Israel's Assault on Palestine's Water OCHA Report and EWASH

Israel’s Exploitation Highlighted on Water Day

http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/component/content/article/28-news/4228-israels-exploitation-highlighted-on-water-day

In the wake of World Water Day, both local and international organisations have issued reports and organised demonstrations to raise attention to the exploitation and demolition of water resources by Israeli settlers to the detriment of Palestinians living in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Ein Al Ariq spring, next to Qaryut village (Nablus). Following its takeover by Eli settlers the spring was renamed as “Ein Hagvura” (Photo: OCHA)

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a report on how Israeli settlers dispossess Palestinians of water springs. Additionally, a demonstration under the slogan Thirsting for Justice, organised by several local and international groups including the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestineand Israel (EAPPI), the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JLAC) and theSociety of St. Yves, amongst others, was held outside the Israeli High Court of Justice in Jerusalem.

In its survey conducted throughout 2011, OCHA estimates that the number of water springs located in the vicinity of West Bank Israeli settlements and therefore, completely or partially seized by settler action, amounts to 56. Up to 30 of them are under full settler control, while the remaining 26 are at constant risk of being taken over.

According to this same report, in 2009 “the overall water yield of springs was only half the equivalent figure six years earlier” due to “the poor rainfall and Israel’s over-extraction (i.e. extraction in excess of the estimated replenishment potential) of water from wells located both in the West Bank and in Israel.” This means that appropriation of natural springs by Israeli settlers has possibly a more unsettling impact on the Palestinians’ livelihood today than in the past.

If “springs remain the single largest source of water for irrigation in the West Bank and an important coping mechanism for communities not connected to a water network to meet domestic and livelihood needs,” the OCHA report adds, "the loss of access to them reduced the size of the farming land and subsequently the income of the affected farmers.”

Most of the springs under full Israeli control are rendered inaccessible to Palestinians because of threats and intimidation which often lead to acts of physical violence by the neighbouring settlers.

The remaining natural resources have been ‘protected’ from Palestinian usage either through the establishment of physical obstacles, such as a fence enhanced by electronic devices, or through complicated procedures of almost-impossible-to-obtain 'visitor' or 'permanent resident' permits.

In addition, since 2010 the Society of St. Yves has provided legal representation in over 50 cases of demolition orders for water structures in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel has designated just one per cent of the land for Palestinian development.

As the St. Yves' report says, “With such tight restrictions on Palestinian construction, the development of water and sanitation infrastructure is usually done without proper authorization. Many communities are at risk of losing their means for surviving, and face the fear of receiving demolition orders”. In these latest regards, half of the water collection structures demolished since 2009 have occurred in the first half of 2011.

Raffoul Rofa, Director of St. Yves, says that, “The right to water is a basic right guaranteed under international law. Where there is no water, there is no life, and without cisterns the Palestinian farmers cannot cultivate their lands thus causing them to abandon it.”

Nowadays, one of the major concerns of OCHA is represented by the 26 West Bank springs identified as being at risk of settler takeover. Although at the time of the survey Palestinians still had control of those springs located in Area B, the constant presence of armed settlers in the area has an intimidating effect that might discourage farmers' and residents' access in the future.

In half of these cases, the aim to accomplish a full takeover of a spring is reinforced by the deployment of physical infrastructures by the settlers at the spring site.

“This is part of a larger trend entailing the promotion of the tourism infrastructure in Israeli settlements,” the report states. “It expands the scope of territorial control of settlements; it adds a source of employment and revenue for the settler population; and it contributes to the ‘normalization’ of settlements in the eyes of large segments of Israeli society, as well as some foreign tourists.”

Israeli settlements - constructed since the 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the Syrian Golan by the occupying Israeli power - are illegal under international law. Yet the methods enacted by Israeli settlers to gain control over Palestinian springs, such as trespass, intimidation, physical assault, theft of private property and construction without building permits, are also illegal under Israeli legislation.

