Wake up and smell the water. It may soon be gone

I am posting this link to attract attention to an excessively important issue. The Middle East and Lebanon in particular are moving ahead with big water privatization plans. My friend Rania told me of a project by the Brookings Institute to bring together Jordan, Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon and...Israel for planing the next phase of water privatization. The Sanioura government is committed to privatization, but it wont join a project in which Israel is a partner. Things aren't that bad in Lebanon (yet). However, one cannot help relating these projects with Israel's long standing insistance on purchasing water from Lebanon. Commodifying water will make this a trade issue rather than a national security issue, especially if the Arab-Israeli normalization plans go ahead. The situation in which privatized water won't be affordable by the Lebanese from the South because the Israeli are better payers may not be that far away.

We need to wake up to this issue immediately, and question the whole process of privatization, but especially the privatization of water. Especially in South Lebanon.

But the Lebanese opposition is too busy counting ministerial seats. When was the last time ayone heard them say anything of relevance?

And yes, I believe in conspiracies. The corporate world calls them "Strategic Planning".