Jason Gerbsch                                                             Approximately 200 words

jg33@geneseo.edu

INTD 105: Science Writing

The main topic of the article concerns the crisis Palestine is encountering involving water and sewage.  Waste treatment in Gaza City was designed to treat up to 40,000 cubic meters of sewage per day.  However, the actual amount produced exceeds that, measuring about 150,000 cubic meters of sewage.  The only solution has been to dump the excess into the Mediterranean Sea.  In doing so, the largest supply of water is threatened, not only for Palestine, but for Israel as well.  Palestine has the potential means of solving this problem, but the materials required to do so have been withheld by Israel after a tunnel was discovered built by Hamas to infiltrate the country.

After reading the article, I understand Israel’s fears of giving Palestine materials that could serve a dual purpose of war and peace construction, but I feel that Israel should set aside this rather staunch stance in favor of one that could benefit millions of people.  By providing the necessary materials and the extra electricity required, Israel could improve the lives of millions of Palestinians, safeguard the future of both Palestine’s and Israel’s main water supply, and possibly improve Palestinian-Israeli relations through such a humanitarian action.