Learning about the Environmental Bonds between Japan and the Middle East

Kneeling on the Tatami in the community center of the village of Kosuge, situated in the mountains about 2 hours from Tokyo, Japan, we carefully watched how our hostess prepared Green Tea and taught us the ritual of the traditional tea ceremony. Dressed in a pretty Yukata (summer cotton Kimono) she explained to us the […]

SHE Receives Visitors from Olive Tree Initiative

Amid the arid hills, lies a patch of lush green with an entrance decorated with old acacia trees that provide cooling shade. Home for many specious including the Yellow Vented Bulbul, nomadic in their behavior as they travel from one branch to the next, chirping beautiful melodies, as such, is the beauty of nature that […]

2013 GWN Regional Teachers Seminar

The Good Water Neighbors Regional Teachers Seminar was held this year in Aqaba with over 70 participants. FoEME staff, Community Coordinators, teachers, and members of national governments were present for the seminar that sought to coordinate and develop environmental communication and teaching methods. The seminar also introduced the FoEME Teachers Resource Guide in order to […]

Greening Education in the Jordan Valley

Save Water. Save Life. Save the World. This simple but effective message is painted on the wall of Halima Al-sa’adiah School in Sharhabil bin Hassneh, one of the 28 cross-border communities participating in FoEME’s “Good Water Neighbors” project. Next to it is a painting of the hydrologic cycle. The wall of artwork surrounds an eco-garden […]

Red-Dead Sea conveyance briefing

Public Briefing: The World Bank Presentation On February 19, 2013 in a beautiful Jerusalem neighborhood overlooking the Old City Walls, the auditorium where the Red Sea-Dead Sea Conduit briefing took place was filled to the brim. The gathering presented an opportunity to review and respond to the World Bank Red Sea-Dead Sea Conveyance Study Program, […]

Water Treaties

Last week’s blog outlined the influence water can have on local security situations, specifically its role in conflicts in the Middle East. As the water wars rationale implies, these so-called water wars are based on water scarcity, competitive use and the countries being enemies due to a wider conflict. Picking up arms is not the […]

Different actors concerned for the Palestinian environment at the 3rd EEC Conference

Nowadays, many threats are endangering the environmental heritage of the Middle East, and especially in Palestine. With many projects focusing on protection of the Palestinian environment made impossible by the occupation, the present situation is very grave. There are water disparities and restrictions in accessing natural resources or pollution sources, in addition to air, water […]

Cooperating over water, for the people of the Indus and Jordan River basins

Last month, FoEME had the pleasure to host Ahmad Rafay Alam, a Pakistani lawyer and environmental activist, advocate of the High Court and Vice President of the Pakistan Environmental Law Association. Rafay and his wife Aysha visited various GWN communities together with the Kosovar delegation, and on December 2nd, he gave a well-received lecture on […]

Creating hope for the future at FoEME’s youth water trustee camp

As part of Friends of the Earth Middle East’s Good Water Neighbors youth program, yearly camps are organized where young members of different neighboring communities from Jordan, Palestine, and Israel come together to learn about their shared environment. On December 14th and 15th, such a camp was held at the Sharhabil Bin Hassneh EcoPark where […]