Hydro-‐political Baseline of the Upper Jordan River - Ibrahim Abd El Al

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hollowed rocks and weird caverns, but the gravel is prettier here than any in my own land; pebbles of yellow and bright blue banked in by fruitful loam of a deep rich red, and all so silent and unaffected. So it winds until steeper rocks gird the water, narrowing where wild beasts’ paws have marked the sand” (MacGregor 2002 [1870]: 171). Figure 2.3 Source of the Hasbani, from a woodcut image circa. 1870 by John MacGregor. The falls depicted here may be the site of the current Hasbaya pumping station (see also Photo A.1 and A.2 in Annex A, and cover photo) (MacGregor 2002 [1870]: 175). The source of the Holy Jordan River is important to believers of all three monotheistic faiths. Millions of Christian pilgrims visit the place near the Lake of Tiberias, where it is suggested Jesus was baptised (though the uncontested site is actually much further downstream, near Jericho), and the site of commercialisation of ‘Holy Waters’ which began at the turn of the 20 th century (IRJWC 1907: 41) continues today. Metullah on the hills of the shore of the Hasbani is considered the limits of the Holy Land by Israelite scholars 3 (FNA 1921d), while the Banias is said to have been visited by Abraham, for the Covenant of the Pieces. 4 3 Mixing the town of Hasbaya (spelled ‘Chaspeya’) with the Hasbani River, MacGregor (MacGregor 2002 [1870] : footnote p.174) cites Rabbi Schwartz: “The Jewish inhabitants of the town of Chaspeya carry their dead across the stream to Abel al Krum, because they have a tradition that the river Chaspeya formed the boundary line of Palestine, and they wish to inter the dead on the Holy Land. But this boundary lines was only so after the return from Babylon” 4 MacGregor (2002 [1870]: footnote p. 198): “Stanley places [the holy site of] Baal Gat at Baalbeck [now in Lebanon]. Thomson seems to think that Rehob was at Banias (“The Land and the Book, vol. i. p.391). Schwartz tells us (p. 202) that “About three mill [sic] north of Banias, there is a mount, on which there is an 22
The religious significance of Banias is an important feature of Upper Jordan River hydropolitics. The source – located in the Israeli-‐occupied Syrian Golan – is controlled by Israeli military, and off-‐limits to non-‐Jews without state permission. We will see how the presence of Jewish believers at Metullah re-‐defined the boundary of pre-‐1948 Palestine, and consider how the hydrological and religious significance of Banias currently serves to define the boundary of an enlarged Israel (which includes the Golan). The Upper Jordan River flows have also sustained numerous peoples and armies, including possibly the Phoenicians on the Dead Sea near the end of their empire, and the “only sea battle between the Jews and the Romans” near the mouth of the Lake of Tiberias (MacGregor 2002 [1870]: 316, 370). The flows of the Banias were furthermore crucial in siting the Qala’at al Subeiba (Nimrod Castle) as protection of Damascus against the Sixth Crusade by al Aziz Uthman (nephew of Salah Eddin). 2.2 No ‘Normal’ Borders Residents of the Upper Jordan River basin have seen an unending set of borders laid upon them by colonial politicians and their geographer scribes. The resultant shifting and contested borders are a result of collisions and collusions between commercial, religious and national interests. Water resources either played or are perceived to play a role in each shift – a debate that is returned to at length in Section 4. The Upper Jordan River tributaries have co-‐evolved along political lines at break-‐neck speed over the last century. As shown in the series of images of Figure 2.4, the rivers flowed completely within the Ottoman Empire for centuries until mid-‐way through the First World War in 1916. They continued flowing, of course, as the territorial mandates of the European powers France and Britain laid down their borders following the defeat of the Turks. When Lebanon and Syria gained independence from France in 1943 and 1946, the Hasbani and Liddan flowed for a decade between Lebanon, Syria and British Mandate Palestine. Following the nakba of 1948 and the creation of the State of Israel, the rivers interwove together the conflictual constellation of Lebanon, Syria and Israel. The borders have continued to shift with the expansion and partial retraction of the Israeli state in 1967 and 2000. The Israeli occupation of the Golan ever since 1967 has ensured the confluence of the Hasbani, Liddan, and Banias remains under its full control. During the Israeli invasion and subsequent occupation of southern Lebanon from 1978 until its retreat in 2000, this full control was extended beyond the source of the Hasbani itself. old building having several cupolas. There is a tradition that the ‘covenant between the pieces’ with Abraham (Gen, xv, 9) was made on this spot: The Arabs call is Meshhad al Tir, i.e. the covenant or testimony of the bird (turtle-‐dove?), in reference to the ‘bird’ referred to, ibid v. 10.” 23
