The Water Crisis in Palestinian Villages Without a Water Network
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These figures only relate to those communities that have no working water network. They do not include the residents who are not connected to a household water network for other reasons, such as the failure to connect their house to the network, or those residents who do not receive water through the network in the summer because the water pressure is too low to supply homes at high altitudes within the community. The precise number of all such residents is unknown. B’Tselem’s figures accumulated in various districts of the West Bank clearly shows that thousands of Palestinians fall within this category. Due to the lack of the pipelines to supply water to their homes, residents without a water network rely on one or more of three water sources: collection of rainfall, collection of water from springs, and purchase of water from water tankers. Private collection of rainfall is extremely common among Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and not just in communities that are not connected to a water network. The water is usually collected on roofs and stored in cisterns in the yards alongside the houses. The water collected is generally sufficient only during the rainy season (November to March). In most areas of the Occupied Territories, the amount of rainfall in the winter of 2000-2001was from ten to twenty percent less than the multi-year average, thus reducing the quantity of water from this source that was available for household use.15 Some residents of communities without a water network obtain water from springs near their homes by filling bottles and jerricans. The West Bank contains 114 springs, most of which are primarily used for irrigation. The most bountiful springs lie in the Nablus and Jericho districts (fifty-two springs). The water flow in the other springs is generally negligible16 In drought years, as was the case in 1999, the flow in all the springs falls significantly, and in some instances ceases completely. Unlike the water that flows through pipes, the quality of the spring water consumed by residents of the Occupied Territories is not controlled by the Palestinian Authority, even though spring water is more likely to be polluted and brackish. This increased susceptibility is due to the greater likelihood that sewage from nearby towns and villages, and pesticides and fertilizers used by local farmers, flow into the springs. The third source of water is the purchase of water from water tankers. For residents of communities connected to a water network, purchased water provides an additional source for the summer months, when water supply is irregular. For residents of communities without a water network, water tankers are the most important source, and, in the summer, the only source of supply for some of them. The tanker owners buy most of the water from the Palestinian municipal water networks and the rest from Israeli settlements and Palestinian-owned private agricultural wells. Regarding the agricultural wells, the water quality is not subject to any quality control, which, as noted above, is true also of spring water. The price of water purchased from the tanker owners is determined by “market forces.” The PA makes no attempt to intervene and set a maximum price. For this reason, water obtained from tankers is several times greater than the price paid for water supplied by a water network. The price paid by a consumer for water from a water network fluctuates between NIS 3-5 per cubic meter, while the price charged for water from a tanker fluctuates between NIS 15-40 per cubic meter. The expense entailed in purchasing water has always placed a heavy financial burden on residents of the villages without a water network, who generally are poor. This financial burden has increased since the outbreak of the current intifada, during which many families lost their primary source of income and the percentage of families living in poverty increased significantly.17 As the testimonies given to B’Tselem indicate, some village residents are unable to purchase water from the tankers. In the summer, therefore, their only option is to collect water from the springs. In communities that do not have springs nearby, the very poor residents are compelled to cut back on expenses for other basic commodities to enable them to purchase water. Since the beginning of the intifada, Israel’s harsh restrictions on freedom of movement in the Occupied Territories have created great difficulties for tanker drivers to regularly reach the homes of residents who need water. The problem results primarily from the physical roadblocks (dirt piles, concrete blocks, and trenches) that the IDF places throughout the West Bank. These obstacles make journeys to many villages a long and complicated operation, requiring travel along improvised dirt roads. The IDF does not inform the population of the location of the physical roadblocks, so the drivers are unable to plan their route and estimate its length.18 In addition, B’Tselem documented a number of cases in which IDF soldiers prevented tanker drivers from crossing staffed checkpoints. Testimonies given to B’Tselem regarding several cases that occurred near the Beit Furik checkpoint (three kilometers southeast of Nablus) state that IDF soldiers beat and humiliated tanker drivers transporting water to Beit Dajan and Beit Furik (see, for example, the testimony of ‘Azam Abu Jish, below). In other cases, in addition to delaying the transport, the security forces spilled the water in the tankers onto the ground (see, for example, the testimony of Mahmud Abu ‘Aram, below). Furthermore, in recent months, the movement of Palestinians, including that of tanker drivers, has also been impaired by prohibitions on crossing, by delays, and by acts of violence by settlers (see, for example, the testimony of Izdahar Muhammad Sh’aban al-Jenazreh, below).19
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