Rachael Natoli                                                                                                  10/25/16

INTD 105-19: Scientific Writing                                         About 200 Words

Josie Glausiusz wrote about the effects overtaking of Israel by an Islamic militant group called the Hamas has had on the Gaza Strip in her article “Land Divided, Coast United”. She focuses mainly on the poor quality of the water due to the limited number of sewage treatment plants and the inadequate amount of electricity required to power the plants. Glausiusz explained that Israel restricts the materials that are allowed to be transported into the Gaza Strip due to the fear that certain materials can be used to make military weapons. Materials that would be used to build better treatment plants are banned from entering the region making it impossible to improve the quality of the water.  

She brought up the very horrifying fact the people in Gaza dump “90,000 cubic meters of raw or partially treated sewage into the Mediterranean Sea everyday.” This sewage seeps in the drinking water and the infectious bacteria found in the water can live for an extended period of time and cause water-borne illness. This problem is similar to the problem of illness due to the poor disposal of power plant waste that a very recent and and major concern in the United States.