WaterIsrael and Palestine
Water is the critical resource so whoever controls the water controls ... everything? What is the underground story?
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Gaza strip: Settlers consume 150 times as much as water per head as Palestinians
Jordan Times (The Region Section): "The long hot summer of discontent — water in Palestine, Israel By Mark Zeitoun Thursday, September 11, 2003
Lake Tiberias (a.k.a. the Sea of Gallilee) — is fed primarily from rivers rising in Lebanon and Syria. These days, only 20 per cent of that flows out of the sea to form the lower stretch of the Jordan River, while the rest is diverted into the Israeli National Water Carrier.
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While the National Water Carrier contradicts the basic tenet of most water-sharing agreements by transporting shared water out of its watershed, the water flowing south of the lake is allocated between Jordan and Israel, according to agreements reached between the neighbours in 1996. The Palestinians living along the Jordan River's west bank are not entitled to even a drop of it.
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As with surface water, a look into the sharing of this groundwater is revealing. Of the aquifers that lie mainly under Israel, Palestinians are denied all access, leaving Israel to draw 100 per cent. Of the aquifers that lie mostly under the West Bank, Palestinians draw 18 per cent and the Israelis 82 per cent. In Gaza, 1.1 million Palestinians pump approximately 110 million cubic metres each year, while approximately 6,000 settlers — outlaws according to the 4th Geneva Convention — pump between 5 and 10mcm, thereby consuming 150 times as much as the indigenous population.
The average Israeli uses roughly 350 cubic metres per year — four times more than the average Palestinian who uses 85 cubicmetres (by comparison, the average American consumes about 1,700 cubic metres
Jordan Times (The Region Section): "The long hot summer of discontent — water in Palestine, Israel By Mark Zeitoun Thursday, September 11, 2003
Lake Tiberias (a.k.a. the Sea of Gallilee) — is fed primarily from rivers rising in Lebanon and Syria. These days, only 20 per cent of that flows out of the sea to form the lower stretch of the Jordan River, while the rest is diverted into the Israeli National Water Carrier.
...
While the National Water Carrier contradicts the basic tenet of most water-sharing agreements by transporting shared water out of its watershed, the water flowing south of the lake is allocated between Jordan and Israel, according to agreements reached between the neighbours in 1996. The Palestinians living along the Jordan River's west bank are not entitled to even a drop of it.
...
As with surface water, a look into the sharing of this groundwater is revealing. Of the aquifers that lie mainly under Israel, Palestinians are denied all access, leaving Israel to draw 100 per cent. Of the aquifers that lie mostly under the West Bank, Palestinians draw 18 per cent and the Israelis 82 per cent. In Gaza, 1.1 million Palestinians pump approximately 110 million cubic metres each year, while approximately 6,000 settlers — outlaws according to the 4th Geneva Convention — pump between 5 and 10mcm, thereby consuming 150 times as much as the indigenous population.
The average Israeli uses roughly 350 cubic metres per year — four times more than the average Palestinian who uses 85 cubicmetres (by comparison, the average American consumes about 1,700 cubic metres
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Water. Palestinians ... have been undergoing “a severe water shortage"
In Focus: The West Bank Online Extra @ National Geographic Magazine | No Respite for West Bank Locals By Andrew Cockburn: "
The latest news from the West Bank, occupied by Israel since June 1967, differs from earlier reports only in that the situation for the vast majority of inhabitants has grown even worse. Take, for example, one of the most fundamental human requirements: water. The drought that has been ravaging the entire Middle East for several years hit Israel hard, and Palestinians, according to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, have been undergoing “a severe water shortage.” Two hundred thousand Palestinians on the West Bank found themselves without any access to a water pipeline network and therefore had to rely in part on supplies brought in by tanker, which cost them three to five times as much as piped water.
However, the tankers often come from areas that are under Israeli curfew (meaning that all outside movement is forbidden.) They therefore have to wait until the curfew is lifted before filling up and setting off to make deliveries. The roughly 8,500 people living in the town of Bayt Furik, for example, totally depend in water brought in from the city of Nablus, which has been frequently under curfew for most of the day since May. The Israeli military authorities allow tankers to enter Bayt Furik only between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. In consequence, each of the 13 tankers serving the town can make only one delivery a day, as opposed to the four or five daily deliveries that they usually made before the present disturbances, known as the Al Aqsa intifada, began in September 2000. The effect of this severe reduction in summer water supply on the town’s beef and chicken industry has been predictably severe, just one more reason why some 70 percent of the inhabitants of the occupied tterritories are living on $2 a day or less."
