An Israeli human rights organization says the West Bank is facing a severe water crisis in the coming months. The B’Tselem human rights group issued a report July 1 linking the chronic shortage to Israeli policies.
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According to the World Health Organization, the minimal amount of water per capita needed daily for household and urban needs is 100 liters, or just over 26 U.S. gallons.
Average per capita consumption throughout the West Bank is 66 liters, or just over 17 gallons—two-thirds of the minimal amount specified by the WHO. In the northern West Bank, consumption has dropped even more, to only one-third of the designated minimum.
In comparison, average daily water consumption per capita in Israeli cities is 235 liters, or 62 gallons. That amount is 3.5 times that consumed by Palestinians in the West Bank.
A total of 227,500 Palestinians in hundreds of towns and villages in the West Bank are not connected to a water network at all. Another 190,000 Palestinians live in villages that are only partially connected to a water network.
Even in Palestinian towns and villages that have a water network, the water supply is irregular and unreliable most of the year. Water is supplied intermittently, being available only for some hours and sometimes on a rotating basis. In distant areas, the water supply may be disconnected for days or even weeks at a time.
The B’Tselem
report relates the testimony of Aminah Jabarin, a Palestinian mother of nine who lives in the West Bank town of Tuqu: “I fall asleep completely exhausted from effort and worry. It hurts me to see my boys hauling bottles long distances to fill them up, especially on hot days. Worrying about water has become a nightmare, so much so that if you ask me what I want most, I would say water in my house all the time.”As an occupying force, Israel is required under international humanitarian law to ensure public order and safety in the occupied territory, without discrimination. In addition, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which Israel is a signatory, ensures access to clean drinking water without discrimination.
In flagrant violation of these laws, Israel holds complete control of the water sources shared by Israel and the Palestinians, primarily the Mountain Aquifer, and prohibits by army order any Palestinian drilling of wells without a permit. Israel allocates to Palestinians only 20 percent of the water from the Mountain Aquifer, and prevents the development of additional water sources to enable greater water supply for Palestinians in the West Bank.
More importantly, however, the water shortages lay bare the colonial character of Israel. The Palestinian people have no sovereignty over a resource as basic as water in their own land. Access to this life-sustaining necessity is subject to the whims of the Israeli colonial state. In that context, unapologetic disregard for international law is just one of the many perks accorded to an occupying force that has the full backing of U.S. imperialism.
A kinder water policy from Israel would do nothing to change what is, in essence, a colonial relationship. Palestinians must be given full control of their land, natural resources and infrastructure. The racist character of Israel will begin to erode only when all Israeli aggression against the West Bank and Gaza is ended and the Palestinian people secure the right to return throughout all of historic Palestine.
