- 11 aug 2010
UK charity sends supplies Nablus village with water pump
NABLUS (Ma'an) -- A UK-based charity which raises funds for projects in the northern West Bank district of Nablus supplied two remote hamlets in the district with a water pump and electricity generator on Tuesday, a statement read.
Friends of Nablus and Surrounding Areas provided the water pump for the Khirbet Twayil village near the town of Aqraba and an electricity generator for Khirbet Tana near the town of Beit Furik.
FONSA said it was the first association to provide an electricity generator to Khirbet Tana, which will supply electricity to 20 homes in the area.
The water pump in Khirbet Twayil will serve approximately 300 residents, the statement read, and will help them draw water from the Roman wells surrounding their mobile homes and animals with drinking water.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=307199 17 nov 2011, 02:39 , Respect -
Maria 22 nov 2011, 11:13 , Respect -
Maria 14 aug 2010
2 Beduin suspects arrested for NIS 100,000 theft of water
Border Police arrested a father and son from the Beduin tribe of al-Azzma as they tried to remove water meters belonging to the Mekorot water utility near Kibbutz Revivim on Saturday.
They were caught by police after the water company filed a complaint with police saying that it had lost water equal in value to NIS 100,000 in the area over the past few months.
The two perpetrators will be brought to court Saturday evening to have their remands set by a judge.
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=184722 24 nov 2011, 00:10 , Respect -
Maria 16 aug 2010
Poisoning of Gaza water puts population at risk
The signs which dot the beach along the Gaza City waterfront are clear: "THIS BEACH IS POLLUTED," they read, and yet they seem to serve only as obstacles for children running to the sea rather than warnings to be heeded of the serious health risks associated with swimming here. For those who care to doubt the sign's veracity, one need only to stroll north along the beach for a couple hundred meters to see raw sewage being pumped directly into the Mediterranean Sea from one of the 16 discharge sites along the coast. Yet thousands fill Gaza's beaches and waters in spite of the clear dangers.
For the 1.5 million Palestinians trapped in the Gaza Strip, deprived of their freedom of movement, worn down daily by the all-pervasive effects of the Israeli-imposed closure, the sea is one of the few sources of respite available in their lives, and for a people that have been denied their economic livelihood, it is the only such activity that is affordable and available. The sea plays an integral part in the lives of this coastal community: it is a place to fish, to play and to gather with family. The importance of the sea to the people of Gaza cannot be understated: "without the sea there is no Gaza," explains Abdel Haleem Abu Samra, public relations officer of the Palestinian Center for Human Right's Khan Younis Branch.
The intimate relationship Palestinians in Gaza share with the sea thus makes the current state of Gaza's beaches and sea all the more disheartening and disconcerting. Due to the effects of the total closure imposed by Israel in 2007 -- principle among them a complete lack of construction materials to build new wastewater treatment facilities or spare parts to repair existing ones, as well as an acute lack of fuel and electricity to run necessary waste treatment cycles -- an average of 20,000 cubic meters of raw sewage is dumped directly into the Mediterranean Sea every day, estimates Monther Shoblak, director general of the Coastal Municipality Water Utility, although in some areas this figure reaches 70,000-80,000 cubic meters per day.
Beyond tarnishing Gaza's once pristine shores, the noxious consequences of the deterioration of the wastewater treatment operation in Gaza resulting from the closure hold much more grave implications: the Gaza Strip is, quite literally, being poisoned. Ninety percent of the water available in Gaza from its only source -- the coastal aquifer -- is undrinkable, and nitrate and chloride levels reach six and seven times the international safety standards put forward by the World Health Organization (WHO). As the director of the operation to keep the water in Gaza clean, it is Monther's job to cure this poisoning, but, like a doctor without medicine, there is little he can do while the tools he needs are denied to him and his operation under the policy of closure, which has been practiced on Gaza by Israel in various forms since 1991.
Like all Palestinians in Gaza, Monther and his staff at the Coastal Municipalities Water Utilities are forced to improvise, to make do with very little; few others, perhaps, must do so much with so little. Monther is tasked not only with disposing of the wastewater created by the 1.5 million people in this tiny strip of land but also with ensuring that they have access to safe, clean drinking water. That approximately 80 percent of Gaza's population lives in refugee camps, some of the most densely populated areas on earth where adequate infrastructure is rare and the conditions for waterborne disease are rife, is the least of Monther's concerns: for more than three years now, Monther has been forced to conduct his efforts while being deprived of the resources needed to do so, with perseverance in place of concrete and ingenuity instead of a supply of clean water. Monther analogizes the plight of Gaza's wastewater treatment facilities with an old car that is forced into continual use despite being denied the spare parts needed for upkeep: eventually the car falls into disrepair and begins to spit plumes of jet black, highly polluted smoke -- a highly relevant image in Gaza, where adulterated gasoline is the normal input into cars due to sharp restrictions on fuel under the Israeli closure.
