

Israel, Jordan, Palestinians Strike Water-Sharing Deal - davidsmith8900
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/12/09/249848737/israel-jordan-palestinians-strike-water-sharing-deal

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Zaheer
Comment from original article sums it up nicely:

"So Jordan gets a shiny new water plant; Israel gets more resources to
colonize the Negev Desert, and the Palestinians "get" to pay Israel for water
that comes from a Palestinian aquifer." \- joewmitchell

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GabrielF00
The phrase "colonize the Negev Desert" is incorrect in this context. Generally
when people use the word "colonize" to refer to Israeli activities they are
referring to building in the West Bank, which Israel has been occupying since
the 1967 Six Day War. Many see Israeli efforts to build in the West Bank as
illegitimate attempts to create "facts on the ground" that would perpetuate
Israeli sovereignty over territory that it has no legal claim to.

The Negev Desert, by contrast, has been Israeli territory since the creation
of the State of Israel in 1948 and was part of the Jewish state in the 1947
Partition Plan. As far as international law is concerned, Israel developing
the Negev is no different than, say, Poland building in Gdansk or the United
States building in Hawaii.

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josteink
Maybe I'm just overly sensitive on this subject, but my immediate reaction
when I see this headline (and the quote here from Zaheer) is how Isreal and
Jordan is emphesized as independent states, while Palestinians is cut off in
their own second-class group, seemingly without any country or independence
(and hence rights).

Why? They've been recognized as a sovereign state for ages by pretty much
everyone except Israel, which keeps stealing more of their land. In turn their
homes, fertile lands and crops. And now even their water.

Why do we need to push Israel's agenda? Why these shady and slimy tactics?

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ars
How are they a sovereign state? The land was Israel for a millennia till
conquered by Arabs and then the Ottomans. (To summarize massively.)

And now it's back to being Israel. There never was a country of "Palestine".

People keep saying:

> which keeps stealing more of their land

Which isn't at all true - Palestinians are stealing land from Israel.

Either you believe in the right of conquest or you don't. If you do then
Israel won that land and that's done. If you don't then go back as far as you
can and it's Israel. (The Canaanites don't exist anymore.)

In no version do the Palestinians have any claim except that they are living
there so they have to figure out a way to coexist. That makes them residents
or citizens, but it doesn't make a country.

> And now even their water.

It's not their water. Even Palestinians don't think it's their water. It's
opinions like yours that keep fanning the flames of war by giving them
something else to fight over that was never a reason before.

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wfunction
If you go back that far then you have to agree America isn't a sovereign state
either, right?

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ars
Personally I believe in the right of conquest, so I don't have to agree about
that.

I mentioned it just in case there is someone who doesn't believe in it (which
would cause them no end of trouble dealing with the reality of current nations
- but somehow only Israel is singled out).

Israel won those wars (which it did not start I should point out) over that
land and that's all there is to it.

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znowi
There's a very insightful documentary on the Israeli-Palestinian relationship,
featuring 6 former directors of Shabak (Israel Security Agency). I highly
recommend it.

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2309788/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2309788/)

