The Water Crisis in Palestinian Villages Without a Water Network
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The consequences of the water shortage among this population are broader than the trouble inherent in bringing water from the springs and the uncertainty of waiting for a water tanker to arrive after placing an order for water. The water crisis also impairs the residents’ ability to maintain proper cleanliness and hygiene. For example, in summer months, most of the residents are unable to permit themselves more than one or two showers a week, which they generally take by using a bucket; water used for washing eating utensils, the floors, and laundering clothes is collected for reuse; some residents improvise toilets outdoors, usually only a hole, a less hygienic method than if they were to use the toilet in the house, to save water. Research in the Occupied Territories that was conducted in the early 1990s indicates that the water shortage is one of the primary causes of infection and skin diseases among residents of villages without household water supply, and among children, in particular.21 Reasons for Lack of Water Infrastructure The existence of communities without a water network results from Israel’s policy of neglect in infrastructure investment throughout the period of occupation. Two comprehensive studies on the economy in the Occupied Territories, conducted by independent bodies – the World Bank and a research group from Ben-Gurion University – examined Israel’s fiscal policy from the beginning of the occupation to the beginning of the peace process, in 1993.22 The two studies indicate unequivocally that, throughout that period, Israel’s expenditures in the Occupied Territories (not including expenditures for security and the settlements) was significantly less than the taxes it collected from Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The gap between revenues and expenditures flowed regularly into the State treasury. This policy resulted in underdevelopment of the Palestinian economy, including significant delay in development of water infrastructure. As a result, in 1995, on the eve of the signing of the Oslo II Agreement, twenty percent of the population of the West Bank lived in communities without any water infrastructure.23 Since 1995, the PA, with the help of donor states and organizations, connected many communities to a water network. Numerous plans for connecting other communities could not be implemented because of a lack of funding. Another obstacle is the Civil Administration’s policy of delay in approving water-related projects in Area C of the West Bank. For example, the Palestinian Water Authority requested the Civil Administration to approve the laying of main conduits and construction of water networks for Dir Musa, Hebron District, on 12 July 1998, for Z’atreh, Nablus District, on 2 October 1998, and for seven villages south of Nablus, on 29 March 2000.24 In each of the three cases, the Civil Administration has not yet replied to the requests. However, the primary problem was and remains the lack of Palestinian access to the water sources. Connection a community to a water network results in an immediate increase in consumption in comparison with the previous situation, in which the residents purchased water from tankers at inflated prices. Therefore, without increasing the quantity of water for all the residents of the Occupied Territories, connecting additional communities to an existing water network will reduce supply to the other consumers. For example, at the end of 2000, construction work was completed on a new water network for eleven villages in Jenin District. More than 40,000 people live in these villages, a number comparable to the city of Jenin.25 This network was connected to a central well that supplied water to the city of Jenin, which led to a significant decrease in water supply to the city: in the summer of 2000, residents of Jenin continuously received water throughout the season, but from the beginning of June 2001, the city implemented an allotment plan in which each house received water only twelve hours a week. This deterioration in the water situation resulted not only from initiation of supply to the neighboring villages, but also from the reduction in the quantity of water that Mekorot and the West Bank Water Department supplied to Jenin in June, which was less than half of what it had supplied during the previous months.26
Testimonies 1. Hadab al-Fawwar, Hebron District: Testimony of Izdahar Muhammad Sh’aban al-Jenazreh28 I have ten children. My husband used to work in Israel, but now, due to the al-Aqsa intifada, he is unemployed. Ever since I got married and moved to the village, around twenty-six years ago, I have had a water problem that can’t be solved. The village is hooked up to a water network that is thirty years old. It has been out of use since the Gulf Way and not a drop of water flows through the system. Even before then, the water supply via the network was irregular and the water pressure was very low. We are financially unable to dig a cistern to collect rainwater, like others in the village who have a higher standard of living than we do. Therefore, we use donkeys to haul water to the house. My husband and our big children used to go twice a day to the al-Raqba springs, around a kilometer from the village along the Hebron-Beersheva road, near the Aduriyim army base. They would fill up bottles, put them on the donkeys, and bring them over the hill to the village. When the recent events began, I forbade my husband and children to go to the springs because there were Israeli soldiers on the road and because of the repeated persecution and attacks by settlers, who travel along the road, against men and youngsters from the village. So, instead of them going, I go to the springs four times a day. Each time, I bring sixty-four liters, and it takes me more than an hour. There are lots of women and children at the springs waiting their turn. Several times an army jeep came to the springs and made everybody leave. Going there is very tiring and leaves me less time to take care of my children and the house. Although the living conditions of the villagers differ from family to family, most get their water in the same way that we do. Most have