Compounding the challenge facing Monther and his staff is the fact that they must also adapt Gaza's deteriorating wastewater treatment facilities for a rapidly increasing population which, accordingly, produces a rapidly increasing volume of waste. Gaza's current wastewater treatment facilities were constructed with an operational capacity of 32,000 cubic meters of waste a day. With a growth rate that is one of the world's highest -- an estimated 3.6 percent annually -- Gaza's surging population has overwhelmed the capacity of the waste treatment facilities, and Monther estimates that the facilities are now receiving at least 65,000 cubic meters of waste daily. Unable to handle more than half of its intake, much of the sewage is directly transported to the sea, where it is dumped completely untreated. Much of this sewage washes back onto Gaza's shores, polluting the beaches and creating toxic swimming conditions for the countless children and adults seeking escape from the intense summer heat.
Nowhere is the deteriorating condition of Gaza's wastewater operation more evident than in Beit Lahiya, in the northern region of the Strip. One of the Gaza Strip's three wastewater treatment facilities, the Beit Lahiya station receives more than 25,000 cubic meters per day, almost twice its operational capacity. Exacerbating this problem, the facility is cutoff from access to the sea, and thus the untreated wastewater flows directly into the surrounding area, creating a cesspool -- literally a lake of sewage -- that now comprises approximately 450 dunam (a dunam is the equivalent of 1,000 square meters). The Beit Lahiya station stands as one of the most extreme examples of the environmental and health disasters that the Israeli policy of closure has realized in the Gaza Strip. The consequences of the sewage lake have been fatal and not only because, in March 2007, the lake's embankment broke and the subsequent flooding killed five people: the contamination of the groundwater in the northern Gaza Strip caused by the pollution has resulted in nitrate levels that are in some places seven times higher than WHO's international safety standards.
"Nitrate is a silent killer," says Monther: it is colorless, odorless and tasteless, but when consumed at levels even much lower than those present in Gaza, continued nitrate intake results in a reduced oxygen supply to vital tissues such as the brain. Nitrate intake is particularly dangerous for infants, for whom it can result in brain damage and possibly death. Information regarding the long term consequences for the people of Gaza in this regard is still unknown, however, for, as one donor has said: "Nowhere else in the world has such a large number of people been exposed to such high levels of nitrates for such a long period of time. There is no precedent, and no studies to help us understand what happens to people over the course of years of nitrate poisoning."
The implications of Gaza's growing population thus also present serious concerns for the other aspect of Monther's task, which is to provide safe and clean drinking water to the people of Gaza Strip. The coastal aquifer, which runs underground along much of the Strip, is Gaza's only source of potable water and its most important natural resource. Historically, this aquifer has served as the lifeblood for the people of Gaza and has given rise to the agriculture, particularly citrus farms, for which the Gaza Strip is famous. Once, before the imposition of the closure policy by Israel in the early 1990s, one could dig a hole within 100 meters from the beach and find drinkable water, says Monther. Now, he explains, the CMWU has been forced to issue a warning against the drilling of wells within two kilometers of the beach, which, taken in combination with the "buffer zone" unilaterally imposed by Israeli military on Gaza's border with Israel -- tacitly acknowledged at 300 meters but practiced sometimes at distances much further -- leaves little space for water extraction.
As inconvenient as it may seem, the reason behind the ruling is even more worrying: the aquifer is polluted, poisoned by sewage and depleted by the rising population which it can no longer support. Only 10 percent of the aquifer's water now meets international standards for consumption, and, if no changes are made, Monther fears that this figure may soon reach 0 percent. A UNEP (United Nations Environment Program) report published in September 2009 stated that water extraction is roughly double the capacity of the aquifer. Accordingly, Monther explains, people in Gaza are drilling more and deeper wells, further polluting the aquifer with water from the saline aquifer to the east of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and from the sea.
Confronted with this rapidly deteriorating situation and denied by Israel the resources with which to address it, Monther and his staff have been forced to adopt unconventional means of tackling Gaza's wastewater issues. In the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, Monther explains, the wastewater situation had reached a crisis level: like Beit Hanoun, waste was being dumped directly into the land area surrounding the cities, as the area lacked both an adequate waste treatment facility and the materials needed to construct it. In response to the crisis, which threatened to deny access to safe drinking water for the combined population of 350,000, Monther and his staff turned to a practice employed by many Palestinians in Gaza surrounded by rubble left by Israel's latest offensive: they begin to collect aggregate from the nearby remains of the Philadelphi Route, the border between Gaza and Egypt which was partially destroyed in 2008 when thousands of Palestinians flowed into Egypt seeking food and supplies. With these secondhand supplies, the CMWU was able to construct what Monther refers to as a "near state-of-the-art facility." Although chloride levels -- the counterpart to the pollution problem poisoning Gaza's water -- are still as high as six times the international standard in this southern area, Monther believes that they "are saving the city of Khan Younis by addressing the increasing levels of nitrates and removing the raw sewage from the densely populated urban areas."
