thirsting for peace - water conservation in the israeli-palestinian conflict

Thirsting for Peace:

Water Conservation in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Joel Underwood

GEOG 030

Geographic Perspectives on Sustainability and Human-Environment Systems

Professor Abbey Tyrna

April 18, 2015

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Human civilization flourishes with water. The “Fertile Crescent,” the first instance of

what researchers Kitoh, Yatagai, and Alpert term “rain-fed agriculture,” developed through the

abundance of the life-giving substance (2008). Fresh water swelled the first crops of grain. It

quenched the thirst of the earliest domesticated animals, particularly livestock. Moreover, it

continues to sustain agriculture and daily life to people throughout the planet. Indeed, the adult

human body is composed of approximately 60% water (United States Geological Survey; March

17, 2014). Yet, less than 3% of the earth’s water is fresh (Ibid; March 19, 2014). As a limited

resource, water forces people to answer questions of distributive justice. Ironically, many people

in the ancient land of the “Fertile Crescent”—where abundant rainfall once gave rise to

agriculture and civilization—now face thirst. Residents of modern Israel and Palestine grapple

with water conservation and governance, as droughts have left the region’s water supply

vulnerable (Ben David; February 4, 2013). The question of access to fresh water for agriculture

and daily life is one among many in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the quest for the peacemaker

is to seek an equitable solution respecting the needs and security of diverse populations.

Fresh Water Shortage in Israel-Palestine

A seven-year drought plagued Israel and Palestine up to 2013 (Ibid). Because of the

drought, Israel invested large amounts of money in desalination technology (Ibid). The

investments increased the nation’s resilience to water shortages, though Israeli Water Authority

Head Alexander Kushner highlights an established social norm of conservation: “The basic water

conservation rules, like not watering gardens indiscriminately, washing cars with hoses, etcetera,

still apply… and over the past few years, we’ve seen the public adopt them. The average

household water consumption has decreased by 10% compared to the previous decade” (Ibid).

The mandate for adaptation to water shortages, some researchers suggest, will not be temporary.

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In fact, climate change researchers Kitoh, Yatagai, and Alpert project a long-term

decrease in the fresh water resources available to the Fertile Crescent region, including swaths of

Israel, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran (2008). They attribute the shortages to increased

agricultural development and precipitation declines brought on by climate change. Palestinian

farmers and Bedouin herders are the first to face the thirst, as the Israeli government routinely

restricts access to water in the West Bank (Barbati; July 12, 2013). Arab crops, groves, and

livestock depend on Israeli-supplied water. Resident Palestinians have no independent

sovereignty over the West Bank, which Israel obtained during the 1967 Six-Day War. New water

projects in the West Bank must be approved by Israeli governmental agencies (Ibid). Thus, with

no independent infrastructure, Palestinians have little say over the allocation of dwindling water

resources. Consequently, the state of perpetual drought has served to inflame existing political

tensions in the Middle East region.

Political Tinderbox Created by Drought

The stakes for an equitable solution to the political question of water distribution could

not be higher. Global leaders criticize Israel’s governance of the regional water supply,

contending that Israel’s agriculture boom since its re-creation in 1948 has been at the expense of

the Palestinians’ access to water. Protests against Israel’s control of the West Bank include a

recent march of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (also known as BDS) advocates on March

20, 2015 against the Massachusetts Commonwealth’s cooperation with Israeli desalination

companies (Murray; March 23, 2015). “Massachusetts see the light. Water is a human right!”

was one of many chants levied against the Israel-Massachusetts Innovative Water Partnership

(Ibid). These cries are joined by those of Palestinians themselves whose agriculture and

infrastructure is capped by Israeli obstruction.

