Water has served not only as a vital resource to humans, but also as the cause of conflict in certain regions, Tami Shor told a group of 12 Boston University students on Tuesday.
Students listened as Shor, a member of the Israel Water Authority spoke of the importance of water in relations among Jordan, Israel and Palestine.
Shor discussed Israel’s water sector, the sources of water in the region, and the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
“A lot of Israel’s water is not from natural resources,” Shor said. “Israel reuses 72 percent of its water.”
Because of a lack of natural resources, Shor said water has been a source of contention in certain regions. The Golan Heights, a territory Syria also claims, has water, which increases each nations desire for the land.
The presentation, hosted by BU Students for Israel, is part of the Israel Peace Week campaign to educate students about peace efforts and other facts involving the nation.
Shor also said the Gaza Strip faces water problems.
“There is a pipe [from Israel] to Gaza, but the valve is closed,” Shor said. “In the past, the Palestinian Authority would not agree to buy the water from Israel and [treat the water] because they did not want to lose power in the negotiations.”
The Palestinian Authority at one point received money to help them treat their water, but did not use the funds for that purpose, Shor said.
“The United States and parts of Europe stopped sending money after the Hamas victory,” she said.
Students for Justice in Palestine member Kareem Chahayeb said in a phone interview that there is not enough water in the West Bank and that the Israeli government “stole” the water.
“The reality [of the water in Israel is] far different from what’s being portrayed,” Chahayeb, a CAS junior, said.
BUSI members said they feel differently.
“The bottom line is Israel guarantees water to the Palestinian Authorities through the Oslo Accords that were signed in 1993,” Goldberg said. “As soon as the peace treaty was signed with Jordan, Israel has transferred since 1994 and will continue to transfer 50 million cubic meters of water to Jordan every year. So when the Palestinians are ready to make peace with Israel, Israel will be more than willing to transfer water.”
However, members of both groups said they agree that the lack of water is a serious problem for the Palestinians.
“People in the West Bank are living with under 20 liters of water a day. Which is terrible,” Chahayeb said.
“The Israeli people and the people of Palestine, it’s a tragedy really,” said CAS sophomore Sarah Close. “They’re being denied access to basic human rights including the same water privileges that Israelis have. I think the problem is more with the government.”
“It’s the first day of the week but today has been really successful, we engaged a ton of students and tried to educate people throughout the day about Israel’s peace treaty with Jordan,” Goldberg said.
In a letter to the editor published in The Daily Free Press Tuesday, CAS junior Kristen Martin said Israel stole water from the Palestinians and destroyed Palestinian capacity for water. Martin also said BUSI attempted to “whitewash” Israel’s image, while ignoring international law and human rights organizations. She did not attend the presentation.
CAS junior Alex Alpert, vice president of BUSI, said Martin’s decision not to attend the presentation showed that she generalized rather than made “accurate” conclusions.
“As an Israeli, I think there’s a generalization of what our opinions are,” Alpert said. “The fact that [Martin] didn’t come here and actually attend our event and listen to us, just shows that they were making no effort to actually make conclusions that are accurate, because they are not even hearing the other side.”
Matt Goldberg, BUSI president, said Israel Peace Week is designed to educate students about what Israel’s global efforts towards peace.
“[It is] especially focusing on the Jordanians, as we talked about tonight and what Israel has done around the world globally to promote peace whether it be being the first field hospital in Haiti or donating aid to countries after the tsunami,” Goldberg, a CAS sophomore, said.
Chahayeb said he understands why Israeli Peace Week exists, even if it isn’t a stance he supports.
“This campus has people from all different walks of life,” he said. “In the end they’re going to have an event that promotes Israel.”