In such ways, Monther and his staff at CMWU continue their efforts to keep the water of Gaza clean, but, as he admits, "we know its not enough: the water in Gaza is deteriorating quickly. Until we find another source of water, the population in Gaza remains at great risk." For now, the poisoning of the Gaza Strip continues, and, for all Gaza's efforts and ingenuity, there is little that can be done to stop it as long as the closure continues. The treatment of Gaza's wastewater cannot progress as long as Israel restricts basic building materials and adequate levels of fuel and electricity, and, with a rising population over-burdening the capacity of the current facilities, Gaza's wastewater treatment operation only deteriorates. As Desmond Travers, a member of the UN Fact-finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, concluded in the Mission's Report: "If these issues are not addressed Gaza may not even be habitable by WHO standards," and the September UNEP report has warned that the damage being incurred now "could take centuries to reverse."[ 6] As long as the closure persists, however, the people of Gaza remain helpless to combat these problems; they have little choice but to wait, spending their time at the beach trying to ignore the pollution that piles up around them.
This report is part of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights' Narratives Under Siege series.
http://fwd4.me/0k2L
[b]Campaign official: Israel cuts off water to Jordan Valley village[/b]
TUBAS (Ma'an) -- The Save the Jordan Valley campaign has accused Israel of deliberately cutting off water to vast areas of agricultural land in the Bardala village.
A campaign representative said Palestinian farmers would sustain substantial losses and that it was the second time water to agricultural fields had been cut off in 2010.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=308397 28 nov 2011, 17:37 , Respect -
Maria 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 18 aug 2010
Israel jails father of child filmed protesting arrest, Give me my dad," Khalid cried.
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- The father of a new-famous child who was filmed begging Israeli forces to release his dad from detention has been sentenced to three months in prison plus a fine, relatives said Wednesday.
Footage of Fadil Al-Jabari's four-year-old son Khalid sobbing at the sight of his father being dragged away sparked outrage. "You dog, give me my dad. I want daddy. I want daddy. Give me my dad," Khalid cried.
Fadil was charged with obstructing an arrest and striking an officer, both charges that he denied. Khalid's uncle was sentenced along with his father, also for three months, family members told Ma'an.
According to his grandmother, Khalid still asks when his father is coming home and has become agitated, fighting with his younger sister.
(0:55) Little boy traumatized watching Israeli soldiers arrest his Father for "stealing" water. 1 x viewed
Israel jails father of child filmed protesting arrest
Published yesterday (updated) 18/08/2010 21:35
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- The father of a new-famous child who was filmed begging Israeli forces to release his dad from detention has been sentenced to three months in prison plus a fine, relatives said Wednesday.
Footage of Fadil Al-Jabari's four-year-old son Khalid sobbing at the sight of his father being dragged away sparked outrage. "You dog, give me my dad. I want daddy. I want daddy. Give me my dad," Khalid cried.
Fadil was charged with obstructing an arrest and striking an officer, both charges that he denied. Khalid's uncle was sentenced along with his father, also for three months, family members told Ma'an.
According to his grandmother, Khalid still asks when his father is coming home and has become agitated, fighting with his younger sister.
According to witnesses, the arrest came as Israel's Civil Administration began destroying what it described as an illegal water irrigation network in the Al-Baq'a village east of Hebron. Family members said they saw bulldozers overturning land.
Israeli officials say they did not destroy land. A spokesman for Israel's Civil Administration said inspectors destroyed pipes that were illegally set up and stealing water from other sources. The Civil Administration said the child was coached for the cameras.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=309064 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria p 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 21 aug 2010
Protests threatened over Hebron water crisis
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Residents in Hebron are threatening to hold sit-ins in front of the city's water wells and outside the Prime Minister’s office in Ramallah if the water situation does not improve.
Locals demanded that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad dismisses Shaddad Al-Attili, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, for failing to commit to pledges he made to improve the water supply in the city, which has a population of 220,000.
Amin Al-Ja'bari, head of a committee to support Hebron's Old City, said rallies and sit –ins would be held because residents "want water to drink," adding that the water shortage in Hebron was due to a malfunction that the PWA had failed to solve.
Al-Ja'bari appealed to Fayyad to provide the municipality with small tanks of water which can be delivered to residents of the Old City, rather than large tanks.
