Lebanon: It's the water, stupid!

[IndianaGreen]

James Carville kept a sign over his desk that said, "It's the economy, stupid!" as a reminder of what the real issue in the 1992 Presidential campaign was.

Today we are bombarded by all kinds of propaganda about Hezbollah, captured Israeli soldiers, and all kinds of yada-yada. The news today is that Israel is planning to establish a security zone inside Lebanon that will extend to the Litani River. Up to 300,000 Lebanese will be displaced, become refugees in their own land, by that move.

If up to this point you have believed everything the American corporate media has told you about Lebanon, I've got news for you: It's the water, stupid!

Here is a brief sample of Israel's designs on the Litani and the Hasbani Rivers:

Tuesday, March 16, 1999 Published at 14:05 GMT

World: Middle East

Analysis: The politics of water

By Middle East specialist Roger Hardy



Water is the most valuable resource in the Middle East, more precious even than oil.

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

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.

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

Friday, 2 June, 2000, 10:41 GMT 11:41 UK

Water conflict in Middle East

Fishermen haul in their nets on the Sea of Galilee. Things seem to have changed little from biblical times, but they have. These waters are a source of great tension between countries, not because they are holy, but because they are scarce.

Yitzhak Gal from the Lake Authority showed me how the waters have fallen to a critically low level.

"Five years ago, the water arrived this line," he explains.

"Today you can see the lake is lower and the shoreline is in the far."

In the summer water levels went below the danger line where it is believed that salt waters may begin to cause damage to this lake, its supplies and its ecology. Meanwhile, demand for water grows.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/764142.stm

Wednesday, 28 March, 2001, 21:48 GMT 22:48 UK

Lebanon hails 'liberation of water'

Lebanon has begun pumping water from a tributary of the River Jordan to supply a southern border village, despite opposition from Israel.

At a ceremony, government official Qablan Qablan said the opening of a pumping station on the Hasbani river was the first step towards liberating the country's water.

The pump will supply drinking water for about 200 people in the village of Wazzani, and other projects are planned.

Israeli officials have criticised the setting up of pumps on the river, which rises in southern Lebanon and flows south to feed the River Jordan, a major source of water for Israel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/1248140.stm

Tuesday, 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.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/2249599.stm

Litani River Dispute

There has always been conflict over scarce natural resources, for instance, water. Adequate access to necessary water may be termed resource security and possible to war over. Both Lebanon and Israel see adequate supplies of water as essential to their security--and increasingly see it so. In fact, they find that there is not enough water to satisfy their wants and needs.

Therefore, there exists the possibility of aggression in order to obtain water from the Litani River. In fact, "history reveals that water has frequently provided a justification for going to war: It has been an object of military conquest, a source of economic or political strength and both a tool and a target of conflict."(8)

If the demand or need for water in the riparian region is much greater than the supply, conflict over the relatively scarce water to meet those needs is more likely. This conflict may be military.

In the Israeli-Palestinian context, water is a central ingredient, perhaps only second to land, of the wider conflict between the two sides...the water conflict is not just about water; it reaches to the recesses of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to questions of land and annexation. Those are abnormal in a water conflict, and render the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict more complex and acute than others in the region.(9)
Israel seemingly is tempted to reach beyond its border to get access to the needed water. "Almost half of the water currently used in Israel is captured, diverted or preempted from its neighbors."(10) This is understandable, given water can be described as "Israel's vulnerable and fragile source of life."(11)

Israel is a riparian state, in part meaning that it must share a large portion of its surface water resources with neighboring countries. Control of water may be seen as integral to Israel's sovereignty, the need for which Israel might war over.(12) Historically, Israel has been interested in the Litani, and conflict with Lebanon over the Litani is more likely given this. Essentially, control of the Litani has long been a dream of Israel in hopes of establishing a greater Zion from Sinai to ancient Babylon.(13)

http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/litani.htm

NOTES

(8) Lee, James R., and Maren Brooks. "Conflict and Environment: Lebanon's Historic and Modern Nightmare." Paper for Conference on Environment & Sustainable Development in Lebanon, NGO- Private/Public Sector Partnerships Rene Moawad Foundation, Dec. 1996.

(9) Elmusa, Sharif S. The Water Issue and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Information Paper Number 2. (Washington, DC: The Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, 1993), 1, 15.

(10) Stauffer, Thomas R. Water and War in the Middle East: The Hydraulic Parameters of Conflict. Information Paper Number 5. (Washington, DC: The Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine, July 1996), 11.

(11) Amery, Hussein A. "The Litani River of Lebanon." The Geographical Review. Vol. 83, No. 3, July 1993, 232.

