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The ecopolitics beneath the world’s hottest conflict.

From Adbusters #113: Blueprint for a New World, Part 2: Eco

Reuters/Mohammed Salem

Whatever political slant people assume on the Israel-Palestine issue, no one can deny that Israel has carved out a mighty little name for itself over the past sixty-five years. The tiny country’s political gravity is so immense that all discourse on the Middle East tends to magnify itself onto the global stage—usually through an Israeli lens.

But the Israeli-Palestinian strife long ago surpassed the petty ancient arguments over who settled where, when and for what reasons. As seasons grow more extreme by the year, the issue has become a prescient case study on the lengths people will go in order to secure their future. In a climatic terror zone, Israel secured its existence by assuming control of major water sources. And it’s up to the leaders to defend that, and their global sway—with nukes if need be.

Unlike its Arab neighbours of similar febrile religiosity, Israel consistently managed to receive passes at the UN for full governance over whatever lands they deemed necessary for a secure state. No UN representative dared to question Israel’s 1967 expansion to the Golan Heights, in which they secured the Sea of Galilee, and 30 percent of Israel’s water supply today.

The redrawn borders gave no water to the Syrians, but the concessions gave Israel a much needed moral facelift. They played another concessionary note and pulled out of the Gaza Strip after water desalination technology reached a world-class standard in Israel—and Gazans were put under crippling sanctions to ensure Tel Aviv could have its afternoon coffee without imminent rocket-propelled death. Now, Gazans are free to suckle on whatever dregs trickle out of the Coastal Aquifer.

In the West Bank, on the other hand, we have an administrative and geopolitical clusterfuck. Below the IDF-controlled Area C which occupies 60 per cent of the West Bank … where all Israeli settlements are, but only four percent of the West Bank Palestinians reside … there lies 50 percent of Israel’s water supply. Areas A and B house the vast majority of Palestinians who buy inadequately rationed water from state companies.

In the merciless desert, existential security means guaranteed and uncontested access to water. And for that sole reason, there may never be peace in Israel—nor a two-state solution—because Israel’s regional and global power is inextricably linked to the life juice beneath the Mountain Aquifer in the West Bank.

On this over-sullied planet, secure access to clean drinking water is an absolute survivalist necessity … you are either flourishing or withering. The morality behind ostentatious floral arrangements outside of settler homes or the bombing of “illegal” Palestinian wells in AREA C is purely subjective material for career politicians to mull over.

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It’s all over but the hangover.

In case you missed out on the drunk fun in France and have yet to read all 13 interviews with Sir Martin Sorrell, here’s all the convergence you can handle via the makers of an app we’ve never heard of:

But wait, there’s more!

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Portugal’s 2-2 draw with the U.S. on a last-second goal yesterday was the most-watched broadcast of a soccer game in U.S. history.

The match broadcast on ESPN was seen in 9.6% of U.S. homes for an average of 18.2 million viewers, the Walt Disney Co. network said in a statement. That total topped the 18 million viewers for the 1999 Women’s World Cup final between the U.S. and China on ABC.

The rating also topped the previous high for a men’s soccer game in the U.S., which had been a 9.5 for the 1994 World Cup final between Italy and Brazil. The 1999 women’s final remains the top game in terms of ratings points, with an 11.4. A single ratings point represents 1% of the total number of TV households.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

The World Cup game drew 18.2 million viewers Sunday evening on ESPN, the most viewers for a soccer game — more than the N.B.A. Finals or

World Series.

There are an estimated 1.3 billion people in China, yet only 1% of the country’s households have dishwashers. Some people worry they will be troublesome to run or use up too much water and electricity. And locals are unsure that a machine can cut through the cooking oils of Chinese stir-fry.

So appliance maker Siemens and Reckitt Benckiser detergent brand Finish have come up with an ingenious way of turning skeptics into converts. They set up a faux apartment in Beijing where people can host dinner parties free and try out life with a dishwasher. (Added bonus: There’s a karaoke machine.)

Word-of-mouth and social-media buzz have drawn 2,000 people to the Beijing Party Place (so named to draw young people) in its first year. The center has hosted more than 110 parties to date, prompting the brands to open a bigger center in Shanghai. You can’t buy products at either — the concept is all about getting the dishwasher experience.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

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