In Focus: The West Bank Online Extra @ National Geographic Magazine | No Respite for West Bank Locals By Andrew Cockburn: "
The latest news from the West Bank, occupied by Israel since June 1967, differs from earlier reports only in that the situation for the vast majority of inhabitants has grown even worse. Take, for example, one of the most fundamental human requirements: water. The drought that has been ravaging the entire Middle East for several years hit Israel hard, and Palestinians, according to the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, have been undergoing “a severe water shortage.” Two hundred thousand Palestinians on the West Bank found themselves without any access to a water pipeline network and therefore had to rely in part on supplies brought in by tanker, which cost them three to five times as much as piped water.
However, the tankers often come from areas that are under Israeli curfew (meaning that all outside movement is forbidden.) They therefore have to wait until the curfew is lifted before filling up and setting off to make deliveries. The roughly 8,500 people living in the town of Bayt Furik, for example, totally depend in water brought in from the city of Nablus, which has been frequently under curfew for most of the day since May. The Israeli military authorities allow tankers to enter Bayt Furik only between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. In consequence, each of the 13 tankers serving the town can make only one delivery a day, as opposed to the four or five daily deliveries that they usually made before the present disturbances, known as the Al Aqsa intifada, began in September 2000. The effect of this severe reduction in summer water supply on the town’s beef and chicken industry has been predictably severe, just one more reason why some 70 percent of the inhabitants of the occupied tterritories are living on $2 a day or less."
Wednesday, September 10, 2003
The Israeli dilemma: A Jewish Israel cannot afford Peace
Read on before you jump all over the headline. Bombings and missiles get the headlines but consider Gaza and the West Bank ...
Why not just annexe both and formalize Donald Rumsfeld's analysis of the "so-called occupied territories": "they all jumped in, and they lost a lot of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict"? The three word answer: demographics, racism, apartheid. If Israel has to absorb 3.5 million Palestinians, in addition to the existing 1.2 million Israeli Arabs, Israel would be in close to racial balance. Even without overwhelming pressure to allow some right of return for the other 2+ million Palestinians currently sitting in camps in neighboring states, Israel would create a de-facto Jewish minority. With 93% of existing Israeli land controlled by the state and largely dedicated to Jewish use, and no significant new Arab developments in 55 years, Israel would justifiably be considered the most apartheid nation in the world. The current legal system based on a "Jewish Democracy" would be rightly seen as legitimized discrimination and condemned by every thinking person in the world!
Ok ... so why not make peace using the 1967 green line as called for in numerous UN resolutions? The one word answer: water, not Greater Israel, not Judea and Samaria, not settlers, or a hundred other canards. (See Israel's Chronic Water Problem). Since 1967 Israel has diverted almost 80% of the water in the West Bank and Gaza to Jewish use. Compared to Palestinians, Jewish settlers consume almost 7 times as much water per capita. But that's only half the story. "Over half of Israel's water comes from territories conquered in the 1967 War. For years, Israel has been consuming more water than nature is replacing - and now it is in the third year of the worst drought in over 100 years. The Sea of Galilee is at the lowest level in recorded history. The water level in the mountain aquifer is near or below its red line - the level below which nature cannot replenish itself. Salt water is seeping into the coastal aquifer after years of over-pumping, causing irreversible damage. Israel has been driven out of Lebanon, the only state in the region with a water surplus. " (Franklin C. Spinney, U.S. Department of Defense, personal opinions) Throw in some returning 2 million Palestinians: the result, disaster. With no occupation or sovreignty over a Palestinian state, Israel loses its control over all this water, jeopardizing any future Jewish immigration and forcing the current Israeli population to face major cutbacks.
The inescapable conclusion: unless the Palestinians leave, are driven out or expelled, Israel needs to retain significant, strategic parts of the the West Bank and Gaza to control the water rights. It also needs to limit water consumption by Palestinians. Hence the "security fence" moves away from the 1967 green line. A Jewish Israel cannot afford Peace until it has de-facto secured its control over Palestinian water.
