Israel's Man of Conscience

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Written by Ezra Nawi Ezra Nawi

Published: 29 June 2009 29 June 2009

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My name is Ezra Nawi. I am a Jewish citizen of Israel.

I will be sentenced on the first of July after being found guilty of assaulting two police officers in 2007 while struggling against the demolition of a Palestinian house in Um El Hir, located in the southern part of the West Bank.

Of course the policemen who accused me of assaulting them are lying. Indeed, lying has become common within the Israeli police force, military and among the Jewish settlers.

After close to 140,000 letters were sent to Israeli officials in support of my activities in the occupied West Bank, the Ministry of Justice responded that I "provoke local residents."

This response reflects the culture of deceit that has taken over all official discourse relating to the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

After all, was I the one who poisoned and destroyed Palestinian water wells?

Was I the one who beat young Palestinian children?

Did I hit the elderly?

Did I poison the Palestinian residents' sheep?

Did I demolish homes and destroy tractors?

Did I block roads and restrict movement?

Was I the one who prevented people from connecting their homes to running water and electricity?

Did I forbid Palestinians from building homes?

Over the past eight years, I have seen with my own two eyes hundreds of abuses such as these and exposed them to the public--therefore I am considered a provocateur. I can only say that I am proud to be a provoker.

Read more: Israel's Man of Conscience

Foul Play: Neglect of wastewater treatment in the West Bank

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Written by B'Tselem B'Tselem

Published: 29 June 2009 29 June 2009

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Wastewater in the West Bank – from the settlements, from parts of Jerusalem, and from Palestinian communities – amounts to 91 million cubic meters [mcm] a year.  Most of it is not treated, despite the sanitary and environmental danger inherent to wastewater flowing freely. Prolonged neglect of this issue has caused severe hazards in the West Bank and is liable to pollute the Mountain Aquifer, the most important and highest-quality water source for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Wastewater from settlements

During more than 40 years of occupation, Israel has not built advanced regional wastewater treatment plants in the settlements to match those inside Israel.

It is estimated that the 121 recognized settlements in the West Bank (without East Jerusalem) produce some 17.5 mcm of wastewater a year. Only 81 are currently connected to wastewater treatment facilities, and use methods that are less up-to-date than those used in Israel. More than half of them are small and can treat the wastewater of only a few hundred families, despite the growth of the settler population. Most of the facilities suffer frequent technical breakdowns and at times shut down completely. The rest of the settlements produce some 5.5 mcm wastewater a year, which are not treated and flow as raw wastewater into West Bank streams and valleys.

Wastewater of the Revava settlement. Photo: Ra’aed Mokdi, 7 May 2008.
Wastewater of the Revava settlement. Photo: Ra’aed Mokdi, 7 May 2008.

Israel does not enforce the legal requirement that wastewater treatment be arranged prior to occupancy of buildings in settlements or operation of industrial areas in the West Bank. For example, all the southern sections of the Modi’in Illit settlement, which house more than 17,000 persons, were occupied even though their raw wastewater flowed into Nahal Modi’im .

Although this situation is well known to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the ministry refrains from enforcing the law on polluting settlements and to date, has taken only minor action against them. From 2000 to September 2008, only 53 enforcement measures were taken against settlements for failure to treat their wastewater. In comparison, in 2006 alone, the ministry initiated 230 enforcement measures against governmental authorities in Israel for similar offenses.

Wastewater from Jerusalem

Jerusalem channels some of its wastewater to the West Bank. This wastewater, which amounts to some 17.5 mcm a year, is produced in neighborhoods in the western part of the city and in areas of the West Bank that Israel has annexed.

Approximately 10.2 mcm flow untreated into the Kidron Basin, in southeast Jerusalem, a nuisance that the Ministry of Environmental Protection defines as “the largest sewage nuisance in Israel.” Some of this wastewater undergoes preliminary treatment, after which the water is used for irrigation of date trees in settlements in the Jordan Valley and the remained waste continues to flow freely, seeping into the Mountain Aquifer in an area that is considered sensitive to pollution. The wastewater creates a horrible stench and severe sanitation and environmental nuisances, including pollution of groundwater and of the Dead Sea.

Wastewater flowing from Jerusalem into the Kidron Basin. Photo: Eyal Hareuveni, 2 July 2007.
Wastewater flowing from Jerusalem into the Kidron Basin. Photo: Eyal Hareuveni, 2 July 2007.

Over the years, the Jerusalem Municipality has proposed several solutions for treating this wastewater, but none has been implemented. Since the Palestinian Authority was established, these plans have required cooperation on its part.  However, the PA has refused, claiming that doing so would legitimate Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem. Despite warnings from the Ministry of Environmental Protection to the relevant officials, no action has been taken to advance a solution for treating this wastewater .

The remaining wastewater, 7.3 mcm, is directed to the Og Reservoir facility, which lies north of the Dead Sea, near Nabi Musa. Og Reservoir was built as a temporary facility, and was intended to treat one-third of the amount of wastewater it currently receives. For this reason, the wastewater is only partially treated. In 2008, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee approved a plan to build an improved facility near the existing Og Reservoir, but construction has not begun.

The lack of proper solutions for treating wastewater of Jerusalem flowing eastward did not prevent occupancy of new neighborhoods, whose residents add to the amount of untreated wastewater. Among these are the Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’akov settlements .

Wastewater from Palestinian communities

According to estimates, Palestinian communities produce some 56 mcm of wastewater a year, representing 62 percent of all wastewater in the West Bank. 90-95 percent of Palestinian wastewater is not treated at all, and only one Palestinian wastewater treatment plant is currently functioning .

    * A few reasons have led to delay in developing infrastructure for treating Palestinian wastewater:
    * Prolonged and unreasonable Civil Administration delay in approving plans for building treatment facilities, in some cases for more than a decade ;
    * in a few cases, Israel attempted to force the Palestinians to connect settlements to planned treatment facilities;
    * Israel seeks to force Palestinians to build advanced facilities that are still not used in Israel, which increase the cost of plant construction and operation and maintenance costs, and are not required according to World Health Organization standards;
    * Partly due to the many delays in construction of wastewater treatment facilities, the US and Germany have reduced their planned funding for these projects.
    * Israel exploits Palestinian wastewater that crosses the Green Line and treats them in one of four plants inside Israel. The treated water is used for irrigation for agriculture and to rehabilitate streams in Israel. However, Israel charges the Palestinian Authority for building the plants and for the treatment of wastewater in them.

Consequences of neglecting wastewater treatment in the West Bank

Since settlers in the West Bank use Israel’s water-supply system, neglect of wastewater treatment in the area has almost no effect on them. Palestinians, however, and especially residents of small towns and villages, rely on water from natural sources. As a result, pollution of these sources aggravates the chronic drinking-water shortage in the West Bank. Also, use of untreated wastewater for agriculture contaminates crops and harms a major sector of the Palestinian economy. In the long run, the flow of untreated wastewater will also diminish land fertility.

In addition, since most settlements have been established on ridges and hilltops, their untreated wastewater flows to nearby Palestinian communities, which are usually located further down the slope. The report present three cases that illustrate how settlements pollute water sources and farmland in nearby Palestinian communities:

B'Tselem reiterates its position that establishment of the settlements and their continuing existence contravene international humanitarian law and result in extensive prolonged infringement of Palestinians’ human rights. Therefore, the government of Israel must evacuate all the settlements and return the settlers to Israeli territory.

However, in light of the severity of the pollution, and taking into account its immediate effects on water sources serving Palestinians and the long-term implication for the Palestinian-Israeli shared water sources, so long as settlements remain, all their wastewater must be treated in accordance with treatment standards applying inside Israel, and the law must be enforced against polluting settlements. Also, the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority must act jointly to immediately advance planned Palestinian wastewater treatment projects. These projects should be executed even if they involve treatment of both Palestinian and settlement wastewater, with the understanding that these projects will continue to serve Palestinians after the settlements are evacuated

Red Cross: '1.5 Million Palestinians living in despair in Gaza'

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Written by IMEMC IMEMC

Published: 29 June 2009 29 June 2009

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    The International Red Cross reported Monday that six months after Israel's offensive in Gaza, 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are still living in poverty, despair and are unable to rebuild their lives and structures.

The Red Cross added that the strict Israeli siege and restrictions on the Gaza Strip are blocking the international efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip although 4.5 million US dollars are allocated for reconstruction efforts.   

It also stated that the Gaza Strip lacks basic medications, its basic infrastructure is ruined,  and that the water supplies are irregular, while sanitation is collapsing.  

 The organization demanded Israel to allow the entry of spare parts, water pipes, construction materials and other basic supplies into the Gaza Strip to start the reconstruction process.   

It added that the patients in Gaza are not receiving the needed treatment as the siege emptied the hospitals from the basic medical supplies and equipment. The repeated power outages, due to the lack of fuel to run the generators and Israel’s shelling of Gaza’ Power Station, caused further suffering and limited the functionality of hospitals and medical centers.  

