Massacre At Jerusalem -- Do The Crusades Still Matter? || Huffington Post

Call for Submissions: ‘Arab Love Stories’ – ‘قصص حب عربية’

Banipal 44, set for release in the summer of 2012, will be dedicated to “Arab Love Stories.”

The call for submissions is open to all Arab-identified authors.

This issue will be juried by a special editorial committee. According to the Banipal website, the committee members are:

The Iraqi author Salima Salih

The Algerian publisher Assia Moussei

The Iraqi author Sinan Antoon

The Libyan writer Omar Abulqassim Alkikli

Entries must be between 2,000 and 4,000 words, and they must be submitted before Jan. 15, 2012.

Applicants should send their story with a short passage about themselves and a photograph (?) to arablovestories@gmail.com.

Rethinking “Moderate Islam” in the Light of the Arab Uprisings - Muftah

In the United States, the notion of “moderate Islam” has been central to public and scholarlydebates about democratic change in the Middle East. For many scholars, the expectation is that sustainable democratization in the region primarily depends upon the existence of robust and popular “moderate Islamic” movements. This expectation is based on three assumptions. First, authoritarian Arab rulers would be more willing to heed calls for democratization if they have less to fear from the opposition. In contrast to radical Islamists who seek to establish the “Islamic state,” moderate Islamic movements are not expected to “hijack democracy” to establish their own version of dictatorship. Consequently, as the argument goes, these movements would reduce the threat perceptions of Arab rulers, making them more willing to cede power. Second, moderates are believed to be amenable to working with the “guardians of the old older” during the transitional period and inclined towards avoiding confrontational policies that would unravel the nascent democratic system. Finally, moderate Islamic movements would not pursue aggressive strategies toward Israel and would not challenge U.S. strategic interests in the region.

The current uprisings in the Arab world as well as the evolution of Islamic moderates in contemporary Iran and Turkey have, however, demonstrated the shaky ground on which these assumptions have been based, exposing the internal contradictions embedded within them.

How Saudi Arabia Plans To Win The Food War - Green Prophet

Without its oil wealth, Saudi Arabia’s 27 million inhabitants would eventually starve. At a recent social event, the country’s Minister of Agriculture Fahd Balghunaim warned that the ratio of food and water in the kingdom is perilously out of balance.

But oil wealth currently ensures that its own population will be fed in the decades to come, as it enables the kingdom to invest huge sums to develop agriculture projects in Africa, Turkey, and elsewhere. By 2100, at least 10,ooo,ooo,ooo people will be jostling for food and other natural resources. As long as it continues to earn money from oil exports, Saudi will not get left behind.

In addition to its projected $2.5 billion investment in Ethiopia and $600 billion in Turkey’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors over the next two decades, Saudi Arabia currently spends $1 million on food imports every month.

These ease pressure on the domestic agricultural sector, which uses up scant water resources. With desalination providing nearly 70% of its total water supply and quickly usurping its finite oil resources, the Kingdom has resorted to several plans to cut back water use.

Mr. Balghunaim said that his ministry is growing less wheat in favor of increasing less water-intensive berseem fodder production and that new irrigation methods are being explored. He also lamented that the Al-Jouf olive festival is an “extravagance of no benefit.”

An unknown company has invested $50 million to establish a center of sustainable agriculture and an international council for dates will be headquartered in Riyadh.

Since date palm trees consume considerable quantities of water, Mr. Balghunaim noted that Saudi is not interested in “going over the top with them” and that the kingdom is currently mostly concerned with packaging rather than production.

Peak oil is the kingdom’s leading nemesis. Currently 80% of its revenues are based on petroleum, which its own residents are burning at speed. Remove oil from the equation, and Saudi Arabia stands to lose so much more than just the food war.

Why Finnish Tap Water Is Shipped to Saudi Arabia - Green Prophet

In his recently released book, The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water, Charles Fishman explains that while the US has among the safest, most monitored water system in the world, consumers are still choosing bottled water over using a faucet that dispenses potable water.

The same paradox applies for most countries in the developed world as they continue to pay for something they can get for close to free. The situation is different for most consumers in the Middle East and North Africa, where clean safe water often only comes in bottles. But does it have to be that way?

The bottled water business is huge, and growing. According to the latest Beverage Marketing Corporation, bottled water accounted for more than 29 percent of total volume of liquid refreshment beverages in 2009 with the global rate of consumption increasing  by 2.7 percent in 2009.

Although the US is the single-largest national market in terms of volume, just about everywhere else in the world the segment is sizeable and expanding. The same report shows several Middle Eastern markets ranking on top of the list in terms of per capita bottled water consumption.

With the equivalent of more than 40 gallons for each resident in 2009, the United Arab Emirates has the third-highest level of bottled water consumption per capita in the world. In addition to the UAE, Lebanon (31 gallons per resident) and Saudi Arabia (28 gallons per resident)  are in the top 20 in per capita bottled water consumption. At 20 gallons per resident, Israel also consumes bottled water at a rate greater than the global average.

This may come as no surprise for a  “hyper-arid” region where rivers are few, populations increasing, and underground reserves shrinking fast. According to UN reports, the Arab counties collectively  contains 1.1 percent of global renewable freshwater for a total of 4.6 percent of the world’s population. In addition, although not all countries in MENA are poor, there is a general lack the infrastructure and resources to deliver potable water, so that even rich countries like Saudi Arabia buy bottled water as a necessity.

