This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
Israeli P.M. Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have held talks in Jerusalem aimed at moving the peace process forward.
Story from the BBC with links to historical benchmarks in the process and other resources (such as borders, the status of refugees, and water)
IME Course Study Guide for the Arab-Israeli conflict
The New York Times’ Andrew Martin wrote recently on the impact of rising prices and global food shortages on the Middle East.
Andrew Martin, “Mideast Facing Choice Between Crops and Water,” New York Times, July 21, 2008
More on water shortages in the Middle East
Story from the BBC
More on problems with water resources in the Middle East: “Water Wars in the Middle East”
Israel is in its fourth year of drought. The Sea of Galilee, which provides 30% of Israel’s water, is dangerously low. The pioneering Zionist ideal - ”to make the desert bloom” - today consumes 60% of Israel’s water annually, yet contributes less than 2% of Israel’s GDP.
See: “Don’t Make the Desert Bloom,” The Economist, June [...]
The World Bank predicts that water supplies in the Middle East will be cut in half by 2050. It has often been said that water is already the tacit motive behind many of the region’s conflicts.
Story from the BBC
More on water in the Middle East
BBC Middle East