Page 1 and 2: Hydro-‐political Baseline of th
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page 5 and 6: 8 THE HYDROPOLITICAL BASELINE 126 8
Page 7 and 8: Tables Table 2.1. Estimates of surf
Page 9 and 10: Preface This study could not have b
Page 11 and 12: control of the flows was assured fo
Page 13 and 14: MILITARY/ POLITICAL EVENTS 1916 192
Page 15 and 16: Springs in 2002, the prominence of
Page 17 and 18: 6, Lebanese narratives in support o
Page 19 and 20: 2. Snapshot of the Upper Jordan 2.1
Page 21: Wazzani Springs Hasbani River Huleh
Page 25 and 26: Each shift in borders has resulted
Page 27 and 28: The border created by the French-
Page 29 and 30: Hydro-‐hegemony in Upper Jordan
Page 31 and 32: Figure 2.7 Institutional arrangemen
Page 33 and 34: master plans, and continues to take
Page 35 and 36: Water Production Water Allocation T
Page 37 and 38: (Hartman 2008). The north-‐west
Page 39 and 40: Mediterranean Sea Dardana Spring A
Page 41 and 42: and placed just downstream of the s
Page 43 and 44: Hasbani Liddan Banias Figure 3.5 Da
Page 45 and 46: Hasbani Liddan Banias Figure 3.6 An
Page 47 and 48: The aquifer is composed primarily o
Page 49 and 50: 25 km wide. It is the highest mount
Page 51 and 52: Hasbani, and that the Litani cannot
Page 53 and 54: 3.5 Water abstractions 3.5.1 Water
Page 55 and 56: Groundwater abstractions within the
Page 57 and 58: PART B. ANALYSIS 4. Hydropolitical
Page 59 and 60: The Ottoman authorities also made a
Page 61 and 62: • to agree to construction works
Page 63 and 64: Figure 4.3 Hiorth’s suggested pla
Page 65 and 66: Figure 4.4 Israeli Water “Project
Page 67 and 68: The break-‐down of the talks me
Page 69 and 70: The 1967 territorial conquest marke
Page 71 and 72: In any case, the debilitation of th
Page 73 and 74:
Considered alongside the significan
Page 75 and 76:
Zeitoun (2007: Fig 4.5) shows how a
Page 77 and 78:
The representatives of the European
Page 79 and 80:
4.5.3 Ghajar “Many people are foc
Page 81 and 82:
5. Wars and Water This section appl
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The very extensive damages to water
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5.4 Water and War in Lebanon during
Page 87 and 88:
Item Area Comments Water Reservoirs
Page 89 and 90:
The total cost of damages to water
Page 91 and 92:
Figure 5.2 Water reservoirs in Leba
Page 93 and 94:
those water pumping stations” (Mu
Page 95:
Assi River, 43 where an estimated 3
Page 98 and 99:
6. Upper Jordan Narratives and Disc
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6.1.2 IWL Narrative: International
Page 102 and 103:
agreement is essential in order tha
Page 104 and 105:
the Jordan and all its tributaries
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High-‐level state interests ris
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either the lingering effects of lon
Page 110 and 111:
7. The Struggle for Control of the
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As such, links between control over
Page 114 and 115:
Figure 7.3 Relative control over su
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MILITARY/ POLITICAL EVENTS 1916 Zio
Page 118 and 119:
een planned since the days of Ibrah
Page 120 and 121:
“Consequently, water disputes mus
Page 122 and 123:
1948 - 1967: no hegemon (control co
Page 124 and 125:
The extensive damages to water infr
Page 126 and 127:
8. The Hydropolitical Baseline The
Page 128 and 129:
8.2 Interests and Power in the Uppe
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Springs are located just inside the
Page 132 and 133:
Water resources and water infrastru
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River flows may come to more closel
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conflicts between the political ent
Page 138 and 139:
Brielmann, Heike (2008) Recharge an
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FNA (1922) Concession du Houle. Fre
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Jarvis, Todd, Mark Giordano, Shammy
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Nembrini, Pier Giorgio (2002a) Kabu
Page 146:
Wolf, Aaron T. (1995) Hydropolitics
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Hydro-‐political Baseline of the Upper Jordan River - Ibrahim Abd El Al

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