Hundreds of patients died in Gaza, hundreds remain in critical conditions but Israel is still baring their transfer to hospitals in Egypt or elsewhere.   

The Red Cross further reported that poverty rates in Gaza have reached alarming levels, and that larger numbers of children are suffering from malnutrition.

The international organization linked the situation in Gaza to the three-week Israeli offensive earlier this year, in which more than 1417 Palestinians, including 936 civilians, were killed and thousands were wounded, and also linked the situation to the ongoing Israeli siege.  

On the Israeli side, ten soldiers were killed in Gaza and three settlers were killed by Palestinian fire targeting  settlements surrounding Gaza.

The Red Cross said that thousands of Palestinians have lost their homes due to Israel’s war, and that the residents are still homeless.  

More than 70% of the residents in Gaza are living below poverty line, as the average monthly income of a family of nine is less than $250.     

UN public hearing in Gaza broadcasts accounts of war victims

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Written by Rory McCarthy in Gaza City Rory McCarthy in Gaza City

Published: 29 June 2009 29 June 2009

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UN public hearing in Gaza broadcasts accounts of war victims

• Inquiry held by Jewish South African judge
• Israeli witnesses to attend next round in Geneva

Gaza conflict

Up to 13 Israelis and 1,400 Palestinians were killed in the three-week war, which saw rocket strikes on a UN school. Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

The UN has held an unprecedented public hearing in Gaza to broadcast live witness accounts from Palestinians who described seeing their relatives killed and injured during Israel's January war.

One after another, they detailed Israeli rocket strikes and artillery shelling near a mosque, a UN school and on several homes across Gaza during the three-week war. The two-day hearing is part of an inquiry by the UN human rights council into the war led by the respected South African judge, Richard Goldstone.

Israel has refused entry for the inquiry team, accusing the UN council of an anti-Israel bias even though Goldstone himself is Jewish. But another round of hearings will be held in Geneva next week, for which some Israeli witnesses are expected to be flown in. They may include residents of Sderot, near Gaza, which has suffered repeated Palestinian rocket attacks.

"The purpose of the public hearings in Gaza and Geneva is to show the faces and broadcast the voices of victims – all of the victims," Goldstone said last week. He had sat on South Africa's constitutional court after the fall of apartheid and was a chief prosecutor on the UN criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

Yesterday's public hearing was the first in a UN fact-finding mission, though there is little chance it will lead to prosecutions. Up to 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed during the war.

Mousa Silawi, 91, described an explosion at the entrance to a mosque in the Jabaliya refugee camp late on 3 January, which killed 17 people, including three of his sons and two grandchildren.

"After evening prayer a huge shell hit the mosque," he said. "It was absolutely incredible. We starting screaming and calling for God." Silawi, who is blind, was led away to safety and was then told that his sons had died. "Where is law? Where is justice? I have lived 91 years. I have seen everything, but nothing of this sort. It was such a catastrophe," he said. His son, Moteeh, the mosque's sheikh, said there had been no warning before the missile struck. "People came to the mosque for safety and we saw bloodshed," he said. "I was leading my father out when my own foot stepped on the head of a small child," he said. "I saw people carrying decapitated heads and parts of bodies. I cannot describe what I saw … What crime did the children commit?"

In another case Ziad al-Deeb, a university student, described how an Israeli shell struck in the courtyard of his family home in Jabaliya on 6 January. The blast killed 11 of his relatives and sliced off both his legs. First he heard an explosion just outside the wall of the house and then moments later a second shell landed in their yard.

"In a single instant we had all of our joys replaced with blood," he said. "There was a severe whistling in my ears and a pillar of smoke and dust and that obliterated what happened. When I looked up I found I had lost both my legs. I was sprawled over the body of my own brother. I looked for my father and others, and I found them motionless. Most of them were dead."

He lost his father, grandfather, two brothers and a sister in the blast, which was one of several mortar shells that fell in quick succession that afternoon near a UN prep school being used as a shelter for those fleeing the fighting. Between 30 and 40 Palestinians were killed near the school. An earlier UN inquiry has already found Israel responsible for the shelling.

After hearing his evidence, Goldstone said: "We extend our deep condolences to you and your family for your terrible loss and it makes your coming here all the more painful for you."

Yesterday's hearing was held at a UN office in Gaza City and then broadcast live to a hall at a nearby cultural centre, deserted save for a handful of journalists. However, the hearing was broadcast on some television stations, including one al-Jazeera channel. The UN inquiry team will issue a final report in August.