Lebanon: Water Dispute With Israel - October 8, 2002

[NNN0LHI]

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9905E4D7103BF93BA35753C1A9649C8B63

Senior officials from the United States Embassy in Beirut met Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri to try to defuse a dispute with Israel over Lebanon's plans to use water both countries say they need. Israel has said it takes a ''grave view'' of Lebanon's plan to pipe water to southern villages from the Wazzani Springs, three miles north of the Israeli border. The springs feed the Hasbani River, a tributary of the Jordan River, which is a major source of Israel's fresh water. Lebanon says that it is within its rights under international law and that it plans to open a pumping station soon.

[Minnesota Libra]

1. There has been more than one suggestion today that the present............

.....Middle East problems between Israel and Lebanon is indeed tied to water. The more I hear the more I wonder if that isn't exactly it too.

[rodeodance]

4. there was an article on DU about the water issue a day or two ago.

[Minnesota Libra]

5. Could this be the one you are referring to?? ...................

.....It's beginning to look like water will be the next "black gold", "precious commodity", or whatever someone wants to call it.

Israel warns of war over water
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2249599.stm

[NYC]

24. Blue gold.

It already has a name.

[malaise]

8. Listen carefully to where Israel tells the South Lebanese to move

North of said river. They are fooling only sheeple.

[theHandpuppet]

9. Good point, malaise

If I were a betting person I'd put my money on that.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. Again, energy is an issue

If we developed alternative sources of energy, it might make the desalinization of sea water a cheap and non-confrontational option. If only we spent as much money trying to improve people's lives as we did making bombs the world would be a better place.

[RC]

12. If sunbeams were weapons of war,

we would have had soler energy Centuries ago



http://rc.smugmug.com/gallery/1644442

[malaise]

22. It's easier to make bombs

apparently.

[theHandpuppet]

3. You may find these links of interest

This first article is quite fascinating -- I really had no idea of the role access to water has and has had in the political machinations at work in the ME, even today.

The following is but a short excerpt of a long article which is well worth the read.

http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Vandana_Shiva/Water_Wars_VShiva.html

p71
The conflict between Iraq and Turkey is expected to intensify as Turkey attempts to move with its $32 billion plan to build 22 dams on the Euphrates for the irrigation of 1.7 million hectares of land. When the two dams operate along with the Ataturk Dam, Iraq would lose 80 to 90 percent of its allotment of Euphrates water.

p72
The war between Israelis and Palestinians is to a some extent a war over water. The river under contention is the Jordan River, used by Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and the West Bank. Israel's extensive industrial agriculture requires the river's water as well as the groundwater of the West Bank. While only 3 percent of the Jordan basin lies in Israel, the river provides for 60 percent of its water needs.

Israel's very formation was based on ensuring access to water. "It is necessary that the water sources, upon which the future of the Land depends, should not be outside the borders of the future Jewish homeland," wrote Israel's former prime minister David Ben-Gurion in 1973. "For this reason we have always demanded that the Land of Israel include the southern banks of the Litani River, the headwaters of the Jordan, and the Hauran Region from the El Auja spring south of Damascus."

Water conflicts began in 1948, when Israel undertook the National Water Carrier Project, which involved a gigantic water pipeline extending from the Jordan River to the Negev Desert to irrigate crops. This project led to a dispute with Syria. In 1953, United States envoy Eric Johnston initiated the Unified Development of Water Resources plan to resolve conflicts between Israel, Syria, and Jordan. Syria rejected the plan, and since then, Israel-Syria border conflicts have been closely connected to river diversions by Israel. Former Israeli prime minister Levy Eshkol declared in 1962 that "water is the blood in our veins" and that being prevented from accessing it would be cause for war.

Between 1987 and 1988, Israel used 67 percent of its water for agriculture and allocated the rest for domestic and industrial purposes. Although Israel's agricultural water consumption had been reduced to 62 percent by 1992, it remained the leading sector for water use. In 2000, 50 percent of the total cultivated area in Israel was irrigated; in contrast, Palestinian villages consumed only two percent of Israel's water. The water apartheid, demarcated along ethnic and religious lines, is fueling the already heated Israeli-Palestinian conflict....

MUCH MORE

Other links, just a few examples

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:GQIKw-eP2PUJ:www.drought.unl.edu/pubs/dnn/arch7.pdf+drought+Israel&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=safari (not sure this one will work for everyone)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/296797.stm

http://www.mindfully.org/Water/Drought-Jews-Arabs.htm

http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0JQP/is_313/ai_30243391

[Minnesota Libra]

6. Thank you for these links, this water issue is looking like........

....it could become a major reason for unrest throughout the world in the years to come.

