Search Results for: Jerusalem

A recent verdict (judgement 1751/2021) by Greece’s top court, the Council of State, regarding the ritual slaughter of animals has raised significant concerns to the Muslim and the Jewish communities of Greece, potentially impeding growth in Greek halal exports. The ruling effectively withdraws a permit that has allowed the slaughter of animals without stunning them first, as (usually) required to produce halal and kosher meat.…

The question of how to deliver human rights and self-determination to the Palestinians has been debated in many ways and forums, from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, through the Oslo Accords of 1993, until the present day.…

While in recent years, the peaceful approach to progress associated with Islam has not been given a high-profile, because of the activities of extremists, the truth is that there is much to be learned from the Noble Prophet Mohammed about the value of incremental negotiation.…

For nearly a hundred years, the city of Jerusalem has been the scene of violent confrontations between Jews and Arabs. This is the most recent of struggles over this most disputed city that have continued for more than three thousand years.…

“Yes, to coexistence.” It sounds like a platitude – yet sometimes, it is simply a statement describing a most important principle of real life. This statement is written on the entrance of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem, that teaches Jews and Arab students side-by-side.…

THE ISRAEL government is pushing ahead with an ambitious plan to expand the country’s solar power output, awarding two sets of tenders involving 840MW of generating power in the past 12 months and requesting bids for a huge single solar power plant in the Negev Desert for 300MW.…

THE ACCESSION to power of President Joe Biden has sparked speculation that the recent shift in USA policy towards Israel and the Palestinian Territories pushed by his predecessor Donald Trump may be over.

Regardless of the justified criticism of Trump’s ethics and unpredictable governing style, the fact remains that his administration moved the needle in the Middle East.…

Only a handful of countries in the Middle East and Africa have dedicated whistleblowing laws – South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Algeria, Morocco, and the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, according to Blueprint for Free Speech, a charity promoting freedom of expression (https://www.blueprintforfreespeech.net/).…

ON the back of Israel’s innovation-embedded work culture, the Middle East country is making headway in the 3D-printed garment sector. The country is the joint-headquarters of 3D-printer manufacturer Stratasys, which has a key base in Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv. Stratasys offers a wide range of 3D printers – https://www.stratasys.com/3d-printers…

Charities continue to be at risk of being exploited by terrorist groups looking to transfer money and finance their operations, with the Middle East a high-risk area.

These non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are, however, criticising the extra scrutiny the sector is facing from regulators, banks and governments, saying it is driving charity financing into the shadows, actually increasing risks of financing by crime and terror groups.…

THE ISRAELI natural gas sector is undergoing significant expansion, with the country pushing ahead to plan to develop and commercially exploit new fields. Indeed, “this past year in energy has been the most dynamic year we have ever had,” said Dr Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of energy, at the annual Energy & Business Convention, held in Tel Aviv in November (2016).…

FOOD and drink export subsidies are to be scrapped after a World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, agreed to phase out these trade sweeteners. Developed country members have promised to remove export subsidies immediately for basic food products, with a slower phase-out for many processed foods and drinks, pigmeat and dairy products.…

Five years since the start of the Arab uprisings in 2011, instability is still impacting cosmetics sales in the Levant and north Africa. Last year saw a slight improvement on overall sales in 2014, the year the Islamic State spread through northern Iraq and Syria, but figures are down on 2013, and the growth projected in 2010, according to figures from market researcher Euromonitor International and estimates from cosmetics companies.…

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has censored the European Commission for failing to produce formal guidance on what constitutes an endocrine disrupting chemical, so that chemical industries such as the paint sector can comply with the EU biocidal product regulation.…

THE MEAT and livestock sector in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories is suffering because of tough Israeli security restrictions, the development of Israeli settlements and a recent outbreak of bluetongue disease.

Dr Abdellatif Mohammed, deputy general director of the Palestine Agricultural Relief Society, told globalmeatnews.com…

In the West Bank, everyone calls him ‘The Godfather’ or ‘The Duke of Nablus’ – Munib al-Masri, 79, is the richest Palestinian, the patriarch of a prominent Palestinian family that has produced bankers, consultants and politicians, and also one of the most influential.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A RESEARCH project at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in Israel, has developed a new manufacturing process that will enable the cosmetics industry to mix thus far insoluble substances with water. Researcher Katy Margulis-Goshen says ingredients such as oil can be dissolved in water if broken into nanoparticles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND HELENA FLUSFELDER, IN JERUSALEM

IT is not often that a country that has serious energy security issues gets to choose about whether it wants an energy export industry – but the State of Israel is in this relatively happy situation.…

BY HELENA FLUSFELDER, GERARD O’DWYER

A PLAN to install an electric car network has been approved by Israel’s government, making this small Middle East country a global leader in electric vehicle (EV) technology.

The project is a joint venture between Renault-Nissan, which will provide the electric vehicles, and a Silicon Valley, USA-based start-up project Better Place, which will operate the re-charging grid.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, AHMAD PATHONI, GAVIN BLAIR, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, WANG FANGQING, HELEN FLUSFELDER, KARRYN MILLER, KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

THE BRITISH writer Oscar Wilde wrote: "A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite, and it leaves one unsatisfied.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

IT is, perhaps, a sign of the European Union’s (EU) growing role in fighting crime: from February, it will have its first justice Commissioner. David Haworth reports from Brussels on how a new 27-member European Commission that should take office on February 9 might fight commercial crime.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

FOLLOWING the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Israel was quick to come out and identify itself with the ensuing US-led ‘war on terror’. This was not surprising, given the Arab-Israeli conflict and the attacks Israel has sustained from militant Palestinian groups.…

BY HELENA FLUSFEDER, in Jerusalem

FOR the fledgling state of Israel in 1951, being dependent on two foreign companies for its supply of petrol was hardly ideal, especially at a time of war when the companies had reduced their activities in the country.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Damascus and Beirut, and HELENA FLUSFELDER, in Jerusalem

INTRODUCTION AND THE GULF

THE DENIM sector in the Middle East is as diverse as it is fragmented, with strong demand in the Gulf and Israel for major brand names and the latest trends, while in the less economically developed parts of the Levant international brands are of less importance than style.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut, and HELENA FLUSFELDER, in Jerusalem

THE DRINKS market in the Middle East continues to increase on the back of population growth, economic development, improvements in distribution and retail, and more aggressive advertising campaigns.

But like much of the rest of the world, younger and better educated market segments within the region are shifting away from carbonated soft drinks (CSD) towards fruit juices and bottled water as people become increasingly health conscious according to independent industry analysts and the drinks sector.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

SAUDI Arabia, the Middle East’s largest economy and a major political player internationally, has been linked to terrorist financing, but despite AML and CTF measures put in place by the kingdom, very little is known about the country’s implementation and adherence to regulations.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
ACCORDING to global consumption figures, Israel is the world capital of teenage soft drink demand, with hot weather combined with a competitive market to create something of a utopia for drinks companies. An international survey of soft drinks consumption published by the Economist by 15 year olds of both sexes suggests that Israel has the world’s biggest teenage consumers of carbonated and still drinks, colas, sodas, juices and the like on a per capita basis.…