Israelis and Palestinians Collaborate on Environmental Issues
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about a lot of things, which I will not go into here. But one thing you don’t often hear about when it comes to that conflict is the environment. How can the environment not be effected, though, when people living next to each other refuse to take the other’s soil, air, and water into consideration?
Thankfully, some people are looking at the bigger picture and long term sustainability in the region. According to Green Prophet, a plan is being outlined for the Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection and Palestinian Authority to work together to resolve joint environmental concerns. They will work together to green the land – no matter whose land it is.
The plan is being drafted by Professor Alon Tal of Ben Gurion University and Dr. Muhammad Said Al-Hmaida of Bir Zeit University. One of the ideas being integrated into their plan is the appointment of Palestinian and Israeli environmental managers.
So how would this collaboration work exactly? According to Tal, “Israel would have a say in the sewage treatment strategy in the Palestinian sector – which directly affects our water resources, just as the Palestinians would have access to monitoring of Israeli air pollution sources that are transboundary and impact their air quality.”
Any other ideas or stories out there about how environmental collaboration in the Middle East can lead to peace?
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Ecosystems (un)fortunately don’t appreciate political borders. When a border happens to separate two people even for a long period of time, it certainly fails to stop eco-interactions.
You mentioned sewage system and air pollution. There are certainly many more examples of this kind. For example, when two nations share a lake or jungle, they have to come to understand that the safety of this ecosystem is dependent on a collective effort. Caspian Sea is an example; or Nile may be a more telling story which is somehow associated with the life of many people in various African countries. When people learn that they should cooperate so as to save the ecosystem in addition to improving their own lives, one may say ‘Ecosystems fortunately don’t appreciate political borders.’
However, the story of shared ecosystems is not an all-good one. For example, Hamoon wetland in southern east Iran is enlisted as an ‘endangered ecosystem’, for building several dams on Hirmand River (the main supplier of water for Hamoon) in Afghanistan as well as recent droughts have turned this area of about 600 thousand acres into desert [source]. Some experts believe that Hamoon Wetland will be a fiction after this summer, unless some heavy raining helps it survive. If this piece of land turns into desert, Iran won’t be the only victim: the desert will be expanding to east threatening Pakistan and Afghanistan, a big desert (instead of wetland) would certainly lead to reduction in rain in neighboring areas, etc.
Thus, one may conclude that ecosystems essentially need long-term planning and strategic perspectives. And short-termism, as a relatively new phenomenon in contemporary management, is a grave mistake, regarding Nature as a whole. This is why one might say: ‘Ecosystems unfortunately don’t appreciate political borders.’
So, environmental collaboration would only lead to peace if we come to recognize some key measures such as sharing benefits of ecosystems with neighbors, mutual respect for mother nature, paying attention to long-term planning, and probably most important issue is that: Nature is not a weapon capable of defending a nation; rather it’s more of a static grenade that will turn the whole area into dust should it be exploded.
At the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (www.arava.org founded by the same Dr. Alon Tal mentioned in the article above) for the last 12 years hundreds of Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian students (along with their English speaking overseas counterparts) have studied the environment and how we can solve shared challenges in the region by working together. The alumni have founded a network called the Arava alumni Peace and Environmental Network (AAPEN) to work together to continue to transcend political borders after their studies at the Arava Institute – when people go on to graduate studies or work in the field. We invite anyone who is interested in the field to come and study with us and become a part of the AAPEN network. We absolutely believe that this is the way to learn to live together and improve life for all of us in the region.
Sharon
Friends of the Earth Middle East: http://www.foeme.org
A project based on sets of cross-border partnering communities sharing a common water source, promoting environmental awareness and peace building.
The “Good Water Neighbors” (GWN) project was established by EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) in 2001 to raise awareness of the shared water problems of Palestinians, Jordanians, and Israelis. The GWN methodology is an original idea that is based on identifying cross border communities and utilizing their mutual dependence on shared water resources as a basis for developing dialogue and cooperation on sustainable water management. GWN has created real improvement within the water sector by building trust and understanding that has led to common problem solving and peace building among communities even in the midst of conflict.
Despite limited cooperation between the region’s governments on some aspects of water allocation, sustainable management of water resources has not been achieved in the Middle East peace process. Lack of sewage treatment, over-pumping of aquifers, excessive diversion of surface water flows, and difficulty in implementing critical water-demand management policies threaten scarce water resources. These circumstances pose environmental and health hazards to communities, and can be a significant source of cross-border tension and pollution. Initiators of this project took the lead in localizing these water issues by focusing the GWN work on the community level, and fostering the cross-border relationships that are necessary to solve common water problems.