[theHandpuppet]

7. Without a doubt

In addition to the ongoing drought in stricken areas of sub-Saharan Africa, China is facing a real water crisis. There have been many articles on this subject and its also been the subject of some TV news reports.

[malaise]

11. Water from the small islands of the Caribbean

will also be a problem as more and more and larger cruise ships fill up and deplete the already limited supplies.
spacing.

[malaise]

10. Thanks for these

Leaflets urging residents in southern Lebanon to leave their homes and move north of the Litani River, 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Israeli border, have been dropped in the region, the IDF said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/meast/07/21/mideast/index.html

Check this link
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80859e/80859E07.htm
<snip>
Israelis involved in these issues contest these reports. Israeli hydrologic records, for example, show that the flow of the Hasbani into Israel exceeded the average flow only three times in the last 10 years, during particularly wet years (stream gaugings, Israel Hydrologic Survey 1981-1991). More to the point, an officer in Israel's Northern Command, who dealt with Haddad extensively, claims that the Lebanese major made perfectly clear to the Israelis that "We will cooperate with you, but there are two subjects which are taboo - our land and our water" (interview, October 1991). Nevertheless, the then Chief of Staff Ezer Weizman (Chaim Weizmann's nephew) was berated by a member of the Knesset after the operation for not seizing the Litani: "Your uncle knew at the time the historic significance of the Litani," M.K. Cohen shouted (cited in Hof 1985, 24).

In the 1982 operation, the Litani was again the initially stated objective, but, by July, Israeli forces had surrounded Beirut. This war, as in 1967, had clear military and political objectives, and water may, again, have played a minor role.

[theHandpuppet]

14. Fascinating. This fits right in with the earlier excerpted text

Quote: Israel's very formation was based on ensuring access to water. "It is necessary that the water sources, upon which the future of the Land depends, should not be outside the borders of the future Jewish homeland," wrote Israel's former prime minister David Ben-Gurion in 1973. "For this reason we have always demanded that the Land of Israel include the southern banks of the Litani River, the headwaters of the Jordan, and the Hauran Region from the El Auja spring south of Damascus."

[malaise]

23. Fascists will steal anything

and they will kill anyone in their way.

[theHandpuppet]

13. Kicking because this goes along with Delusional's thread on the subject

Read this stuff folks, it's really an eye-opener.

[eridani]

15. It's the water!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2949768.stm

King Hussein of Jordan identified water as the only reason that might lead him to war with the Jewish state.

Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned bluntly that the next war in the area will be over water.

From Turkey to Uganda, and from Morocco to Oman, nations with some of the highest birth-rates in the world are all concerned about how to find enough water to sustain urban growth and to meet the needs of agriculture, the main cause of depleting water resources in the region.

All of these countries depend on either the three great river systems which have an average renewal rate of between 18 days to three months, or on vast underground aquifers some of which could take centuries to refill.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/297164.stm

Scarcity of water has contributed to regional tensions and is an aggravating factor in the Arab-Israeli conflict:

Israel and the Palestinians: The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is about water, as well as land. The West Bank is a major source of water for Israel. But Palestinians complain that, on average, an Israeli uses three times as much water as a West Bank Palestinian.

Lebanon: The Lebanese have long accused Israel of having designs on the waters of the River Litani, suspecting this is one reason why the Jewish state maintains a toehold in southern Lebanon. Israel denies the charge.

Syria: Similarly, Syria accuses Israel of being reluctant to withdraw from the Golan Heights - the strategic plateau it captured in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 - because of a desire to exploit the Golan's water resources.

Egypt: Cairo warned, in 1991, that it was ready to use force to protect its access to the waters of the Nile. The warning was directed mainly at its neighbours Ethiopia and Sudan. Rapid growth of a population already over 60 million is putting immense pressure on Egypt's water supplies.

Turkey: Turkey's exploitation of the waters of the Euphrates has long been controversial. Since 1984 the Turks have been building a series of dams and hydropower plants in south-east Turkey, as part of an ambitious scheme known as GAP. Syria and Iraq complain the scheme is depriving them of much-needed water. Given the troubled relationship between Syria and Turkey, in particular, the issue has become politically contentious.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2249599.stm

10 September, 2002, 17:39 GMT 18:39 UK
Israel warns of war over water

An alleged Lebanese scheme to divert water from a river feeding Israel's largest reservoir could provoke a war, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned.

Israeli army radio quoted the prime minister as saying on Tuesday that the issue constituted a "casus belli", or "grounds for war".