Fatah Secretary General in Hebron Muhammad Kifah Al-Owaiwi called on the Ministry of Local Governance to form a investigative committee into the lack of water in the city.
Responding to calls to dismiss him, Shadad Al-Attili said "If I were the reason, it is up to the Prime Minister and President to dismiss me. We in the water authority have made efforts to provide water to residents; it is up to the Municipalities to distribute this water to residents."
Al-Attili said theft of water is an ongoing problem in Hebron, noting that 2,000 cubic meters was stolen between Halhul and Sa'ir villages. He added that the issue is being handled by the Ministry of Local Governance.
The Water Authority official said penalties imposed on residents who steal water are ineffective, and complained that many were released on bail. He said the authority would continue its campaign, coordinating with security departments, to prevent violations of water pipe lines.
The authority has fixed one of the wells in Hebron, which will produce 6,000 cubic meters per day and improve the district’s water situation, Al-Attilli said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=309720
12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 23 aug 2010
Water supplied in Gaza unfit for drinking; Israel prevents entry of materials needed to repair system
Almost 95 percent of the water pumped in the Gaza Strip is polluted and unfit for drinking. This warning was recently issued by the UN Environment Programme, the Palestinian Water Authority, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, and international aid organizations. They estimate it will take at least 20 years to rehabilitate Gaza's underground water system, and any delay in dealing with the problem will lead to additional deterioration in the situation and thus might extend the rehabilitation process for hundreds of years. Since it began its siege on the Gaza Strip, in June 2007, Israel has forbidden the entry of equipment and materials needed to rehabilitate the water and wastewater-treatment systems there. The prohibition has remained despite the recent easing of the siege.
Reasons for the water pollution in Gaza
The water crisis in the Gaza Strip arose following over-pumping of the underground water of the Coast Aquifer. It is estimated that the amount of water annually pumped from the aquifer is roughly twice the amount of water that replenishes it. As a result of the over-pumping, which has been going on for several decades, salt water has penetrated the aquifer. In addition, the poor maintenance of the wastewater-treatment facilities in Gaza, which increased following the siege, and the damage done to the wastewater-treatment facility in Gaza City during Operation Cast Lead, led to further pollution of the underground water by wastewater, and to greater salinity. Another factor for the pollution is the waste-disposal sites in Gaza, which are not properly handled. Following Operation Cast Lead, these sites received enormous amounts of waste more than 600,000 tons including asbestos, medial waste, oils, and fuels.
Water consumption in Gaza
The daily per capita water consumption in the Gaza Strip is 91 liters, slightly higher than in the West Bank, where the figure is 73 liters, yet lower than the minimum of 100 liters recommended by the World Heath Organization. By comparison, daily per capita consumption in Israel is 242 liters in urban areas and 211 liters in rural areas.
Magnitude of the pollution
The director of quality control in the Gazan Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, Eng. Majed Ghanem, told B'Tselem that an examination conducted in late 2009 in 180 wells revealed that, in 93 percent of them, the chloride level (which indicates the water's salinity) was 1,000 to 2,000 mg/liter, four to eight times higher than the 250 mg/liter amount recommended by the WHO. Water with a chloride level this high is unfit for drinking. According to Ghanem, the pollution also affects the water's color and causes its repellent odor.
In addition, an examination carried out by the UN Environment Programme on a number of wells in Gaza found that the concentration of nitrates was six times higher than the 50 mg level recommended by the WHO. This high level of nitrates is liable to cause anemia among children and methemoglobinemia (blue infants syndrome) among infants, which is liable to lead to choking and death. A study published in 2007, in which a sample of 340 infants from Gaza were examined, found that almost half of them suffered from troubling symptoms of the syndrome.
The Palestinian Water Authority estimates that almost 40 percent of the incidence of disease in Gaza is related to polluted drinking water. According to international aid organizations, 20 percent of Gazan families have at least one child under age five who suffers from diarrhea as a result of polluted water. A UN study published in 2009 estimates that diarrhea is the cause of 12 percent of children's deaths in Gaza. The lack of potable drinking water is liable to cause malnutrition in children and affect their physical and cognitive development.
The water pollution also harms the area's agricultural produce. According to Ghanem, the milk given by cows in Gaza is polluted, and farm crops that once characterized the area, such as oranges, have declined in quantity and quality.
Effects of the siege and Operation Cast Lead
Since the beginning of the siege, Israel has prohibited the entry of equipment and materials that can be used to improve water quality and taste, and to develop and rehabilitate the water infrastructure and the wastewater-treatment facilities in Gaza. The prohibition has remained in force even after the recent easing of restrictions, and despite the Cabinet's decision to allow the entry of building materials for projects that have been approved by the Palestinian Authority and are supervised by international organizations. The equipment needed includes water pumps, pipes, generators, computers, building cement, and chloride. Israel classifies these materials as dual-use items that are liable to be used for military purposes, and therefore prohibits their entry.
The Gazan Coastal Municipalities Water Utility currently requires 1,250 tons of cement just to rebuild water reservoirs. The Sufa Crossing between Gaza and Israel, which is intended, among other things, for the transfer of building materials, has been closed since March 2009. The by-laws of the international organizations prohibit them from purchasing cement smuggled into Gaza through tunnels, for the rehabilitation projects.
The lack of construction materials and replacement parts has also led to greater loss of water from the supply network in Gaza. Prior to the siege, the loss had been 30 percent of the amount of water supplied to consumers, generally resulting from leaks in the pipes. In 2009, the loss reached 47 percent, according to figures of the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility.
The Gaza Strip's power station has been working at partial output since Israel bombed it in June 2006. There is also a shortage of industrial fuel needed to operate the station, following the disputes that arose between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas regarding its funding, which has led to frequent power outages. The outages prevent the wastewater-treatment facilities from completing the 14-day treatment cycle and also impair the frequency of water supply to houses. According to UN figures, water is supplied to houses in Gaza City for four to six hours once every five days, and in the rest of the Gaza Strip for four to six hours once every three days. Due to the low pressure, the water does not reach the top floors in tall buildings.
In Operation Cast Lead, Israel damaged Gaza City's wastewater-treatment facility, leading to untreated wastewater flooding extensive farm areas. According to the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, 30 kilometers of water networks, 11 wells, and 6,000 home water tanks were damaged during the operation, and the overall damage to the water and wastewater-treatment facilities amounted to six million dollars.
Most of Gaza's wastewater now flows to the Mediterranean Sea, some as raw wastewater, and some following partial treatment. International organizations have found that the shoreline near which the wastewater flows is polluted and unfit for bathing. Proper wastewater treatment would have enabled use of the treated wastewater for agricultural purposes and reduced pumping of the underground water.
Effect of the economic situation on water consumption
Due to the poor water quality, many Gazans are forced to buy water treated in facilities operated by local entrepreneurs or to use home desalination devices. The quality of the water provided in this way is unsupervised, and the lack of replacement parts and regular power supply has harmed them, too.
Since treatment of water from pollutants such as nitrates and chlorides is very expensive, the cost of a cubic meter of treated water is a high as 50 shekels (some 13 US dollars in August 2010), 10 times higher than the price paid by households in Israel. Many Gazans cannot afford this luxury: the unemployment rate in Gaza reached 39 percent in 2009, and poverty in 2007 was 43 percent. In 2007, average family expenditures in Gaza stood at slightly more than 2,000 shekels a month.
Recommendations of the UN Environment Programme
To prevent the collapse of the Gazan water economy, the UN Environment Programme recommended, a year ago, that pumping of water from the Coast Aquifer in Gaza cease. The Programme also suggested that Israel and Egypt, countries which share the water of the aquifer, formulate a joint action plan including alternative water-supply sources, among them desalination facilities to deal with the water crisis in Gaza. The Programme also recommended that an epidemiological survey be made to study the effects of polluted-water consumption on the Gazan population, especially on the children.
To cope with the grave water crisis in Gaza, Israel must immediately allow the entry of materials and equipment needed to rehabilitate and develop the water and wastewater-treatment systems there. Also, all the sides Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the Hamas government, and Egypt must take action to stop the rapid deterioration in the condition of the underground water system of the Coast Aquifer, which serves residents of the Gaza Strip, and find additional sources of drinking water for the residents.
http://www.btselem.org/English/Gaza_Strip/20100823_Gaza_water_crisis.asp 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 24 aug 2010
PA: Palestinian water shortage at critical levels
JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday that Israel rejected a request to build four water wells in the Jenin area, offering to allow one well to be built in exchange for permission to monitor water consumption in the entire West Bank.
The deal was rejected by members of the Joint Technical Committee on Water, whose mandate under the Oslo Accords was to provide technical assessments of water-related projects in the West Bank, a statement issued by the PA read.
According to PA officials, the four proposed wells "have all been positively evaluated from a technical standpoint." The PA noted that "the creation of new water wells is an existential issue going to the very core of sovereignty and viability of a Palestinian state."
PA policy adviser for water and environment Dr Shaddad Attili called the refusal "the latest in a long line of actions and policies that are exacerbating a highly inequitable and unsustainable situation when it comes to the sharing of water between Palestinians and Israelis; these actions fly in the face of PNA efforts to build Palestinian infrastructure and institutions and create a solid base for a future state."
