MIDDLE EAST “TROUBLED WATERS” PART # 1

These days, of all the problems plaguing the Middle East peace process, none goes deeper than the dispute over water. Israel and the Palestinians disagree on how water is to be shared in this arid part of the world. New maps drawn up by the current Netanyahu government would give sixty percent of the land and water of the West Bank to Israel, but Palestinians reject these maps, saying the Israeli proposal deprives them of this key ingredient toward sovereignty. Always an important issue in a desert region, water now threatens to dissolve the peace. This Fall, Living On Earth will continue to examine the politics and culture of water in the Middle East with reporter Sandy Tolan in a series of reports from Israel, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank.