Seth Siegel is an Israeli expert on water resources. He
wrote an article under the title: “A Middle East Accord – No Diplomats Needed”
and the subtitle: “Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians agree on a project to
address water scarcity.” It was published in the Wall Street Journal on January
7, 2014.
Siegel is jubilant about the fact that Jordan, the
Palestinian Authority and Israel have announced the launch of the first phase
of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Project to rehabilitate the Dead Sea. The three nations
will also build a desalination plant on the Red Sea and a pipeline that will
transmit the water to where it is needed. What is remarkable in his eyes is
that the parties came to this agreement on their own without prodding by
outsiders. This, to him, suggests that the parties can work together to
transform the region “when they believe that their interests are being served.”
The project will accomplish great things even in its early
stages, and when completed will please everyone, including the
environmentalists, he says. He then adds that “the most important part of the
agreement is its role in collaborative, regional development.” He explains that
jobs will be created for everyone. As to the Palestinian people, they will see
that their leaders can create large projects to improve their lives. Of course,
the same will apply to the Jordanians and the Israelis.
Although the author pointed out that the Israelis can work
with their neighbors when their interests are being served, he failed to draw
an important immediate conclusion because he could not see that there was one
to draw. Or it could be that he pretended not to see what was there to be seen.
Indeed, he failed to mention that the interests of nations are numerous but
that they are always placed on a kind of priority list.
Had he asked the question: Why is it that Israel keeps
failing to work for and live in peace with its neighbors, he would have seen
that peace was never a priority – if not for the people of Israel – at least
for the wealthy and powerful interests who live in Israel or outside of it, and
who bankroll it to keep it afloat. And Seth Siegel would have thus articulated
a different set of points, and would have made a totally different presentation.
In fact, you could see throughout the article – from the
first word to the last – that the presentation was so loaded with spin and so
imbued with allusions to political points, the author was not going to mention
that if the water project succeeded thus far because politics was kept out of
it, the approach was about to come to an end. And that is because the article
was the launch of a signal for the usual suspects in the usual American and
some English publications to milk future events as they will be unfolding, thus
make the most out of that.
And that will set in motion the familiar chain of events
whereby each article will be followed by organized calls from “concerned
citizens” who will nudge their legislative representatives in the American
Congress of idiots to do this or do that, and thus reward Israel for
maintaining the occupation, and punish the Palestinians for not loving it
despite the good thing that Israel did by agreeing to participate in the water
project even though it will mean so much to the Palestinians, and mean so
little to the Israelis.