Environmental and cultural geography of the Middle East Environmental and cultural patterns –Desert environment –Mountain ranges –Major river systems –Ethno-linguistic groups –Major languages –Major religions –Historical geography Critical natural resources –Water resources/problems –Oil reserves/politics Videos: “The curse of oil” & “Life after oil: the new energy alternatives” Critical thinking Essay: “Who gets what from Middle East oil?”

Desert: less than 254 mm (10 in) of annual rainfall, evaporation rate exceeds precipitation, usually a high average temperature, and at night the temperature can drop to near freezing. Warm air masses created two belts of desert, one along the Tropic of Cancer and the other along the Tropic of Capricorn. Other deserts result from the effects of ocean currents on landmasses, where cool air masses carry fog and mist, but little rain, along coastal regions. © Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Encarta, 2007, World Desert Regions

The Sahara, the largest desert in the world, has a total area of more than 9,065,000 sq km, of which some 207,200 sq km consist of partially fertile oases. Source: Encarta Encyclopedia

Late afternoon light in the Ar Rub‘ al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert

Maintainer walks to secure an Iraqi Air Force C-130E Hercules at New Al Muthana Air Base, Iraq, on Monday, May 8, 2006, during a sand storm. The storm engulfed the Baghdad area and caused near-zero visibility. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jason Serrit), Sand storm

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Desert Landscapes

The Two Major Tree Crops of the Middle East The Date Palm and the Olive “The most widespread tree crop in the Mediterranean climate lands is, as it has been for thousands of years, the olive—hallmark of true Mediterranean conditions (…). With a very long taproot, as deep as 30 ft./9 m, and a small, waxy leaf, the evergreen olive tree is well adapted to the cool, wet winter and the warm, rainless summers. Likewise adapted to the chemical and physical characteristics of the Mediterranean soils, the olive requires no irrigation and only modest attention to live for more than 1,500 years and to produce plentiful crops for hundreds of years. The tree bears an average 90 lbs/40 kg in alternate years, with yield varying with soil moisture. Peoples of the Mediterranean Basin, including the North African lands, have for millennia depended upon the olive for both food and oil: Olive oil is the basic oil for cooking and for soap, cosmetics, food preservation, and even greasing wagon wheels” Colbert C. Held, Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics, Westview Press, 2006, p. 148 “The role of the date in traditional irrigated desert agriculture has been even more crucial than that of the olive in Mediterranean agriculture. The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is the most familiar and historically important plant of the entire North African- Middle Eastern-South Asian desert region. Throughout this zone, from Morocco to the Indian subcontinent, it provides a staple food, construction material, and fiber for weaving essential baskets and mats. It is so fundamental in the Middle East that it appears on stamps, on currency, on coins, and on Saudi Arabia’s royal emblem. It has been a basic food in desert areas of the region for millennia, with the advantage that the tree survives the most searing heat and lasts for generations, thriving on minimum water in large groves in all oasis areas… The date fruit can be preserved for months, retaining a high degree of nourishment and a range of vitamins. The essential role of the date has diminished since the later 1990s because modern transportation and trade has [sic] brought both unlimited amounts of food and also refrigeration to even formerly remote desert areas.” Colbert C. Held, Middle East Patterns: Places, Peoples, and Politics, Westview Press, 2006, p. 152

Sheikh Zayed describes Festival as ‘comprehensive’ for heritage enthusiasts in UAE, GCC states. January 1, Camel Festival Mazayina camel competition attracted more than 2000 camel owners participating with more than 24 thousand camels Camel crisis Modernity, urbanization, motorisation are slowly destroying way of life that has survived for thousands of years. The camel has long had a special place in the imagination of the West, from the Greek historian Herodotus telling a story about Indians using fast-running camels to defeat dog-sized, man-eating ants that guarded gold, through the Three Magi journeying to Christ’s birth, Lawrence of Arabia and the desert chic of Camel cigarettes… Last November, under the headline “Town under siege: 6,000 camels to be shot”, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that trains of camels had invaded the town of Docker, breaking into houses and rooting up water pipes. During Australia’s worst drought on record, the camels were desperately seeking water. They were once a cultural oddity (camels were imported in the 1840s to help open up the interior, and then left to run wild) but have become a public menace. The local government response was to mobilise helicopters to drive them into the desert, where they would be shot and left to rot. Representatives of the cattle industry favour the cull, arguing that camels compete with cattle for sparse grazing. Environmentalists argue for a more humane and productive approach, such as developing an Australian camel industry on a par with that of cattle.

Dubai scientists create first cloned camel and call her Injaz Injaz was born on April 8 [2009]. Courtesy The Central Veterinary Research Laborator “Scientists in Dubai have created the world’s first cloned camel, offering a way to preserve special strains for racing and milk production. The female calf, named Injaz, was born at 4.30pm on April 8 and is healthy so far. Injaz is the result of five years of work by scientists at the Camel Reproduction Centre and the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) in a project initiated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. “This is the first time scientists have cloned a camel calf,” said Dr Ulrich Wernery, the scientific director at CVRL.” The National, 4/13/2009,

9 ملايين درهم ثمنا للناقة حقايق وصاحبها يرفض البيع Alarab online, 12/21/2011, 19\427.htm&dismode=cx&ts=21/12/ :40:34 $2.5 million for a she camel

King Abdullah II of Jordan On Camelback العاهل الاردني الملك عبدالله الثاني يمتطي جملا القدس العربي، 18 يناير 2010

Arabian Horse Festival,

Arabian Horse Wkp “The origin of the purebred Arabian horse was the Arabian desert, and all Arabians ultimately trace their lineage to this source. European and American breeders exploring the Middle East in the late 1800's became captivated with the Arabian's beauty, spirit and stamina, and were anxious to import horses back home.” Arabian Horse Association,

Festival of Falconry Emirates Falconers Club

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan shows President Bush a falcon ahead of a traditional dinner at his weekend desert encampment. NPR, 1/13/2008 President George W. Bush holds up a sword as he poses for a picture with his host, Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al- Khalifa, during an arrival ceremony at Sakhir Palace in the capital Manama. NPR, 1/12/2008 President George W. Bush holds a falcon shown to him by Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al- Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, White House, 1/14/2008

Mountain ranges Three major mountain ranges –Atlas (Morocco) –Taurus (Turkey) –Zagros (Iran) Major sources of water in the region Refuge for linguistic and religious minorities

Three dominant ethno-linguistic groups The Arabs The Iranians The Turks

Major Ethnic Groups in Predominantly Muslim Areas Source: CIA, 1981

Major Middle Eastern Languages Arabic “Southern-Central Semitic language spoken in a large area including North Africa, most of the Arabian Peninsula, and other parts of the Middle East. (See Afro-Asiatic languages.). Arabic is the language of the Qur ʾ ān (or Koran, the sacred book of Islam) and the religious language of all Muslims. Literary Arabic, usually called Classical Arabic, is essentially the form of the language found in the Qur ʾ ān, with some modifications necessary for its use in modern times; it is uniform throughout the Arab world. Colloquial Arabic includes numerous spoken dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible. The chief dialect groups are those of Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, and North Africa.” Farsi “Member of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family; it is the official language of Iran. It is most closely related to Middle and Old Persian, former languages of the region of Fārs (“Persia”) in southwestern Iran. Modern Persian is thus called Fārsī by native speakers. Written in Arabic characters, modern Persian also has many Arabic loanwords and an extensive literature.” Turkish “The major member of the Turkic language family, which is a subfamily of the Altaic languages. Turkish is spoken in Turkey, Cyprus, and elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East. With Gagauz, Azerbaijani (sometimes called Azeri), Turkmen, and Khorāsān Turkic, it forms the southwestern, or Oğuz, branch of the Turkic languages. Modern Turkish is the descendant of Ottoman Turkish and its predecessor, so-called Old Anatolian Turkish, which was introduced into Anatolia by the Seljuq Turks in the late 11th century ad. Old Turkish gradually absorbed a great many Arabic and Persian words and even grammatical forms and was written in Arabic script. After the founding of the Turkish republic in 1923, the Arabic script was replaced by the Latin alphabet (1928).” Encyclopedia Britannica,

Modern Israeli Hebrew Is not a direct offspring from Biblical Hebrew Modern Israeli Hebrew (or Zionist Hebrew) is not a “revived” form of Old Hebrew, as is commonly maintained. Rather it is a derivative of Yiddish, and thus is also a Slavic language. Since the “linguistic revival” is impossible, Modern Israeli Hebrew cannot be considered a “revived” form of Biblical Hebrew because it utilizes the syntactic and phonological systems of Yiddish, with only the vocabulary being of mainly Biblical Hebrew. Therefore Modern Israeli Hebrew and its genetic parent Yiddish must be defined as Slavic languages. As a relexified form of Yiddish, Modern Israeli Hebrew differs only in its predominantly Biblical Hebrew vocabulary. Yiddish is the first twice-relexified non-creole language to be so identified (Wexler 1990; 1993, ; 1996, 7-8; 2002, 4-7). Wexler P (1990) The Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew: A Slavic Language in Search of a Semitic Past. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Wexler P (1993) The Ashkenazic Jews: A Slavo-Turkic People in Search of a Jewish Identity. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers Wexler P (1996) The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews. New York: University of New York Press Wexler P (2002) Two-tiered Relexification in Yiddish: Jews, Sorbs, Khazars, and the Kiev-Polessian Dialect. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter

Yiddish is not a variant of High German Yiddish is not a variant of High German, as is commonly maintained. Rather it is a Slavic language, specifically a form of Sorbian. Yiddish developed when Jewish speakers of Sorbian made a partial language shift to High German vocabulary between the 9 th and 12 th centuries. In the relexification of Yiddish only the Slavic lexicon was replaced by German, whereas the original Sorbian syntactic and phonological systems were retained (therefore keeping Yiddish as a member of the Slavic family of languages). (Wexler 1990; 1993, ; 1996, 7-8; 2002, 4-7). Wexler P (1990) The Schizoid Nature of Modern Hebrew: A Slavic Language in Search of a Semitic Past. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Wexler P (1993) The Ashkenazic Jews: A Slavo-Turkic People in Search of a Jewish Identity. Columbus, Ohio: Slavica Publishers Wexler P (1996) The Non-Jewish Origins of the Sephardic Jews. New York: University of New York Press Wexler P (2002) Two-tiered Relexification in Yiddish: Jews, Sorbs, Khazars, and the Kiev-Polessian Dialect. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter