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Water shortages are not only a problem for the West Bank, but also for Hamas-controlled

Gaza Strip. Fueling a crisis in the small area, 90 to 95% of the aquifer that supplies Gaza’s fresh

water is below drinking quality (Barbati; July 12, 2013). Israeli missile strikes, during campaigns

such as Operation Protective Edge, have crippled local utilities, increasing vulnerability to water

shortages. The Israeli perspective is that the destruction is due to the control of the Gaza Strip by

terrorist organization Hamas. Since Israel ceded the Gaza Strip to Palestinian control in 2005,

Hamas assumed control of the regional government (Guardian Editorial Board; June 15, 2007).

Since then, the organization has been known to funnel international monetary aid to build terror

tunnels, rather than invest in public utilities such as water treatment centers or desalination plants

(Laub and Akram; April 17, 2015). This unethical use of international funds, Israelis maintain, is

terrorizing non-combatants within Southern Israel, whether it be city residents or rural farmers.

Gaza, consequently, is caught between two opposing political forces. These forces threaten to

leave the water supply of the Palestinian vulnerable to decimation.

Obstacles to Peaceful Resolution of the Water Crisis

The conflict of water in Israel and Palestine is inextricable from the conflict over land.

The claim of the “Jewish State” is that control over the West Bank is essential for Israel’s

security. After all, as recently re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlights

frequently; the nation is the size of New Jersey, surrounded by hostile neighbors. Military control

of the West Bank is cited as essential to preventing terrorist infiltration, such as occurred when

the Gaza Strip was ceded to Palestinian control. While security is important to the only Jewish

State, survival and freedom is important to the Arabs who reside within the West Bank and the

Gaza Strip. Without an independent supply of water, Palestinian Arabs will never be able to

sustain a prosperous life, let alone secure their own future.

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However, Palestinian officials have often failed to properly manage the water

infrastructure over which they do have jurisdiction (Barbati; July 12, 2013). According to

International Business Times, “business mismanagement and poor bill collection by Palestinian

authorities is acknowledged by several international studies as one of the reasons behind the

current water crisis in the West Bank and Gaza” (Ibid). The Palestinians thus are dependent on

Israeli infrastructure, whereas they could take significant investment steps with international

monetary aid to reduce such dependence. Pipe leakage and lack of innovation are highlighted by

Colonel Grisha Yakubovich, head of the Civil Coordination Department at the Coordination of

Government Activities in the Territories (Ibid).

In contrast, Israel has experienced an innovation explosion, especially in the technology

sector, earning it the moniker “Start-Up Nation” (Senor and Singer; 2009). Israeli innovation has

extended, not only to pharmaceuticals, prosthetics, and mobile devices, but also to resource

conservation. Israel attempted to implement a new form of electric car battery-changing stations

to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels (Ibid). In respect to water conservation; drip irrigation,

desalination, and waste water reclamation technologies lifted Israel from its drought status (Ben

David; February 4, 2013). There is no questioning the nation’s success: the economic ministry

boasts that the nation’s “total water consumption remains nearly at 1964 levels — even though

its population has quadrupled to 8 million people” (Booth; October 25, 2013). Israel has sold

these technologies to countries throughout the world (Ibid). The “Startup Nation” created the

technology to solve the regional fresh water crisis; the question is whether Palestinians and

Israelis can resolve, or at least set aside, the land dispute.

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Distributive Justice Applications in Water Governance

To deny equal access to water based on race or nationality would certainly be apartheid,

and many protestors have accused Israel of just that. However, Israeli leaders argue that the lack

of peace and water for Arabs is due to their refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish State to

exist. Indeed, rallies in Palestinian neighborhoods and throughout the Middle East have been

known to be punctuated with cries such as “Death to Israel” or “From the River to the Sea,

Palestine shall be free!” The position of the Hamas Covenant drafted in 1988 is that, from the

Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, the Zionist regime known as the State of Israel will be

destroyed (Yale Law School; 2008). The terrorist organization of Hamas desires religious and

political domination of the Middle East to the exclusion of a secular democracy like Israel (Ibid).

Thus, the Jewish State faces a dilemma with three possible scenarios:

1. It shares water conservation technology with the Palestinian Authority in the West

Bank if Palestinians are willing to receive aid to develop their infrastructure.

