Owls Save Middle Eastern Farmers by Corran Nolan

Amjad Shami, a Muslim farmer in the town of Galilee, has had much trouble with voles destroying his crops. Holes dug by them dot his land, and three years ago they killed his entire harvest. They only way he has been able to fight back is with pesticides, which poison the water and land, but do not work effectively. However, Alexandre Roulin, a proffesor at Lausanne University, has found a way to naturally remove these pests from the land; the barn owl. They silently kill off three to four of the voles a day, and they can live in families of ten.

However, there has been some resistance in the West Bank, where, besides the owl being considered an unlucky animal, the people are very apposed to any Israeli initiative, even if there are no downsides. Politics is playing a huge role in people literally putting a wall up against the project. Though all of this is happening, Proffesor Alexandre still has hope for the project.

This article is important because it not only informs people about this new form of pest control, but also shows how the political relationship between Israelis and Palestinians is causing a potentially good thing to become a power struggle. I had already known that the two peoples where on bad terms, but I didn't know they would reject something just because the other party had suggested it. I hope that they can settle their differences so that both of their peoples can benefit.

Source: http://worldcrunch.com/culture-society/-quot-operation-owl-quot-how-organic-pest-control-could-aid-middle-east-peace/israel-west-bank-politics-science-rodents/c3s10856/#.USKza6XWgos