The EU plans to help fend off a growing water shortage in Gaza with a 10 million euro desalination plant.
The European Union has pledged to build a €10 million desalination plant that will service Khan Yunis and Rafah in Gaza. This is a “medium-term” project designed to alleviate what is Gaza’s evolving water shortages. Although the Environmental Minister Gilad Erdan praised the initiative, he denies allegations leveled by the Palestinian Water Authority’s head Shaddad Attili that Israel’s blockade is responsible for Gaza’s water troubles.
In accordance with a memorandum of understanding signed between the EU’s acting representative to the West Bank and Gaza, the Palestinian Water Authority, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, and UNICEF, the new plant should be complete within 3 years, and service up to 75,000 residents. This is just one of several initiatives planned by the EU.
Although desalination is by no means a panacea for water scarcity, it is one step that has to be taken in the chronically dry levant. Check out photos of murals that depict the seriousness of life without water, and learn about Gaza’s incoming eco-schools. And for more details about the plant, please visit the Jerusalem Post from where this post is adapted.
image via Morguefile
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
Arwa,
I understand the traditional motivation for a large family, yet how many people can be supported by such a small area of land? Certainly not a million, and without foreign aid many would starve. So, why not peacefully organize gentle family planning education so women have a right to decide how many children they can support? Because that culture is dominated by men and their instinctive ambitions to grow the power of their national identity, but where is the territory into which they can grow and expand? It doesn’t exist.
JTR: Your population fears are beyond all logic and are hysterical (well, they’re definitely making me laugh)
Like I mentioned before- the reason that many people in the developing world have large families is because they are a form of social security for old age, illness, lack of employment…. Therefore, until there are alternative ways of ensuring that you are well looked after, all the family education in the world isn’t going to change anything.
So, if Israel is really worried about some malicious Gazan population exploding, they should give them a chance of a proper economy….
Arwa
To solve a problem, one must face reality.
The only reason there’s a water shortage in Gaza is because the Palestinians are deliberately exploding their population to try to overwhelm Israel. So, why should the European Union help them to do that?! Instead, they should encourage family planning education to reduce the Palestinian population and teach them to live in peace and balance on that narrow little strip of land. But the Palestinians are dominated by male supremacy which instinctively yearns for conquest, like most men everywhere.
Even if there is a population problem, which is a global phenomenon, I don’t think it’s reasonable to suggest that it is occurring because of malicious intent.