April 22, 2013.
Processing
I know I haven’t been engaging enough with the information
and opportunities presented to me. I used to think that when people talked
about being “overloaded” when abroad, it would be easily recognizable, and
easily avoided. But neither is true. Mostly, I just feel bogged down, fine with
comprehending the material but slow or unable to apply it or dig deep. Feeling
low about this, I wanted to journal about something that excited me. Reviewing
for this damned water midterm in an hour, I realized that I’ve already been to
a place that other students haven’t-and because I tuned out during the lecture,
it’s only now that I’m recognizing my experience!
Rights and Dilemmas
When Professor Clive took two other students and me on the Hebron field trip, he showed us the waste
water treatment plan right over the Israeli side of the border. He told us that
Israelis treated the effluent that came from the WB, but he didn’t tell us
about the politics of that unilateral decision (or at least, I don’t remember
him doing so). But the lecture discusses them. Israel has a law in place that
makes it illegal to release untreated sewage into any of Israel. Because
wastewater from the WB flows over the green line due to topography, untreated
effluents “break the law” and enter Israel. Israel, having the capital and
infrastructure, treats this effluent. However, they (this treatment center, at least) unilaterally “bill”
Palestinians for breaking the law. After 1996, when the Palestinian Water
Authority was created, Israel began deducting money from the Palestinian
Authority for the service of treating the waste water. Included in the
“effluent” is potentially clean surface water that has mixed with waste water.
Israel, since 1996, has charged over 50 million dollars. To my knowledge, this
water is not returned to the West Bank, or at least, not without additional
demands. As effluents are increasing,
Israel has been sending demands to the Palestinian Authority for funds to
upgrade the treatment centers. But the figures on quantity and quality of the
effluents produced by Israel do not appear reliable and have not been verified
by outside sources.