American University of Beirut Professor of History Kamal Salibi argues that to read and understand the consonantal Hebrew Bible, Arabic is better equipped than the academically derived and never spoken language of Rabbinical Hebrew [let alone Israeli Hebrew] Professor Salibi considers both Rabbinical Hebrew and Israeli Hebrew as derivative languages, which “provide no key for unraveling the mysteries of the Biblical Hebrew from which they were academically derived.” He stresses that the received consonantal Hebrew Bible has been “consistently mistranslated” and those involved in its interpretation and vocalization between the sixth and tenth centuries A.D. “did not know Hebrew as a spoken language” because it had passed out of common usage about 1000 years earlier. Therefore the Hebrew Bible was essentially redacted, compiled, and in some cases authored by scholars and writers (such as the Babylonian and Palestinian Masoretes as well as those who produced the Septuagint in Hellenistic Alexandria) whose day-to-day language was not Biblical Hebrew. Naturally those writers faced many problems of interpretation and vocalization while they worked hard to avoid committing the sacrilege of altering the received consonantal spelling of the Hebrew Bible. This is why the Masoretes often resorted to producing notes advising that some words are “written but not to be read” (kethiybh we lo’qerey) whereas other words are “to be read but not written” (qerey we lo’ kethiybh). Salibi concludes that to read and understand the consonantal Hebrew Bible, Arabic is better equipped than the academically derived and never spoken language of Rabbinical Hebrew (let alone Israeli Hebrew). Sources: K. Salibi, The Historicity of Biblical Israel: Studies in 1 & 2 Samuel, London: NABU Publications, 1998, pages 5, 6, and 16. K. Salibi, The Bible Came from Arabia, London: Jonathan Cape, 1985, page 3.

Major Middle Eastern Religions Islam “Major world religion founded by Muhammad in Arabia in the early 7th century ad. The Arabic word islam means “surrender”— specifically, surrender to the will of the one God, called Allah in Arabic. Islam is a strictly monotheistic religion, and its adherents, called Muslims, regard the Prophet Muhammad as the last and most perfect of God’s messengers, who include Adam, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others. The sacred scripture of Islam is the Qur ʾ ān, which contains God’s revelations to Muhammad. The sayings and deeds of the Prophet recounted in the sunna are also an important source of belief and practice in Islam. The religious obligations of all Muslims are summed up in the Five Pillars of Islam, which include belief in God and his Prophet and obligations of prayer, charity, pilgrimage, and fasting.... In the early 21st century, there were more than 1.2 billion Muslims in the world.” Christianity “Religion stemming from the teachings of Jesus in the 1st century ad. Its sacred scripture is the Bible, particularly the New Testament. Its principal tenets are that Jesus is the Son of God (the second person of the Holy Trinity), that God’s love for the world is the essential component of his being, and that Jesus died to redeem humankind. Christianity was originally a movement of Jews who accepted Jesus as the messiah, but the movement quickly became predominantly Gentile. The early church was shaped by St. Paul and other Christian missionaries and theologians; it was persecuted under the Roman Empire but supported by Constantine I, the first Christian emperor... In the early 21st century there were more than two billion adherents of Christianity throughout the world, found on all continents.” Judaism “Religious beliefs and practices of the Jews. One of the three great monotheistic world religions, Judaism began as the faith of the ancient Hebrews, and its sacred text is the Hebrew Bible, particularly the Torah. Fundamental to Judaism is the belief that the people of Israel are God’s chosen people, who must serve as a light for other nations. God made a covenant first with Abraham and then renewed it with Isaac, Jacob, and Moses. The worship of Yahweh (God) was centred in Jerusalem from the time of David... In the early 21st century there were nearly 15 million Jews worldwide.” Encyclopedia Britannica,

The Four Major Muslim States/Caliphates After the death of Prophet Muhammed (632 A.D.), the Capital city of the Islamic State and the ruling Caliphs have changed over the years. The Rashidun caliphs (Medina) The Umeyyad caliphs (Damascus) The Abbasids caliphs 750/ (Baghdad) Ottoman caliphs (Istanbul)

Three British Promises The Hussein-McMahan secret correspondence of promised Arab independence in return for revolt against the Turks The Sykes-Picot secret agreement of promised to partition the region between Britain and France after WWI The Balfour Declaration of promised the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine

The following are two versions of the infamous/famous Balfour Declaration through which the British government promised to create a homeland for world Jewry in Palestine. This British promise was expressed in a letter (dated November 2, 1917) by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild, a leading member of a Jewish banking family in London. Try (for yourself) to identify and understand the substantial difference between the two versions and its implications. “His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” “His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of the National Home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”

Water in the Middle East and North Africa Major rivers (Egypt, Iraq) Groundwater (Saudi Arabia, Libya) Desalination (Gulf states)

The Nile is the longest river in the world, measuring 6,695 km (4,160 mi) from its remotest headstream in Burundi to its mouth at the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile proper rises at Lake Victoria, and flows north through much of eastern Africa. Heavy rainfalls cause the Nile to flood each summer, while the river reaches its lowest volumes between January and May. Source: Encarta, © Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Encarta Encyclopedia

“Two historical processes coincided; news states were established just as it became technologically feasible to control the Nile waters on a much larger scale than before, and in places where it previously had been physically impossible to tame it” page 7 Terje Tvedt, “About the Importance of Studying the Modern History of the Countries of the Nile Basin in a Nile Perspective,” In The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age: Conflict and Cooperation among the Nile Basin Countries, Edited by Terje Tveldt, I.B. Taurus, London, 2010, pp. 1-11, page 7. “Global political events—such as the partition of Africa, the collapse of the League of Nations, the demise of the British Empire and the birth of such new states as Uganda, Kenya and a sovereign Sudan from Egypt—were all closely related to British Nile strategies, and partly a consequence of these strategies” page 3.

