Arab-Israeli Eco group scores award

Friends of the Earth Middle East wins Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue Award.

Camel and desert (photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Camel and desert
(photo credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Friends of the Earth Middle East, an Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian environmental organization, has won the 2010 Anna Lindh Foundation’s Euro- Mediterranean Dialogue Award.
The theme of the award this year was “Intercultural Dialogue for Ecological Sustainability.”
According to its Web site, Friends of the Earth Middle East defines itself as an “organization that brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists.” Its objective is to promote cooperative efforts to protect the environment.
It seeks to advance “sustainable regional development and the creation of necessary conditions for lasting peace in our region.”
The award is voted on by members of the Anna Lindh Foundation’s region-wide network of 3,000 civil organizations working across the 43 countries of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Speaking after the announcement, the organization’s regional co-directors Munqeth Mehyar (Jordan), Nader Khateeb (Palestine) and Gidon Bromberg (Israel) said:
“Our...work focuses precisely on the interdependent nature of our region’s shared natural and cultural resources, thus creating a platform for dialogue so necessary in our area. The exposure and recognition from this award will help us to continue to forward ecological sustainability in our shared region.”
Launched for the first time in 2006 by the Anna Lindh Foundation and its partner Fondazione Mediterraneo, the Euro-Mediterranean Dialogue Award is now in its fifth year.