Furthermore, by demolishing rain collecting cisterns, Israel violates its legal obligations as an occupying power - under Article 54 of the Protocol 1 Addition to the Geneva Conventions (1977) and, in addition, breaches a joint declaration signed in 2001 between Palestinian and Israeli, who agreed to keep water infrastructure out of the cycle of violence for both parties.

What OCHA on a global and Thirsting for Justice campaign on a local scale agree to is that "the continuous encroachment on Palestinian land for the purpose of a settlement expansion" and the "policies of water infrastructure demolitions" are parts of a strategy aimed to undermine the right of the Palestinian people to their self-determination.

The original article can be found here

List of water structures in the West Bank demolished by Israel from 2009 to 2011 (source: UN OCHA)

Demolition date	Year	Community	Governorate	Type	Number	Est. people affected	Comment
8/6/2009	2009	Al-Baqa / al-Bweira	Hebron	well	7	80
3/9/2009	2009	Al-Baqa	Hebron	cistern	3	101
11/2/2010	2010	Al-Bassa	Hebron	spring	5	100	also other structures demolished
24/02/2010	2010	Kafr Dan	Jenin	well	5	166
14/07/2010	2010	Al-Baqa	Hebron	cistern	1	17
15/07/2010	2010	Abu al-Urgan	Hebron	cistern	1	20
19/07/2010	2010	Al-Baqa	Hebron	cistern	1	17
2/8/2010	2010	Wadi al-Ghrous	Hebron	well	1	50
4/8/2010	2010	Jabal Joher	Hebron	well	1	90
4/8/2010	2010	Wadi al-Joz	Hebron	well	1	9
11/10/2010	2010	Khallet al-Warda	Hebron	cistern	1	23
27/10/2010	2010	Deir Abu Dief	Jenin	well	4	11,583
30/11/2010	2010	Ar-Rashayida	Bethlehem	cistern	1	50
14/12/2010	2010	Kassem ad-Daraj/Um ad-Daraj	Hebron	cistern	14	950
29/12/2010	2010	At-Tur	Jerusalem	cistern	2	26	also other structures demolished
19/01/2011	2011	Al-Issawiya	Jerusalem	well	1	4	also other structures demolished
17/02/2011	2011	Khallet al-Furn	Hebron	cistern	4	29
22/02/2011	2011	Susiya	Hebron	cistern	2	41	also other structures demolished
2/3/2011	2011	al-Ghrous, Baqa	Hebron	cistern	2	7
23/03/2011	2011	Ar-Rashayida	Bethlehem	cistern	2	111	one is same as before?
7/4/2011	2011	al-Aqaba	Tubas	water stream	1
7/4/2011	2011	Khallet al-Fahma	Bethlehem	cistern	2	37
5/5/2011	2011	Susiya	Hebron	cistern	2	94	same as above + also other structures demolished
26/05/2011	2011	Idhna	Hebron	cistern	2	47
29/05/2011	2011	Kafr Dan	Jenin	well	8	40	five are the same as above
14/06/2011	2011	al-Harayeq	Hebron	cistern	2	40	600 and 300 m3
23/06/2011	2011	Arab ar-Rashayida	Bethlehem	cistern	1	41	services shepherd from entire area
5/7/2011	2011	al-Khader	Bethlehem	cistern	1	30	agricultural use and domestic filling point during summer
12/7/2011	2011	an-Nassariya	Nablus	well	3	37	agricultural use
8/9/2011	2011	an-Nassariya	Nablus	well	3	37
13/09/2011	2011	an-Nassariya	Nablus	well	1	10
13/09/2011	2011	Bait Hasan	Nablus	well	1	285
13/09/2011	2011	Tammun	Tubas	well	1	92	other structures demolished
4/10/2011	2011	Kufr ad-dik	Salfit	well	1	12
4/10/2011	2011	Beit Ula	Hebron	cistern	4	80
17/11/2011	2011	Udeissa	Hebron	cistern	1	11
17/11/2011	2011	al-Baqa'a	Hebron	water pool	1	18
24/11/2011	2011	Idhna	Hebron	well	2	34	includes people affected by other structures demolished
8/12/2011	2011	Beit Ula	Hebron	cistern	1	8	150m3
21/12/2011	2011	Kufr ad-dik	Salfit	well	3	75
22/12/2011	2011	Idhna	Hebron	well	4	116
22/12/2011	2011	Idhna	Hebron	cistern	3	0	same as above + also other structures demolished
22/12/2011	2011	Idhna	Hebron	tank	2	0	same as above + also other structures demolished
22/12/2011	2011	al-Majnuna	Hebron	water pool	10	500

