I am a recent graduate of UC Davis, where I studied International Relations and Chinese language. I now work at an international economic development organization and though I am focused on the field of development, I am also very much concerned with human rights. During my time as an undergrad, I gained a wider awareness of systems of injustice that affect lives in our own nation and across the globe. This piece stemmed from a term paper I wrote for a UCD political science class last fall. I have since then researched further on this topic and built on my findings in order to produce this piece for the UCD Human Rights Journal. This issue is one that I am still learning more about and that our world leaders are still grappling to resolve. As citizens in an increasingly globalized society, it is our responsibility to ourselves and each other to challenge injustice wherever it may spring up and push to promote equity – and that all begins with education and understanding.
REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman, caption: International Business Times
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS: CONFLICT VS. COOPERATION IN THE ISRAEL-PALESTINE WATER WARS
Abstract
Water is a necessity and a human right. It is also a double-edged sword: an element so fundamental to human life that it begets controversy over its “ownership,” and conversely, a necessity so non-negotiable that it urges cooperation for equitable allocation. This paper draws attention to the way that water scarcity and policy affect the social fabric and the lives of the people that depend on the water, particularly the lives of those who are marginalized and most vulnerable. In response to the scarcity of water in its naturally arid climate, Israel has risen as a world leader in water reclamation, desalination, conservation and management. However, it is important to recognize that water allocation in Israel is a policy directly in line with the context of occupation. Although it is improving ways to replenish water sources within its borders, it is also inflicting a policy of unequal water allocation. The problem must be evaluated within this context, as this power dynamic is the framework by which entities such as water management agencies and infrastructure are institutionalized. It is important to understand why water scarcity and management are of concern to human rights in Israel and Palestine (which for the purposes of this paper will also be referred to as the Occupied Palestinian Territories, or OPT, which include Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem) and in doing so, shed light on the current situation of politicized resource distribution.
Introduction
The international goal to institute peace between Israel and Palestine is fraught with complications that impede the establishment of stable coexistence in the troubled region. For as long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been ongoing, it has been largely recognized as a dispute over land, borders, and sovereignty. Within the core conflict of land rights, lies the equally important and inseparable issue of water rights. Inequality between Israeli citizens and Palestinians in the occupied territories permeates into all aspects of daily life from land ownership, to travel restrictions, and to resource access (including water). A humanitarian crisis has arisen out of Israel’s policy of allocating the lion’s share of the available water to Israeli citizens while maintaining a drip-feed approach for Palestinians’ water needs. Water is key to the sustenance of life, economic productivity, and survival of society; it is a fundamental and undeniable human right (Amnesty International 2009). For a region already under tremendous political strain from decades of ethnic strife, proper allocation of water is a tremendous task that carries heavy political implications. Within the larger Israeli-Palestinian conflict, water holds its own particularly politicized role due to the difficulty of negotiating such a necessity. The problem of water scarcity in the naturally arid region is compounded by inefficient usage, distribution and the Israeli government’s uncompromising stance on water policy. This has contributed to a decreased standard of life for the marginalized communities in the occupied territories in which water insecurity and poverty can grow unchecked. Despite ongoing political strife and hostilities, it is important to acknowledge that water is a basic universal human right necessary for the life of every being. Even within a land as bitterly divided as Israel and occupied Palestine, the priority should be focused on addressing immediate humanitarian needs for the entirety of the population by equalizing sustainable water usage. The following paper presents an analysis of the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has arisen out of inequitable water allocation: outlining environmental and diplomatic climates in Israel/OPT, evaluating how much of the issue was imposed by nature and how much was created by governance, addressing how human lives are impacted and harmed by insufficient water supply, and emphasizing that water should act as a catalyst for cooperation rather than additional fuel for conflict.
Sources of the Water Conflict
The region of Israel/Palestine is situated in a naturally dry geographic zone characterized by high temperatures, low precipitation, and a climate that ranges from Mediterranean to desert. The majority of freshwater sources come from groundwater and other natural water reservoirs concentrated in the northern half of the country; these bodies of water include the Jordan River and its tributaries, the Sea of Galilee (also known as Lake Tiberias), the Coastal Aquifer, and the Mountain Aquifer (Shuval 2007). Politics withheld, the roots of the water problem boil down to basic economics: limited resources and ever-growing demand. Sharing primary sources of groundwater and surface freshwater between Israelis and Palestinians has been especially complicated given the region’s dry physical climate as well as the volatile political climate. The issue of water scarcity is intertwined with the conflict’s core issues of Israeli security and Palestinian aspirations for sovereignty. The prevailing environmental conditions are limitations imposed by nature, but the problem has been compounded by the growing population and demand and exacerbated by unequal resource governance and the present reality of military occupation (Amnesty International 2009). The situation of occupation has created a system in which Israel is the principal controller of water resources and the Palestinian population must be dependent on the occupying force for water access. The Israeli government’s politically and legally institutionalized control over resource management and the water sector has set an uneven unilateral leverage that benefits one side while disadvantaging the other.
Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War, gave the growing nation the conquest of additional land in the West Bank as well as control of water supplies in the northern basins and the Jordan River tributaries. Although the events of 1967 did not constitute a “water war”, command of water resources was one of the most crucial factors at stake. Since then, the Israeli government and the national water agency, Mekorot, have maintained a tight grip on the water sources that provide the vast majority of Israel’s usable water. The Oslo Accords of the 1990s attempted to settle the dispute of water and encourage cooperation. An Israeli-Palestinian Joint Water Committee was established from the 1995 Oslo II Accords, the agreement that governs the water allocations and which requires that both sides maintain the existing level of use from present resources. Development of water infrastructure and related issues is subject to approval by the Joint Water Committee, but its functionality is not truly mutual as Israel wields the overwhelming authority in regulating water usage (Yakhin 2006).
Recently Israel has been looking towards conservation efforts, recycled wastewater, and desalinated water from the Mediterranean Sea, to combat shortages heightened by drought and desertification. The state is already known for its advanced water infrastructure and is developing promising technologies towards efficient water reclamation and management, ensuring the likelihood of water security. (Isaac 2000) In contrast, the Palestinian population is generally highly water insecure and relies on less sophisticated water infrastructure than is typically allotted for Israeli citizens and settlers. Historically, Palestinians acquired water for agricultural and household use through groundwater accessed by man-made wells, cisterns, and natural springs. These water-drawing methods are still used in modern times, but any water-related projects in OPT must be run through a complicated permit system for approval. Infrastructure – whether pipeline, cistern, or well – found without a permit is routinely destroyed by the Israeli army (Amnesty International 2009). Destruction of property and water access has left many Palestinian farming families unable to raise crops and livestock, forcing a large number of people in rural areas to depend on purchasing water from the very government that keeps their communities deprived. These policies are a double injustice that contributes to the disruption of livelihood and the displacement of people.
Separate but Unequal
A major problem resulting from this power imbalance is the disproportionate and even discriminatory distribution of water between Israeli settlements and Palestinian communities, in which Israeli citizens are benefitted with far greater water access at the expense of Palestinians. The standards of living are vastly unequal across Israel and the occupied territories, but the most difficult aspect of this problem lies in the way the inequality is rooted in political animosity and stems from discriminatory policies. Under the Oslo II Accords, Israel has recognized Palestinian water rights but these were not explicitly defined and carried out into fair allocation despite the right to clean water being a foundation of human needs. (Barnaby 2009) Sharing of groundwater resources resulted in major distribution disparities, with roughly 80% of water from the Mountain Aquifer – one of the major freshwater sources in the region – being allocated to Israeli communities and 20% to Palestinians. Generally, Palestinians residing in the West Bank receive an average water allowance of 50 liters per capita daily, whereas the average Israeli receives four times this amount. The World Health Organization recommends 100 liters per capita daily – double the quota allotted to the average Palestinian and half of the allowance to the average Israeli. (Human Rights Watch 2010) The stark inequality is most visible between urban Israeli settlements where recreational swimming pools and gardens are not uncommon, which come in staggering contrast with neighboring Palestinian communities where tight water rationing is integral to survival. In these areas, many villagers are forced to purchase water from mobile tankers at high prices, often spending up to a quarter of their household income to acquire enough water to survive (Amnesty International 2009). This pattern of dependency contributes to the deepening poverty in the OPT, while the Israeli economy is robust and growing. Such a steep imbalance is an implication of inequitable water quotas as detrimental to the lives of those most at risk and it is a clear indicator of the violation of human rights in Israel/OPT.
The Right to Life and Water
International humanitarian law holds that Israel, as the occupying power holding jurisdiction over its territory, has the responsibility of ensuring welfare of those within its borders – including the occupied population. The discriminatory policies and practices are in direct violation of Israel’s “obligations towards Palestinians under the law of occupation”. Confiscation of land and natural resources such as water “for the benefit of settlements exceeds its authority as an occupying power” (Human Rights Watch 2010). As the governing state, Israel has the obligation to safeguard the lives of the people under its jurisdiction – but it is doing the opposite for Palestinians and instead putting their lives in deliberate danger by depriving them of equal water shares and destroying their agency over resource acquisition. Bulldozing and demolition of Palestinian properties – including water networks – have long been condemned by the international community as violations of humanitarian law. Israeli authorities have prohibited the drilling of new wells in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and have confiscated or destroyed new irrigation pumps set up by Palestinian farmers, often forcing families to leave their properties and contributing to the displacement of people. This tight water restriction is heavily damaging to the livelihoods of villagers living in the occupied territories and prevents them from meeting the daily required needs for personal, domestic, and agricultural consumption. It leaves them dangerously deprived of sufficient water to drink and use on a daily basis. Denying these immediate necessities is directly detrimental to the health, quality of life, and economic development of the Gaza Strip and West Bank–it is a clear matter of human rights violations. Israel’s drip-feed system of allocation to Palestinian inhabitants and additional restrictions on water extraction and even destruction of water facilities is particularly damaging to the poorest and most disadvantaged communities, who are often those in refugee camps, high-density population areas of the occupied territories, or remote rural locales. The people who reside in these conditions are most vulnerable to suffering from lack of sanitary water sources. (Amnesty International 2009)
Divergent Waters
The Israeli government rationalizes its water policies as necessary to national security. Furthermore, it holds that Palestinian wastefulness and mismanagement of water resources contribute to shortage, particularly during this continuing period of drought. The Palestinian Authority has indeed been hit with a substantial amount of legitimate allegations of corruption and malpractices that have added on to difficulties in the water sector. While violations of international law by the Israeli government should not be minimized, the failings on the side of the Palestinian Authority in its areas of jurisdiction also cannot be overlooked. Water pollution from Palestinian inhabitants in the occupied territories has led to widespread contamination and substandard water quality, and lack of effective sewage treatment and waste management has only exacerbated unsanitary conditions. Unfortunately, further complications stem from the limited institutional powers of the Palestinian Authority in respects to proper water infrastructure development, which relies heavily on foreign investment and external funding. (Elmusa 1993) The implications and continuation of this unsustainable and destructive policy are far-reaching. Sustainable water consumption should be promoted amongst all community members, Israeli or Palestinian, to conserve water and maintain equitable usage.
The current system is providing ample water for Israelis and insufficient water for Palestinians before even considering whether their use is efficient. Changes must be made in order to mitigate human suffering, maximize equal sharing of the region’s limited water, and build national policy around these priorities. In order to move forward in the peace process, there should be multilateral cooperative actions from Israel, the Palestinian authority, and the international community to jumpstart peace talks with specified targets of providing fair distribution of water. Humanitarian organizations should be allowed access on the ground to monitor abuses of human rights. Above all, a joint management system should be considered in which Palestinians can access and control their own water. With a more balanced power structure around water, it can be more safely assured that people can have the rights to water and to life.
Conclusion
The inequitable water distribution, unequally matched political powers, and growing water scarcity in a highly populated desert region, has only further compounded the deep-set conflict between Israeli statehood and Palestinian self-governance. The discriminatory policies that allocate an overwhelmingly lesser amount of resources to one population in favor of the population in power, comes at a real human cost, endangering and inflicting harm on the marginalized. Water is a fundamental human right that should not be denied. Without sufficient drinking water, people cannot survive for long. Without adequate water for household use, it is hard for people to live comfortably. Without access to water for agricultural or industrial use, a society cannot thrive. While water can be heavily disputed, the critical need for it across all populations produces incentive for cooperation and creates pressure to find a peaceful and sustainable solution. Israel has proven itself to be advanced in water management technologies, but has yet to prove that it is capable and willing to use these developments to promote the livelihoods of not just Israelis, but the Palestinians as well. The current situation is unjust and a violation of human rights by the standards of international humanitarian law. Although the political situation is contentious, human rights cannot be disputed and should not be negotiated. Engaging in water cooperation by introducing pragmatic policies, enhancing resource management on a bilateral level, and promoting fair distribution of water access would be the first steps to take to move towards environmental conservation and political justice in Israel/OPT. Cooperation and peaceful coexistence can be built on the foundation of water, even if just one drop at a time.
Works Cited
- Troubled Waters – Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water: Israel-occupied Palestinian Territories. London: Amnesty Internat. Publ., 2009.
- Esveld, Bill. Separate and Unequal: Israel’s Discriminatory Treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2010.
- Isaac, Jad. 2000. “The Essentials of Sustainable Water Resource Management in Israel and Palestine.” Arab Studies Quarterly Vol. 22, No. 2 (Spring):13-31.
- Yakhin, Yossi. “Water in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.” The James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, 2006.
- Shuval, Hillel I., and Hassan Dweik. Water Resources in the Middle East: The Israeli-Palestinian Water Issues – From Conflict to Cooperation. Berlin: Springer, 2007.
- Elmusa, Sharif, and D.C. Washington. The Water Issue and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Washington, D.C.: Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, 1993.
- Barnaby, Wendy. “Do Nations Go to War Over Water?” Nature, 2009, 282-83.