In 2021, Palestine will have been under official Israeli occupation for 54 years. As conflict persists between the two populations, it is becoming increasingly difficult to imagine a peaceful resolution. As international legal bodies have failed to bring an end to the occupation, the Israeli government continues to carry out extensive violations of human rights against the Palestinians. One significant consequence of the occupation has been the Palestinians’ lack of access to safe and reliable water, a problem that is continuing to worsen as a result of climate change and years of over-utilization of shared, regional water resources. Since the occupation started, international organizations have not only affirmed the general human right to water but have overseen several peace agreements between Israel and Palestine that have included stipulations on water. Despite these measures, neither water access nor quality has improved and, over time, has worsened. This paper will look at why international law has failed to improve conditions for Palestinians and will outline the implications of the water crisis on a potential solution between Israel and Palestine.

The goal of this project is to document and format a cookbook of my grandmother’s Palestinian recipes while learning about her life and the history of Palestine. This process included research of Palestinian history from many different sources: books, Palestinian cookbooks, and online articles to form a foundation for the food and culture behind the recipes from Palestine. It also included intensive cooking lessons with different women in our family to measure, practice, and taste different dishes included in this project. The focus of this cookbook was our grandmother’s recipes, but soon after starting, we realized that cooking in a Palestinian household is a group effort and rarely done by one person. Due to this realization, we decided that everyone in the family would be recognized in constructing this cookbook. After completing this project, we documented stories and experiences of my grandmother’s move to America at a young age, raising five children with no family around her, and her ability to find substitutes for ingredients that were not available in America that we did not know of before. Our relationship with our family and culture has strengthened during this experience, and we are now more confident in who we are and what we can offer to our future generations.