[News] ‘Buying Our Own Stolen Water’ - Scorching Summer Awaits Palestinians in the West Bank

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/buying-our-own-stolen-water-scorching-summer-awaits-palestinians-in-the-west-bank/>
‘Buying Our Own Stolen Water’ - Scorching Summer Awaits Palestinians in the
West BankJune 26, 2024
------------------------------
Israeli authorities regularly cut water supply to Palestinians in West
Bank. (Photo: via Adalah)

*By Fayha Shalash – Ramallah
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/fahya-shalash>*

Every summer, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank struggle with the lack
of water as a result of official Israeli policy. This year, however,
matters are expected to worsen as a result of an Israeli decision to
further reduce the percentage of water available to Palestinians.

During the past few weeks, Israel decided to reduce the amount of water
allocated to the cities of Hebron (Al-Khalil) and Bethlehem, in the
southern West Bank, by about 35 percent, while increasing the settlers’
share of water resources.

The Israeli Mekorot water company, which controls the amount of resources
that reach Palestinians in the West Bank, officially informed the Hebron
municipality of the new provision.

The decision has intensified the state of anxiety among the residents of
the two cities.
*Summer Nightmare*

For Muhammad al-Talahma, a resident of the city of Dura, south of Hebron,
the summer season has been a nightmare for years, since the Israeli
occupation decided to reduce water quantities.

The residents of Hebron, which is famous for its agriculture and fertile
soil, are experiencing a state of continuous psychological pressure. Due to
the reduction in water, many residents have been forced to reduce their
crops because they cannot afford irrigation.

Al-Talahma told the Palestine Chronicle that he has become a policeman in
his own home – constantly monitoring his six children’s use of water.

This, however, is not enough.

In the last weeks, the water has been cut off several times a month, making
life almost impossible.

“We are reducing everything, including showering and cleaning the house. My
wife is forced to use the water to wash the dishes to also clean the
floor,” al-Talahma said.

“We live as if we were in the Middle Ages, in houses without water,” he
added. “Every few days, we are forced to buy water for astronomical sums,
if we find it at all.”

A water tank costs more than 400 shekels (108 dollars) but al-Talahma is
forced to buy it regularly to meet his family’s needs.

He said this is a huge financial burden in light of the harsh economic
conditions.

To make things worse, Palestinians in the Hebron area are aware that the
settlements that were established on Palestinian lands can enjoy large
amounts of water resources.

Moreover, the illegal Jewish settlers take control of the water springs
throughout the city’s mountains, forbidding access to their Palestinian
owners.

“It is painful to see that my children are thirsty, while settlers’
children are swimming and having fun in pools around the water springs that
our ancestors built,” al-Talahma stressed. “Armed soldiers are deployed
around them to ensure we do not approach them.”
*Double Standards *

Therefore, the recent announcement that water quantities for the
Palestinians will be further decreased has made matters even more
complicated.

The Hebron Municipality appealed to the international community to
intervene to solve the water crisis, especially since the population is
growing.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates the population of
the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem at about more than 1.1 million people,
noting that Palestinians depend mainly on water extracted from ground and
surface sources. This amounts to 75.7 percent of the total available water.

According to the Bureau, “the Israeli occupation’s measures led to limiting
the ability of Palestinians to exploit their natural resources, especially
water, and forced them to compensate for the shortage by purchasing water
from the Israeli water company Mekorot.”

The amount of water purchased from the Israeli company for domestic use
amounted to 98.8 million cubic meters in 2022, which constitutes 22 percent
of the amount of available water.

Also, according to the statistics, the average daily Palestinian
consumption is 85.7 liters. In contrast, Israeli consumption is three times
greater, at about 300 liters per day.

In the case of illegal settlers, numbers are even more shocking; they
consume more than seven times the Palestinian per capita consumption.
*Forced Displacement*

Hassan Barijiyah, a Bethlehem-based expert on settlement affairs, told The
Palestine Chronicle that the city is built on a pool of groundwater that
would be sufficient for all its residents and even exceeds its needs.

Barijiyah believes that all of these Israeli practices – the most recent of
which was the reduction of water – aim to forcibly displace the
Palestinians by cutting off all means of life for them.

In parallel, there is a declared Israeli war on every Palestinian who tries
to dig wells to store water under the pretext that they are not licensed.

“If the Israeli occupation did not exist, we would distribute water to all
the Palestinians, but we are thirsty and we are forced to buy water from
the Israelis who steal it from us,” he said.

“They always come to the Ancient Pools of Suliman, Ain al-Hiniya, and Fukin
Valley, swim in them, and steal their water under the pretext that it is
sacred, while we are prevented from accessing and benefiting from it,”
Barijiyah said.

*(The Palestine Chronicle)*


*– Fayha’** Shalash is a Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist. She
graduated from Birzeit University in 2008 and she has been working as a
reporter and broadcaster ever since. Her articles appeared in several
online publications. She contributed this article to The Palestine
Chronicle.*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240626/a3d24b1b/attachment.htm>