The Fate of Water Cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians in the context of Unilateralism an

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The Fate of Water Cooperation between Israel and
the Palestinians in the context ofUnilateralism
and the Current Political developments in the OPT

• Dr. Fadia Daibes Murad
• Water Law and Policy Advisor

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• This presentation
• addresses briefly characteristics of the water
  conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis
• analyzes the challenges facing the two sides
  given the unilateral actions by Israel and the
  recent political development in the OPT
• presents a vision for the desired cooperation
• Analyzes the pros and cons of the past and
  current Palestinian-Israeli water cooperation
• Puts forward and action plan for the responses
  needed in short and medium terms in order to
  maintain the achievements made and to avoid
  further deterioration of the situation

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The Hydrological Unity of the Jordan River Basin

• Countries sharing
• the Jordan River
• Israel, Jordan,
• Lebanon, Syria and
• The OPT

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The Occupied Palestinian Territory
Gaza Strip (365 sq km)
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Existing Agreements

• Article 40 of Oslo II Accord.
• Israel Recognized the Palestinian Water Rights
  but did not identify them
• Final resolution to be dealt with in the final
  status negotiations
• The inefficiency of the JWC
• The current Israeli government does not
  acknowledge their commitments under these
  agreements
• The current Palestinian leadership does not
  acknowledge the validity of the Oslo Agreements
• No final status negotiation is expected in the
  near future

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Control over the WB after the Oslo II Accords
The brown areas are the only areas under full
Palestinian control X Areas of confrontation
between Israeli forces and Palestinian
demonstrators Areas where the Palestinian Authori
ty is only responsible for social and civil
services Israeli settlements
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So far, at least 32 Palestinian wells, numerous
olive groves and agricultural land has been
confiscated in the process of building the so
called security fence and this is only the
beginning stages of construction
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Utilizations from the Jordan River Basin

• Israel 680 mcm
• Syria 160 mcm
• Jordan 140 mcm
• OPT nothing

Source PASSIA 2003
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Israeli vs. Palestinian Utilization of the
Mountain Aquifer Basin )
Source PWA, 2001
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One half of the piping network is controlled by
Israel the other half is controlled by the
Palestinian Authority. Palestinians who get their
water from the Israeli network suffer from
intermittent service
Source PHG
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Water Availability and Utilization in Israel

Source The Israeli Ministry of Agriculture Annual
year book, 1998
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Hydrological Challenges

• Over-pumping
• Illegal drilling
• Water quality and pollution problems
• The expected outcome is
• Depletion and Pollution of the available shared
  resources

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Legal and Political Challenges

• Palestine is not a sovereign independent State
  it is still an occupied Territory
• The existing agreements are violated by both
  sides
• The Hamas victory would complicate and reduce the
  prospects for negotiations at least in the short
  and medium terms
• Unilateral action by Israel have very negative
  implications on the quantitative and qualitative
  sustainability of the shared water resources
• Laws and regulations on both sides of the borders
  are not compatible

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Institutional Challenges

• Lack of Cooperation and Coordination and weakness
  of Existing Joint Management Institutions
• Lack of exchange of information
• Asymmetry between the Parties Financial,
  Technical and Institutionalnot to mention the
  power structures..
• Need for strengthening the Management and
  Technical Capacities in the OPT
• Need to have access to information to improve the
  Palestinian knowledge on Transboundary
  Groundwater
• Need to emphasize good governance and the rule of
  law on both sides of the borders

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Vision for the Desired Cooperation

• Mutual understanding of the nature of the problem
• Mutual understanding and appreciation to critical
  issues and drafting of position papers addressing
  the understanding and the actions and responses
  needed. These issues include but are not limited
  to
• the legal entitlements and the rules and
  principles that governs the water allocation
• The role of international law and its potential
  contribution to the resolving of the conflict
  (transformation)
• Lessons learnt from the cooperation initiatives
  worldwide including the Mahalaki and indus rivers
  in Asia, the USA Mexico cooperation, the Nubian
  Sandstone Aquifer initiative in Africa and the
  cooperation on the Guarani Aquifer in Latin
  America.
• The use of non-conventional water resources

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Vision for the Desired Cooperation

• Agreeing on a vision and long term objective that
  has three main pillars
• justice and equity between the parties
• The need to ensure sustainability of the
  resources
• the joint initiatives to seek for alternatives
  and additional sources including the use of
  desalinated water and the treated wastewater.etc

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Prerequisites for Successful Cooperation

• To remove the deep mistrust and build confidence
• To address the real issues in cooperative
  projects and the pseudo ones.
• To acknowledge the mutual need for cooperation
• To agree on a long term mutually beneficial
  vision (sustainability of resources and benefits)
• To define the various stages/steps for
  cooperation
• To consider Asymmetry in the various stages of
  implementation
• To demonstrate Successful Stories

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Benefits from the Existing Cooperation

• Brought certain groups from both sides together
  to discuss and attempt to better understand the
  other
• Good advocacy work at the level of the
  international community
• Different academic and theoretical approaches
  were explored

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Shortcomings in the Existing Cooperation

• No common vision
• Ad-hoc initiatives no strategized interventions
• Hunting for funding in most cases
• No specific and clear positions concerning some
  critical issues of the conflict including
• the legal entitlements from the Mountain Aquifer
  and governs the water allocation between the
  parties
• The compensation on the past use by Israel to the
  Palestinian share
• The use of settlers from the MA
• The construction of the wall and its impact on
  the future of the water resources
• The unilateral actions by Israel and their
  expected impact ion the deterioration of the
  water conditions
• No action plans on how to protect the joint
  resources

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economic cooperation One step of many?

• Regional economic Cooperation is Crucially
  Important for All,
• .however,
• the Question is what type of cooperation is
  needed and how to make sure that the Parties to
  this proposed cooperation are in harmony
• Economic Regional Projects are not the
  replacement for Equitable Utilization of the
  shared water resources
• Regional Options must be Mutually Beneficial
• Minimize Reliance on foreign sources of water
• Strong commitment from the multilateral
  institutions and governmental donor agencies for
  Financing of the Regional Interventions

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What could be done in the Meantime???

• The long term vision is difficult to achieve in
  the short and medium terms
• innovative approaches are needed to address the
  steps needed for achieving the vision
• There is a need to prepare joint position papers
  on the controversial issues (2-3 maybe at the
  beginning)
• There is a need for stronger solidarity from the
  progressive Israeli groups who believe in
  co-existence and this solidarity must be
  translated into action
• There is a need for advocacy and lobbying
  campaigns and activities against the unilateral
• There is a need for bringing into the surface
  again the importance of the water problem and its
  impact on both sides
• There is a need for addressing the mutual benefit
  that could be gained from cooperation

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Elements of the Proposed Approach

• Intensive professional meetings at the university
  level to emphasize the adherence to signed
  agreements which would be erroneous to give up
• Hold public meetings to be held on both societies
  to address to present the threats and risks that
  might face both societies if they avoid
  cooperation
• Peaceful demonstration that targets the PA
  President and the Israeli PM offices to emphasize
  and bring back to the streets the notion of
  water for all water for peace