The refusal came amid an ongoing crisis in the West Bank, which has seen some towns, cities and villages without a reliable supply of water for weeks.
Citing a study prepared in 1995 for the Oslo Interim Accords, the PA said last year's water levels were "insufficient to meet immediate Palestinian needs at the time," following which Israeli officials had committed to the allocation of 70 to 80 additional MCM over the next five years, bringing the total to around 200 MCM by 2000.
"In reality, not only did Israel fail to implement this commitment, it actively sought to restrict existing Palestinian water production in the West Bank," the statement said, adding that by 2009, Palestinian production in the West Bank had fallen to 84 MCM, which was "less than half the allocated share under Oslo, and significantly less than production levels in 1995."
"This is why, in order to survive, Palestinians are now forced to buy their own water from Mekorot, the Israeli water utility company."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=309291 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 25 aug 2010
Access Denied- Thousands of Palestinians are being denied access to water.
Whilst the water flows freely into the illegal Israeli settlements, Palestinian towns and villages are running dry. Act now.
Whilst the water flows freely into the illegal Israeli settlements, Palestinian towns and villages are running dry.
Israel has taken sole control of the Mountain Aquifer, the West Bank's principal water supply, and is taking around 80% of it to supply either the illegal settlements or Israel itself. The average Israeli settler now uses around 400 litres of water a day, twenty times more than many of their Palestinian neighbours are forced to survive on. Israeli troops have destroyed rainwater cisterns and frequently confiscate water tankers, tractors and trailers used by Palestinians attempting to collect water from further away.
Villagers are unable to grow crops or feed their herds so it's a struggle for them to survive. In many areas, access to water is so severely restricted that they can't even grow small amounts of food to feed their families. It's a life-threatening situation.
Act now and end Israel's discriminatory water policies.
Letter
Dear Professor Shani
Thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are being denied cleanwater. As a result, children are falling ill, crops are dying and lives are in danger.
At the same time illegal Israeli settlements enjoy an unrestricted supply. This inequality is the direct result of policies actively pursued by the Israeli authorities; policies that are designed to drive Palestinians from their homes in order to makeway for further Israeli settlements; policies which are both discriminatory and illegal. I therefore call on you to:
* Immediately lift all the restrictions imposed on Palestinians' access to water
* Allow Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources
* including shared control of the aquifers
I understand that the Palestinian Authority has a role to play in restoring and maintaining an efficient water system. But until the present restrictions are lifted, it is simply impossible for them to do so effectively.
In the meantime, by denying water to Palestinian civilians, you are denying them life. This policy is immoral, inhumane and illegal.
It must stop now.
Yours sincerely,
http://fwd4.me/0k2M
Maria 27 aug 2010
Gaza sewage project fears potential delays
World Bank Country Director for West Bank and Gaza Strip David Craig inspects sewage ponds in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya on September 10, 2009.
The World Bank said its projects to resolve the wastewater crisis in Gaza were delayed due to an Israeli blockade on the coastal Strip.
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Wastewater treatment project organizers in the northern Gaza Strip expressed concern on Thursday, ahead of the launch of phase two of construction.
The first phase, a background paper said, was delayed three years due to the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which severely restricted the supplies available for the project.
As the $40 million phase two prepares to move forward, organizers said that although the Israeli Government "provided assurances that materials and equipment for construction of the plant will be allowed to enter Gaza in a timely manner," the "volume of goods and materials that will need to be imported to Gaza through Israel will be much greater than under Part A," which was massively delayed.
The phase, funded and with technical assistance by Belgium, France, Sweden, the European Commission, and the World Bank, will see the construction of recovery wells surrounding the infiltration beds to extract and reuse treated wastewater for irrigation on adjacent agricultural land, as well as further rehabilitation of the Beit Lahiya wastewater ponds, which breached in 2008 and flooded parts of the northern Strip.
Although the Office of the Quartet Representative and the US State Department have historically worked with the project to secure entry of building materials into Gaza, officials cite the gross delays of phase one as a concern ahead of the second leg of construction.
The deal to kick off phase two, signed four months after the completion of phase one, came on 31 May, the same day Israeli forces boarded six Gaza-bound aid ships in international waters and killed nine passengers who sought to defend one of the ships.
Fallout from the incident saw a global call to ease, and even end the siege on Gaza. Israeli officials announced a new set of restrictions on goods entering Gaza after the incident. While goods like ketchup, jam and shoelaces were to be permitted into Gaza without restrictions - as opposed to a list of some 86 items of goods permitted for entry - construction materials would remain restricted, and be transferred only to international aid agencies, the Palestinian Authority and internationally-funded projects.
