Barbara Lubin and Ziad Abbas of the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) shared their insights on the lack of adequate water for Palestinian children in a forum yesterday.

“As we look at what is happening in the Middle East what we need to do is understand what is happening and be able to see the human suffering that is going on,” said of Communication Professor Lisette Poole as she opened the presentation.

As founder and executive director of MECA, Lubin drew off her 23 years of experience working in Palestine to explain to students the problems facing children in the region to secure something as simple as clean water.

“You know everybody thinks that what goes on in the Middle East is all about oil,” explained Lubin. “I really think it’s as much about water rights as it is about oil.”

Describing the situation further and MECA’s response was Abbas, a Palestinian refugee who said Israeli offensives have damaged water purification systems throughout Gaza while Israel forcefully controls the aquifers in the region.

Abbas cited information from Amnesty International and the United Nations Gaza Coastal Municipal Water Utility, which claimed nearly 95 percent of the water in the Gaza aquifer was “polluted and unfit for human consumption” and if the situation continues, no drinking water will remain in five to 10 years.

He explained how, when MECA asked children at a school in the Bareiji refugee camp what they wanted the most, they had a simple answer.

“Can we have a clean glass of water when we go to school?” was their request, according to Abbas.

The organization responded with a project it began in 2007 that draws its name from the Palestinian word for water: Maia.

The Maia Project placed a water purification system in that school and has since helped place systems in 21 other schools that provide purified water to nearly 42,000 children and their families.

The forum’s focus on the diminishing clean water supply was continually framed against the backdrop of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.

When posed with a question from the audience of how long the water problem might remain for Palestinians, Lubin answered with a question of her own.

“Until when is the occupation going to be over?” responded Lubin.