Cooperation and Conflict over the Nile’s Waters “Whether the River Nile will be an object of violent conflicts or peaceful cooperation in the years ahead, the way its water is managed in coming decades will definitely have worldwide implications. Struggles over the Nile’s waters has had global political consequences in the past and could fan existing conflicts in the Horn of Africa and Somalia, threaten the peace agreements in the Sudan, and influence the power balance in the middle East. Yet, in terms of jurisdiction and development, the Nile has been cited as one of the few international river basins with legal arrangements for sharing the waters, and has at times been portrayed as a possible model for other international rivers basins” — Terje Tvedt, “About the Importance of Studying the Modern History of the Countries of the Nile Basin in a Nile Perspective,” In The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age: Conflict and Cooperation among the Nile Basin Countries, Edited by Terje Tveldt, I.B. Taurus, London, 2010, page 1.

Critical ‘Mass Theory’ and the Nile Basin Initiative “According to this way of thinking, what matters is not that everyone benefits, but that there exits a ‘critical mass’ of highly interested and resourceful people who provide or decide to provide collective benefits for others. Collective action may rest on an initial event of ‘joint commitment’ to which each participant makes a contribution. The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), formally launched in February 1999 by the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin states, the subsequent establishment of the Nile Basin Secretariat at Entebbe in Uganda in 2002, and the Nile Basin Discourse (being a network of civil society organizations from the ten countries of the Nile Basin supported by international donors) may be interpreted in such a way. The NBI is defined as a ‘partnership initiated and led by the riparian states of the Nile River through the Council of Ministers of Water Affairs of the Nile Basin states’ (Nile Council of Ministers). Its aim is to develop the river ‘in a cooperative manner, share substantial socioeconomic benefits, and promote regional peace and security.’ The Nile Basin Initiative was based on what, when considered in the long term, can be seen as a ‘revolutionary’ idea: that the river was a shared treasure of all the basin states, and on NBI’s operational design about ‘sharing benefits’ authorized piecemeal execution of selected water control projects that were jointly sanctioned by the collaborating states. The Subsidiary Action Programs (SAPs) of the NBI should implement joint investment programmes supported by donors with the aim of ‘contributing to poverty eradication, promotion of economic development and to reverse environmental degradation in the basin’. In the Nile equatorial lakes sub-region— comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi—projects such as the Lakes Edward and Albert Fisheries Pilot Project, and the Mara, Sio-Malaba-Malakisi and Kagera Integrated River Basin Management, have been developed. Eastern Nile Subsidiary Action Program (ENSAP) focuses on the Nile and its tributaries within the Eastern Nile countries of Egypt, Ethiopia and the Sudan, and encompasses the sub- basins of Baro/Akobo/Sobat, portions of the White Nile, Abay/Blue Nile, Tekezze/Settit/Atbara, and the Main Nile. The Eastern Nile Technical Regional Office, based in Addis Ababa, is the implementing arm of ENSAP. There can be no doubt that as a result of exchange of ideas and propositions in a context of institutionalized collaboration over time, actors involved in the NBI process have to a certain extent become jointly committed, for example, to discuss water-sharing agreements or common water projects, and are thereby obliged, so to speak, to act as if they were a single person.” Terje Tvedt, “Some Conceptual Issues Regarding the Study of Inter-state Relationships in River Basins,” In The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age: Conflict and Cooperation among the Nile Basin Countries, Edited by Terje Tveldt, I.B. Taurus, London, 2010, p , pages

The High Aswan Dam on the Nile In the 1950s, Egypt decided to build the High Aswan Dam (completed in 1971), which has since improved water supply, electricity, and transportation in Egypt. But it is said that after its completion the Nile delta is no longer the most fertile in the world because most of the silt is now deposited behind Lake Nasser. The Aswan Dam and the 1959 agreement with Sudan strengthened Egypt’s claim over 55.5 billion cubic meters of Nile water every year. Encarta Encyclopedia East Africa seeks more Nile water from Egypt: Four East African states have signed an agreement to seek more water from the River Nile - a move strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan. Under colonial-era accords, the two countries get 90% of the river's water. Upstream countries including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ethiopia say it is unfair and want a new deal but nothing has been agreed in 13 years of talks. A further three countries were represented at the meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, and may sign up later… BBC, 5/14/2010,

The Euphrates River Encarta Encyclopedia

The Tigris River Encarta Encyclopedia

Saudi Arabia has some of the largest seawater desalination plants in the world

American GE gets $1 billion in Saudi Arabian orders Reuters, Jan 31, 2007 French Veolia to build an $805 million desalination plant in the UAE Reuters, Aug 29, 2007 Japanese REFILE- Mitsubishi Heavy wins $1.9 billion Saudi plant order Reuters, Mar 1, 2007 “Statistics reveal that the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have an urbanisation level of about 85 percent. As a result, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), for example, is the world's second largest consumer of water per capita after the United States. Its average daily domestic consumption is 353 litres (80 gallons) per person compared to 425 litres in the U.S.” Global Information Network, March 21, 2007

