It starts with water and ends with a Debka dance: Friends of the Earth Middle East, a trilateral Israel-Palestine-Jordan non-profit organization has launched an unbelievably hopeful project based on water in the West Bank village of Auja, about 10 minutes from the city of Jericho in the Jordan Valley.
Posted in Palestine/Israel | Tagged Israel, Palestine, water | 3 CommentsThe world’s eyes are tuned onto Japan as we follow the news of its nuclear crisis, hour by hour, minute by minute. When writing this post, it looks as though some 300 workers have stabilized the reactors by pouring cold …
Posted in Egypt, Environment, Iran, Israel, Issues and Causes, Jordan, Middle East, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, UAE | Tagged Egypt, Environment, Green Prophet, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Nuclear, Saudi Arabia | 1 CommentA human rights expert told me that there is sometimes a politicization of human rights concerning Israel and Palestine and she agreed that there is a sort of international magnifying glass on Israel.
Posted in Palestine/Israel | Tagged Israel, Palestine | 1 CommentBefore there were Thai workers on Israeli farms, the Palestinians did the back breaking labor for a fraction of the cost. The Intifada about 10 years ago tightened security and the Palestinians no longer came to work on the farms. Filling the void, Thai and other migrant workers from Asia were happy to fill it in.
Posted in Current Events, Israel | Tagged farms, Israel, Migrant Workers, organic food | Leave a commentFashion and the natural world don’t always go hand in hand (unless you’re lucky enough to come across some whimsical banana-shaped pumps by designers such as Kobi Levi). Usually haute couture is the anti-natural, with silhouettes that combat the shapes that we were born with and materials (such as fur) that require the destruction of something natural. Yet in an attempt to come up with a national garment for Israelis, fashion designers decided to center their inspiration on the natural. Namely, on Israel’s only fresh water lake, the Sea of Galilee which is now severely depleted.
Posted in Art, Environment, Israel | Tagged Environment, fashion, Israel | 3 CommentsI met the family of Mohammed by accident as I offered them a ride back to their home in Dheisheh refugee camp from Gush Etzion colonial offices where they were seeking (unsuccessfully) a permit to enter Jerusalem for medical treatments …
Posted in General, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Palestine/Israel, Religion | Tagged Arab, Arabs, corruption, Gaza, Human Rights, IDF, Islam, Israel, Jews, Jordan, Judaism, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Palestinian, Palestinians, peace, Politics, Religion, settlements, Terrorism, Women, Zionism, Zionist | 1 CommentHe held my head in his hand and said smiling: “Are you ready to sell your head?”, and knowing the trick and who he was, I said “No, never!!” But he added: “We need people like you who speak and …
Posted in Palestine | Tagged Arab, Arabs, conflict, corruption, Egypt, Gaza, Human Rights, IDF, Islam, Israel, Jews, Jordan, Judaism, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Palestinian, Palestinians, peace, Politics, Religion, settlements, Terrorism, Zionism, Zionist | 13 CommentsReturning from the Friday demonstration in Al-Walaja in unbearable heat. The talks about the talks about the peace talks are to resume in Washington September2nd. The Obama administration decided not to spend any political capital challenging the Israeli lobby. In …
Posted in Israel, Palestine, Palestine/Israel | Tagged Arab, Arabs, Barack Obama, conflict, corruption, Gaza, Human Rights, IDF, Israel, Jews, Middle East, Palestine, Palestinian, Palestinians, peace, Politics, settlements, water, Women, Zionism, Zionist | Leave a commentReading between the lines is a special art that needs the sixth sense to guess of what is untold, what is hidden deep behind the words, but the more important is to reconstruct (after deconstructing the elements into its basic …
Posted in Egypt, Iran | Tagged Arab, Arabs, conflict, Environment, Gaza, Human Rights, Iran, Islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, peace | 5 CommentsThis is not the first time I write of Shalit, but it is the first time I would ever write of Hamid (the bedouin) my own uncle. No one would understand the Shalits’ sorrow and pain (specially the mother) but …
Posted in Israel | Tagged Arab, Arabs, conflict, Gaza, Hamas, Human Rights, IDF, Islam, Israel, Middle East, Muslims, Palestine, Shalit | 3 Comments