Periscope

ENVIRONMENT

Suing Over Sewage

It seems the conflict in the Middle East is sinking to new lows--right down to the cesspool. An Egyptian environmental NGO and a slew of officials are accusing Israel of dumping raw sewage into the Mediterranean, sullying Gaza and nearby Egyptian beaches. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's had enough to worry about with the unceasing conflict in the region, not to mention recent corruption charges. Now he's being sued for nearly $11 million by Egypt's Rafah-based Organization for Environmental Protection in compensation for the health hazards caused by the alleged pollution.

But as with every dispute in the region, this story has two sides. While the Egyptian Ministry of Environment says that Israeli dumping--an alleged average of 140 to 170 cubic meters of untreated sewage at surface level each day since 1993--has contaminated waters with unsafe levels of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, Israeli environmentalists are passing the buck. They claim the sewage pipes can clearly be seen from the border, and that they are under Palestinian control.

Although Greenpeace stopped off in Israel in December and deemed it "notorious in the region for holding back international regulations to protect the Mediterranean Sea," international observers have yet to investigate the claims of either side. Until that happens, Egypt--which is hardly the world's most environmentally friendly nation itself--will likely press on with its lawsuit. And Palestinian sympathizers will maintain their demand that Israel disarm its weapons of mass defecation.

--Gretel C. Kovach