BBC, 18 March 2006, Libya’s Great Man-Made River Project After weighing up the relative costs of desalination or transporting water from Europe, Libyan economists decided that the cheapest option was to construct a network of pipelines to transport water from the desert to the coastal cities, where most Libyans live. The Libyans estimate that when the Great Man-Made River is completed, they will have spent almost $20bn. So far, that money has bought 5,000km of pipeline that can transport 6.5 million cubic metres of water a day from over 1,000 desert wells. Phase III is now [2006] nearing completion

Israel’s National Water Carrier In 1964 the State of Israel completed the National Water Carrier project which diverts some 60% of the waters of the Jordan River at Lake Teberias (Sea of Galilee) to the coastal plain in the west and the Negev desert in the south. Out of 21 armed disputes over water in recent history, 18 involved Israel Israel exploits approximately 80% of the mountain aquifer and the Palestinians do not have access to the Jordan River system. BBC, June 16, 2003,

In 2003, Actual water consumption by all sectors in Israel was roughly 2,100 MCM, whereas total consumption of in Palestine was 300 MCM. A ratio of 7:1 Mark Zeitun, Power and Water in the Middle East: The Hidden Politics of the Palestinian-Israel Water Conflict, London: I.B. Tauris, 2008, page 14

ISRAEL RATIONS PALESTINIANS TO TRICKLE OF WATER Amnesty International has accused Israel of denying Palestinians the right to access adequate water by maintaining total control over the shared water resources and pursuing discriminatory policies… “Israel allows the Palestinians access to only a fraction of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank, while the unlawful Israeli settlements there receive virtually unlimited supplies. In Gaza the Israeli blockade has made an already dire situation worse,” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s researcher on Israel and the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territories]... In a new extensive report, Amnesty International revealed the extent to which Israel’s discriminatory water policies and practices are denying Palestinians their right to access to water. Israel uses more than 80 per cent of the water from the Mountain Aquifer, the main source of underground water in Israel and the OPT, while restricting Palestinian access to a mere 20 per cent. The Mountain Aquifer is the only source for water for Palestinians in the West Bank, but only one of several for Israel, which also takes for itself all the water available from the Jordan River. While Palestinian daily water consumption barely reaches 70 litres a day per person, Israeli daily consumption is more than 300 litres per day, four times as much. In some rural communities Palestinians survive on barely 20 litres per day, the minimum amount recommended for domestic use in emergency situations. Some 180, ,000 Palestinians living in rural communities have no access to running water and the Israeli army often prevents them from even collecting rainwater. In contrast, Israeli settlers, who live in the West Bank in violation of international law, have intensive- irrigation farms, lush gardens and swimming pools. Numbering about 450,000, the settlers use as much or more water than the Palestinian population of some 2.3 million. In the Gaza Strip, 90 to 95 per cent of the water from its only water resource, the Coastal Aquifer, is contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Yet, Israel does not allow the transfer of water from the Mountain Aquifer in the West Bank to Gaza. ….“Over more than 40 years of occupation, restrictions imposed by Israel on the Palestinians’ access to water have prevented the development of water infrastructure and facilities in the OPT, consequently denying hundreds of thousand of Palestinians the right to live a normal life, to have adequate food, housing, or health, and to economic development,” said Donatella Rovera. Israel has appropriated large areas of the water-rich Palestinian land it occupies and barred Palestinians from accessing them. Source: Amnesty International, 10/27/2009, http://

Israel mulls water imports from Turkey Jerusalem Post, 10/19/ Israel has recently begun talks with Turkey on the possibility of purchasing water from it, as part of the Water Authority's attempts to ensure sufficient reserves in the face of dwindling local levels.

The making of US Middle East energy policy Energy Policy Act of 2005 “(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— (1) on February 1, 1996, the United States and Israel signed the agreement entitled ‘‘Agreement between the Department of Energy of the United States of America and the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure of Israel Concerning Energy Cooperation’’ (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Agreement’’), to establish a framework for collaboration between the United States and Israel in energy research and development activities; (2) the Agreement entered into force in February 2000; (3) in February 2005, the Agreement was automatically renewed for 1 additional 5-year period pursuant to Article X of the Agreement; and (4) under the Agreement, the United States and Israel may cooperate in energy research and development in a variety of alternative and advanced energy sectors. …….. SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Congress that energy cooperation between the Governments of the United States and Israel is mutually beneficial in the development of energy technology.”

The making of US Middle East energy policy 1. “if the U.S. continues to increase its reliance on foreign sources of oil, our dependence on OPEC member nations and rogue states (overlapping categories that include the nations with the largest share of the world’s proven oil reserves) will increase…. The American Jewish Committee, therefore, urges that the United States set as a primary national goal a comprehensive energy policy aimed at a substantial reduction in U.S. dependence on imported oil, with the potential for energy flexibility and near independence in the longer term.” The American Jewish Committee, “Energy Security for America,” May 5, “our goal should be to replace hydrocarbons with carbohydrates.” US Senator Richard G. Lugar, The National Interest, Summer “Let us build on the work we have done and reduce gasoline usage in the United States by 20 percent in the next ten years -- thereby cutting our total imports by the equivalent of three-quarters of all the oil we now import from the Middle East.” President Bush’s State of the Union, CNN, 1/23/ “Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred…. and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries…We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories.” President Obama’s inaugural speech CNN, 1/20/2009

The making of US Middle East energy policy Excerpts from Obama’s inaugural speech CNN, 1/20/2009, ht tp://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Obama%27s+inaugural+speech+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID= &fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2009%2FPOLITICS%2F01%2F20%2Fobama.politics%2Findex.html&partnerID= “That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.”

