Water, Water Anywhere?

There has recently been much discussion concerning Israel’s policy of the distribution of water from the Mountain Aquifer.

Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy group, recently released a report entitled Troubled Waters- Palestinians denied fair access to water. In this report they claim that Israel is not giving the Palestinians of the West Bank their fair share of the water supply. They report that Israelis receive 80% of the water, while Palestinians only receive 20%. Gaza’s only freshwater source is the Coastal Aquifer. Up to 95% of this water is claimed to be unfit for consumption. Also, water reservoirs and other water networks were damaged during the war in Gaza. Amnesty firmly believes that Israel should allot more water to the Palestinians.

However, Israel is having major water shortages as well. Also, the Israel Foreign Ministry has denied Amnesty’s claims. They responded that “Israel has fulfilled all its obligations…regarding the supply of additional quantities of water to the Palestinians, and has even extensively surpassed the obligatory quantity. The Palestinians have significantly violated their commitments under the water agreement… Israel has offered to supply Palestinians with desalinated water, but this offer is systematically rejected due to political motivations.” Israel claims that the Amnesty report is “biased and incorrect.” They have also stated that the water gap is not nearly as large as Amnesty claims.

Whatever the case may be, it is certainly true that the Palestinians need more and better water. It is essential that the Palestinian government address this issue and work to find a solution.

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=105&sid=1795194

Maps:http://www.d-n-i.net/fcs/pdf/water_israel_palestine.pdf
http://www.mideastweb.org/misrael.htm