10 percent of the population, compared to
15 percent in other western countries.
In comparing between religions, the Jewish population in Israel is the ‘oldest’,
and the Muslim population is the ‘youngest’. Adults aged 65 and over make up
11.8 percent of the Jewish population, compared to 2.8 percent of the Muslim
population.
Conversely, children aged 0-14 comprise 42.6 percent of the Muslim population in
Israel, compared to 25.6 percent of the Jewish population. The average age in
the Jewish population in Israel stands at 30.6, while it stands at a much lower
number of 18.6 for Muslims.
The birth rate in Israel has decreased over the past two years by about 4
percent, from 2.95 in 2003, to 2.84 in 2005.
Most Israelis satisfied with their lives
Life expectancy in Israel has risen to 78.3 years for men, and 82.38 years for
woman. Likewise, there has been an increase in the gap between the life
expectancy age of the Jewish population and the Muslim population.
In 2005, 21,000 people made aliyah. Of those, 9,400 were from the former Soviet
Union, and account for 44 percent of new immigrants, where as 3,600 were from
Ethiopia, accounting for about 17 percent of olim.
Jewish households make up 84 percent of the population in Israel, while Arab
households make up 13 percent.
In 2002/03, 97 percent of Arab schools offered Hebrew classes, while only 9
percent of Jewish schools offered Arabic classes.
Of 36,000 applicants for a Bachelors degree, 58 percent were accepted, and of
18,000 applicants for a Masters degree, 63 percent were accepted.
The majority of the population (82 percent), are satisfied with their lives (the
younger and more religious more so than the older and more secular). The same
percentage of people is satisfied with their jobs but only half of them are
satisfied with their salaries.
It should be noted that the data does not include kibbutz populations,
institutional populations, student dorms and southern Bedouin populations.
The dead Sea level continues to decrease at a rate of about one meter a year. In
December 2005 it stood at 418.53 meters.