(12) Ibid., 233.

(13) Stauffer, 11.

[leesa]

1. You are dead on right. Israel has NO WATER and NO OIL and her

sugar daddy is about to go down the tubes under a giant debt load.

[martymar64]

19. Kind of like Cuba when the Soviet Union fell

n/t

[niyad]

2. this is extremely important information, and thank you so much for taking

the time to post it. with your kind permission, I am going to post it to some of my other boards.

[panader0]

3. Very interesting. This puts things in a new light.

I live in southern Az., and believe me, water is a big issue here. Luckily, I have my own well, but there is a dipute with the Gila Indians who claim that this area is in their watershed.

[Sam Odom]

4. "all kinds of propaganda about Hezbollah"

Hezbollah are as bad as the "propaganda" say. Just because someone else's actions are evil doesn't dismiss the evil of Hezbollah.

[don954]

5. wow, pull the area up on google earth, the "river" isnt even as wide

as some of the houses along it. Around here we would call that a creek. They sure put the jews in a rotten place in the world.... We should have given them a chunk America. We got so much unpopulated land that it isnt even funny, especially compared with the postage stamp the UN gave them in the middle east...

[IndianaGreen]

6. "Litani discharges approximately 580 million cubic meters (MCM) per year"

You should have read the article:

The Litani River flows not far from Israel. The nearest part of the Litani to Israel is where the river turns by Nabatiya, four kilometers from Israel's border. The river's proximity to Israel may make it even more tempting for Israel to exploit. The Litani River is 170 kilometers long, with a basin of 2,290 square kilometers. A narrow ridge about 5 kilometers wide separates the Litani from the Hasbani River, a tributary of the Jordan River.

The Litani discharges approximately 580 million cubic meters (MCM) per year. (This is based on 25 years of measurements, from 1941-1971.) Its flow varies from year to year. The minimum was in 1970 at 184 MCM and the maximum in 1954 at 1020 MCM.(2) The estimated average annual flow of the Litani is 920 MCM.(3) The Litani is smaller than the Jordan in terms of its total flow.(4) The Litani has high quality water. In particular, its salinity level is 20 parts per million (compared with 250-350 parts per million for the Sea of Galilee).(5)

Lebanon finds that the harnessing of the Litani is essential to its industrial and agricultural development.(6) Therefore, the Litani was partially dammed at Qarun. The Litani also passes through tunnels and pentstocks of hydroplants to the coast, where it is used for irrigation for areas south of Beirut.(7)

http://www.american.edu/ted/ice/litani.htm

[don954]

15. hey, i didn't say it wasn't important, all i said it was a miserable

scrap of a creek to be fighting over. Israel is in a location comparable to many native American reservations, dry, useless, and next to impossible to live in.

Also, isnt damming a river that supplies another nation a violation of international law? I would also say if its one of Israel's only sources of water, its part of Hezbollah's stated goal of exterminating Israel. I think damming such a river would be conceiveable as an act of war.

[Little Star]

27. Nederland just gave me a link to desalination being done by

Israel. This may make the Latani argument null.

Israel: Waterworks for the World?
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051230_495029.htm

[IndianaGreen]

28. Read KansDem's post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2741641&mesg_id=2743607

Consider also that Israel is already occupying land that she took from Lebanon, Syria, and the Palestinians that happens to be arable and has water sources. Without the Occupation, Israel would be hurting for water.

[OrechDin]

42. Theres was no Lebanese land (recognized by ANYBODY) occupied prior

to this war.

[theHandpuppet]

12. Also visit the following threads

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1698430
and
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1696420

[Kagemusha]

7. Israel could've just you know, stayed in Lebanon in the first place.

And water or no water, this was started by an attack and the capture of Israeli soldiers. That's not in serious dispute. Whatever Israel might like to do longer term, what made this conflict worth having was something FAR more important than a measely river: the challenge to the balance of fear that keeps Israel safe from foreign attack. (Well, safer.)

[Karenina]

17. Hmmm...let me see if I got that.

This conflict was worth it? :shrug:
FEAR will teach those Arabs (they only understand violence, ya know) who they better not mess with? :crazy:

Do the words policy failure ring any bells?

Reflections in Lebanon of a Failed Bush Doctrine

July 25, 2006

By Ron Fullwood

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x1724904

"Israel's determination to attack civilians in Lebanon, deliberately or not, who have absolutely no influence with the political or militant organization of Hizbollah (or any other group which supposedly threatens) and destroying their lives and livelihoods as a 'deterrence' is reprehensible.

