Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
The Six-Day War of 1967, in which Israel defeated and captured new territories from the neighbouring states of Egypt (then the United Arab Republic), Jordan and Syria, was partially precipitated by disputes over Israel’s access to the Jordan River. The end of the war marked the beginning of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Today, Israel claims rights to all the water resources between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, with the exception of one coastal aquifer in the West Bank, where Israel controls 80 per cent of water resources and Palestinians receive 20 per cent. The tense situation is further aggravated by what Palestinians believe is price-gouging and aggressive military protection of Israel’s surplus by the Israeli government.
Water Valley, a brief portrait of the modern Israeli-Palestinian water-resources conflict, follows a Palestinian farmer in the Jordan Valley as he steers water from an Israeli pump that he claims would otherwise be wasted, and recounts tense confrontations with Israeli authorities over water access. Although short, the film illuminates how clean water, taken for granted in some part of the globe, can shape geopolitical conflicts in others – a problem that can be further exacerbated by climate change in the future.
Director: Kate Stonehill
Producers: Rana Khaled al Khatib, Anna Van Hollen, Melanie Fridgant, Mohamed Jaradat
video
Global history
The famed medieval map that stretched beyond Earth to heaven, history and myth
5 minutes
video
Earth science and climate
A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse
6 minutes
video
Design and fashion
Household items are reborn in a ‘visual symphony of everyday objects’
11 minutes
video
Music
As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time
5 minutes
video
Human rights and justice
Meet the man who uncovered the scandal of nuclear testing in South Australia
13 minutes
video
Quantum theory
Why aren’t our everyday lives as ‘spooky’ as the quantum world?
7 minutes
video
Global history
The strange journey of the Parthenon Marbles to the British Museum
10 minutes
video
Animals and humans
Laura fights to protect the magnificence of wild horses running free
6 minutes
video
Film and visual culture
The old-time cinema experience endures in a quiet corner of Japan
5 minutes