cisterns under their homes, where they store the water that they bring. But we store our water in large tin containers in front of the house. Few residents buy water from the tankers, which is expensive. We can’t afford it. The problem of getting water taught us how important it is to save every drop. I usually wash the children only once a week. Sometimes I give into them and let them shower a second time during the week. We use an outdoors toilet. The toilet in the house is not yet ready. Because of the water shortage, we did not take the trouble to complete the work to install it. 2. Adh Dhahiriya, Hebron District: Testimony of Yunis Muhammad ‘Abd Tim Jabarin29 I live with my wife, eight children, and mother in a house in the Qanan al-Sawwan neighborhood of Adh Dhahiriya. My house is served by the water network in Adh Dhahiriya, which is twenty-five years old. However, for the past five years, not a drop of water has reached my home from the network because of the reduction in the quantity of water supplied to the town. Another reason is that my house is located at a high elevation. Consequently, we have had a real water problem these past several years. However, there is a collection cistern near our home in which rainfall is collected during the winter. We generally do not use this water because it is polluted. But there are times when we have no choice, and we use the water to wash the floor, water the trees, and flush the toilet. The water shortage forces us to buy containers of water. Normally, a nine-cubic-meter container, which is sufficient for twenty days, costs NIS 150. Because this is a substantial expense for me (I have been unemployed for more than eighteen months), sometimes we have no water. The difficulty in getting around because of the events of recent months aggravates the problem. In the beginning of June, for example, we ran out of water. I went to a water-tanker owner and asked him to bring a container to the house. I emphasized that we had no water. The fellow, Muhammad Rateb, from Adh Dhahiriya, explained that it was impossible to bring the water, because all the roads leading to the water sources were closed, as was entry to the town itself. I went to another tanker owner and received the same response. Then I called a Beduin from the Beersheva area. He said that it was pretty hard to get it to me and that he may not succeed. Finally, he managed to bring a container, for which I paid NIS 350. To pay for it, I had to borrow NIS 200 from my brother-in-law. I added NIS 100 that I had and promised to pay the water-tanker owner the remaining NIS 50 when I have the money. The difficulties that I mentioned often resulted in our not having water for ten to twenty days. We have to save as much water as possible. In such situations, my wife and daughters ask the neighbors for water. The neighbors give them water only for drinking and cooking in soft-drink bottles and in buckets. Other needs, such as washing and bathroom use stop altogether. For example, we detached the apparatus that supplies water to the toilet and shower. We use water from a bucket to flush the toilet. As for washing, we heat a small amount of water in a bowl and in that way try to save as much water as possible. We have gotten used to showering once every five to seven days. The situation is intolerable, especially in the summer. 3. Al-Tabqeh, Hebron District: Testimony of Taysir Khalil Hamdan Abu Ras30 I live with my wife, ten children, and unmarried brother in a small two room house. Until the beginning of the events, I made a living from working in Israel. My greatest problem today is managing to supply water to my large family and my flock of ten animals. Our poor financial situation creates a severe water shortage for us. Unlike many residents in the village, I cannot afford to buy water from the tankers, whose price these days in NIS 150 and even higher. Our sole source of water is the al-Paridis springs, which is two kilometers from our home. I bring home water on the back of a donkey. My sons Rami, 12, and Nader, 10, walk to the springs every day along a pot-holed path, sometimes early in the morning and sometimes at sunset. Each trip takes them from an hour and a half to three hours because they have to wait in a long line of people who come for the same purpose. The springs water is polluted, murky, and at times contains worms, so we have to strain it through kerchiefs before using it for drinking and cooking. Because of the difficulty in getting the water, we save every drop. One way we do that is by closing the toilet in the house, and we usually use the outdoors toilet. 4. Al-Majaz, Hebron District: Testimony of Mahmud Musa Shadeh Abu ‘Aram31 I live with my wife and four children in al-Majaz, a village located eighteen kilometers east of Yata. We have to buy water in Yata when there is no more water in the collection cisterns. The water we buy is for drinking and watering our livestock. On Thursday, 31 May, around 6:30 P.M., my cousin Nasser ‘Alu Khalil Muhammad and I were going to my home. We were on a tractor hauling a four-cubic-meter container of water. At the entrance to a-Sawaneh Village, near the bypass road Route 60, which passes around eight kilometers from Yata, we saw an army jeep parked along the road. The four soldiers standing alongside the jeep stopped us and did not want to let us continue along the road. They took our identity cards and made us stay there for about two hours. Finally, following a prolonged argument in which we explained that we needed water and had to take it to the village, they let us go. But one of the soldiers opened the tap of the container before ordering us to leave the area immediately. We started on our way to the village with the water running. After travelling for several meters, when we got far enough away from the soldiers, we stopped the tractor and my cousin closed the tap, but most of the water was already gone. We went back to Yata the next day, bought some more water, and brought it to the village without being delayed by the soldiers. 