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River rifts
Natural History, March, 2008 by Alex Safian, Sandra Postel
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Sandra Postel's hopeful article on the water situation in Israel and Palestine "Sharing the River Out of Eden," [11/07] is, unfortunately, quite misleading. She notes that Palestinians use a quarter as much water per capita as Israelis do. This ratio grossly exaggerates Israel's water usage, since per capita water usage by Palestinians is underestimated owing to inflated population figures; and per capita water usage by Israelis is overstated without accounting for Israel's extensive use of recycled water. Furthermore, Postel omits the fact that neighboring Arab countries use far more water than does Israel. If one accounts for recycled water and Israeli water that is given to Palestine, Israel's annual per capita usage is around 237 cubic meters. According to the most recent UN figures, Syria's usage is 1,148, Egypt's is 969, and Lebanon's is 381. Would Postel say this is "inequitable"?
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What is remarkable is not that Israel is unfairly taking Palestinian water, as Postel implies, but that despite chronic shortages Israel is so generous with water. For example, 83 percent of the drinking water for the major Palestinian city of Ramallah and its suburbs is piped in from Israel. Even as Palestinian missiles and mortar shells fly almost daily from Gaza into Israel, Israeli water for the Palestinians flows daily into Gaza, at a rate of 4 million cubic meters per year. It is hard to imagine that a country would supply water to its attackers, but that's exactly what Israel does. Many water experts have hoped that shortages in the region might spur cooperation and reconciliation rather than tension. But for this to happen, water myths must finally be overcome.
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) Boston, Massachusetts
SANDRA POSTEL REPLIES: I must first point out that Natural History fact-checked my article extensively before publishing it, and Alex Safian's letter reflects only his opinion on the issue. In fact, Safian's remarks reflect a naivete about water use, water statistics, and concepts of water sharing in international river basins, and I wish to respond to four of his more misleading points.
First, as I point out in my article, Israel is a leader in water recycling, but this in no way negates the fact that Israel appropriates more water from the Jordan basin than is deemed equitable by internationally accepted principles of water sharing. Second, comparing Israel's per capita water use with that of Egypt, Syria, or Lebanon is irrelevant to the issue of equitable water allocation within the Jordan basin. Egypt is not even located within the Jordan basin, while Syria and Lebanon obtain the bulk of their water supplies from sources outside the basin. A better comparison would be the Arab nation of Jordan, which, according to the most reliable international statistics, uses 42 percent less water per capita than Israel does. Third, across most of the West Bank, Israel has forbidden the Palestinians to drill new wells, and only occasionally allows them to replace old ones. Israel does sell piped water to some West Bank towns, but the Palestinians know they could be cut off at any time and would be more secure with their own water supplies. Fourth, it is unclear what Safian is counting as "Israeli water," since an equitable allocation among the parties has yet to be determined.
To repeat the main point of my article: For an enduring peace to be achieved between Israel and the Palestinians, the existing water inequities must be acknowledged and then corrected. Many scientists and civilians on both sides of the border are prepared to work constructively toward that end.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Natural History Magazine, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
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