Pollution in a Promised Land

Pollution in a Promised Land
Author: Alon Tal
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 588
Release: 2002-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520234286

"This book is likely to become the future point of reference for scholarship on environmental issues in Israel. Tal combines his extensive inside knowledge with broad and thorough research to take the reader clearly through a complex fabric of personalities, organizations, and issues."—Stuart Schoenfeld, York University "This is truly an excellent book. It is the first treatment of the whole array of environmental issues in Israel, and in its historical context – an absolute necessity. Extremely well-written and in fact hard to put down, this book is useful on many levels, for United Nations Agencies and development officials, Israeli and Palestinian government officials, and environmentalists and teachers around the world."—Brock Evans, Executive Director, The Endangered Species Coalition and author of many articles and books on the politics of the environment "Pollution in a Promised Land is an innovative book, and an important one, by perhaps the most prominent environmental activist in Israel. Tal's approach is to take an "eagle's eye view" of his vast subject, now gliding far above, providing overview, now swooping down very close and, through interviews or anecdotes, describing his subject with great immediacy and in memorable detail."—Noah J. Efron, Bar Ilan University "Anyone who cares about the land of Israel should read Pollution in a Promised Land. It is critical to understanding the social, political, and scientific dimensions of the country's environmental challenges as well as the country's remarkable ecological achievements. Alon Tal is uniquely qualified to present this fascinating and dramatic environmental history."—Tzachi Hanegbi, Minister of the Environment, Israel

The Land is Full

The Land is Full
Author: Alon Tal
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2016-01-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0300216882

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword: A Neglected Dimension of the Middle Eastern (and World) Dilemma -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- ONE: Introduction: Talking about Demography in Israel -- TWO: Of Pollution, Paucity, and Population Pressures -- THREE: Of Impaired Public Services, Poverty, and Population Pressures -- FOUR: The Rise and Fall of Aliyah: A Brief History of Immigration to Israel -- FIVE: Blessed with Children: From Dogma to Subsidies -- SIX: Women's Reproductive Rights: Abortion, Birth Control, and Fertility Policies in Israel

Let There Be Water

Let There Be Water
Author: Seth M. Siegel
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2015-09-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1466885440

New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestseller! As every day brings urgent reports of growing water shortages around the world, there is no time to lose in the search for solutions. The U.S. government predicts that forty of our fifty states-and 60 percent of the earth's land surface-will soon face alarming gaps between available water and the growing demand for it. Without action, food prices will rise, economic growth will slow, and political instability is likely to follow. Let There Be Water illustrates how Israel can serve as a model for the United States and countries everywhere by showing how to blunt the worst of the coming water calamities. Even with 60 percent of its country made of desert, Israel has not only solved its water problem; it also had an abundance of water. Israel even supplies water to its neighbors-the Palestinians and the Kingdom of Jordan-every day. Based on meticulous research and hundreds of interviews, Let There Be Water reveals the methods and techniques of the often offbeat inventors who enabled Israel to lead the world in cutting-edge water technology. Let There Be Water also tells unknown stories of how cooperation on water systems can forge diplomatic ties and promote unity. Remarkably, not long ago, now-hostile Iran relied on Israel to manage its water systems, and access to Israel's water know-how helped to warm China's frosty relations with Israel. Beautifully written, Seth M. Siegel's Let There Be Water is and inspiring account of the vision and sacrifice by a nation and people that have long made water security a top priority. Despite scant natural water resources, a rapidly growing population and economy, and often hostile neighbors, Israel has consistently jumped ahead of the water innovation-curve to assure a dynamic, vital future for itself. Every town, every country, and every reader can benefit from learning what Israel did to overcome daunting challenges and transform itself from a parched land into a water superpower.

Israel Celebrates

Israel Celebrates
Author: Hizky Shoham
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2017-04-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9004343873

Israel Celebrates is about the intersection where Israeli inventiveness and Jewish tradition meet: the holidays. It employs the anthropological history of four Jewish holidays as celebrated in Israel in order to track the naturalization of Jewish rituals, myths, and symbols in Israeli culture throughout “the long twentieth century” of Zionism and on to the present, and to demonstrate how a new strand of Judaism developed in Israel from the grassroots. But could this grassroots Israeli culture develop into a shared symbolic space for both Jews and Arabs? By probing the political implications of the minutiae of life, the book argues that this popular culture might come to define Jewish identity in Israel of the 21st century.

