On occasion of Ulay's »WaterFonie« Project and Exhibitions

Saturday, 7.11.2009 from 12:00 - 4:00 pm (12:00 - 16:00)

Panel Discussion and Screening in cooperation with the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung Jerusalem

What is the Real Price of Water?

“Water” remains one of the most contentious issues in Israel and Palestine. The current water crisis is not only a consequence of the water scarcity in the region, but also an inherent part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The unequal access to fresh water to the detriment of the Palestinian side makes it clear that we have to deal not only with hydrological challenges but above all with socio-political conditions and the impact of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the issue of water.

This panel disussion will include experts from the field and will be the concluding event of a month-long exhibition and workshop project, called »WaterFonie«.

We will address various aspects of the question, “What is the real price of water?” including economical, ecological, political, and societal. The panel will not only focus on the current water crisis in the region, but will also discuss possible strategies for positive change in the near future.

On the panel:

• Clemens Messerschmid

Clemens first came to the region 12 years ago. For four years, he took part in drilling water wells, as an employee of GTZ (German Technical Cooperation), which runs projects with the Nablus municipality as well as the Ramallah Water Undertaking. After that, he spent another four years doing applied research on a joint British-Palestinian project called "Sustainable Management of Aquifers." Now, in tandem with his work on his doctoral dissertation (entitled "Recharge of the Yarkon-Taninim Basin" - concerning the western mountain aquifer), he is working as a consultant to European and Palestinian development organizations.

• Mark Buttle

Mark , of Oxfam GB, is the WASH Cluster Coordinator for Gaza, where he coordinates humanitarian Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion actvities on behalf of the UN. Mark has worked in Albania and Tajikistan with Oxfam, and in Afghanistan and Pakistan with other organisations. He is a chartered engineer and a trustee of RedR UK.

• Amnon Zamir

Amnon is a graphic designer based in Haifa. His field of expertise is in the design and devolopement of educational books. He is one of the initiators of the WATERCARE program.
WATERCARE was developed during almost ten years by teams from the Palestinian authority, the Jordanian kingdom and Israel under the auspices of the USGS and multinational funding. The book was published in Arabic, Hebrew and English and is in use schools in Israel, Jordan and in the PA.

• Michal Bitterman

Michal is a consultant for sustainable development. She is a board certificate lawyer (B.A from the Heberw University) and holds Master's degree in Strategic Leadership Towards Sustainability (from BTH University, Sweden). Currently she is a PhD student in the Ben Gurion University and her research focuses on peace parks, entitled- "Peace Parks in the Strategic Sustainable Development Lens, as a Vehicle to Promoting Conflict Resolution".

Program:

(Refreshment and Snacks will be served after each panel)

• Panel 1 | Clemens Messerschmid:

"Till the Last Drop: The Palestinian Water Crisis in the West Bank, Hydrogeology and Hydropolitics of a Regional Conflict."

• Panel 2 and Film Screening | Mark Butler

'Gaza is Floating' explores the impact of the Israeli imposed blockade on water and sanitation in the Gaza Strip. A lack of access for materials necessary to rehabilitate, repair and upgrade water and sanitation infrastructure has caused the near collapse of these basic services, putting both public health and the wider environment at significant risk...

• Panel 3 | Amnon Zamir

The WATERCARE program: Dispute, conflict, disagreement, war... the many faces of the situation between Israelis and Palestinians pales in comparison to the real threat we all face in our area: water shortage. When the fighting will be over, (and there will be no vanquisher), will there be any resources left to sustain the grandsons of Abraham? or ours?
Eco-literacy is the main player in this attempt to bridge across the scarce and troubled waters flowing in the wadis of the Middle East. The ecological threats that will unite us will change the role of schools, alter the prerogatives of politicians and redesign the actions each of us will endeavor...

• Panel 4 and Discussion with the audience | Moderation: Michal Bittermann