Water Crisis 28.10.07: Severe water shortage in Hebron District

B'Tselem. Since the summer began, tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Hebron District have been suffering one of the worst shortages of water for household needs in recent years. The shortage is particularly felt in villages that are connected, directly or indirectly, to Mekorot (the Israeli water company) pipelines. These villages include Bani Na'im (20,000 residents), Yatta (45,000), a-Dhahiriyah (30,000), and a-Samu'a (20,000).

The shortage exists for two primary reasons. One, Mekorot's policy in the West Bank has always been based on flagrant discrimination against Palestinians and in favor of settlers. Whereas most Palestinian villages connected only to Mekorot pipelines constantly suffer a shortage, the settlements consume unlimited amounts of water for their household and urban needs, as is customary in most towns and villages inside Israel . Furthermore, where Palestinian villages and settlements are connected to the same pipeline, Mekorot reduces the supply of water in Palestinian communities in the summertime in order to meet the increased need in the settlements. Residents of Yatta and villages nearby, for example, receive water through the same pipeline that Mekorot uses to supply the Pnei Hever settlement.

The other reason is the sharp increase in illegal tapping into the pipelines by Palestinian farmers. In Bani Na'im, for example, these thefts accounted for almost all the water supplied to the village. Most of the tapping is done in Area C, where Israel is responsible, under the Oslo agreements, for law enforcement. Unlike the policy Israel adopts regarding offenses against Israelis in Area C, security officials have done little to stop the thefts of water and prosecute the lawbreakers. B'Tselem's research indicates that, on several occasions, Palestinian police officials in the Hebron District requested the Civil Administration to coordinate the entry of Palestinian police to Area C to deal with the private tapping into the water lines, but were refused.

In light of the severe water shortage, many municipalities and local councils in Hebron District have had to divide their communities into areas and ration out water on an alternating basis. In a-Samu'a, for example, water is provided to households only three days a month. In Yatta, every household receives water for one day out of every two weeks.

It should be mentioned that, in addition to the villages suffering from a reduction in water supply during the summer, Hebron District has some 90 small villages, housing 40,000 people, that are not connected to any water network and suffer water shortage on a permanent basis.

Drawing water from a pit to collect rainwater in a-Dhahiriyah. Photo: Musa Abu Hashhash, B'Tselem., 29 October 2007

The shortage of piped water forces the residents to buy from private dealers, who deliver the water in tankers. Water supplied through the pipelines ranges from 3-5 shekels per cubic meter, whereas the private dealers charge 15-30 shekels, depending on the supplier and the location of the village. Given that more than 40% of West Bank residents live under the poverty line and that 23% of the work force is unemployed, private purchasing of water has become a heavy financial burden for much of the population. Furthermore, families that are too poor to buy water privately use unsupervised sources such as springs and agricultural wells, which are at high risk of contamination.

The water shortage in the West Bank stems in part from the unfair distribution of water sources shared by Israel and the Palestinians. One of these sources is the Mountain Aquifer, which comprises a few underground water basins located on both sides of the Israel-West Bank border. Although the Mountain Aquifer is the sole source of water for residents of the West Bank, Israel uses about 80% of it (most inside Israel itself), with the Palestinians getting the remaining 20%. Under the Oslo agreements, the Palestinian Authority is not allowed to drill new wells without Israel 's consent, even in Area A, the responsibility for which was handed over to the PA.

This unjust distribution of the shared water sources and Mekorot's discriminatory policy in the West Bank are two of the main reasons for the great disparity in water consumption between Israelis (including settlers) and West Bank Palestinians. Average Israeli household and urban water consumption is 280 liters a day per person, while among Palestinians, water consumption for the same purposes amounts to 65 liters a day per person. The World Health Organization recommends 100 liters a day per person for household and urban use.

AT-TUWANI REFLECTION: Water

Demonstration of how to build a dew catcher.

Eileen Hanson, Christian Peacemaker Teams, 07.10.07. Life on the edge of the Negev desert has never been easy. Water has always been scarce. But people have been living here for thousands of years and have developed ways of living to meet the challenges of the environment. But things have changed in recent years. Twenty years ago the settlement of Ma'on was established on land belonging to families living in Tuwani. Many of the cisterns traditionally used by families from Tuwani and neighboring villages have been taken over by settlers. Palestinians are either physically unable to access them, or fear violence if they approach what was once their family's land and cistern. The settlement of Ma'on with its green manicured lawns, irrigated fields and orchards, draws water from the underground aquifer that supplies this entire area. The Tuwani village well is low because the aquifer is getting lower and lower by the year. Ma'on settler use of water is completely out of tune with the environment here. Worst of all, it is destroying the possibilities for others to sustain even the simplest life here. Settlers refuse to admit that they are living on the edge of the desert and adapt accordingly. Water trucks are a very visible target. Other villages have had roads blocked, or trucks attacked and been unable to get water to the village. A difficult situation becomes even more complex when having to consider that your neighbors might ambush your family's water supply.

Living on the edge of the Negev desert, water is a major concern here. Normally the winter rains fill cisterns in the area, which supply water through the dry summer months. People use cistern water for watering their flocks as well as for household cleaning and bathing. The well is the village source for drinking water. All the cisterns are empty now, and the well is very low.

Many families have already brought in a truck of water to fill their cistern. However many others probably cannot afford to do this. The men of Tuwani and a number of surrounding villages met this morning to discuss the situation.

Life in this area has never been easy. Water has always been scarce. But people have been living here for thousands of years and have developed ways of living to meet the challenges of the environment.

