Jordan, Palestinian and Israeli teens working to save the Jordan River

(excerpted from Green Prophet)

Friends of the Earth Middle East (known as foy-me for its acronym FoEME) have accomplished to develop an unprecedented study of the quality of water in the Jordan River, which they hope will lead to its rehabilitation. Highly polluted from a variety of sources including sewage, and high levels of salinity, FoEME as the only Jordanian, Israel and Palestinian trilateral organization working in partnership for a common goal in the region (theirs is water), plans on taking their study to policy makers to catalyze peace and change.

Presenting their scientific study on what can be done to rehabilitate the lower Jordan River, after a media tour along the Jordan River yesterday with foreign journalists, I headed to Jordan to take part in their conference to present the study, which brought out about 200 Jordanian, Israel and Palestinian water experts and government officials from around the world. The atmosphere was positive, the reception very friendly. These are people willing to look forward to the future instead of back to the untold number of Middle East conflicts from the past.

I was hoping to get to meet Princess Sumaya, the daughter of Jordan’s Prince Hasan, who was to be a keynote speaker (she cancelled due to illness), but I ended up meeting five teens from the King’s Academy boarding school outside of Amman (pictured above), who are working with Friends of the Earth Middle East to study and understand more about the state of the Jordan River.

While most Jordanians and Palestinians shy away from overtly talking about working with Israelis, I asked the teens if it was okay that I mentioned their cooperation with Israeli teens from Beit Shean, Israel, in a story. “That’s the whole point,” they said unanimously in English, thrilled to be recognized for their work with FoEME.

In front of an impressive audience of ambassadors, the region’s water experts, members from the United Nations, EU parliament, USAID and more, these teens bravely stood up on the podium and explained to the group on how they are getting involved to learn more about rehabilitating the Middle East. With video clips that will be put together with movies made by Israeli and Palestinian peers, just getting to the shores of the Jordan River was hard, they told the crowd, talking about how they interviewed locals who lived along the lower Jordan River, which no-one is swimming in, in order to assess the problem with their own eyes.

Today about only 2% of the flow of the Jordan River remains from what it once was in the middle 1800s when it was a mighty river. Today it resembles more of a stream, brook, and trickle in some places; and FoEME working with youth (like these tends), scientists, environmentalists, and economists are putting together local, regional and international plans to clean it up and restore the Jordan River to its former glory.

Today the lower Jordan River below the Sea of Galilee starts with a sewage pipe and ends in a whimper. FoEME, backed by USAID, the Green Environment Fund, the Goldman Fund and the Global Nature Fund are proposing that the countries that border the Jordan River do all in their power to rehabilitate this significant body of water, important for all the monotheistic religions of the world.

Today the Jordan River is truly a sorry, sorry sight. Land mines, pollution, an overgrowth of non-native reed weeds, political constraints, military presence, and a sheer lack of water in some places, prevent tourists from entering its shores –– and locals from using it. But heroic efforts on behalf of FoEME’s Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli staff, plus their volunteers, local networks and youth programs give us all hope that the river will flow once again to its former glory.

Read more about the Friends of the Earth Middle East at:

http://www.foeme.org/

Gaza surfers ride on wave of goodwill from Israelis

(excerpted from CNN) — In Gaza, a handful of Palestinian men have found a way to escape temporarily from the hardships of life in their conflict-wracked home. They go surfing.

Dirt poor and mainly from refugee camps, they find joy riding waves, often on makeshift boards, in the green waters off Gaza’s beaches.

Over the past few years, a number of groups, some based in Israel, have made it their business to try to help the Gaza surfers.

Explore Corps and Jewish Surfing 4 Peace have sent surf boards and wetsuits to the 20 or so Palestinian wave riders, hoping to extend the hand of friendship across the bullet-pocked border.

U.S. filmmaker Alexander Klein managed to get in to Gaza to film the latest mission, the story of which he tells in documentary “God Went Surfing With the Devil.”

“So much of the Middle East narrative is a conflict narrative,” said the former pro-skateboarder who first visited Israel in 2004. “Here was a story about young guys who could have been coming together to shoot at each other, but instead all they want to do is surf together.”

Klein hung out with the surfers of the Gaza Surf Club and said everyone he met there was “peaceful” and “really kind” and “so excited to be surfing.”

But the club is about more than just helping a few beach guys have a good time. Matt Olsen, one of the founders of the surf club, believes small acts of friendship, like this, can help the peace process from the bottom up.

“We think that this is a great way to get people to connect and get people to talk,” Olsen told CNN.

In Gaza, it is a social taboo to talk about Israel in public, except to condemn the country, he told CNN. Across the border, “in Israel,” he said, “the attitude is a kind of ‘ignorance is bliss.’ People don’t really know what is going on in Gaza,” he said. “I find that the people that are most positive about what we are doing … are the people who have already had interaction.”

Veterans of the tiny Gaza surf scene have been riding for many years, using anything from 100lb windsurfers with the sails taken off to old broken surfboards with pieces of plywood for fins. Under an economic embargo enforced by the Israeli government, only basic foodstuffs and humanitarian supplies are allowed into Gaza, making it almost impossible for the surfers to get hold of equipment themselves.

Gaza Surf Club is situated on the beach at Sheikh Khazdein, a beach-front neighborhood in southern Gaza City. Long and golden, Gaza’s beaches are the place to be on Friday and Saturday, according to Olsen.

Hamas’ presence on the beach is minimal, he said, but modesty prevails. Men often swim in T-shirts and women wear long robes and keep their heads covered.

The crew of surfers who hang out at Sheikh Khazdein range in age from 15 to early 30s and many come from fishing families. They work as fishermen or lifeguards; some are unemployed or students.

“They have a real community down there,” said Olsen. “It’s really wonderful to go there and hang out.”

The tiny Gazan surf community couldn’t be more different from the scene in Israel. Israeli surfer Arthur Rashkovan, one of the founders of Surfing 4 Peace, estimates there are some 30,000 surfers in Israel, a tiny land of just over seven million people.

Despite working with the surfers of Gaza, Rashkovan has never met any of them. He has never been across the border.

“They cannot get out of Gaza and I cannot get in,” said Tel Aviv-based Rashkovan. “Hopefully, one day we will meet and go surfing together.”

Saudi King makes statement in photo with women

(from UPI)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 3 (UPI) — A photograph of a Saudi king and crown prince posing with 40 women in Muslim dress is being called a landmark for Saudi women’s rights, observers say.

The photograph of King Abdallah and the women is remarkable since separation of the sexes is central to Saudi Arabia’s conservative social mores, ABC News reported Monday.

There has been a slow but significant relaxation of gender segregation since Abdallah came to power in 2005, ABC said.

But men and women are still schooled separately, use different entrances into most buildings, and sit in gender-segregated sections of restaurants and cafes.

Many hail the photo as an important public step towards women’s rights.

“I think this is a great picture and everyone is talking about it,” Dr. Maha Muneef, a prominent physician and government adviser, said.

“This is a picture that sent a message to the people that it is OK to work with women and be side by side with women,” she said, “and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Dr. Basmah Al Omair, who runs a center that lobbies for greater rights for women, agrees.

“The whole point of (Abdallah’s) taking photos with women is to get people comfortable with the idea of men and women mixing,” she said.