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Global Watch - Reza Aslan's New Show

From fears of nuclear radiation to US soldiers fighting in three wars — world events aren’t so foreign any more. KCET’s Global Watch special gives you a passport to understand what’s happening far beyond our borders and how it directly affects us at home. Our anchor, Reza Aslan, is a world-renowned scholar and writer who has his finger on the pulse of the planet.

The show examines how the Middle East’s surging population of young people and their embrace of technology are shattering old political structures in the region. After a background story on the Arab world’s “youthquake” by correspondent Saul Gonzalez, Reza will be joined in-studio by blogger Uzma Atcha, Moroccan-born writer Laila Lalami (Laila on Twitter), and Middle East expert Anthony Chase.

Global Watch will also explore the high stakes and high tech war between repressive goverments trying to censor the Internet and the plugged-in band of bloggers fighting to keep the Web free and open. Reza’s guest is technologist and anti-censorship activist Austin Heap. (Austin on Twitter.) Austin will show us how authoritarian governments try to police their citizens’ on-line activities and what bloggers in countries like Iran and China do to keep governments off their digital trail.

Finally, Reza offers an essay about what the West often gets wrong about the role of Islam in the Middle East. Hint: religion isn’t always as important as you think.

Note: The video above is an extended preview of Global Watch. In addition to the broadcasts on KCET, we’ll also be webcasting the airing on KCET.org Thursday, April 14th at 9:30PM PST. Check back on this page for details. Also, for our friends on Twitter, feel free to use the #globalwatch hashtag to share impressions, suggestions and comments.

Watch and interact with Reza Aslan tonight at 9PM PST at:
http://www.kcet.org/globalwatch

Islam and the Arab revolutions - Economist

Religion is a growing force in the Arab awakening. Westerners should hold their nerve and trust democracy

Top Pieces of Unfinished Business in the Mideast - Informed Comment

1. Some 6000  protesters marched in Jordan on Friday. They said they wanted to transform the Jordanian monarchy into a European-style, constitutional monarchy and to return to an unamended 1952 constitution.

2. Some 100,000 Tunisians came out into the streets of Tunis on Friday to demand the resignation of caretaker prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi. The interim government has set elections for mid-July, a key demand of protesters. It has also dissolved the former ruling party, the Rally for Constitutional Democracy to deny it advantages in the elections. But they don’t trust Ghannouchi, an insider in the regime of deposed president Zine El Abdidin Ben Ali, to oversee the lead-up to the elections. Ghannouchi is attempting to gain popularity by seizing the assets of Ben Ali’s corrupt inner circle, but so far has not been able to shake his reputation as a Ben Ali crony himself.

[Update Check: Ghannouchi just resigned..]

3. Tens of thousands of protesters came to Tahrir Square in dowtown Cairo, Egypt, on Friday, demanding the cancellation of the emergency laws that have suspended civil liberties in Egypt for 30 years. They also wanted Prime Minister Ahmad Shafiq, an appointee of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, to step down so there would be a clean break with the old regime. The Egyptian army prevented the crowd from going to the prime minister’s residence for their protest, and generally cracked down on the dissidents.

4. Some 200,000 protesters marched through Manama, the Bahrain capital, on Friday. They want Bahrain’s monarchy to become a constitutional monarchy, with guaranteed civil liberties. The also want the prime minister to be fired. The king has dismissed three other cabinet ministers.

5. Protesters in Aden, Yemen demanded that strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh step down. About 4 persons were killed and two dozen wounded as security forces over-reacted to the demonstration.

6. Overthrowing Muammar Qaddafi. The dictator’s security forces abandoned the working class district of Tajoura on Saturday after several days in which they tried just shooting down protesters to quell the demonstrations. They failed. If Qaddafi is losing significant portions of Tripoli itself, the writing is on the wall for him. (Update: Confirmation from Western reporters who reached Zawiya Sunday that the city, among the major population centers near the capital of Tripoli, is in rebel hands.

The protesters in Egypt and Tunisia had had only partial success, removing a strong man but wondering where genuine reform might have gone. Libyans still have not even removed the dictator, Qaddafi. And in Bahrain, Yemen and Jordan, popular demands for genuine economic and political reform have still largely fallen on deaf ears.

Susan Kraemer Dubai Gets Frozen Air From Europe - Green Prophet

Three European sustainable energy innovators show how an innovative combination of three technologies can make a sustainable low carbon way to cool buildings in Dubai. The three technologies – solar heated water – supplying a chiller based air conditioner – running cooled water through radiant concrete flooring – add up to climate-friendly cooling.

The Swedish-led HVAC company DEW-Kylsystem based in Dubai is installing the combination of technologies on a building for a 50% reduction in energy use.

The solar hot water heater units on the roof are made by Kingspan – the pioneering Irish firm that invented the first evacuated tube system: the Thermomax.

The chiller-style air conditioning is from ClimateWell – the Spanish innovator that has won awards for its integration of thermal energy storage. This makes their solar-powered air conditioning 24/7 – needed in Dubai! It’s patented a unique proprietary Triple-State absorption technology that integrates energy storage.

Its chillers are designed to be charged with thermal energy when its created on hot sunny days, but can be tapped when needed, day or night.The capacity to store thermal energy is key to deliver a consistently comfortable indoor climate using both heating and cooling as needed, despite a fluctuating energy input, such as solar heat.

Put these two technologies together and pack it into a hollow core concrete slab construction method – the ClimateDeck, as DEW-Kylsystem has done, and you have solar air cooling that uses half the energy of regular A/C. DEW provides the expertise in integrating different products to deliver the installation and commissioning of the complete system as a well-designed whole.