Initially eleven Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian communities were selected to participate in Phase I of the project from 2001 to 2005. Presently Phase II of the GWN project has expanded the communities involved from eleven to seventeen.
Each community is partnered with a neighbouring community on the other side of the border/political divide to work on common water issues. On the local level, GWN works with community members to improve their water situation through education and awareness activities, and urban development projects. On the regional level, GWN works to encourage sustainable water management through information sharing, dialogue, and cooperative ventures.
Much was achieved by the project in Phase I:
- The GWN team created a group of youth volunteer water trustees in each community by gaining support from the local school, community groups and municipalities and educated/empowered them about their water realities and wise water use.
- It invested in a public building, such as a school in each community, and transformed it into a water-wise model building.
- It launched a public petition concerning a common cross border water problem that needs to be solved for each pair of neighbouring communities.
- It organized several workshops on water-wise issues at the community and regional level, focusing on the potential role of relevant stakeholders.
- It organized exchange of information and gathering of individuals from the neighbouring communities, such as the water trustees, hydrology and planning professionals and decision-makers.
- It produced a great deal of public awareness, campaign materials.
GWN has seen real progress in the environmental awareness of communities and the development of cooperative initiatives.
In each community, field staff has worked in close partnership with youth and adults to improve their environment, and to create awareness of their own and their neighbouring community’s water reality. In each community water-saving devices were installed in all public buildings and schools were transformed into water saving model buildings. The water trustees themselves carried out surveys of all water taps in public buildings within their community and then, by installing the devices, cut by a third the amount of water used in public buildings. In each school involved in the project the principal, teachers, students and even the janitor helped design a model system designed specifically to their needs – for example, a simple device that would catch rainwater falling on the roof of school buildings, or collect the wastewater of drinking fountains or the water condensation created by air-conditioning systems — all to be re-used for the flushing of toilets, watering the school garden and, in some schools, to provide additional water for drinking purposes. These schools now serve as examples for renovating other schools throughout the respective education jurisdictions.
Significant advances were made in encouraging community leaders to develop common solutions to their water management problems. Having gained the trust of residents the project was able to focus on policy level changes by involving municipal leaders. Many of the participating GWN communities were situated along the banks of the Jordan River and around the Dead Sea. After researching the issues facing the Jordan River and Dead Sea, publishing reports and holding stakeholder meetings, a mayor’s network was created by the project. The purpose of the network is to identify and express the common concern of the mayors involved – such as local impacts of the sorry state of the Jordan River, now mostly filled with sewage rather then fresh water, flowing down to its lower section; and the demise of the Dead Sea, which is falling by a meter each year due to the diversion of the fresh water from the River Jordan.
There is currently another initiative to develop a master plan for the Tsur Hadassah (Israel) and Wadi Fukin (Palestine) area, and to prevent the Separation Barrier from being built beyond the Green Line. Both initiatives illustrate how water can create the initial trust that provides the basis for cooperative work beyond water issues such as land use, economic and tourist development.
There has been important recognition of the significance of this project. At various instances the project has been presented at meetings and seminars held in the European Parliament, the US Congress, aid agency gatherings and, most recently, before a U.N. panel held in New York entitled “The role of NGO’s in promoting peace in the Middle East”.
Without understating the difficulties faced, the frustrations experienced and, at times, the real threats faced by the individuals involved in the project, we complete this first stage of the project with a great degree of satisfaction. Through the water issue the project has given us the opportunity to touch the hearts and minds of people in the communities that the project is active and in the process advance the possibilities of long-term peace in our still troubled part of the world.
The Project staff in Palestine, Israel and Jordan includes:
- Three Project coordinators
- Seventeen field researchers who live in, or near, a community or cluster of communities that participate in the Partnering Community Program. They collect and publish field information, organize community activities and take an active role in the regional campaign to be initiated.
- Six expert advisors (two out of each political entity). Accompany the project through advising, evaluating progress and sharing their experience.
- The project is managed by the Project director, and also accompanied by an international advisory committee from Europe and the US that contribute comments, ideas, and share experience with water issues and bottom up management strategies.
(Choose Poto Albums entitled “Good Water Neighbors”, “GWN Joint Hike 6.06″ and “Beit Shean Ecological Building Workshop” for general photos of the GWN project)
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The first 4 years of this project were supported by the EU SMAP program and the US Government Wye River Program, the British Government’s Global Opportunities Fund and is presently being supported by the EU Partnerships For Peace program, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and USAID’s Conflict Management and Mitigation program – “from the American People”.
This project document has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.