Israel bids to end global oil dependency by 2020 The making of US Middle East energy policy Israel bids to end global oil dependency by 2020 Government plan, to be reviewed Sunday, will make Israel a global center for alternative energy technology. By Avi Bar-Eli An interministerial committee charged with finding ways of turning Israel into an international hub for technology to reduce global oil consumption will present its findings to the cabinet today. The government plans to invest NIS 2 billion in the decade-long program from 2011 to 2020, alongside another estimated NIS 1.8 billion investment by the private sector. The plan calls for the appointment of a project manager on behalf of the Prime Minister's Office, backing for private initiatives, a bigger budget for research and development and international cooperation. The committee is headed by Prof. Eugene Kandel, head of the National Economic Council; he submitted the report to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. The cabinet is scheduled to discuss it today. In February, the ministers decided that reducing global oil consumption should be a top national goal because it serves Israel's strategic and environmental interests and could be quite lucrative as well. While Israel is only a minuscule player in the global commodities market, the ministers envisioned the country becoming a global center for technologies that decrease oil consumption for transportation by boosting initiatives in these fields. The committee listed 60 Israeli companies that seek to develop oil alternatives, most of which are start-ups in their first stages of development. Through interviews with entrepreneurs at 35 of those companies, the committee concluded that "even today Israel has an industrial and knowledge base that puts it at the forefront of countries developing oil alternatives." However, many of these companies are having trouble getting past the development stage and seeing their technologies through to commercial implementation due to a lack of investors. Also, implementing these kinds of technologies demands a significant investment in physical infrastructure before they can be marketable - about $20 million per company on average. Within the next three years, these companies will need an investment of $270 million, the committee found. In addition, the companies have trouble getting through the regulation necessary to run pilots, the committee found, because "transportation is a relatively traditional field." Transportation companies tend to adopt technology only once it has been tested widely. Therefore the committee recommends setting up administrative and regulatory infrastructure for the program, which would include an interministerial steering committee headed by Kandel. The program's director, to be appointed through a tender process, would have a panel of experts on regulation and transportation. The experts would help determine which companies deserved government backing. The Prime Minister's Office has an annual budget of NIS 146 million for staffing the project. To promote such technologies internationally, the plan calls for an annual international conference at an expense of NIS 4.2 million. The committee also recommends setting up two funds for investing in this technology. The management and the money for the funds would likely be set up through tenders. The committee expects the funds to invest NIS 2.4 billion over 10 years and wants to see them go live by The committee would like to offer tax benefits to encourage investment. The Tax Authority objects to this. Another objection comes from the Infrastructure Ministry, which seeks to manage the project itself and objects to having it managed from the Prime Minister's Office, which is responsible for the country's energy policy. It also objects to the suggestion that it fund part of the project.

The making of US Middle East energy policy Israel and California cut world's largest solar energy deal Israeli company BrightSource Energy is to build seven new solar energy plants across California, providing 1,300 megawatts of energy, in the biggest solar energy deal ever signed. An Israeli company and a Californian one are making solar power history: Southern California Edison (SCE) and BrightSource Energy from Israel have signed the world's largest solar energy deal. Now awaiting approval from the California Public Utilities Commission, when the contracts are fulfilled -- this could happen by as early as the Israeli-CA sun project will power almost 1 million California homes. energy-deal energy-deal

The making of US Middle East energy policy BrightSource Energy quietly moves toward IPO in 2011 “BrightSource Energy quietly moves toward IPO in 2011 Large-scale solar plant developer BrightSource Energy is quietly preparing for an IPO, reports Dow Jones Venture Wire, citing two people familiar with the company’s plans. According to the article, the company has hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs to begin preparations for a public offering that is likely to happen in BrightSource probably won’t chance the choppy cleantech IPO waters this year, the unnamed source says. A BrightSource IPO has been the source of speculation for awhile now. NextUp Research forecasted earlier this month that the company could go public within two to three years – but it looks now that it could happen even sooner. The company has certainly been building up steam. Its fourth round of equity financing in May netted $150 million, bringing total equity financing to $330 million to date. BrightSource also recently won a recommendation for the California Energy Commission’s approval to move forward on a 392-megawatt development in the Mojave Desert, a big win for the planned solar thermal project that could power 140,000 homes. It also won a huge loan guarantee — worth $1.4 billion — from the Department of Energy for the project. Update: Brightsource just announced the CEC has given its approval for the Ivanpah project. BrightSource’s investors include VantagePoint, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Morgan Stanley, Chevron and Google. Tags: IPO, Solar, solar energy Companies: BrightSource, Chevron, Draper Fisher Jurveston, Goldman Sachs, Google, Morgan Stanley, NextUp, VantagePoint”---Reuters,9/22/2010,

Israel unveils first commercial solar power plant Arava Power's 4.95 megawatt solar power plant at Kibbutz Keturah is the first of about 50 photovoltaic power fields to be built throughout the southern Negev desert by the end of Haaretz, 6/5/2011, l-unveils-first-commercial-solar-power-plant http:// l-unveils-first-commercial-solar-power-plant Marketing President Clinton: Highlights BrightSource solar project watch?feature=player_em bedded&v=GcH687hk7xE

