In The Middle East, Muslims And Jews Work In Unison To Care For The Environment

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Albakkar’s story is not unusual for students and alumni at the Arava Institute, an environmental studies and research center located at Kibbutz Ketura in Israel.

Photo: The Interfaith Peace Project

Ahmadiyya Times | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Huffington Post
By Antonia Blumberg | April 21, 2015

Before arriving at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel in 2010, Yosra Albakkar, 28, had never met an Israeli or a Jewish person. That would soon change, as the Jordanian Muslim woman got to know her fellow students -- who hailed from Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian territories and North America -- and formed friendships that would last for years to come.

Albakkar’s story is not unusual for students and alumni at the Arava Institute, an environmental studies and research center located at Kibbutz Ketura in Israel.

In the Middle East, which houses 10 of the 15 most water-poor countries in the world, learning to care for the environment is not a luxury -- it’s a necessity. And it’s one that many involved with Arava say requires Muslims, Jews and Christians to work together to tackle.

“You can’t deal with an environmental issue without dealing with your neighbors,” founding faculty member Rabbi Michael Cohen told The Huffington Post.

Much of the ecological concern centers around scarcity and proximity, said Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, a former lecturer at Arava and the first Palestinian to hold the position of deputy chief scientist at Israel's Ministry of Science, Technology and Space. Many students at the institute come from Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian territories, all three of which share resources -- as well as pollutants, he said. This means improving the conditions of one benefits the others.

As Albakkar bluntly put it: “We either cooperate or we’re all going to be screwed.”

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