2. It does not share water conservation technology and inflames tensions with

Palestinians and isolates itself from the international community.

3. Israel attempts to share water conservation technology, but Palestinians refuse to

work with—and therefore recognize—Israel.

Israeli citizens must act wisely with their voice and vote; as they possess the responsibility that

comes with technological, political, and financial advantage (Tyrna; 2015).

The question of who has the higher moral ground is subjective and typically is colored by

one’s political affiliations. One must recognize that unethical actions have been perpetrated by

both parties. Whether it’s blocking fresh water access or kidnapping innocent teenagers on their

way home from school, injustice plagues all sides in the dispute. Going forward, Israel and the

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Palestinian Authority need to negotiate for peace in good faith, rather than demonizing the other

side. People need water to live, regardless of loyalty or jurisdiction.

Shared Water Innovation as Common Ground

A reasonable solution would be for Israel to collaborate with the Palestinian Authority

on creating a utility infrastructure that is sustainable. According to the United Nations

Brundtland Commission Report, “sustainable development… meets the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Tyrna; 2015).

By introducing water recycling, otherwise known as water reclamation, Palestinians can

dramatically increase the amount of water available for drinking and irrigation for years to come.

In addition, building Palestinian desalination plants would create an entirely new source of fresh

water from the Mediterranean Sea. The promise of collaboration, however, would depend on

Palestine’s full recognition of Israel and its right to security. Israel must maintain a position of

strength from which to negotiate and should leverage its innovation towards the end of

environmental justice.

Even if political jurisdiction remains uncertain, human dignity necessitates basic access

to life-sustaining resources such as fresh water. The international community should pressure

both sides—not just one—when it comes to Palestinian infrastructure development. For example,

the United States could condition its monetary aid to Israel on good faith negotiations with

Palestine on the issue of water. If the Palestinian Authority is willing to moderate and break from

the Hamas position of destruction to Israel, Israel should negotiate. When Arab-Palestinian

projects for waste treatment and fresh water infrastructure come up before Israeli agencies for

approval in the West Bank, the projects should be approved. Furthermore, the United States

could condition its monetary aid to the Palestinian Authority on its genuine recognition of

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Israel’s right to exist as well as on peaceful adoption of Israel’s desalination, water reclamation,

and drip irrigation technologies. A sustainable revitalization of Palestine’s utilities could be the

olive branch that relives tensions so hot in the Middle East.

Quenching the Thirst for Peace

By leveraging powerful water-saving technologies, Israelis have applied sustainability to

their continued development. Consequently, researcher Feitelson divides the history of the

nation’s water resource system across time scale, highlighting the evolution of landscape

management to include growing utilization of non-aquifer water resources (Feitelson, Selzer, and

Almog; 2014). The empowerment of Palestinian residents to engage in the same kind of resource

development would enhance the future viability of Middle East fresh water aquifers. In addition,

the peace process could be re-started based on renewed gestures of good will on both sides.

Ultimately, good will must actually exist on both sides. On one hand, if Israel is serious about the

democratic ideals it espouses; it must engage in equitable governance, even for issues as

contentious as water access. On the other hand, if Palestine is serious about peace and tolerance

for secular society; it must break from the Hamas Charter. Israel cannot reasonably dedicate

capital investment or building materials to Palestinian development if they will be used for

destructive purposes, such as terror tunnels. Likewise, the international community, including

organizations like United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near

East (UNRWA), should mandate full accounting and disclosure of the use of invested monetary

aid, ensuring it is used for building civilian infrastructure.

Peace must be the thirst of both peoples if fresh water conservation is to be the catalyst

for peace. In addition, resource allocation and project approvals should have their basis in

population growth, not political expediency. Because of the change in landscape interactions,

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change is crucial. If the status quo is maintained indefinitely, either the dry political landscape or

the dry environmental landscape will “catch fire,” failing to sustain the growing Israeli and

Palestinian populations in the future. Neither situation represents a favorable choice.

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