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Introduction
There is very little human security in Israel/Palestine. Israelis and Palestinians alike live in fear of the dangers that await them in private and in public places.
Traditional notions of security, based on force, military or otherwise, are failing both peoples. Human security is clearly broader than military security. It must encompass notions of justice, personal safety and include basic human rights but just as importantly include notions of compassion, common understanding and trust.
Advancing human security requires recognition of those problems that afflict the other despite the many political disagreements that the parties face. Human security on many issues, with water resources being a prime example, requires a commitment to a solution that transcends political boundaries.
Water has been a prime issue in the Middle East that has both created possibilities for conflict as well as opportunities for cooperation. The scarcity of water in arid and semi-arid regions leads to intense political pressures, often referred to as "water stress." Political maneuvers by one country to secure water resources often hurt the water consumers of another country, and in times of conflict governmental cooperation on water issues can seem especially difficult.
Click here for map of water sources
But shared water resources can also be a catalyst for dialogue. In fact water supply issues in the Israeli Arab conflict have been primarily the focus of cooperation rather than conflict. There are many examples that support this point.
Several decades prior to the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan water negotiators from the respective sides were meeting at the junction of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers allocating water rights. Many analysts believe that the long-term cooperation that existed between Israel and Jordan on water issues prior to the Peace Treaty helped create the trust required to make the compromises needed to make peace happen.
On the Israeli / Palestinian track the joint Israeli Palestinian Water Committee was the only working group that survived the collapse of the Oslo Peace Accords – continuing to meet to this day. While issues of refugees, settlements and final borders were hotly debated at Camp David – water issues were not cited by either party, as cause for the failure of the talks. The only agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority during the second Intifada have both involved water issues – an agreement not to damage each others water infrastructure and an agreement on standards for sewage treatment.
Much of the common understanding obtained in the Arab Israeli conflict on water supply issues is based on the nature of the water resource being understood by all sides as essential to life.
(Choose Photo Album entitled "Human Security")
Traditional notions of security, based on force, military or otherwise, are failing both peoples. Human security is clearly broader than military security. It must encompass notions of justice, personal safety and include basic human rights but just as importantly include notions of compassion, common understanding and trust.
Advancing human security requires recognition of those problems that afflict the other despite the many political disagreements that the parties face. Human security on many issues, with water resources being a prime example, requires a commitment to a solution that transcends political boundaries.
Water has been a prime issue in the Middle East that has both created possibilities for conflict as well as opportunities for cooperation. The scarcity of water in arid and semi-arid regions leads to intense political pressures, often referred to as "water stress." Political maneuvers by one country to secure water resources often hurt the water consumers of another country, and in times of conflict governmental cooperation on water issues can seem especially difficult.
Click here for map of water sources
But shared water resources can also be a catalyst for dialogue. In fact water supply issues in the Israeli Arab conflict have been primarily the focus of cooperation rather than conflict. There are many examples that support this point.
Several decades prior to the signing of the peace treaty between Israel and Jordan water negotiators from the respective sides were meeting at the junction of the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers allocating water rights. Many analysts believe that the long-term cooperation that existed between Israel and Jordan on water issues prior to the Peace Treaty helped create the trust required to make the compromises needed to make peace happen.
On the Israeli / Palestinian track the joint Israeli Palestinian Water Committee was the only working group that survived the collapse of the Oslo Peace Accords – continuing to meet to this day. While issues of refugees, settlements and final borders were hotly debated at Camp David – water issues were not cited by either party, as cause for the failure of the talks. The only agreements signed by Israel and the Palestinian Authority during the second Intifada have both involved water issues – an agreement not to damage each others water infrastructure and an agreement on standards for sewage treatment.
Much of the common understanding obtained in the Arab Israeli conflict on water supply issues is based on the nature of the water resource being understood by all sides as essential to life.
(Choose Photo Album entitled "Human Security")
