Water for all: The case for a one-state solution

 Kuwait City, Kuwait - In light of yet another round of negotiations between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israeli negotiators (which, it must be said, took place on the heels of an announcement to build more illegal homes in East Jerusalem), questioning the likelihood of negotiations ever resulting in an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state along the pre-1967 borders is as pressing as ever.

When Prime Minister Netanyahu, during his public scolding of President Obama, referred to the pre-1967 borders as"indefensible" for Israel, he was not expressing a fringe, radical point of view, but rather, frankly articulating what many in Israel's policymaking circles had implicitly recognised decades ago; that a completely sovereign Palestinian state within said borders, in complete control of the natural resources to which it would be entitled, is an unacceptable option.

Some, such as the Ultra-Orthodox Jewish populations that inhabit the illegal Jewish colonies in the West Bank, or the Christian evangelicals in the United States, endorse this view on a religious basis. However, much more strategic and practical considerations such as the issue of water also make the 1967 borders "indefensible". It is on this basis - the basis that Israel cannot accept a sovereign Palestinian state rightfully in control of its water resources - that I argue the need for a paradigm shift in mainstream Palestinian discourse from a two-state solution to a one-state solution. More

 

EU launches €1.5m project to improve water availability in West Bank

JERUSALEM, December 14, 2011 (WAFA) - The European Union (EU) launched a €1.5 million project to improve the livelihoods and food security levels of poor rural families through improving the availability and management of water for agricultural purposes, an EU press release said Wednesday.

The project is implemented by Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and is expected to be finalized at the end of 2012. 

Availability of and access to water is one of the biggest problems Palestinian farmers and herders face, said the statement.

Since 2007, the region has suffered from severe weather conditions and rainwater scarcity affecting agricultural productivity. In addition, constraints in accessing land and restrictions imposed on Palestinians for establishing or rehabilitating water wells have severely impaired farmers from realizing their potential.

The project will construct and rehabilitate 450 rain feed water cisterns, which will secure access to water for irrigation of crops, home gardens and livestock to 450 farming families in the West Bank and will offer them a feasible and affordable way to improve their livelihood.

'There is an unquestionable need for a comprehensive response to water scarcity and difficulties in accessing water for Palestinian farmers. This project comes in addition to the EU food security program which has focused exactly on improving the management of water and wastewater in rural areas of the occupied territories to tackle these problems,' said the acting EU representative, John Gatt-Rutter. More

This initiative needs to also incorporate stopping of illegal extraction of water from Palestinian aquifers. Editor