Construction equipment rolls through Ramallah, Palestine, on April 29, 2011. (Photo: Michael Rose)
London is known the world over for its rainy weather, so most people would be shocked to find out that Ramallah, one of the largest cities in the West Bank, actually receives more annual rainfall. So why during the month of June did Palestinians face some of the harshest water shortages in decades?
The answer is as simple as it is outrageous. Since 1967, when it first occupied the West Bank, Israel has seized control of almost all the major water resources there. Annual quotas on the Palestinian consumption of water are strictly enforced, and attempts by Palestinians to develop their own water infrastructure have been thwarted by the Israeli military.
In 2011 alone, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed 89 water structures. The only source of underground water in the West Bank is the Mountain Aquifer, of which Israel controls 80 percent. Palestinians are also not permitted to draw water from the Jordan River.
The destruction of Palestinians buildings — whether homes, outdoor bathrooms, cisterns or other rainwater gathering structures — is often justified by the Israeli army on grounds that they are “weak infrastructure.” The other usual pretext for demolition is the lack of building permits — permits that the Israeli government makes near impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
So while Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank struggle to find adequate water resources for their parched communities, Jewish-only settlements right next door live well hydrated on occupied land using appropriated water sources.
To quantify this, Palestinians consume 70 liters of water per capita per day on average, according to a report from Amnesty International. In some areas, the figure is as low as 20 liters per day, well below the 100 liters per capita recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). By contrast, Israelis consume up to 300 liters per capita per day.
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