“Water is becoming a weapon of war aimed at quelling Palestinian support for resistance to occupation” – Alwyn Rouyer

Water has always been a critical natural resource in the Middle East. This region is the most concentrated region of water scarcity in the world. Since humans began to inhabit the area of the Levantine, they implemented practices that regulated the use of water.

At the beginning of the 20th century Jewish settlers from around the world began to arrive in the British Mandate of Palestine. They found largely undeveloped terrain. Almost sixty years after the large-scale Jewish emigration to Palestine occurred; this landscape now looks drastically different than what it did previous to 1948.

Palestine as a nation ceased being, Israel is now the dominant power. All that remains of Palestine are fragmented pieces now manifested in the Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Although the Palestinian territories have their own sovereign government, they are undoubtedly controlled and restricted by the greater Israeli state.

After the 1967 Israeli seizure of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel took full control of Palestinian water sources.

The then-existing Palestinian institutions that regulated water usage were restricted from operating. Water supplies today continue being publicly owned by municipalities but Israel specifies the pumping quota for every water supply.  With Israel regulating the region’s water policies, there has been an unfair distribution of water for Palestinians. Since the second Intifada in September 2000, Palestinians claim Israel has become more severe it its restrictions, including those governing the amount of water allocated for the Territories.

Israel and the Palestinian Territories have experienced below average rainfall for the past decade. The coastal aquifer that is the source of water for Gaza is in now in a condition where 80% of the potential drinking water is unsuitable for consumption. Water from the Mediterranean has reached this aquifer, resulting in Gaza’s drinking water having ten times the sodium content deemed adequate for consumption.

Scarcity and quality of the water that is accessible have loomed, loom now and will continue loom for many years to come. However, something that further complicates this dynamic is the environmental degradation of the area caused by humans. Much of this destruction is waged through the use of toxic chemicals.

Today, Israel harbours what every developed country has; factories, large agricultural areas sprayed down with pesticides and military facilities.  As with all other industrialized nations, Israel now suffers the effects that industry ravages on the environment.

The Palestinian territories remain largely undeveloped and agriculture remains a major source of income. However, with the modern age, the use of pesticides in agriculture is rampant in the Territories as well.

The effects these contaminants have on Israeli and Palestinian citizens is severe.

There are two universal truths in this dynamic involving water:

1.Neither Israelis or Palestinians are immune from the need to consume water.

2. Neither Israelis or Palestinians are immune from the damage contaminants cause to our environment, which includes our bodies.