2012/1/3 04:01:56 am

2012/3/25 03:03:00 am

 EWASH    The Emergency Water, Sanitation and Hygiene group (EWASH) is a coalition of almost 30 organisations working in the water and sanitation sector in the occupied Palestinian territory. Established in 2002, its members include international and national NGOs and UN Agencies.

The Emergency Water and Sanitation-Hygiene Group (EWASH) is a coordination body founded in 2002 after the emergency situation following the Israeli incursion to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which aims to coordinate the work in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector to avoid duplication and help ensure optimum results.

There are various stakeholders operational in the water, sanitation and hygiene sector in the occupied Palestinian territories. These include the national and international NGOs, UN agencies, academic and research institutions, Palestinian Authority counterparts like Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and West Bank Water Department (WBWD) in the West bank or the Coastal Municipal Water Utility (CMWU) in Gaza, etc..

Water and Waste Water Sector working group, which also includes the bilateral and UN donors is presently coordinating the interventions in the water and sanitation sector in oPt. However the national and International NGOs have no space on this platform. Moreover this platform looks at the major infrastructure development needs in the water and waste water sector, with little scope for coordination of activities during emergencies. The need therefore was felt to coordinate the emergency interventions in the WASH sector, to build the collective response capacities and ensure a coherent and predictable response.

Vision

EWASH is a coordination body seeking to improve Water, Sanitation and Hygiene conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and minimize the adverse effect of the political situation on the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector.

Mission

To facilitate the advocacy, coordination and knowledge sharing among local and international non-governmental organizations, UN agencies and governmental bodies active in the Water and Sanitation sector in the oPt, both in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Accountability

EWASH is accountable to the members, including the government  and more so, to the affected populations for ensuring effectiveness and delivery of desired outputs . The group therefore envisages a clear definition of roles, availability of information, transparency in actions and agreed mechanisms for coordination and monitoring of emergency interventions.

EWASH would strive towards increasing the peer accountability through regular information  and knowledge sharing and management.

Interaction and partnership with the UN Humanitarian Coordinator hierarchical system would be strengthened during emergencies, to ensure implementation of humanitarian reforms.

EWASH Members:

-         Action Contre la Faim (ACF)

-         Assembly of Cooperation for Peace (ACPP)

-         American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)

-         Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ)

-         Birzeit U

-         CARE

-         Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli (CISP)

-         DanChurchAid

-         Gruppo Volontari Cristiani (GVC

-         House of Water and Environment

-         Near East Council of Churches - Jerusalem (ICC)

-         Lifesource

-         Ma'an Development Center

-         Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA)

-         OCHA

-         UNICEF

-         UNRWA

-         UNDP

-         Oxfam

-         Polish Humanitarian Action (PHA)

-         Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)

-         Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group

-         PENGON

-         Palestinian Hydrology Group

-         Premier Urgence

-         Save the Children

-         Swedish Cooperative Center (SCC)

-         Welfare Association

Foul Smell: Treating Gaza's Wastewater under Israeli Blockade

2012/3/22 07:03:02 am

This video was produced by the Thirsting for Justice Campaign ambassadors (Palestinian youth living in the Gaza Strip). The Thirsting for Justice Campaign demands respect for Palestinian rights to water and sanitation and seeks accountability to Israeli violations under international law. Join the campaign and take action by visiting www.thirstingforjustice.org