When water rights become political

Water rights and access have been a perennial point of Israeli-Palestinian conflict due to this essential resource's scarcity in the region, and the significant damage to fresh and wastewater infrastructure in Gaza due to the war.

But now the issue of water access in the Middle East is causing division in the United States. The Water Council, a Milwaukee-based nonprofit focused on regional and global water quality issues, is coming under fire for its connection to Israeli water-focused businesses and development organizations, including Mekorot, the Israeli national water company.

Pro-Palestine representatives and organizations called on the Water Council this week to divest from its partnerships in Israel, support an international boycott and divestiture movement, and focus resources that it has committed to Israeli businesses and agencies on Milwaukee's problems with lead-contaminated drinking water. Their calls show ever-increasing tension in American communities to balance local issues and conflict abroad.

Keep scrolling for more stories about the conflict in the Middle East from the Paste BN Network.

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