Major Factors Influencing Oil prices Inflation Dollar value Regional tension Market forces OPEC policies

Dollar Policy: Don't Ask, Don't Tell “The dollar's value is connected to Americans' standard of living. In the United States, the quality of one's economic life is determined largely by purchasing power. A weaker dollar could cut into purchasing power by raising the cost of imports for which, increasingly, there are no domestic substitutes. The dollar's decline is already contributing to higher oil prices. For a variety of reasons, higher oil prices also tend to translate into higher food prices.” Editorial, The New York Times, November 12, 2007

U.S. Primary Energy Consumption by Source and Sector, 2011 (Quadrillion Btu) U.S. Energy Information Administration, Annual Energy Review 2011, Tables 1.3, 2.1b-2.1f, 10.3, and 10.4.,

U.S. Commitment to Saudi security When U.S. President Truman signed the Saudi-Aramco “fifty-fifty” profit-sharing agreement in late 1950, he wrote a letter to Saudi King Ibn Saud affirming: “I wish to renew to Your Majesty the assurances which have been made to you several times in the past, that the United States is interested in the preservation of the integrity of Saudi Arabia. No threat to your Kingdom could occur which would not be a matter of immediate concern to the United States.”[1]…..[1] [1] Quoted in Leonardo Maugeri, The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of the World’s Most Controversial Resource, Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press, 2006, page 59. [1]

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) OPEC's mission is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital to those investing in the petroleum industry. Source: OPEC 1.Algeria 2.Angola 3.Ecuador 4.Iran 5.Iraq 6.Kuwait 7.Libya 8.Nigeria 9.Qatar 10.Saudi Arabia 11.United Arab Emirates 12.Venezuela

Top U.S. petroleum foreign suppliers of crude oil and products in 2012 (Annual-Thousand Barrels): Canada (1,081,385) Saudi Arabia (497,570) Mexico (377,350) Venezuela (348,316) Russia (174,683) Iraq (173,317) Nigeria (161,429) Colombia (157,966) Source: U.S. Energy Information Agency U.S. petroleum imports from OPEC countries: 1,557,591 U.S. petroleum imports from Non-OPEC countries: 2,320,659

U.S. Dependence on Net Petroleum Imports (%) 1973 average34.8% 1975 average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average average 39.9 U.S. Petroleum Trade: Overview,

U.S. Petroleum Trade: Overview 2000 Average 2,488 5, Average 2,761 5, Average 2,269 4, Average 2,501 5, Average 2,493 5, Average 2,334 5, Average 2,211 5, Average 2,163 5, Average 2,370 5, Average 1,689 4, Average 1,711 4, Average 1,861 4, Average 2,151 4, From Table 3.3a Petroleum Trade: Overview, Imports from Persian Gulf Thousand Barrels per Day Import from OPEC Thousand Barrels per Day Imports From Persian Gulf as Share of Total Imports (Percent) Imports From OPEC as Share of Total Imports (Percent) Year Average

Who gets what from Middle East oil 1.Middle East ‘welfare’ states (the relatively high per capita income of oil producing countries compared to other developing countries, their free education and healthcare systems, their little or no taxation fiscal policy, their big infrastructure projects, and the overall 'rent’ nature of their economies…). Yet the combined GDP of all Arab states is comparable to the GDP of Italy. 2.Taxes in G7 states (which can match OPEC oil revenues) 3.War and conflict (some estimates cite the figure of $12 trillion in just 20 years) 4.Big business contracts 5.Big oil companies 6.Petrodollar recycling 7.Development Funds 8.Immigrant labor 9.Inflation 10.Corruption

Who gets what from Middle East oil Middle oil revenues contributed to funding many wars such as the 7 major Arab-Israeli wars (1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, 2006, and ), the Iran-Iraq war ( ), the Afghanistan wars ( and 2001-present), the Gulf war (1991), and the Iraq war (2003-present): A January 2009 study by India’s Strategic Foresight Group estimates that conflict has cost the Middle East $12 trillion during the last twenty years. Reuters, 1/23/2009, Thomas Stauffer, a consulting economist in Washington, estimates that between 1973 and 2002 Israel has cost the United States about $1.6 trillion. The Christian Science Monitor, 12/9/2002, “Estimates vary, but the [Iran-Iraq] war’s total cost, including military supplies and civilian damages, probably exceeded $500 billion for each side.” Nathan J. Brown, "Iran-Iraq War," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008,

Who Gets What from Middle East Oil? Saudi Arabia has a population of more than 28.5 million, including an estimated foreign population of more than 8 million. The foreign population reportedly includes: 1.6 million Indians 1.5 million Bangladeshis 1.2 million Filipinos 1 million Pakistanis 1 million Egyptians 600,000 Indonesians 400,000 Sri Lankans 350,000 Nepalese 250,000 Palestinians 150,000 Lebanese 100,000 Eritreans 30,000 Americans The United Arab Emirates has a population of 5 million, of whom 4 million are foreigners. Kuwait has a population of 3.2 million, of whom 2.2 million are foreigners. Qatar has a population of more than 1.5 million, of whom 1.3 million are foreigners. Oman has a population of 2.6 million, of whom 700,000 are foreigners. Bahrain has a population of 1,050,000, of whom 514,500 are foreigners. source: U.S. Department of State, 2008

