EcoPeace Middle East logo (from its official Facebook account)

EcoPeace is an Israeli-Jordanian-Palestinian non-governmental organization founded in 1994. It has won multiple awards and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Boycott movements accuse it of promoting normalization with Israel under the guise of protecting the “shared” environmental heritage, and its name is repeatedly among those targeted in all campaigns rejecting normalization.

Origin and establishment

It was established on December 7, 1994, after a meeting of Middle Eastern environmental non-governmental organizations in the city of Taba in the Egyptian South Sinai Governorate, and it developed over time to establish headquarters and private offices in Bethlehem, Amman, and Tel Aviv.

Thought and ideology

Its goal - according to its official website - is to protect the common environmental heritage, promote sustainable regional development, in addition to creating the necessary conditions to achieve lasting peace in the region.

It also claims to seek to find joint Palestinian-Jordanian-Israeli solutions for water-scarce areas on the planet.

EcoPeace works on projects for Palestinian and Jordanian water and sanitation infrastructure (EcoPeace Facebook account)

But the boycott movement in Jordan says that the organization promotes Palestinian and Jordanian normalization with Israel under the cover of projects concerned with protecting the environment and natural resources, such as the Jordan Basin and the Gulf of Aqaba, which are considered a legitimate right for the Jordanian and Palestinian peoples, but the occupation steals their wealth and exploits it for its own benefit.

In addition to its environmental projects, the organization implements training programs in the fields of development and environmental awareness in its areas of activity, to integrate Jordanian and Palestinian youth into joint programs with the Israelis.

Most prominent stations

The organization claims that it and its projects have been influenced by all political developments in the region since its founding, and is trying to acquit itself of the charge of collusion with Israel despite its admission that the Arab-Israeli “peace” process is at the top of its agenda.

It confirms on its official website that the period (1998-2001) constituted a transitional phase in the nature of its activities, as the renewed “conflict” in the region affected shared environmental resources, which reinforced the need for cooperation and the protection of common interests.

The organization continued to present various projects, win multiple awards, and support organizations and investment projects. It also succeeded in raising huge investments worth more than $500 million for Palestinian and Jordanian water and sanitation infrastructure projects.

In December 2020, it published what it called the “Blue Green Deal for the Middle East” as a detailed plan calling for strengthening climate security across the countries of the region, with a focus on Jordan, Israel, and Palestine, coinciding with the signing of the “Abraham Accords” between Israel, the Emirates, and other Arab countries, and then announcing The Israeli government at the time, headed by Naftali Bennett, stated that building better relations with Jordan was one of its top priorities.

The deal proposes establishing regional links through the exchange of renewable energy and water. It also addresses taking proactive steps to rehabilitate the Jordan River and sustainable development around the watersheds. It also aims to provide water to every Palestinian home without affecting Israel’s water security and its cost.

On January 14, 2024, the organization announced its candidacy for the Nobel Peace Prize, in light of its efforts since its founding to bring environmental peace to the region.

In February 2024, her name was repeated at the forefront of anti-normalization campaigns following the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, as demonstrations and boycott campaigns escalated around the world.

Demonstrations were launched in Jordan specifically to demand the cessation of leasing the Jordan Environmental Park (EcoPark) in the northern Jordan Valley to the Foundation for the Protection of Earth and Environment (formerly Friends of the Earth), which is believed to be affiliated with the Ecopeace organization.

Source: websites