Immediately after the decision was announced, organizations including the UN, whose Relief and Works Agency was engaged in the construction and reconstruction of hundreds of homes, continued to report delays as builders waited for supplies.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=310878 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect- 11 aug 2010
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Maria 28 aug 2010
Jordan Valley residents suffer without water
JERICHO (Ma'an) -- The daily trip taken by U'dai Ka'abneh and his siblings to find water tells the reality of life in summer for residents of Al-Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley.
U'dai drags a wooden box on four small wheels, a makeshift cart he designed to help his family bring water to their sheep.
With his three siblings, U'dai walks for hundreds of meters on dirt roads to reach the nearest water pipe line to fill plastic bottles with water.
A distinctively clever boy, he has the eyes of a cautious eagle, always watching over his siblings. Traffic accidents caused by settlers are common along the road which stretches from the Jordan Valley to Nablus. U'dai also looks out for reptiles, and makes sure his brothers and sisters do not burn under the blazing desert sun.
"We live in a cave on a hilltop that overlooks the main road, we have no water or electricity," U'dai said, adding that he left school after completing his fourth grade to help his family.
Um Salah, a local woman in her fifties, said her family had not received water in four months, "in an area where we need water every hour." She had been forced to buy salty water tanks to provide for her family and her sheep, and wondered if others would leave their air conditioners behind and "live with us for one day" in the heat without water.
Head of the village council Abed Ar-Rahman Kassab said "We have a real problem. We appealed more than once to all of the parties and we listened to many promises, but nothing has been done. It is left to the residents to pay their accumulated debts to the Ministry of Finance for water and other services."
The Israeli water company Mekorot only provides 27 cubic meters of water each day, which is only enough for one-third of the village's 5,000 residents, Ar-Rahman Kassab said, adding that the village council is trying to find practical solutions for the water crisis.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Allan Ad-Damen, a farmer in his eighties, is refusing to wait for solutions. In 1987, he dug an underground well with his own money, which produced 100 cubic meters of water daily. The supply dropped by half under the Israeli policy of digging deeper wells in surrounding settlements without regard for Palestinian farmers in the area, he said
Ad-Damen blamed the Oslo Accords for the water crisis in the village and across the Jordan Valley. The farmer allowed residents to use his well for free to provide for their families and their sheep.
Village resident Abu Al-A'bed said that if the government wants Jordan Valley residents to remain steadfastly on their land, they should provide water, adding that "We are here before others and we have to steadfast because this is our land."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=311199
1st Arab Water Week to be held in Amman
AMMAN (Ma'an) -- The first Arab Water Week will be held in Amman in December, to discuss existing and emerging problems with water and waste management in the Arab world.
Fifteen countries are expected to participate in the event, organized by Arab Countries Water Utilities Association and the Arab Ministerial Water Council, in cooperation with Jordan's water ministry. Industry representatives, government officials and academics will interact to exchange ideas and knowledge, a ministry statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=328375 12 jan 2012, 13:11 , Respect -
Maria 29 aug 2010
State goes to war against West Bank water thieves
Campaign to root out water pilferage in south Mount Hebron leads to arrests, disconnection of 230 illegal pipelines. 'Phenomenon must be dealt with seriously, especially in country where water is scarce resource,' says Minister Landau.
Putting an end to water pilferage in the West Bank – Recent cooperation between state authorities led to the disconnection of 230 pipelines that were illegally linked to Mekorot National Water Company's main water source.
In addition, authorities arrested suspects and confiscated more than 85,000 meters (278,000 feet) of pipelines at the south of Mount Hebron, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau announced on Sunday.
"Water pilferage is a grave phenomenon that finds the worst expression in the area of Judea and Samaria," said Landau. "It must be dealt with in a serious manner, especially in a country where water is a scarce resource."
The minister's bureau stated that water pilferage seriously harmed the residents of south Mount Hebron, who on certain days opened their faucets and discovered that no water was coming out.
In addition, extensive agricultural areas have been nourished along the roads of the West Bank on the expense of both Israeli and Palestinian residents' drinking water.
After several appeals from Minister Landau, Mekorot decided to take measures against the phenomenon, along with the coordinator of gov't activities in the territories, military officials, the police and Israel Water Authority.
As part of their joint activity, a number of pools that were collecting stolen water have been destroyed.
The national infrastructure minister lauded the cooperation between the authorities and said they will continue "to root out the problem that harms the living routine of regional residents."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3945561,00.html - Maria 27 aug 2010
Gaza sewage project fears potential delays
World Bank Country Director for West Bank and Gaza Strip David Craig inspects sewage ponds in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahiya on September 10, 2009.
The World Bank said its projects to resolve the wastewater crisis in Gaza were delayed due to an Israeli blockade on the coastal Strip.