That's Israel's stated intention behind the airstrikes. They want to influence the Lebanese away from any support they may have with Hizbollah, politically or otherwise. However, Lebanon's citizens didn't vote en masse for Hizbollah; they voted for the present Lebanese government which the Bush regime claims to be so enamored with.

Israel's violent reprisals have led many in Lebanon to question their move for independence from Syria and actually drawn them closer to the militant splinter group. The anecdotal evidence has the majority in Lebanon blaming Israel for the destruction rather than Hizbollah. I rather doubt the assertion made by some that the strikes will make the Lebanese civilians want to disarm them. At this point, there doesn't seem to be any country willing to step up and protect them from Israel's misguided reprisals.

It's a political and diplomatic effort that will dislodge Hizbollah from its influence in southern Lebanon and in the region. I believe the actions of the Israelis are antithetical to that end."

[blm]

8. Do you recall a post I made over a year ago about upcoming Water Wars?

I recounted a conversation a friend of mine had with Gorbachev at an event in Europe where Gorbachev told him that the upcoming water wars would "dwarf" the oil wars.

Also keep in mind that RevMoon owns all the land above the world's largest aquifer in Paraguay.

[IndianaGreen]

10. Global warming is also affecting potable water resources

I don't recall your post, blm. However, Gorby is right is that future wars will be over water and energy resources.

[sistersofmercy]

9. BINGO!

You win the prize for best answer. I hope everyone reads this. Thanks for posting. I saw a short documentary on world tv (or whatever it's called) 2-3 years ago about this.

[theHandpuppet]

11. And of course Israel wants to occupy the very strip of land...

... which includes the Litani River. Strange coincidence, huh.

[IndianaGreen]

13. And the IDF seems uninterested in looking for the detained soldiers

as if their plight was just a pretext for a war that has been in planning stages for over a year.

[Igel]

14. Interesting hypothesis.

Like any good hypothesis, it's falsifiable.

It makes predictions about Israel's conduct over the next few weeks. If they happen, then your hypothesis is valid. If it's not, some way will be found, I'm sure, to justify it's being the real reason, but things just didn't work out.

BTW, most of the fighting on the ground so far seems to be around the "Ga" in "Galilee" on your map.

[Mojorabbit]

16. Well there is this

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=2412331
time will tell if the "strip" includes part of the river

[KansDem]

26. From the CIA Fact Book

Lebanon:
Natural resources:
limestone, iron ore, salt, water-surplus state in a water-deficit region, arable land

Israel:
Environment - current issues:
limited arable land and natural fresh water resources pose serious constraints; desertification; air pollution from industrial and vehicle emissions; groundwater pollution from industrial and domestic waste, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides

https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/


...'bout sums it up.

[IndianaGreen]

33. Here we are entering the fourth week of the war and the Litani River

is where Israel is pushing towards.

[IndianaGreen]

34. Here is the MSNC report about IDF driving towards Litani

‘The whole mission’

Defense Minister Amir Peretz has told top army officers to begin preparing for a push to the Litani, about 20 miles north of the border — a move that would require Cabinet approval.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14163530/

[Major Hogwash]

36. Was that the original goal of the plan, do you think?

Or is that just a short-term goal they are trying to achieve?

[IndianaGreen]

40. The same that it is in the West Bank: grab all the water sources!

A tactic that dates back to ancient times!

Have you seen Kingdom of Heaven?

[sandnsea]

35. Water is a serious problem, always has been

Water has always been a key element in negotiations. One way to eliminate Israel is to eliminate their water supply, or worse, poison it. It's no different than the water problems of the Colorado and Rio Grande in this country. There's not necessarily a right or wrong to it, unless water is intentionally diverted from its traditional flow for obvious political purposes.

[Totally Committed]

18. I can't even express how right I think you are about this!

Every friend I have in that region says the same thing. And, if it is coming from people who LIVE there, it's true!

Thanks so much for posting this!

TC

[Opusnone]

20. Kicked and recommended

[Imperialism Inc.]

21. A "security zone" eh?

And when that isn't enough will they have to take more and more and more? Oh, that's right, that's what they've been doing for a long time now. Maybe they should just make a "manifest destiny" policy and be out in the open about it.

[underpants]

22. Excellent work- the other water source in the region?

Anyone? Anyone?
















Iraq

[hadrons]

23. the resource wars

[IndianaGreen]

25. A new book about water resources in the Middle East

The book will be published next month. Thanks to a Kossack for the heads up!:

Water Resources in Jordan

Evolving Policies for Development, the Environment, and Conflict Resolution

The book is a must for readers interested in Middle East politics and the critical nature of water issues in the region. The book notes the importance of interaction with the outside world to augment water resources through trade, making the experience of Jordan relevant to other developing regions where water is scarce. It introduces the term "shadow water" to mean the scarce indigenous water resources that the import of agricultural and industrial commodities saves or replaces. It quantifies, for the first time, the shadow water and its financial cost. It lists the benefits drawbacks of shadow water, and defines its role in balancing the population-water resources equation. The book shows how financially profitable it can be to treat water as a tradable commodity, to be exchanged peaceably across international borders.