He was addressing senior military and civilian officials after a cabinet meeting.

Lebanon opened a pumping-station on the River Hasbani in the spring of 2001 to irrigate a drought-stricken village but denies that it plans to dam the river.

The river supplies between 20 and 25% of the water flowing into the Sea of Galilee, an official at Israel's Ministry of Agriculture was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP.

It rises in Lebanon and flows for about 50 kilometres (30 miles) through its territory before joining the River Jordan and emptying into the Sea of Galilee.

Army radio said Mr Sharon had notified the United States that Israel could mount military operations should Lebanon begin pumping water out of the Hasbani or its tributary, the River Wazzani.

The Israeli Transportation Minister, Ephraim Sneh, said Mr Sharon had called for a "good and enlightened way" to settle the issue but was ready to "act".

"If Lebanon put into effect its project to siphon water from the river, it would be serious enough a reason for Israel to act," Mr Sneh told the radio station.

[eridani]

16. It's the water!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2949768.stm

King Hussein of Jordan identified water as the only reason that might lead him to war with the Jewish state.

Former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali warned bluntly that the next war in the area will be over water.

From Turkey to Uganda, and from Morocco to Oman, nations with some of the highest birth-rates in the world are all concerned about how to find enough water to sustain urban growth and to meet the needs of agriculture, the main cause of depleting water resources in the region.

All of these countries depend on either the three great river systems which have an average renewal rate of between 18 days to three months, or on vast underground aquifers some of which could take centuries to refill.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/297164.stm

Scarcity of water has contributed to regional tensions and is an aggravating factor in the Arab-Israeli conflict:

Israel and the Palestinians: The conflict between Israel and the Palestinians is about water, as well as land. The West Bank is a major source of water for Israel. But Palestinians complain that, on average, an Israeli uses three times as much water as a West Bank Palestinian.

Lebanon: The Lebanese have long accused Israel of having designs on the waters of the River Litani, suspecting this is one reason why the Jewish state maintains a toehold in southern Lebanon. Israel denies the charge.

Syria: Similarly, Syria accuses Israel of being reluctant to withdraw from the Golan Heights - the strategic plateau it captured in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967 - because of a desire to exploit the Golan's water resources.

Egypt: Cairo warned, in 1991, that it was ready to use force to protect its access to the waters of the Nile. The warning was directed mainly at its neighbours Ethiopia and Sudan. Rapid growth of a population already over 60 million is putting immense pressure on Egypt's water supplies.

Turkey: Turkey's exploitation of the waters of the Euphrates has long been controversial. Since 1984 the Turks have been building a series of dams and hydropower plants in south-east Turkey, as part of an ambitious scheme known as GAP. Syria and Iraq complain the scheme is depriving them of much-needed water. Given the troubled relationship between Syria and Turkey, in particular, the issue has become politically contentious.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2249599.stm

10 September, 2002, 17:39 GMT 18:39 UK
Israel warns of war over water

An alleged Lebanese scheme to divert water from a river feeding Israel's largest reservoir could provoke a war, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has warned.

Israeli army radio quoted the prime minister as saying on Tuesday that the issue constituted a "casus belli", or "grounds for war".

He was addressing senior military and civilian officials after a cabinet meeting.

Lebanon opened a pumping-station on the River Hasbani in the spring of 2001 to irrigate a drought-stricken village but denies that it plans to dam the river.

The river supplies between 20 and 25% of the water flowing into the Sea of Galilee, an official at Israel's Ministry of Agriculture was quoted as saying by the French news agency AFP.

It rises in Lebanon and flows for about 50 kilometres (30 miles) through its territory before joining the River Jordan and emptying into the Sea of Galilee.

Army radio said Mr Sharon had notified the United States that Israel could mount military operations should Lebanon begin pumping water out of the Hasbani or its tributary, the River Wazzani.

The Israeli Transportation Minister, Ephraim Sneh, said Mr Sharon had called for a "good and enlightened way" to settle the issue but was ready to "act".

"If Lebanon put into effect its project to siphon water from the river, it would be serious enough a reason for Israel to act," Mr Sneh told the radio station.

[Sydnie]

17. another discussion on this subject here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1698430&mesg_id=1698430

[bloom]

18. I've been hearing more and more about this.

Thanks for the thread and the links - everybody.

[bahrbearian]

19. Colorado River ,,ours all ours.

[NNN0LHI]

20. Stop it. Makes me nervous when people read my mind around here

:hi:

[Karenina]

21. Kick!

:kick: