DAPHNE CHOULIARAKI MILNER

First off—how are you? How is your family?

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

I’m in East Jerusalem. What is happening is really shocking—it is terrible. We are physically safe, but everyone in my family is shocked.

I have no doubt that both sides, Palestinians and Israelis, will have a very difficult time overcoming this trauma. As someone who has been involved in peace-building and transboundary work for many years, I have experience in dealing with such operations, such wars. But this one will be, indeed, a different one. Grief, anger, stress, feelings for revenge are everywhere. But that does not mean that we will not go back to the work we have been doing, which will be especially [necessary] in this difficult time.

DAPHNE

How has the outbreak of war affected the coalition-building work you’re doing at Arava Institute?

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

Our academic program is still running, students are currently on campus. They include Israeli Arabs, Palestinians from the West Bank, Jewish Israeli students, and international students. Since the beginning, they study together. They live in the same dorm. They go to the same dining room. This is because we are an academic program that wants to build understanding and trust. So, beyond the courses that the students take, we have a forum for dialogue where students discuss politics, religion, culture, family stories, personal stories. And during these discussions they build that understanding and recognition of one another.

You can imagine having, in one classroom, Palestinians from the West Bank, from refugee camps, from Palestinian villages, sitting beside an Israeli student who served in the army. It’s not easy. During this dialogue forum, students shout, cry—we have very hard discussions. But it’s the only way to build a shared community together.

We also focus on research. We cover the whole spectrum of research from basic and applied research to research and development. As we are a non-governmental organization, we do a lot of work with communities on the ground in the West Bank, in Negev, in Gaza, in Jordan. We also work with researchers in Morocco. This is also based on the foundation of trust.

But currently, our main goal is to make sure that our Palestinian partners in the West Bank and in Gaza are safe, nothing is more important. We aren’t doing any research right now with them. All our projects have stopped. We just want to keep this communication channel open with them, and be in communication with them on a daily basis—if not an hourly basis through emails, WhatsApps, phone calls.

DAPHNE

For our readers who perhaps aren’t as clear on the intersection of war and the climate crisis, could you explain why what’s happening in Gaza now—the humanitarian crisis and the bombing of civilians—is also an issue of climate justice?

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

It really is. Gaza has one of the highest population densities in the world, and there is a major scarcity of drinking water. The salinity is very high because of decades of over-pumping. And the aquifer is also polluted by the wastewater. Gaza, for the last 10 years or so, has never been given electricity 24/7. Before this war, Gazans received between eight to 12 hours of electricity a day. Before that, two hours of electricity a day. Now, no electricity at all. Wastewater treatment plants need electricity to treat the wastewater—when you don’t have enough electricity, you cannot treat the wastewater properly.

This, in turn, puts people at risk. And climate change will make it worse as the region is considered a hotspot. Even if Gaza had clean water or enough electricity to treat the wastewater, they also need a climate adaptation and mitigation plan to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions. And also to be prepared for the lack of water—not only for drinking, but also for agriculture.

And all of these challenges facing people in Gaza are further intensified by the war: no clean drinking water, untreated wastewater, destroyed agriculture. It’s a very dangerous situation on all fronts.

DAPHNE

I think many people who are watching the news and following how the conflict is unfolding, and how the humanitarian crisis is unfolding, are struggling to find a clear path forward—a reconciliation. From your experience, how can environmental cooperation help with coalition-building in the region?

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

This region has experienced all kinds of conflicts. Occupation, attacks, war—and we all suffered from this. 

I’m Palestinian from East Jerusalem. I head an Israeli institute, and I have an Israeli ID. I travel to Tel Aviv, Yafo, Akko, Haifa, Eilat—everywhere. I also go to the West Bank, I go to Nablus, I go to Bethlehem, to do projects and to see friends. I’m exposed to both sides. And I see firsthand that the vast majority of people want to live in peace. I know that, personally. I talk to scientists, I talk to school kids, I talk to farmers, I talk to business people, regular people. The majority of us want to live in peace; we want safety and we want a good life for our kids. My focus is on supporting such people—to help them speak loud.

At Arava Institute, we do that through what’s called environmental diplomacy, which is a tool to build bridges. We cooperate on environmental projects. We have meetings, conferences, and workshops on a regular basis. And during these workshops we are exposed to each other. We help each other to see the human in one another. This is what’s lacking in this region. Even though the vast majority wants peace, this lack is what feeds the fear of Palestinians from Israelis; and of Israelis from Palestinians. Our work is about bringing people together, Israelis and Palestinians, helping them to see the human in the other—this is what’s needed.

In a single year, we have between 100 to 120 students; it’s a bottom-up approach. One student doesn’t stay a student. They become professors, they become teachers, they become engineers, and they impact a lot of people when they go back to their villages, to their town, to their families. We have professors all over the world who are alumni of the Arava Institute. We see non-governmental organizations that are solving environmental issues in this region that were established by the alumni of the Arava Institute. 

We are building this community with the hope that this community also will lead the change that we are all looking for—that we all need—in this region.

DAPHNE

What you’re describing is a process, like you said earlier, of building trust, of humanizing one another—of recognizing the humanity in one another and also the respective struggles.

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

Exactly. Exactly.

DAPHNE

One aspect of the Arava Institute is applied environmental diplomacy: building trust between Israeli and Palestinian decision makers in the region to address basic infrastructure issues like water, energy, wastewater treatment, and solid waste management. What role can environmental diplomacy play in de-escalating tensions and political conflict?

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

What we give people that we work with on both sides is the trust: the knowledge that I really believe in peace; I really want you to have a better quality life; I want you to be able to educate your kids. This is a foundation that we build on. And during these difficult times, it’s crucial we continue to keep the communication channel open. That’s why we actually succeed in continuing the work that we do, even after all of these cycles of violence, operations, and war.

DAPHNE

You’ve said before that environmental science is a way of making “connections between Palestinians and Israelis who are all facing the same climate crisis—and also creating a more sustainable world.” How exactly can our work with the natural world foster community and connections?

DR. TAREQ ABU HAMED

We are united when it comes to climate. Here in this tiny region, we share everything. We share the aquifer; the air pollution doesn’t stop at the checkpoint or at the border to pass over from the West Bank to Israel, from Israel to the West Bank. And natural disasters, when they happen, they impact everyone. We have to work together, to overcome our regional conflict, if we want to solve the environmental challenges.

If I clear a stream in Israel, that won’t matter if I don’t do that in Palestine. We have to work together and we need support. We need the support of the international community. Not only financially, but also to help us to come together immediately after this war. Climate change will not stop because of this war. We will face it in a very difficult way after this war, especially in Gaza. Israelis will be forced to find a solution for the wastewater that will continue flowing to the Mediterranean because of the destroyed infrastructure—that will impact everyone.

Everything we do here, I believe that it helps the stability of this region. After all, a stable neighbor is a stable home.