5. Burin, Nablus District: Testimony of Walid Sa’id Mahmud ‘Eid32 I am married. Twenty people live in my home, among them my children and grandchildren. We all make a living from farming and raising our flock of animals. These days, it has been very hard to supply water for my family. Because the primary source of water for Burin residents is the al-Balad springs, whose flow is weak, the village council set up an arrangement according to which each resident is entitled to draw water for fifty seconds a day. Together, my family and I were allowed to draw water for seventeen minutes a day. This amount of time enables us to fill twenty jerricans of water. This quantity is insufficient to even meet our family needs, so there is no water for the animals on a regular basis. For this reason, I sometimes wait at the springs for four or five hours to get an additional five minutes of water to fill another five jerricans. Due to the water shortage, we reuse the water twice or more for household use. We put a bucket under the sink to collect the water and use it again, rather than have it drain into the sewer. The water for cleaning purposes is also used for irrigating some of the crops near the house. I also put empty cola cans inside the toilet bowl to lessen the amount of water used when flushing the toilet. 6. Beit Dajan, Nablus District: Testimony of ‘Azam ‘Abdallah As’ad Jish33 Beit Dajan Village has a grave water shortage. One of the reasons for the shortage is that most of the residents make a living from rising livestock, such as goats and chickens. I have been driving a water tanker for some seven years, during which I have transported water from Nablus to Beit Dajan. The entire village has only three water tankers, and, normally, when Israel does not impose a closure, we transport around thirty containers a day, that is, each tanker makes ten trips. Today, due to the prolonged closure and army checkpoints on the road leading from Nablus to Beit Furik and Beit Dajan, each tanker can make two trips at the most. The trips have become a nightmare for us. On Saturday [8 June], at 8:00 P.M., I drove, along a dirt road that crosses the lands of Salem Village, from Nablus to Beit Dajan. I was with two other tanker drivers, Sabah ‘A’arf Hanaisheh, from Beit Dajan, and Yusuf Abu Halaleh, from Beit Furik. An Israeli army vehicle was parked on the main road, but I did not see it because it was dark. When I approached it, I saw two soldiers striding toward me with their weapons aimed at me. They ordered us to stop, and we stopped. They ordered us to drive in the direction of the Nablus-Beit Furik checkpoint, and they drove behind us in their vehicle. When we got to the checkpoint, one of the soldiers said to me, “Don’t you know that you are not allowed to drive along this road?” I said that I have to transport water for the residents and animals in the village. He responded: “Let them die, you are forbidden to travel on this road,” and he struck me forcefully with his hands. Then they opened the tap of the tanker and splashed water on me until my clothes were wet. Then they hit me again. This lasted until 10:30 P.M., during which the soldiers beat me all over my body and insulted me. The tankers lost a great quantity of water. We take a risk in transporting water, but we have no choice. We have to do it because the village residents need water. The water container that I brought in this case, for example, was intended for a person who has children and raises chickens and goats on his farm. Conclusions In recent months, the Israeli media has been swamped with reports on the water crisis in Israel, the anticipated reductions in uses of water, and ways to improve the situation. Most of the reports relate to the relevant water sources as if they belonged entirely to Israel. This perception completely disregards the fact that Israel’s two primary water sources – the Mountain Aquifer and the Jordan Basin – are shared with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, although Palestinian access to these sources is extremely limited. Most Israelis know about the water crisis principally via television. For them, the most immediate effect of the crisis is the possibility that restrictions may be placed on watering public gardens or washing their cars with a hose. However, residents of communities that are not connected to a water network routinely suffer as a result of the water crisis and are unable to supply their basic household needs. International law dealing with water sources that belong to more than one state provides that utilization of water from those sources must be based on the principle of “equitable and reasonable use.”34 As this report and previous reports of B’Tselem show, Israeli policy flagrantly breaches this principle. Therefore, even if Israel’s water sector is currently facing a severe crisis, Israeli is not allowed to attempt to cope with its problem by disregarding the needs and rights of others who share its water sources, among them Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Israel’s responsibility for the water crisis in the Occupied Territories also results from its position as the occupier. This status obligates it to ensure the protection of human rights in the Occupied Territories and in those areas in which it has effective control. Furthermore, the right to water is a fundamental right of every person and is incorporated in several international conventions to which Israel is party.35 This reality obligates Israel to ensure that residents of the Occupied Territories receive at least the minimal amount of water necessary to meet their household needs. Even more so, Israel is forbidden to intentionally harm residents’ efforts to obtain water privately, which Israel has done, for example, by restricting the freedom of movement of water tankers. Restrictions on the PA’s control over the water sector in the Occupied Territories does not exempt it from responsibility for those aspects of the water sector in which it is able and obligated to act. These include responsibility for realizing as rapidly as possible the additional quantities of water agreed to by Israel in the Oslo II Agreement and for supervision of the prices and quality of the water sold by means of tankers. In light of the severe water crisis currently confronting residents of villages that are not connected to a water network, whose severity is likely to increase as the summer progresses, B’Tselem urges the government of Israel to:36
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