MARCH 2004
Excerpts from text by Amirem Cohen, Ha'aretz
Due to recent heavy Rainfall a meeting was held to decide whether to open the Degania dam at the southern end of the lake, and let possibly millions of cubic meters of drinking water flow to the
Jordan River and the Dead Sea.
.The committee will make its recommendation to the Water Commissioner, Shimon Tal, in order to keep the Kinneret from overflowing its banks and causing serious damage to agricultural
settlements and tourist facilities on its shores.
Last Thursday morning the Kinneret reached a level of 210.01 meters below sea level, which is only 26 centimeters below the level set for opening the dam. This is still 95 centimeters below the upper red line, which means that the lake is completely full. As a result of the heavy rains recently, the lake is rising at a rate of 3-4 centimeters a day.The final decision as to whether - and when - to open the dam depends on a number of factors: the forecast for rain, the level of the lake, the amount of run-off entering the lake, the time of year and many others which make up a complicated scientific model used by the water commission. The goal is to reach the maximum level for the Kinneret of -208.80 meters on May 1. This is the date that the water level starts to drop again, based on historical statistics.Many critics have found it difficult to understand how the country will "waste" huge amounts of water by opening the dams, while at the same time it is building desalination plants at a cost of 100-150 percent more for lower quality wate. On average, the Degania dam has had to be opened about once every 10 years.
Financial Considerations the Essence!......
In addition, the question arises why Mekorot does not invest in methods to save the excess water instead of letting it run off into the Jordan and the Dead Sea. The major alternative is to use the water to refill the coastal aquifer. This requires pumping the water into the National Water Carrier, and doubling its flow. But the price of doubling the flow would include a new, huge pipe and two enormous pumps. The estimated cost of these improvements is a billion shekels.. (and thus)the price of this water saved would reach NIS 10 per cubic meter, as compared to the NIS 3 for desalinated water. Raising the banks of the Kinneret is also considered impractical and would harm the agriculture and tourism industries around the lake's shores.
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.NORTHWEST OF JERUSALEM
The path of the Apartheid Wall in this
region will cut off Beit Surik, Biddu, Beit Ijsa, Al
Qubbaiba, Qatanna, and Beit Duqqu from their land and
water resources and eventually lead to the destruction of
these communities as they are mostly comprised of
farmers. 90% of Beit Surik's land will be isolated from
the village and de-facto annexed into Israel by the
construction of Apartheid Wall; old houses will be
destroyed and the villagers will be stripped of three
major water resources, which will leave them no choice
but to leave their village.
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Occupied Salfit:
.water theft and
sewage
Salfit is a region of the Occupied West Bank which has
been plagued by land confiscation and water theft for
many years. 65% of all West Bank settlers live in 19
settlements in the region, which has only 20 Palestinian
villages. 45% of Salfit's historic land has been
confiscated over the years to build settlements (170 000
out of 270 000 dunums). For example, after the signing of
the Oslo Accords, Revava settlement was enlarged 300%.
There is no work in the villages or in Salfit town and
only 2% of people have work in Israel. The olive harvest
is disrupted by settlers year after year. This year, the
Mayor's father, like many other residents, had to abandon
one third of his olives (400 trees full) because Ariel
settlers would not allow him to harvest them. This
despite a 1982 Israeli High Court decision that settlers
may not use the land near Ariel as it belongs to the
Palestinians.
Israel has a long history of water theft in Salfit, which
has the biggest water table in the West Bank. 16 artesian
wells in Salfit have been confiscated over the years -
the water was diverted miles
away to Israel itself as well as settlements in Salfit
and the Jordan valley. Israelis and settlers consume five
times as much water as Palestinians, but Palestinians pay
300% more. This racist
system of water delivery, perfected by the South African
apartheid regime, is controlled by the Israeli private
water company Merkorot. The nearby villages of Kufr Dik
and Bruqin are currently without a consistent supply of
water because of overconsumption by settlers.