Discard Studies

Discard Studies
Author: Max Liboiron
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2022-05-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0262369516

An argument that social, political, and economic systems maintain power by discarding certain people, places, and things. Discard studies is an emerging field that looks at waste and wasting broadly construed. Rather than focusing on waste and trash as the primary objects of study, discard studies looks at wider systems of waste and wasting to explore how some materials, practices, regions, and people are valued or devalued, becoming dominant or disposable. In this book, Max Liboiron and Josh Lepawsky argue that social, political, and economic systems maintain power by discarding certain people, places, and things. They show how the theories and methods of discard studies can be applied in a variety of cases, many of which do not involve waste, trash, or pollution. Liboiron and Lepawsky consider the partiality of knowledge and offer a theory of scale, exploring the myth that most waste is municipal solid waste produced by consumers; discuss peripheries, centers, and power, using content moderation as an example of how dominant systems find ways to discard; and use theories of difference to show that universalism, stereotypes, and inclusion all have politics of discard and even purification—as exemplified in “inclusive” efforts to broaden the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, they develop a theory of change by considering “wasting well,” outlining techniques, methods, and propositions for a justice-oriented discard studies that keeps power in view.

Israel's Occupation

Israel's Occupation
Author: Dr. Neve Gordon
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2008-10-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520942361

This first complete history of Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip allows us to see beyond the smoke screen of politics in order to make sense of the dramatic changes that have developed on the ground over the past forty years. Looking at a wide range of topics, from control of water and electricity to health care and education as well as surveillance and torture, Neve Gordon's panoramic account reveals a fundamental shift from a politics of life—when, for instance, Israel helped Palestinians plant more than six-hundred thousand trees in Gaza and provided farmers with improved varieties of seeds—to a macabre politics characterized by an increasing number of deaths. Drawing attention to the interactions, excesses, and contradictions created by the forms of control used in the Occupied Territories, Gordon argues that the occupation's very structure, rather than the policy choices of the Israeli government or the actions of various Palestinian political factions, has led to this radical shift.

Human and Water Security in Israel and Jordan

Human and Water Security in Israel and Jordan
Author: Philip Jan Schäfer
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 121
Release: 2012-10-28
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3642292992

The work aims at answering the question as to how far discourses on human security are present in Jordan and Israel, if they converge and if political solutions for the issue of water security could be derived. The analysis is based on the assumption that from human security perspective common solutions for urgent problems can be derived more easily than out of a perspective of national security. Yet it is acknowledged that according to a new security perspective different security threats are being identified by relevant actors. An empirical analysis of written statements and utterances of the respective security elites establishes the methodological tool for the identification of human security discourses in Israel and Jordan. Subsequently it is estimated how far water is presented as a matter of national security in Israel and Jordan using the theory of securitization.

Changing Patterns in Israel Agriculture

Changing Patterns in Israel Agriculture
Author: Haim Halperin
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2019-08-06
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1000681572

First published in 1957. This study sought to analyse the problems raised by the changing forces and conditions in Israel in the middle of the twentieth-century. It discusses the impact of Israel’s achievement of political sovereignty upon its agricultural economy in the comparatively short space of six years. It examines the agricultural problems that arose as functions of the natural factors of production – land, water, climate, etc. It endeavoured to assess new and better possibilities of farming. This title will be of interest to students of geography and agriculture.

All the Trees of the Forest

All the Trees of the Forest
Author: Alon Tal
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2013-10-22
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0300189508

DIVIn this insightful and provocative book, Alon Tal provides a detailed account of Israeli forests, tracing their history from the Bible to the present, and outlines the effort to transform drylands and degraded soils into prosperous parks, rangelands, and ecosystems. Tal’s description of Israel’s trials and errors, and his exploration of both the environmental history and the current policy dilemmas surrounding that country's forests, will provide valuable lessons in the years to come for other parts of the world seeking to reestablish timberlands./div

The Oxford Handbook of Israeli Politics and Society

The Oxford Handbook of Israeli Politics and Society
Author: Reuven Y. Hazan
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 725
Release: 2021
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0190675586

"Few countries receive as much attention as Israel and are at the same time as misunderstood. The Oxford Handbook of Israeli Politics and Society brings together leading Israeli and international figures to offer the most wide-ranging treatment available of an intriguing country. It serves as a comprehensive reference for the growing field of Israel studies and is also a significant resource for students and scholars of comparative politics, recognizing that in many ways Israel is not unique, but rather a test case of democracy in deeply divided societies and states engaged in intense conflict. The handbook presents an overview of the historical development of Israeli democracy through chapters examining the country's history, contemporary society, political institutions, international relations, and most pressing political issues. It outlines the most relevant developments over time while not shying away from the strife both in and around Israel. It presents opposed narratives in full force, enabling readers to make their own judgments"--