In response to the Letter to the Editor published on Feb. 20 regarding Israel’s control of water:
Israel’s geographic region, including the Palestinian territories, has an average rainfall of 28 inches a year. Compare this to New England’s average rainfall, 60 inches a year. Clearly, the region lacks water. This is a growing problem for Israel, the Palestinians and Jordan. Each has growing populations and declining available water sources.
The question is, how does Israel allocate its water? The writer accuses Israel of denying the Palestinians water. In the Interim Accords, signed by Yitzchak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, Article 40 states: “Both sides have agreed that the future needs of the Palestinians in the West Bank are estimated to be between 70-80 mcm/year.” This pact has been completely honored by Israel since the agreement in 1995, and it continues to give the West Bank between 70 and 80 mcm of water every year.
The claim that the anti-terrorism fence hinders Palestinians from accessing the Mountain Aquifer is incomprehensible. The Mountain Aquifer is an underground stream of water that can be reached by digging underground anywhere along its route and has nothing to do with crossing the security fence.
The letter writer failed to understand why BU Students for Israel are handing out water bottles. BU Students for Israel are handing out water bottles to show that Israel made a peace agreement with Jordan, and in return, Israel gives Jordan 50 mcm of water annually. BU Students for Israel are trying to show how Israel will give up a resource such as water, the life-giving force of all things in this world, for peace.
Where does this whole mess leave us? It’s not about who is to blame, but rather how can we fix it. The entire region is in need of water, not just the Palestinians. The region’s needs are increasing yearly. Growth rates are rising higher than expected, and more water is necessary. Tami Shor’s talk emphasized that both Israelis and Palestinians should further invest in desalinization plants and fix the broken pipes that are wasting water in the disputed territories.
-Ben Fishman
CAS 2014
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