Read on before you jump all over the headline. Bombings and missiles get the headlines but consider Gaza and the West Bank ...
Why not just annexe both and formalize Donald Rumsfeld's analysis of the "so-called occupied territories": "they all jumped in, and they lost a lot of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict"? The three word answer: demographics, racism, apartheid. If Israel has to absorb 3.5 million Palestinians, in addition to the existing 1.2 million Israeli Arabs, Israel would be in close to racial balance. Even without overwhelming pressure to allow some right of return for the other 2+ million Palestinians currently sitting in camps in neighboring states, Israel would create a de-facto Jewish minority. With 93% of existing Israeli land controlled by the state and largely dedicated to Jewish use, and no significant new Arab developments in 55 years, Israel would justifiably be considered the most apartheid nation in the world. The current legal system based on a "Jewish Democracy" would be rightly seen as legitimized discrimination and condemned by every thinking person in the world!
Ok ... so why not make peace using the 1967 green line as called for in numerous UN resolutions? The one word answer: water, not Greater Israel, not Judea and Samaria, not settlers, or a hundred other canards. (See Israel's Chronic Water Problem). Since 1967 Israel has diverted almost 80% of the water in the West Bank and Gaza to Jewish use. Compared to Palestinians, Jewish settlers consume almost 7 times as much water per capita. But that's only half the story. "Over half of Israel's water comes from territories conquered in the 1967 War. For years, Israel has been consuming more water than nature is replacing - and now it is in the third year of the worst drought in over 100 years. The Sea of Galilee is at the lowest level in recorded history. The water level in the mountain aquifer is near or below its red line - the level below which nature cannot replenish itself. Salt water is seeping into the coastal aquifer after years of over-pumping, causing irreversible damage. Israel has been driven out of Lebanon, the only state in the region with a water surplus. " (Franklin C. Spinney, U.S. Department of Defense, personal opinions) Throw in some returning 2 million Palestinians: the result, disaster. With no occupation or sovreignty over a Palestinian state, Israel loses its control over all this water, jeopardizing any future Jewish immigration and forcing the current Israeli population to face major cutbacks.
The inescapable conclusion: unless the Palestinians leave, are driven out or expelled, Israel needs to retain significant, strategic parts of the the West Bank and Gaza to control the water rights. It also needs to limit water consumption by Palestinians. Hence the "security fence" moves away from the 1967 green line. A Jewish Israel cannot afford Peace until it has de-facto secured its control over Palestinian water.
Monday, September 08, 2003
The well and its pump have been destroyed by fire ... a sure way to dry out the land
Telegraph | News | Model community split by a fence (Filed: 02/August/2003)
Israel is defying US warnings and pushing ahead with its giant fence around the Palestinians, reports Alan Philps in Jayous, West Bank
The farmers of Jayous used to be the most fortunate in the arid lands of the West Bank, blessed with fertile fields and ample water. The village was chosen by aid agencies in the 1980s as a model for development, with hundreds of thousands of pounds invested in agriculture.
More than 2,200 acres of land belonging to Jayous are now on the wrong side of the fence, including six wells. Villagers once blessed with gushing supplies now have a couple of hours' water every three days in their taps.
...
The well and its pump have been destroyed by fire since the Israeli construction crews arrived, a sure way to dry out the land.
...
Four miles west of Jayous is the Israeli town of Kokhav Yair, where some of the army's top brass live. The original plans showed the fence running along the edge of the town, but residents did not want it at the bottom of their gardens, and it has been moved east to the edge of the Palestinian houses.
Jonathon Rimon, the mayor, said: "We objected to it being 10 metres from houses. It was not practical. It would not be a security fence if it were 10 metres from houses." There had to be a "strategic distance" between the fence and what was being protected.
Israelis like to say a strong fence, even if built on their neighbours' land, will make for good relations with the Palestinians.
The people of Jayous, about 25 miles north-east of Tel Aviv, say it will be a recruiting sergeant for extremists.
Telegraph | News | Model community split by a fence (Filed: 02/August/2003)
Israel is defying US warnings and pushing ahead with its giant fence around the Palestinians, reports Alan Philps in Jayous, West Bank
The farmers of Jayous used to be the most fortunate in the arid lands of the West Bank, blessed with fertile fields and ample water. The village was chosen by aid agencies in the 1980s as a model for development, with hundreds of thousands of pounds invested in agriculture.