For the past nine years, the municipality has been trying
to build a wastewater treatment plant to service the
residents of Salfit town. The plant was initially
supposed to be built on Salfit land 13kms
from the town. The municipality received a grant of DM
22 million from the German government to build the
plant and a mainline pipe to the town but the Israeli
Occupation Forces (IOF) stopped the
building and seized all the equipment, which they
returned only 18 months later. The Salfit municipality
then had to take out a loan to buy a new piece of land
eight kilometres closer to the town and another loan of
DM 2 million to move the pipes and the electricity
cables. Although Israel approved the new site of the
plant, the Apartheid Wall will now separate Salfit from
the sewage plant, which will then be up for grabs for
confiscation by settlers.
The present water scenario is as bleak as the future
scenario. The Almatwi valley runs between Salfit and the
nearby village of Bruqin. Villagers used to enjoy
swimming and splashing in a waterfall, geyser, four
springs and several natural pools in this valley, as well
as going on mountain walks and holding family barbeques.
This is a thing of the past for several reasons. First,
because the IOF regularly releases wild pigs into the
valley which viciously attack children. Second, because
swimming, splashing, rambling and barbequing are
prevented by incursions of soldiers. Third, because Israeli
water stations set up in the villages of Marda, Rafat and
Huwara have drained the water table in the valley with
high power suction pumps that suck water "24 hours a
day", according to residents. The Palestinians have
been forbidden by the IOF from upgrading their 60 year
old suction pump, which they describe as
"small" and "low capacity". The
springs, natural pools and the Al Asafeer river that used
to irrigate land three kilometres away, have all dried up
completely.
The valley is now a heavily polluted and stinking
area. All that remains of any visible stream is a channel
of raw sewage floating along in a ditch. The sewage is
released by the second largest settlement in the West
Bank, Ariel, situated on the top of the hill five
kilometres away. The sewage poses a grave health risk to
Bedouins living in the valley, villagers who use the
valley as well as the water table itself. The Salfit
environmental health department has to conduct daily
laboratory tests on the drinking water because it fears
the huge amounts of sewage have seeped into the water
table.
Two years ago, Israeli bulldozers created a two metre
wide route of destroyed land Maps made by different
organisations like the Palestine Hydrology Group, Land
Research Centre and United Nations Office for the
Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, show that this
path is the likely route of the Apartheid Wall. These
maps have been based on IOF confiscation orders given to
Palestinian landowners.
The current route of the Apartheid Wall will also destroy
or isolate an ancient burial place called Jelal al Adeer,
said to be the tomb of a prophet. The Salfit Mayor
expects that another 25% of the land will be confiscated
by the Apartheid Wall. This includes thousands of olive
trees, stretching as far as the eye can see, and far too
numerous to count. It will be a severe blow for the
Palestinian olive export, 25% of which comes from the
Salfit region.
The Israeli Occupation Forces are much slyer than they
were two years ago. They have realised that any
announcements that the Apartheid Wall will be built here
or there only lead to popular resistance and mass
demonstrations by Palestinians. These days, many
landowners are not even receiving confiscation orders.
They simply wake up one morning and see bulldozers
working on their land. The Palestinians predict that the
Apartheid Wall will arrive in the town of Salfit
within three months.
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MAKING THE BLOOMS
DESERT
By
Jessica McCallin
Many people wonder why Israel won't give back the occupied territories in return for peace. One reason is that more than half of Israel's water supplies now come from the Mountain Aquifer and Jordan river basin, which are situated deep within them Jericho used to be one of Palestine's prime agricultural spots. An abundance of springs made the fertile land surrounding the ancient town famous for its oranges, bananas and strawberries. Now, all that is changing. Fields are drying up, crops are dying and farmers are being put out of work. The reason is simple: water. Israeli settlements get priority access to water and as they expand and new ones are built, the amount of water available to Palestinians decreases. Because of its strategic location between Jerusalem and Jordan, the Jericho region has been particularly affected. It helps Israel divide the north and south of the West Bank from each other, and creates "facts on the ground" that preclude the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. But its water crises are repeated across the Palestinian Territories. Since seizing the West Bank in 1967, Israel has illegally exploited the Mountain Aquifer and Jordan river basin. Many historians believe this has been the underlying reason for the invasion and occupation of the West Bank. One of the first military orders of the occupation was the confiscation of almost all West Bank wells. Since then, drilling for new wells has been banned and quotas have been imposed on the existing ones. The amount of water allocated to Palestinians has been capped at 1967 levels, despite the subsequent growth in population. Water has always been a source of conflict in the Middle East. Israeli attempts to divert water from the Jordan-Yarmouk river basin into the Negev were a key source of the 1967 war. And the Golan Heights, which Israel still refuses to give back to Syria, are also water rich. Today, Israel uses 79% of the Mountain Aquifer and all of the Jordan River Basin -- bar a small quantity that it sells to Palestinians in Gaza. The result is apartheid in all but name. Israelis get 350 litres of water per person per day, Palestinians get just 70 litres. The minimal quantity of water recommended by the World Health Organisation is 100 litres. When supplies run low during the summer months, the Israeli water company, Mekorot, simply shuts off the valves that supply Palestinian towns. This means settlers get their swimming pools topped up while Palestinian villages a few miles away run out of drinking water. When tensions are high -- as they are now -- the situation becomes unbearable, especially for the 25 per cent of Palestinian villages that were never connected to a water supply. Since the start of the Intifada, Israel has made it almost impossible for water tankers to enter Palestinian areas -- or for villagers to get to nearby wells. B'Tselem, the Israeli human rights group says Israeli soldiers sometimes beat and humiliate tanker drivers or deliberately spill their water. Yunis Muhammed 'Abd Tim Jabarin, a father of eight from a village in southern Hebron described how, in hot weather, "often we don't have water for ten to twenty days. In such situations, my wife and daughters ask the neighbours for water, but they can only give enough for drinking and cooking. As for washing, we have got used to showering once every five to seven days. The situation is intolerable, especially in the summer." But towns with connections also face problems, according to Ayman Rabi, of the Palestinian Hydrological Group. "Settlers attack the Palestinians' water supply, severing pipes and switching off valves," he said. "They dump untreated sewage on Palestinian land, polluting wells and aquifers." The Israeli army has also routinely destroyed water supplies, an activity defined as a war crime. Part of the problem is that the Oslo peace process tried to institutionalise Israel's theft of Palestinian water, and its discriminatory allocation system. Yehezkel Lein of B'Tselem said, "Comments from Israeli offices give the impression that Oslo transferred responsibility (for water supplies) to the Palestinian Authority." "However, Israel continues to maintain almost total control over water in the occupied territories. Every new project, from drilling a well to laying pipes or building a reservoir, requires Israel's consent." Israeli reluctance to relinquish control of West Bank water is not surprising. More than a quarter of its water supplies now come from the West Bank aquifer -- and over a third comes from the Jordan Basin. But it has no legal right to the water -- and it's not using it sustainably. Private swimming pools and green lawns are not a priority in desert areas. Over-extraction from the Jordan river is the main reason the river flow has dropped nearly 90 per cent in the last 50 years. It is now just a small stream, too small to replenish the Dead Sea, which is also fast disappearing. Many hydrologists predict that it won't exist in 50 years. So how will the population of Israel and Palestine -- predicted to double in 25 years -- survive? Israel likes to boast about how it made the desert bloom, how the original inhabitants of Palestine were "wasting" the land. But far from wasting the land, the Arabs lived within its constraints, in harmony with it. By making parts of its desert bloom, Israel has simply turned parts of Arab land into desert, unable to provide its inhabitants with water, the most fundamental pre-requisite for human life. Contact the author at: ummyakoub@yahoo.com Copyright
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