From AFP, October 1:
Many ordinary Jordanians, as well as others in government circles, complain that tens of thousands of Syrian refugees who have fled from the conflict at home are draining the country’s meager water resources.
In recent weeks, people have demonstrated in southern and northern villages for not receiving water for the past two months, burning tyres, blocking roads and seizing a Water Authority tanker.
Their only alternative is to buy from private suppliers at grossly inflated prices, or even steal it.
“This summer has been tough and hot, and the increasing Syrian refugees and sometimes tourists have added pressures to water resources,” Water Authority Secretary General Fayez Bataineh told AFP.
And Asharq al-Awsat talks about how Egyptian supplies of natural gas to Jordan have been interrupted many times this year. They spin a conspiracy theory of Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood wanting to destabilize Jordan, which is far from convincing - it appears that there were technical problems as domestic Egyptian demands caused a shortage, and Egypt is even now importing gas just to be able to re-export it according to agreements.
Buried in an article critical of the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty at Jordanian newspaper Al Ghad, we see something very interesting:
Months ago, Israel supplied Jordan with three million cubic meters of water beyond the annual quantities agreed upon in accordance with the Treaty; this water went mostly for the consumption of Syrian refugees residing north of the Kingdom.
Months before that, Israel also offered to sell the Kingdom natural gas at cost in the face of the disruption of the supply of Egyptian gas....But this offer requires a pipeline from the territory of Jordan towards the network that supplies Israel with natural gas, and could trigger an internal political storm.
So while Jordanians are protesting against peace with Israel, Israel is quietly working behind the scenes to help Jordan with its two most pressing needs.
This makes it crystal clear how much that right-wing hawkish satanic Likud government of the Zionist entity wants peace and stability in the entire region.
Maybe if journalists would do their jobs, we - and the Arab people - would know these things.
(The article also notes how Israel is negotiating with Jordan to allow them to sell produce to European markets through Israel's ports on the Mediterranean. In addition, some 30,000 Israelis - mostly businessmen - crossed the Allenby Bridge to Jordan in 2011. Israel exported over $209 million of goods to Jordan last year, most of which gets relabeled and resold to Gulf Arab states at a profit.)
(h/t Zvi)