The Middle East, oil-rich but water-poor, with about six percent of the world’s population, has only one percent of the earth’s renewable water resources.
For many MENA countries water scarcity has become a national security issue.
The underground aquifers, however, are drying out at alarming rates.
Only Iran and Turkey have been self-sufficient in water.
As a downstream country, Egypt is almost entirely dependent on the River Nile.
The headwaters originate in the mountainous region of southeastern Turkey – an area largely populated by Kurds.
The politics of water has always fueled the wars between Israelis, Palestinians, and their neighbors.
Israel declared the water resources of the occupied Golan Heights, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip property of the state, putting them under complete military authority.
Over 200,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have no access to piped water systems.
(c) 2018, Dr. M. Reza Behnam M. Reza Behnam, Ph.D., is a political scientist specializing in the politics, governments and history of the Middle East.