Haddadin and his distinguished contributors bring the water conflicts between Jordan and its neighbors, Israel and Syria, into sharp focus. The resolution of each conflict is analyzed, and recommendations for implementation of the agreements are made. The book includes a historical perspective on the development of water policies in Jordan, and explores the significance of water in the religious, social, and political life of the country.

http://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title_pages/9301.html

[Nederland]

24. Dumb

Water is the most valuable resource in the Middle East, more precious even than oil.

This empirically false. The price of potable water in the Middle East does not even come close to the price of oil. The truth regarding so called "water wars" is that they will never happen. As fresh water becomes scarce, desalination becomes more common and drops in price. Desalinated water is already common in the Middle East, and represents a ceiling which the price can never exceed. They even have plants that are powered by wave energy...

[boolean]

29. Price does not equal value

The price of water vs. the price of oil doesn't mean anything. Price is determined by supply & demand.

[sendero]

37. Yes...

...but the cost of desalinating water is almost purely a function of energy costs, which are rising apace. If a barrel of oil costs twice as much, a barrel of water will cost almost that much.

[Reckon]

30. Yes, it's about water

but it's about more than that. A lot more than that!

All the destruction you see in Lebanon is a long term deal designed to seal it off so material and equipment can not move on Israel from the north. That is just faze one.

It's just a matter of time until the crazy NeoCons have the ME in flames. This is their chance, they will not let it slip away.

I'm also starting to understand what is going on here at home. All of it. It's long term as well.

WWIII has started.

[Douglas Carpenter]

31. B'tselem has a great deal about water in the occupied Palestinian lands

The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories - link:

http://www.btselem.org/english/Water/Consumption_Gap.asp

"There is a huge gap between Israeli and Palestinian consumption. The average Israeli consumes for domestic and urban use approximately 104 cubic meters a year, or 280 liters per person per day. In other words, per capita use in Israel is four and a half times higher than in the Occupied Territories . To make a more precise comparison, by also taking into account industrial water consumption in Israel, per capita use per year reaches 120 cubic meters - 330 liters per person a day - or five and a half times Palestinian per capita consumption.

The World Health Organization and the United States Agency for International Development recommend 100 liters of water per person per day as the minimum quantity for basic consumption. This amount includes, in addition to domestic use, consumption in hospitals, schools, businesses, and other public institutions. Palestinian daily consumption is 40 percent less than the recommended quantity."


A cistern being filled up with water from a tanker. Purchasing water from private companies is one of the few options available to the residents of more than 150 Palestinian villages that are not connected to a water network.
Photo credit: B'Tselem - Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

"The water shortage is especially hard on residents of Palestinian villages that are not connected to a water network. As of June 2006, some 215,000 Palestinians in 220 villages lived in communities without a running-water network. In the winter and fall, these residents collect rainfall in cisterns next to their homes and use the water for all their needs. In the spring and summer months, when the water in the cistern was been depleted, the residents rely on water from nearby springs and on water brought to them by owners of private water-tankers.

There are also hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who live in communities with a central running-water network that supplies water irregularly in limited amounts and does not reach everyone in the community. For this reason, some Palestinian authorities supply water in the summer months on a rotation basis: each neighborhood receives water once every few days, for one day or several hours at a time. To supplement the water supplied, these residents have to buy water brought to them in privately owned water-tankers.

Per capita water consumption for household and municipal use in communities connected to a central running-water network in the West Bank is sixty liters a day. In Israel , per capita daily use is 280 liters, more than 4.5 times greater. "

link:

http://www.btselem.org/english/Water/Without_Running_Water.asp

[IndianaGreen]

32. Excellent link!

Thank you! Americans have only heard one side of the story about the Middle East.

[Karenina]

38. ttt

:kick:

[breakaleg]

39. Most wars are the result of the quest for natural resources so

I wouldn't be surprised to learn this one is no different. It certainly lines up with what Israel is doing in the West Bank.

[OrechDin]

41. Maybe its the good ski resorts?

The fantastic felafel?

The good nightclubs?

The good surf?

The wine and grape country arrible lands?


.:eyes:





Anything but constant rocket attacks ,terrorism ,invasion of Israel,threats at her annihilation and Kidnap of their kid soldiers I guess.