More than 2,200 acres of land belonging to Jayous are now on the wrong side of the fence, including six wells. Villagers once blessed with gushing supplies now have a couple of hours' water every three days in their taps.
...
The well and its pump have been destroyed by fire since the Israeli construction crews arrived, a sure way to dry out the land.
...
Four miles west of Jayous is the Israeli town of Kokhav Yair, where some of the army's top brass live. The original plans showed the fence running along the edge of the town, but residents did not want it at the bottom of their gardens, and it has been moved east to the edge of the Palestinian houses.
Jonathon Rimon, the mayor, said: "We objected to it being 10 metres from houses. It was not practical. It would not be a security fence if it were 10 metres from houses." There had to be a "strategic distance" between the fence and what was being protected.
Israelis like to say a strong fence, even if built on their neighbours' land, will make for good relations with the Palestinians.
The people of Jayous, about 25 miles north-east of Tel Aviv, say it will be a recruiting sergeant for extremists.
Thursday, September 04, 2003
Israel bans new West Bank wells From Jessica McCallin in Jerusalem Sunday Herald 27 October 2002
"Israel now uses 79% of the Mountain Aquifer and all of the Jordan river basin, bar a small quantity that it sells to Palestinians in the Gaza strip. The result, as the discrepancy in water consumption shows, is neither equitable nor reasonable. [The international law criteria governing water .. Ed.]
Many commentators say Israel invaded and occupied the West Bank and the water-rich Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 precisely because it wanted access to the water, and add that this is why Israel is so reluctant to give back those territories in a land-for-peace deal. "
"Israel now uses 79% of the Mountain Aquifer and all of the Jordan river basin, bar a small quantity that it sells to Palestinians in the Gaza strip. The result, as the discrepancy in water consumption shows, is neither equitable nor reasonable. [The international law criteria governing water .. Ed.]
Many commentators say Israel invaded and occupied the West Bank and the water-rich Syrian Golan Heights in 1967 precisely because it wanted access to the water, and add that this is why Israel is so reluctant to give back those territories in a land-for-peace deal. "
Israel bans new West Bank wells
Israel bans new West Bank wells From Jessica McCallin in Jerusalem Sunday Herald 27 October 2002
Israeli infrastructure minister Effi Eitam last week banned Palestinians from drilling for water in the West Bank and put a freeze on the issue of permits for future drillings.
The decision will have a severe effect on Palestinian agriculture, which relies mainly on water drilled from the ground, and will make it difficult for some villagers to access drinking water. Agriculture is already reeling from the amount of land confiscated or destroyed by Israel and a recent ban on Palestinians harvesting their olive crop.
Many villages, some 30% of which have never been connected to the water network, usually have to take drinking water from ground resources -- either because they cannot afford to buy it from tankers, or because, due to Israel's policy of closure, water tankers cannot get into the villages.
It also adds insult to an already discriminatory injury. Israelis get between between five and seven times as much water as Palestinians, and they get priority access. When supplies in the semi-arid region are low, as during the summer months, the Israeli water company, Mekorot, closes the valves which supply Palestinian towns and villages so that Israeli supplies will not be affected.
In practice this means that Israeli settlers, living in illegal settlements on the West Bank, get their swimming pools topped up and their lawns watered while Palestinians living in villages next to them -- on whose land the settlements have usually been built -- can go without enough water for drinking and cooking"
Israel bans new West Bank wells From Jessica McCallin in Jerusalem Sunday Herald 27 October 2002
Israeli infrastructure minister Effi Eitam last week banned Palestinians from drilling for water in the West Bank and put a freeze on the issue of permits for future drillings.
The decision will have a severe effect on Palestinian agriculture, which relies mainly on water drilled from the ground, and will make it difficult for some villagers to access drinking water. Agriculture is already reeling from the amount of land confiscated or destroyed by Israel and a recent ban on Palestinians harvesting their olive crop.
Many villages, some 30% of which have never been connected to the water network, usually have to take drinking water from ground resources -- either because they cannot afford to buy it from tankers, or because, due to Israel's policy of closure, water tankers cannot get into the villages.
It also adds insult to an already discriminatory injury. Israelis get between between five and seven times as much water as Palestinians, and they get priority access. When supplies in the semi-arid region are low, as during the summer months, the Israeli water company, Mekorot, closes the valves which supply Palestinian towns and villages so that Israeli supplies will not be affected.
