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While drought and water shortage is a region-wide problem, central West Bank towns such as Qalqilya and Nablus situated above the mountain aquifer have exported crops across the region for centuries. Yet today, in the age of advanced scientific technology, international politics mean that many Palestinians do not even have enough water for themselves, let alone for irrigation. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is often reduced by international media to a religious dispute over the right of Jewish settlers to remain in the West Bank and Gaza. Yet, from the start, Zionism has been driven by many factors other than religion. There are secular, strategic reasons for Israel’s desire to hold on to “Judea, Samaria, and Gaza,” none more important than water. Unequal Distribution The main Palestinian water resources should be the Jordan River basin, the mountain aquifer (divided into three) and the coastal aquifer close to Gaza. Aquifers are underground geological structures, replenished by rainwater seeping into the ground. Water should thus be accessible to people through wells and springs. The basins of two West Bank aquifers, the Western and the Northeastern, are considered under Oslo as shared between Israelis and Palestinians, while the Eastern and Gazan aquifers are considered Palestinian.
Israel also has the strategic resource of the freshwater Sea of Galilee, one of the reasons it does not want to return the bordering occupied Syrian Golan. The Jordan River system is an international watercourse, thus bringing Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan into the Israeli-Palestinian water dispute. While 97% of the Jordan River passes through territory occupied in 1967, today’s closure means that Palestinians have no access. Aside from the Palestinian struggle, Sharon says in his biography that the 1967 War actually began years earlier for the Israelis over the ongoing matter of Syria’s use of water from the Jordan (see article by Chris McGreal). Aside from the Palestinians, surrounding Arab states are resentful of the fact that Israelis have the highest per capita consumption of water in the whole Middle East. The conquests of 1967 helped to secure this bias for Israelis at the expense of Palestinians, Syrians, and the whole region. In recent years, the aquifers, the Sea of Galilee, and the saltwater Dead Sea have reached record low levels, having a dangerous impact on ecological systems. As the coastal aquifer levels fall, saltwater from the Mediterranean is pulled in, causing contamination to water used for agricultural irrigation and drinking water. Israel is currently pumping far more water than is annually replenished, yet two thirds of this water is used for the Israeli agriculture sector, which represents less than 3% of Israeli annual GDP. For Palestinians however, for whom agriculture is the source of income for a much higher number of the population, they have to rely on insufficient sources of rainwater for 90% of agricultural sector activity. Access Denied Continuous military and settlement development is often justified out of “security concerns” or “natural growth,” but in reality it furthers the goal of confiscating Palestinian water resources and preventing access to wells and springs. During the 1967 War, 140 Palestinian wells were destroyed and only a handful of permits have since been given to dig new wells. The building of the so-called “security” or apartheid wall in the West Bank is a classic example. The wall has encircled the Palestinian city of Qalqilya, preventing access to more than half of its former water resources. “The wall is simply the latest stage in the plan to isolate Qalqilya and make it impossible for us to survive here,” said Khaled Shanti, a resident of the town and also general secretary of the Farmers and Peasants Union in the West Bank. Even the wells that Palestinians do have are not allowed to reach the level of Israeli wells, giving the Israelis priority access. It is estimated that around 30% of wells and water resources will be destroyed or isolated by the building of the series of walls across the West Bank. Under Oslo, Israel retained overall control over the water resources, a key sign of inequality, and it shows no signs of being prepared to negotiate on this issue. Palestinians cannot drill a well without approval, yet Israel can pump all the water it likes into the settlements without any international sanctions. More than 80% of West Bank water is taken by Israelis on both side of the 1967 line, leaving West Bankers with just 18 percent, yet Israel still measures Palestinian water use by meters and punishes for overuse.
It is estimated that around 200,000 West Bankers live without access to piped water systems. Others have the pumps in place, but not enough fuel to run them. Some private water tankers are working in the area, but are often prevented by closure. The price of water has also soared owing to the difficulties of transportation. It is brutally ironic that some of the water is bought from Israelis at inflated prices when the water was pumped from the West Bank to begin with. Pollution While access remains the priority issue in the West Bank, the quality of water is the biggest crisis in Gaza. Poverty and lack of basic infrastructure has led to the further deterioration of water resources. In areas where there is no proper sewage network, raw sewage can seep into the ground and pollute the aquifer. The overcrowding of native Gazans and refugees in the tiny land area has led to over-pumping of the Gazan aquifer by both Palestinians and settlers, resulting in harmful levels of salt in the supposedly freshwater aquifer. Kidney disease and other forms of illness are directly related to water pollution. The UN currently estimates that within 15 years, Gazans will not have access to drinkable water. Israel, who has had the control and ability to do so, has not adequately invested in recycling water projects; there is only one waste treatment plant, with most of the sewage and pollution from agriculture going back into the soil. This increases the health dangers by raising the level of nitrates and chloride in the water. Direct Attack Palestinian water supplies have been sabotaged by acts of destruction by soldiers and settlers alike. In the Mawasi area in Gaza, Israeli helicopters destroyed a well from overhead. Palestinians frequently report that soldiers have shot holes in rooftop water tanks. Heavy military vehicles have destroyed pipelines and infrastructure that are already in place. Closures and curfews make damage almost impossible to fix. In Madama Village, 50 km north of Jerusalem, settlers from Yizhar repeatedly vandalized the only source of water, pouring concrete and damaging connecting pipes and throwing hazardous waste in the spring. Village engineers were repeatedly attacked trying to fix the damage (Reported by Oxfam, 2003). In another case, the village of Yanoun, close to Nablus, was attacked by settlers of Itamar, masked and bringing dogs. The water network, roof tanks, and the local spring were damaged, forcing people to pay high prices for water from tankers. These are just a few of countless examples of direct assault. International Law International law clearly acknowledges that Israel should not be taking water from land occupied in 1967 and that Israel owes Palestinians reparations for past and continuing use of water resources (which should include interest due to loss of earnings from farming). At Oslo, water was declared one of the so-called “interim issues.” The Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) was given administrative responsibility but overall control remained with Israel. As this article shows, even this administrative function is difficult to carry out for the Palestinians. Oslo did nothing to address severe water inequality. Today, with advanced pumping equipment and full access to water sources, Israel gives it citizens four times as much water as the average Palestinian. And amongst settlers, with swimming pools and sprinklers, this can be up to ten times as much as their Palestinian village “neighbour.” The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the healthy minimum of domestic water consumption is 100 liters per capita per day. Today Palestinians have between 57 and 76 liters per capita only. Only when those in power are prepared to seek a just solution to concrete issues, such as the fair distribution of water resources, will a lasting peace appear on the horizon. A look at the water issue alone demonstrates that an end to occupation will require far more than a withdrawal from the latest Israeli military invasions of Palestinian Authority “Area A.” Useful Sources
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