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.”
Jerusalem — Israel is limiting access to water in Palestine, a long-standing practice that’s 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, Al-Jazeera reported on June 23.
“Water shortages and cuts have … been reported throughout the northern Jenin and Nablus districts of the West Bank, although Israel’s 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. We’ve 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 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 don’t 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.
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, it’s also stunted the region’s traditional flower growing and many other industries.
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.
An additional 180 especially impoverished communities within the “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 isn’t Israel’s 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 (Weaponized Water: Israel Cuts off Palestinian Access to Their Own Water Supplies) by Kit O’Connell originally appeared on MintPressNews.com and was used with permission. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Image credit: Anti-Media. If you spot a typo, email [email protected].
You should be anonymous. Your reports are entirely false. Stop listening to pulp fiction and try some honest reporting.
Bastard
Yet another painful reminder from that abscess on the butt of the whole human race known as Israel.
Lies and propaganda dumb ass
Unfortunately this report is in error. Israel is already supplying more potable water than required by the Oslo Accords, and in fact the PA is in arrears on the debt owed for potable water supply due to failure to of the PA to pay there share of costs. There is however, the 30% wastage of water supply due to piping infrastructure issues in areas A&C and the Gaza. And that is purely PA business. Israel does not choose to violate PA Autonomy.
This is a blood libel. There was a water pipe burst. Stop re-posting stories that get little girls murdered, please.
Your statement reads “AnonHQ is an independent and investigative news organization run by people of the Anonymous collective”. Key word is investigative. What investigation did you do before publishing a one sided mostly false article? Fact – Palestinians life expentency is the highest among Arab NationNation. FACT – Palestinian Babies mortality rate is the lowest among the Arab nations. Fact – percentage of University graduates in the Palestinian territories is the highest among Arab Nations. All these facts among many more suggest that Palestinians are better off then most Arabs. These facts are NOT because of the Palestinian authorities. About 10 days ago Abbas claimed that Rabbis are telling Jews to poison Palestinian waters. Maybe you want to publish this as fact as wellwell? He made a retraction a few days latER. Want to call yourself investigative news? Then Investigate and confirm the facts!!!
Wa
Please take my picture off your cover page. It is the first one. I wish to remain anonymous.
interesting! why didn’t you ask the second side about this case. is to be anonymous means to be one eye blind and one ear deaf? israel did not build their cityes, israel did not build theit infrastructures, israel do not collect their taxes, that they actualy never paid. this people are free to do anything, i repeat anything! inside their cityes where they have their own law. the world they live in and the conditions they build by their own free will. i’m israely citizen. if i will not pay for infrastructures and logistics, i will not have supply of water, electricity, communications, cellphone and other goods, that most of you got used to 24/7, just like they don’t have it supplyed. so i just don’t see any problem in this case, just like i don’t see any problem in case of my neighbour was cut from water supply becouse he did not pay for its supply. nobody will prevent him to go to the nearest river 10km from his house to collect water. but nobody will run filters and pumps to bring tons of clear water to his apartments at third floor in city center. and that’s just right. nobody have to work for free and pay for him to supply him and his family water 24/7. i don’t want to pay for him. and why do you publish this one eye blind political stuff review here on anonymous site? do you try to make all the anonymous society pay for their needs? do you think anonymous society are some kind of rich philanthropists? do you realy think we give fuck about someone did not get something he did not pay for? may be they will start to take care about their own accountability???
What a load of absolute crap. This is incitement. You have blood on your hands.
This is a total page of lies. You really know the Truth. A water main broke cutting off water to Jews and Arabs alike until it was fixed. You also know that the Palestinians have not used one penny of foreign funds to upgrade their water system . At the same time they have unlawfully jerry-rigged pipes into the Israeli system stealing water from Palestinians and Israelis. Noit one word of your article is true.
Any mention of rockets fired at Israel?
Long Live Israel
Israel to Jordan is Palestine.
Until 1947 Jews, Christians Muslims in the Holy Land were Palestinians. 1967 many Jordainians fell asleep Jordanian and woke woke up Palestinians.
That’s about all the time I choose to waste on the deaf dumb and blind
Given the billions of $€£ given to the permanent refugees on their own land, figure that out, why are they dependent on Israel for ANYTHING.
Time for you to see true apartheid, Genocide and Human rights atrocities from Israel. You have been asking for it for way too long.
Now go choke on phlegm.