Weaponized Water: Israel Cuts off Palestinian Access to Their Own Water Supplies

Fri Jul 1 14:00:00 BST 2016

Weaponized Water: Israel Cuts off Palestinian 
Access to Their Own Water Supplies

http://theantimedia.org/israel-cuts-palestinian-water-access/

via @theantimedia1 #LabourCoup

Weaponized Water: Israel Cuts off Palestinian 
Access to Their Own Water Supplies

June 30, 2016   |   admintam

http://theantimedia.org/israel-cuts-palestinian-water-access/
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According to an experienced reporter on 
Palestine, 50 percent of the water to a city of 
40,000 people has been cut off during Ramadan, a 
time when people need to have access to food and 
water more than any other time.

(<http://www.mintpressnews.com/israel-cutting-palestinians-off-water-supply/217991/>MINTPRESS) 
Jerusalem  Israel is limiting access to water in 
Palestine, a long-standing practice thats only 
intensified during the holy month of Ramadan, 
when access to water becomes even more important than usual.

Cuts in water supply are hitting the Occupied 
West Bank especially 
hard,<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/israel-water-cuts-west-bank-full-crisis-mode-160620133005799.html>Al-Jazeera 
reported on June 23.

Water shortages and cuts have 
 been 
<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/israel-cuts-water-supplies-west-bank-ramadan-160614205022059.html>reported 
throughout the northern Jenin and Nablus 
districts of the West Bank, although Israels 
Coordination of Government Activities in the 
Territories (COGAT) unit, the Israeli body in 
charge of the occupied West Bank, denied water 
had been cut or reduced at all, wrote Sheren Khalel.

Saleh Afaneh, head of water and wastewater for 
Salfit, a city in the northern part of the West 
Bank, told Khalel that his community is only 
receiving 30 to 40 percent of its normal water allowance from Israel.

On the first day of Ramadan, the water stopped 
for 24 hours, with no notice,Afaneh said. Since 
then, it has been coming in at less than half the 
capacity. Weve done everything we can to try and 
make residents comfortable, but this is a crisis.

Most Palestinians are Muslim, and during the holy 
month of Ramadan, they abstain from eating or 
drinking water from dawn until dusk.

Having access to water for drinking and food 
preparation during the pre-dawn and post-sunset 
hours is particularly crucial during the holy 
month, which makes the blockade especially 
devastating, reported Ramzy Baroud, editor of The 
Palestine Chronicle, in 
<https://www.rt.com/op-edge/347156-israel-palestine-water-supplies/>a 
June 17 interview with RT.

[P]eople need to have access to food and water 
more than any other time because of the Iftar, 
because of breaking the fast and now they are 
being denied that access, Baroud said.

According to Baroud, Jenin, a city of about 
40,000 people, also located in the northern part 
of the West Bank, is down to about 50 percent of its normal water supply.

The issue of access to water in Palestine is an ongoing one, Baroud noted.

Throughout its history of conflict with the 
Palestinians, Israel has done so much to ensure 
that Palestinians dont have access to water  
not only as a form of collective punishment, but 
to also ensure that the Palestinians do not 
develop their economy because it is reliant on 
between 14 to 20 percent on agriculture, he argued.

<https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ryan-rodrick-beiler/how-israel-makes-money-blockading-gaza>Controlling 
Palestinian agriculture allows Israel to profit 
from both the water supply itself and the few 
exports it allows to reach foreign markets. Not 
only have human health and agriculture suffered 
under the blockade, its also stunted the 
regions 
<https://electronicintifada.net/content/gazas-flower-industry-wilts-under-israeli-blockade/16301>traditional 
flower growing and 
<http://www.mintpressnews.com/from-banned-crayons-to-concrete-gaza-struggles-to-rebuild-after-a-decade-of-israeli-blockade/212731/>many 
other industries.

<http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/06/israel-water-cuts-west-bank-full-crisis-mode-160620133005799.html>According 
to Khalel, the World Health Organization 
recommends that every person should have access 
to about 100 liters of water per day for all 
their needs, from cooking to washing to drinking. 
Israelis typically receive about 240 to 300 
liters per day, while Palestinians, on average, receive just 73 liters per day.

<http://cdn.theantimedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/water-palestine.jpg>
water

An additional 180 especially impoverished 
communities within the 
<http://www.btselem.org/area_c/what_is_area_c>Area 
C region of the Gaza Strip are not connected to 
any running water, and some Palestinians spend as 
much as one-fifth of their salary on water.

But according to Baroud, that water isnt Israels to sell in the first place.

The tragedy of all tragedies is that the water 
that Israelis are holding back from Palestinians 
is actually Palestinian water, he told RT. So, 
this is really important to keep in mind. Israel 
steals the water of the Palestinians from the 
West Bank aquifers, repackages and sells them the 
water back and now they are actually cutting them 
off from the very water they stole from the Palestinians in the first place.

----------
This article 
(<http://www.theantimedia.org/israel-cuts-palestinian-water-access/>Weaponized 
Water: Israel Cuts off Palestinian Access to 
Their Own Water Supplies) by 
<http://www.mintpressnews.com/author/mmuhawesh/>Kit 
OConnell originally appeared on 
<http://www.mintpressnews.com/>MintPressNews.com 
and was used with permission. 
<http://theantimedia.org/radio/>Anti-Media Radio 
airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. 
Image credit: Anti-Media. If you spot a typo, 
email <mailto:edits at theantimedia.org>edits at theantimedia.org.
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