In practice this means that Israeli settlers, living in illegal settlements on the West Bank, get their swimming pools topped up and their lawns watered while Palestinians living in villages next to them -- on whose land the settlements have usually been built -- can go without enough water for drinking and cooking"
Just under 80% of all water resources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are redirected from Palestinians to Israelis
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Israel can halt this now | Oona King in Gaza | Thursday June 12, 2003
"As the occupying power, Israel must uphold the fourth Geneva convention and end all collective punishments. Illegal settlements must be dismantled. Repair of water, sewage, and other essential infrastructure should take place immediately.
Just under 80% of all water resources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are redirected from Palestinians to Israelis. The international community has to recognise the scale of the humanitarian disaster facing Palestinians and George Bush must put greater pressure on Sharon to give meaning to the road map. Yes, there are two sides to every story. But no story should hold within it the horrors I have witnessed here, so similar in detail to humiliations suffered by the Jews. "
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Israel can halt this now | Oona King in Gaza | Thursday June 12, 2003
"As the occupying power, Israel must uphold the fourth Geneva convention and end all collective punishments. Illegal settlements must be dismantled. Repair of water, sewage, and other essential infrastructure should take place immediately.
Just under 80% of all water resources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are redirected from Palestinians to Israelis. The international community has to recognise the scale of the humanitarian disaster facing Palestinians and George Bush must put greater pressure on Sharon to give meaning to the road map. Yes, there are two sides to every story. But no story should hold within it the horrors I have witnessed here, so similar in detail to humiliations suffered by the Jews. "
Before the [1967] war, Israel also high-handedly diverted water from the Jordan river
John Chuckman: Was Einstein Right About Israel?: "The Six Day War was a much darker and more complex affair than it is portrayed in official Israeli myths
...
... Before the war, Israel also high-handedly diverted water from the Jordan river, a hostile act in a water-short region and the kind of thing that caused more than one 'range war' in America's Southwest. "
John Chuckman: Was Einstein Right About Israel?: "The Six Day War was a much darker and more complex affair than it is portrayed in official Israeli myths
...
... Before the war, Israel also high-handedly diverted water from the Jordan river, a hostile act in a water-short region and the kind of thing that caused more than one 'range war' in America's Southwest. "
Tuesday, September 02, 2003
Fact sheets on water in Palestine - Palestine Monitor: "Fact Sheet: Use and Distribution in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
Palestine Hydrology Group "
Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations -- Resolution 54/230 (Adopted on 22 December 1999/Vote: 146-3-5) :
"2. Reaffirms the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the population of the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, including land and water;
3. Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, not to exploit, to cause loss or depletion of or to endanger the natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan; "
81% of West Bank Water taken by Israel
Palestine-UN.org:
...
"Israel has taken the entire Palestinian share of the water resources of the Jordan River and has diverted the resources from three major West Bank water aquifers to meet demands in Israel and in the settlements. Of the 600 million cubic meters of water produced annually in the West Bank, Israel, the occupying Power, draws 490 million cubic meters while the Palestinians receive only 110 million cubic meters. More than 40 deep-bore wells were also drilled in the West Bank for consumption by Israel. Towards the end of the 1970s, the occupying Power transferred responsibility over water resources from the military government to the Israeli national water company (Mekkorot).
The result has been a severe water shortage for the Palestinian population and a decline in agricultural output because Palestinian farmers have been forced to abandon their farmlands in order to find alternative means of livelihood"
Palestine-UN.org:
...
"Israel has taken the entire Palestinian share of the water resources of the Jordan River and has diverted the resources from three major West Bank water aquifers to meet demands in Israel and in the settlements. Of the 600 million cubic meters of water produced annually in the West Bank, Israel, the occupying Power, draws 490 million cubic meters while the Palestinians receive only 110 million cubic meters. More than 40 deep-bore wells were also drilled in the West Bank for consumption by Israel. Towards the end of the 1970s, the occupying Power transferred responsibility over water resources from the military government to the Israeli national water company (Mekkorot).
The result has been a severe water shortage for the Palestinian population and a decline in agricultural output because Palestinian farmers have been forced to abandon their farmlands in order to find alternative means of livelihood"