British firm plans 'humane' housing for Qatar World Cup migrant labourers …It is estimated that at least another 500,000 migrant labourers will be needed in the eight years running up to the World Cup to build in excess of £100bn worth of infrastructure and facilities. So far Nepal and India have provided the largest number of migrant workers, who make up over 90% of the Gulf state's population. The ITUC predicted as many as 4,000 migrant workers could die in Qatar during that period unless conditions are improved. Revealed: Qatar's World Cup ‘slaves’ The allegations suggest a chain of exploitation leading from poor Nepalese villages to Qatari leaders. The overall picture is of one of the richest nations exploiting one of the poorest to get ready for the world's most popular sporting tournament. "We'd like to leave, but the company won't let us," said one Nepalese migrant employed at Lusail City development, a $45bn (£28bn) city being built from scratch which will include the 90,000-seater stadium that will host the World Cup final. "I'm angry about how this company is treating us, but we're helpless. I regret coming here, but what to do? We were compelled to come just to make a living, but we've had no luck." Qatar 2022 World Cup workers 'treated like cattle', Amnesty report finds Fresh fears raised about exploitation after Fifa president declares country 'on right track' over migrant labourers' rights A damning Amnesty report has raised fresh fears about the exploitation of the migrant workers building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, amid a rising toll of death, disease and misery.

The graph above illustrates the inter-country variations in the price of one litre of oil across G7 countries during It is important to note that these price variations are not due to differences in underlying crude oil prices (shown in brown) but to the widely varying levels of taxes (shown in red) imposed by major oil consuming nations. These can range from relatively modest levels - like in the USA and Canada - to very high levels in Europe. In the UK, for example, the government in 2011 earned about 59% (about US$ 1.30) of the price charged for every litre of pump fuel sold to consumers. Oil producing countries (including OPEC), meanwhile, earned only around 32% (US$ 0.71) of the total pump fuel price. OPEC,

Recycling Petrodollars Current Issues in Economic and Finance Volume 12, Number 9 December 2006 FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF NEW YORK www. n e w y o r k f e d. o r g / r e s e a r c h / c u r r e n t _ i s s u e s In recent years, oil-exporting countries have experienced windfall gains with the rise in the price of oil. A look at how oil exporters “recycle” their revenues reveals that roughly half of the petrodollar windfall has gone to purchase foreign goods, especially from Europe and China, while the remainder has been invested in foreign assets. Although it is difficult to determine where the funds are first invested, the evidence suggests that the bulk are ending up, directly or indirectly, in the United States.

Who gets what from Middle East oil Inflation $42 (the price of 1 barrel of oil) in 1980 have the same buying power as $118 in 2013 (see the price of 1 barrel of oil today)$42 (the price of 1 barrel of oil) in 1980 have the same buying power as $118 in 2013 (see the price of 1 barrel of oil today)

Trillions of dollars worth of oil found in Australian outback Up to 233 billion barrels of oil has been discovered in the Australian outback that could be worth trillions of dollars, in a find that could turn the region into a new Saudi Arabia The discovery in central Australia was reported by Linc Energy to the stock exchange and was based on two consultants reports, though it is not yet known how commercially viable it will be to access the oil. The reports estimated the company’s 16 million acres of land in the Arckaringa Basin in South Australia contain between 133 billion and 233 billion barrels of shale oil trapped in the region’s rocks. It is likely however that just 3.5 billion barrels, worth almost $359 billion (£227 billion) at today’s oil price, will be able to be recovered. The find was likened to the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale oil projects in the US, which have resulted in massive outflows and have led to predictions that the US could overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer as soon as this year. Peter Bond, Linc Energy’s chief executive, said the find could transform the world’s oil industry but noted that it would cost about £200 million to enable production in the area. Shale oil is more costly to extract than conventional crude oil and involves the controversial process of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking. This involves introducing cracks in rock formations by forcing through a mixture of water, sand at chemicals at high pressure. “If you took the 233 billion, well, you’re talking Saudi Arabia numbers,” Mr Bond told ABC News.

Video: The curse of oil This program offers a global history of the oil industry and the issues intertwined with it, from early-20th-century prospecting in South America and the Middle East to war in Iraq. The origins and significance of OPEC figure prominently in the narrative, as do several historic and violent conflicts revolving around controlling sources or flow of oil: labor strikes in Latin America, Nasser's seizure of the Suez Canal, the Iran-Iraq war, and other pivotal events. Revealing interviews feature, among others, former OPEC leader Sheikh Ahmed Yamani and former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia James Akins--who minces no words and calls oil a curse. The curse of oil Jean-Pierre Beaurenaut; Yves Billon; Didier Couëdic 2006, ©2003 English Visual Material: Videorecording: DVD video 1 videodisc (52 min.) : sd., col. with b&w sequences ; 4 3/4 in. Princeton, NJ : Films for the Humanities & Sciences

Video Life after oil: The new energy alternatives This program illustrates ways we can solve our dependence on fossil fuels through the use of alternative energy sources including wind power, fuel cells, hydrogen fuel, ethanol, biomass and solar power. Ron Meyer; James M Roberts; Erick Avari, Life after oil: the new energy alternatives, English Visual Material: Videorecording: DVD video 1 videodisc (30 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 in. New York, NY : Ambrose Video, 2008