Palestinian-Israeli Water Rights Negotiations

In mid-August, 13 Israeli and Palestinian negotiators along with six advisors and mediators will come to Annapolis to finalize agreement on water use/rights issues facing the region as it strives to transform conflict into cooperation.

The Peace & Justice Center has recruited nationally prominent advisors to assist with the water negotiation. These include:

• as mediator, retired Ambassador John McDonald who represented the U.S. at U.N. conferences under both Presidents Carter and Reagan
• as expert in water economics, Prof. Franklin Fisher, M.I.T. economist and Director of Harvard‚s Mid-East Water Project
• as expert in international water infrastructure, former IBWC Commissioner - engineer John Bernal
• as experts in international and water law, prof. Gabriel Eckstein and Doug Caroom, Esq.

Geneva Initiative representatives include present and former high executives of the Palestinian National Authority and the Israeli government, including the director of the Israeli national water company and the Israeli prime minister‚s press secretary.
 

ISRAELI - PALESTINIAN WATER ISSUES: A reading list

A. Some geological & political reference materials

1.   Innovative approaches to avoid water wars in Israel, Jordan, and Palestine by U.S. geologist J. David Rogers. http://www.scribd.com/doc/279853
 
2.  Water Scarcity in the Jordan River Basin, by U.S.  Department of State analyst Mélanne Civic.
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itgic/0399/ijge/gj-04.htm
 
3.  Definition of Israel's Water Problems by Prof. Dan Zaslavsky. http://www.biu.ac.il/soc/besa/water/zaslavsky.html
 
B. Current Israeli - Palestinian agreements under which water problems persist
 
Texts of all of the following available at http://www.mfa.gov.il

1. Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Interim Agreement) - (1994)
2. Declaration of Principles for Cooperation Among the Core Parties on Water_Related Matters and New and Additional Waters (1996)
3. Joint Israel-Palestinian Call to Protect Water Supply (2001)
4. Water Resources Working Group & Water Data Banks Project via multilateral process
5.Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty Annex II as to water and related matter (1999) - for comparison
 

C. Official negotiation positions of Palestinians
 
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is the government with interacts with the Israelis.  But the political organization which operates the PNA and conducts negotiations remains the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).  
 
The PLO has an excellent website which includes maps, charts, legal documents and proposals for cooperation on the water issue and many other issues:
http://www.nad-plo.org/listing.php?view=nego_permanent_water .
 
D. Some legal and water-trading reference materials for comparison
 
1.  The U.S./Mexico International Boundary and Water Commission:
http://www.ibwc.state.gov  Links on the website include texts of the original 1889 treaty, the current 1944 treaty and various "minute" agreements which have established new water projects of various types.
 
A former U.S. commmissioner, John Bernal, will be a neutral advisor for the water conference.  
 
2. The Australian - intergovernmental "National Water Initiative" -
http://www.nwc.gov.au .  Links on the website include texts of the main national agreement and  various regional water-trading plans.
 

How can you help?

Annapolis Friends Meeting (Quakers) Peace and Justice Center needs to raise the funds to fly these negotiators, advisors, and mediators to Annapolis to do the work they have spent years preparing for. Round trip airfares from the Middle East will average about $2,300 per participant. Others are flying from Canada, France, and various U.S. states. Our conference site for four days will be approximately $10,000. The low estimate for the conference is $40,000.

To help, you can donate on this website by clicking the donate button below. Alternatively, you can make a check to Annapolis Friends Meeting with the notation, "Water Rights Conference," and mail it to Annapolis Friends Meeting, 351 Dubois Road, Annapolis, MD 21401.