The power politics of water struggles| Local resource management in the West Bank

• Main Author: Mughal, Urooj
• Language: EN
• Published: University of Oregon 2013
• Subjects: Geography|Middle Eastern Studies|Water Resource Management
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1542820

<p> This thesis examines the significance of a micro-level approach to the Israeli-Palestinian water conflict. By rethinking scale of analysis and examining local insecurities, Palestinian experiences reveal how water conflict plays out in latent and discursive ways. In a step-by-step method, I detail the processes and outcomes of the water struggle in the West Bank. First, I show how technical challenges ((i) poor water supply, (ii) antiquated water infrastructure, (iii) failed institutions) are shaped by political imperatives. Second, I show how Palestinians have responded to local water sector challenges: (iv) nonpayment to the Palestinian Water Authority for their water supply, (v) increasing rural to urban migration by Palestinian farmers. As a result, Palestinian society is stuck in cycles of crisis that make the conditions increasingly ungovernable. While Palestinians are stuck in a mode of ungovernability, their position in the peace process with Israel is undermined.</p>