But things have changed in recent years. Twenty years ago the settlement of Ma'on was established on land belonging to families living in Tuwani. Many of the cisterns traditionally used by families from Tuwani and neighboring villages have been taken over by settlers. Palestinians are either physically unable to access them, or fear violence if they approach what was once their family's land and cistern.

The settlement of Ma'on with its green manicured lawns, irrigated fields and orchards, draws water from the underground aquifer that supplies this entire area. The Tuwani village well is low because the aquifer is getting lower and lower by the year.

This is not an uncommon story. Throughout the West Bank, settlements are taking the lion's share of water, leaving Palestinians with scarce resources. Some estimates of settler water usage are as high as 8 or 9 to 1 compared with Palestinians water use. Many other villages in the Hebron district are also experiencing serious water shortages. It is clear just by looking as the contrasting lifestyles of Tuwani and the settlers at Ma'on that settler use of water is completely out of tune with the environment here. Worst of all, it is destroying the possibilities for others to sustain even the simplest life here.

People in Tuwani do not want water to fill up swimming pools. They simply want enough water for their flocks and their families to have enough to drink and bathe. Local Palestinians continue to live a life close to the land and respectful of the resources. It is the settlers who refuse to admit that they are living on the edge of the desert and adapt accordingly.

The lack of water is also a real concern here in part because it presents yet another vulnerability of Palestinians to the occupying powers, the Israeli military and the Israeli settlers. Perhaps Palestinian villagers can band together and buy water to provide enough until the rains come in November or December. But water trucks are a very visible target. Other villages have had roads blocked, or trucks attacked and been unable to get water to the village. A difficult situation becomes even more complex when having to consider that your neighbors might ambush your family's water supply.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/gallery A map of the center of Hebron is at http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/fullMaps_Sa.nsf/0/5618737E38C0B3DE8525708C004BA584/$File/ocha_OTS_hebron_oPt010805.pdf?OpenElement The same map is the last page of this report on closures in Hebron: www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt/docs/UN/OCHA/ochaHU0705_En.pdf

Amnesty International. Palestinian villagers' homes under threat

Amnesty International. The Israeli army is threatening to destroy the homes of Palestinian villagers in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank. The villagers are facing increasing pressures as the army restricts their movement and their access to water.

In Humsa and Hadidiya, two hamlets in the north-east of the West Bank, the Israeli army is increasing its efforts to force more than 100 villagers, most of them children, out of the area.

The inhabitants of Hadidiya were forced to move from Hadidiya to Humsa, about one kilometre away, last April, after the Israeli army threatened to destroy their homes and animal pens. They are now, once again, being threatened with the destruction of their homes and further displacement, as on 29 May 2007 the Israeli army issued another order for them to leave the area "with immediate effect".

Since then, they live in fear that the army's bulldozers may come at any time and destroy their tents, shacks and animal pens. In the meantime they continue to be harassed by Israeli forces. They are denied access to water and their movements are increasingly restricted by military checkpoints and blockades that prevent them from using the main roads in the area.

The Israeli army has declared most of the Jordan Valley a "closed military area" from which the local Palestinian population is barred. However, Israeli settlements -- established in violation of international law -- continue to expand and Israeli settlers are allowed to move freely and use vast quantities of water.

While in Humsa and Hadidiya every single home is slated for destruction and the Palestinian villagers have to bring water for their basic needs from 20 kilometres away, Israeli settlements only a few hundreds of meters away, have well-watered gardens and swimming pools.

In a visit to the area in July 2007, an Amnesty International researcher witnessed the extremely difficult conditions in which the Palestinian villagers are forced to live, with no running water or electricity and no longer able to cultivate their land because they have no water to irrigate their crops. By contrast, in the Israeli settlements nearby sprinklers were wastefully watering the fields in the afternoon sun.

Water Crisis Looms over Palestinians as Israel Withholds Water Resources

Palestinian National Initiative, Ramallah, 30-07-07. Parliamentarian and Palestinian National Initiative leader Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi today warned of the severe water crisis that is threatening to unfold in the Bethlehem and Jenin districts as a direct result of Israel‘s withholding of water resources.

Dr. Barghouthi pointed out that Israel is currently withholding 800 mcm of the 963 mcm of water resources produced in the West Bank each year, a fact exacerbating already-dire inequalities in access to natural resources, which see Palestinians allowed to consume just 50 mcm per capita per year compared to 2,400 mcm for each Israel‘s 475,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank.

He added that Bethlehem city, including its refugee camps, and Silt-a-Daher village in the Jenin district were being particularly badly affected.

Dr. Barghouthi urged the Palestinian government to take immediate action to address this issue, saying that it has shown little capability in doing so until now.

Such water shortages are common as a result of Israel‘s confiscation and control over Palestinian resources, which leave Israel responsible for ensuring that Palestinian communities have access to adequate, good quality water partly via its government-owned corporation, the Mekorot Water Company. Since the start of the Intifada in September 2000, Mekorot has been reducing water supplies to many Palestinian communities and in some cases, has completely stopped supply.

The Palestinian Hydrology Group cites a decrease in supply, particularly during critical summer months as one of the primary problems related to the Mekorot Water Company and Israeli control over resources. [1]

This shortage of water affects every function that water plays in human life, such as drinking, bathing, cleaning, watering crops, and providing water for livestock, with obvious, severe implications for the humanitarian and economic situation in Palestine.

Notes

[1] Palestinian Hydrology Group. 2004. Water for Life: Israeli Assault on Palestinian Water, Sanitation and Hygiene During the Intifada. http://www.phg.org/waterforlife/waterforlife.html.