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Wastewater treatment project organizers in the northern Gaza Strip expressed concern on Thursday, ahead of the launch of phase two of construction.
The first phase, a background paper said, was delayed three years due to the Israeli blockade on Gaza, which severely restricted the supplies available for the project.
As the $40 million phase two prepares to move forward, organizers said that although the Israeli Government "provided assurances that materials and equipment for construction of the plant will be allowed to enter Gaza in a timely manner," the "volume of goods and materials that will need to be imported to Gaza through Israel will be much greater than under Part A," which was massively delayed.
The phase, funded and with technical assistance by Belgium, France, Sweden, the European Commission, and the World Bank, will see the construction of recovery wells surrounding the infiltration beds to extract and reuse treated wastewater for irrigation on adjacent agricultural land, as well as further rehabilitation of the Beit Lahiya wastewater ponds, which breached in 2008 and flooded parts of the northern Strip.
Although the Office of the Quartet Representative and the US State Department have historically worked with the project to secure entry of building materials into Gaza, officials cite the gross delays of phase one as a concern ahead of the second leg of construction.
The deal to kick off phase two, signed four months after the completion of phase one, came on 31 May, the same day Israeli forces boarded six Gaza-bound aid ships in international waters and killed nine passengers who sought to defend one of the ships.
Fallout from the incident saw a global call to ease, and even end the siege on Gaza. Israeli officials announced a new set of restrictions on goods entering Gaza after the incident. While goods like ketchup, jam and shoelaces were to be permitted into Gaza without restrictions - as opposed to a list of some 86 items of goods permitted for entry - construction materials would remain restricted, and be transferred only to international aid agencies, the Palestinian Authority and internationally-funded projects.
Immediately after the decision was announced, organizations including the UN, whose Relief and Works Agency was engaged in the construction and reconstruction of hundreds of homes, continued to report delays as builders waited for supplies.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=310878 12 jan 2012, 13:10 , Respect -
Maria 28 aug 2010
Jordan Valley residents suffer without water
JERICHO (Ma'an) -- The daily trip taken by U'dai Ka'abneh and his siblings to find water tells the reality of life in summer for residents of Al-Jiftlik in the Jordan Valley.
U'dai drags a wooden box on four small wheels, a makeshift cart he designed to help his family bring water to their sheep.
With his three siblings, U'dai walks for hundreds of meters on dirt roads to reach the nearest water pipe line to fill plastic bottles with water.
A distinctively clever boy, he has the eyes of a cautious eagle, always watching over his siblings. Traffic accidents caused by settlers are common along the road which stretches from the Jordan Valley to Nablus. U'dai also looks out for reptiles, and makes sure his brothers and sisters do not burn under the blazing desert sun.
"We live in a cave on a hilltop that overlooks the main road, we have no water or electricity," U'dai said, adding that he left school after completing his fourth grade to help his family.
Um Salah, a local woman in her fifties, said her family had not received water in four months, "in an area where we need water every hour." She had been forced to buy salty water tanks to provide for her family and her sheep, and wondered if others would leave their air conditioners behind and "live with us for one day" in the heat without water.
Head of the village council Abed Ar-Rahman Kassab said "We have a real problem. We appealed more than once to all of the parties and we listened to many promises, but nothing has been done. It is left to the residents to pay their accumulated debts to the Ministry of Finance for water and other services."
The Israeli water company Mekorot only provides 27 cubic meters of water each day, which is only enough for one-third of the village's 5,000 residents, Ar-Rahman Kassab said, adding that the village council is trying to find practical solutions for the water crisis.
Meanwhile, Mahmoud Allan Ad-Damen, a farmer in his eighties, is refusing to wait for solutions. In 1987, he dug an underground well with his own money, which produced 100 cubic meters of water daily. The supply dropped by half under the Israeli policy of digging deeper wells in surrounding settlements without regard for Palestinian farmers in the area, he said
Ad-Damen blamed the Oslo Accords for the water crisis in the village and across the Jordan Valley. The farmer allowed residents to use his well for free to provide for their families and their sheep.
Village resident Abu Al-A'bed said that if the government wants Jordan Valley residents to remain steadfastly on their land, they should provide water, adding that "We are here before others and we have to steadfast because this is our land."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=311199
1st Arab Water Week to be held in Amman
AMMAN (Ma'an) -- The first Arab Water Week will be held in Amman in December, to discuss existing and emerging problems with water and waste management in the Arab world.
Fifteen countries are expected to participate in the event, organized by Arab Countries Water Utilities Association and the Arab Ministerial Water Council, in cooperation with Jordan's water ministry. Industry representatives, government officials and academics will interact to exchange ideas and knowledge, a ministry statement said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=328375 12 jan 2012, 13:11 , Respect