If you want to understand the real reason why the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been unsolvable for decades, one fact suffices: Palestinian leaders and activists would rather deprive their entire population of fresh water than allow an Israeli company to land a contract.
And if that assertion seems far-fetched, just consider what befell UNICEF last week when it sought to move forward with plans to build a desalination plant in Gaza.
According to both the UN and the Palestinians themselves, Gaza has a desperate shortage of pure drinking water. An official report issued by the Palestinian Water Authority last year stated that 90 percent of Gaza’s water supply is polluted, posing a serious threat to the health of Palestinian residents. A report issued the previous year by the UN Environment Program put the figure at 95 percent. Thus, if ever a place was in desperate need of a desalination plant, it’s Gaza. So UNICEF decided to step into the breach.
The agency’s policy, as its spokeswoman subsequently explained in an effort to justify its behavior, is always to buy from Palestinians if a qualified Palestinian vendor exists. Unfortunately, Palestinian companies don’t make desalination plants. But a world leader in the field happens to sit conveniently just over the border from Gaza, so UNICEF innocently thought the best solution, in terms of quality and cost-effectiveness, would be to invite bids from Israeli firms.
At that point, all hell broke loose. Gaza’s elected Hamas government announced that no Israeli would be allowed to set foot in Gaza. The Palestinian Contractors Union condemned UNICEF, announced a boycott of the agency and warned fellow Palestinians against cooperating with Israeli bidders. Other Palestinian groups threatened to stage protests against UNICEF and shut down its offices.
In other words, the Hamas government, the contractors union and other Palestinian civil-society groups all decided that letting their fellow Palestinians continue to drink polluted water was better than allowing an Israeli firm to win the contract. They would rather do without the plant than give any business to Israelis.
UNICEF hasn’t actually awarded the contract yet, so it may back down and buy the plant elsewhere. Having it built by a company based farther away would probably take longer and cost more, but the Palestinians don’t care: They’ve already made it clear that depriving Israeli firms of business takes precedence over clean drinking water for their people, and as for cost, the international community is picking up the tab anyway.
But regardless of what happens to this particular project, the lesson is clear: Faced with a choice between promoting their people’s welfare and harming Israel, both the elected Palestinian government and civil-society leaders unhesitatingly chose the latter. And until Palestinians reverse this order of priorities, peace will continue to be impossible.
Smart move by Hamas who is interested in power over a people it uses as cannon fodder. An Israeli facility would undermine their long term strategy and make Israel look good. Their hatred has worked so far, why should they stop now?
No surprise there. They choose hatred over the lives of their own children, who they strap with explosives and send out to kill Jews. n nHatred made flesh.
Let us not forget that the water is polluted because the Gazans polluted it. Unlike the rest of us, they do not see their polluted water as a problem. If they do not mind, why should we?
Because they need clean water and the deal benefits them.r nr nDuh.
The Israelis won't even talk to Hamas, and get agitated when anyone else might do so. They won't let Gazans fish beyond the 3-mile limit. Why should Hamas allow an Israeli company to built a plant in Gaza under these conditions?
The Gazaens need the water. U can't read? Let them get the water from Egypt or Jordan.
Because they were not fishing for fish beyond the “3-mile limit.”r nMost probably you choose not to remember the weapon smuggling where Iranian boats were leaving the sealed caches on the sea bottom to be trawled for the daily fresh fish market.
As long as the bills are paid by other countries, the "Palestinians" will continue to pose as adults capable of self-government while behaving as spoiled children. Learning to fend for themselves would lead them to realize that food, clothing, shelter and clean water are central to existence. They would learn that fomenting hatred and harboring perceived grievances contribute nothing to their well-being. If we stopped paying the Arabs to be refugees, dramatic progress could soon follow in efforts to resolve the seemingly endless conflict.
Gaza needs a sewage treatment plant very badly, as much as or more than a water desalination plant. Such a plant could provide treated water for farming and industrial purposes as well as improving public health. But the policy is cut off your nose to spite your face.
Remember the sewage tsunami in Gaza a few years back because the piping was stolen to make rockets?