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From : PalestineJustice
Added: Oct 30, 2009
Water may not cause outright wars between nations, but it can pit neighbour against neighbour and community against community. The real wars over water are quietly taking place at local level, where it can be used as a military or political tool. In the Middle East water is more important than anything else. Without a reliable supply, life simply isn't possible. In the Israeli occupied West Bank, the balance of power is played out in the allocation of water rights between Jews and Palestinians. Kayed Jaber is a Palestinian. For generations, his family has farmed a valley near Hebron. Kayed and his brother Ismael grow fruit and vegetables for market - an activity made possible in the parched desert by the ancient technique of storing rainwater in underground reservoirs. But the old reservoirs are not big enough so the brothers are building two new ones. In the hills above Ismael and Kayed's lands, there is an Israeli settlement called Kyriat Arbat, where the settlers enjoy lush green parkland and a swimming pool. The settlement is connected to the Israeli water grid so they don't need to collect rainwater - they can just turn on the tap. Since the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, the population of Israel and the West Bank has more than doubled. Both Arab and Israeli statistics show that in another 25 years the population in this part of the country is set to double again. As numbers increase, daily life becomes an increasingly bitter competition for land and water. Now, Kayed and Ismael's water problem has turned into a battle with the Israeli Civil Administration. The Civil Administration believe that Kayed and Ismael's reservoirs haven't been built to catch rainwater but to store water illegally diverted from pipelines destined for Israeli settlements. Even though there is no proof of water-stealing, Israeli army bulldozers move in to destroy the reservoirs anyway. By effectively cutting off the Kayed's water supply, the Israeli's are making life virtually impossible for them. No Water, No Future Three months later, Earth Report returned to find the brothers' situation was even worse. They were warned to stop farming and a demolition notice was served on Ismael's house. The Civil Administration was able to do this because the brothers' farmland lies within Area C of the West Bank - an area which under the Oslo Peace Agreements falls under complete Israeli control. In Ismael's view, the Civil Administration aimed to make life so unbearable that they would leave of their own accord, rather than forcibly remove them. Either way the end result is the same. Progress for the Israelis, it seems, comes at a high price for the Palestinians. Unless peace accords spawn agreements on water these conflicts are certain to be repeated. [Text from Earth Report archives]
Category : News

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