Stealing the Water Supply

WAR CRIME: The report of 25 November 1980 of the Security Council Commission established under resolution 446 (1979), focusing on water resources, contains the conclusion that the changes of a geographical and demographic nature in the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, brought about by Israel, constitute a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

THE ILLEGAL DIVERSION, THEFT AND CONTROL OF WATER RESOURCES AS A WEAPON OR TOOL FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING AND DOMINATION

 As part of the Israeli program of permanently controlling the Occupied Territories, or at least its valuable land and resources, and ethnically cleansing the Arab population (killing them, sending them out of the territories, or controlling the remainder in small regional impoverished zones [bantustans or ghettos] with bare-subsistence of below subistence level of resources), the seizure, development, and control of the water resources have been an important component along with the illegal development of exclusive (Jewish) settlements, exclusive bypass roads, and power grids. Whereas the building of the settlements is itself a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, so is the diversion and deprivation of water resources. By the the enactment of illegal military laws, dicta, and proclamations local water resources such as wells that supply the local Palestinian population with water, and on which as an agricultural society they particularly depend, have been systematically destroyed. The water for the entire region instead has been progressively put by force onto an Israeli controlled 'public' system that allows Israel to control exactly who gets what amount of the limited amount of water with the majority going to Israel itself and to the Jewish settlements within the occupied territories at the expense of the Palestinians who in effect, occupied or not, otherwise should 'own' the water. Israel has not only put a system in place that allows it to slowly diminish the amount of water given to the Arab population vs. the Jewish minority in the settlements, but to completely cut off the water (along with the electricity) to Palestinian villages at will as means of political control. By cutting off water supplies and in additon rooting up Palestinian trees and forbidding them to be replanted again, the Israeli government is able to pull the plug on the major source of income and food for the local population, and leave the land or live in abject poverty.  

• INTRODUCTION:

 Although the water situation in the Gaza Strip is very serious, under normal conditions the annual replenishment of water in the West Bank would be more than adequate for the present and future needs of a much larger Palestinian population.1/ Under conditions of Israeli military occupation, however, water resources of the occupied Palestinian territory are being diverted and used at an alarming rate by Israel, the occupying Power, at the expense of the Palestinian people. Severe restrictions on drilling for water, planting and irrigation and such Israeli practices as the felling of productive trees and the destruction of crops have diminished or maintained at a low level the amount of water made available to the Palestinian population. Israeli policies ensure that most of the water of the West Bank percolates underground to Israel and settlers are provided with increasing access to the water resources of the occupied Palestinian territory. As a consequence, a "man-made" water crisis has been brought about which undermines the living conditions and endangers the health situation of the Palestinian people.

In addition to the intensive use by Israel of Palestinian water resources, the occupying Power contributes in a number of other ways to the plight of the Palestinians related to water shortage. For instance, the continued diversion and increasing pollution of the Jordan River basin water resources, interference with rainfall above the upstream sector of the Jordan River basin, establishment of new or expansion of existing Israeli settlements with privileged access to water, seizure of land and implementation by Israel of immigration policies resulting in a tremendous demand for water in the region place additional pressures on the water resources of the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Israeli water authorities may restrict or prohibit individual activities connected with the utilization, distribution and conservation of water within the occupied territories.3/ Successive Israeli Ministers of Agriculture developed plans to create a legal and political basis for maintaining Israeli control of Palestinian water resources, even in the event of an Israeli withdrawal from occupied Palestinian territory.

DIVERSION, DEPLETION AND CONTROL OF PALESTINIAN WATER RESOURCES

Some 95 per cent of the transboundary groundwater resources originating in the West Bank are being used and over-exploited in Israel and by its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, leaving a meagre 5 per cent and increasingly saline water resources to the Palestinians. West Bank groundwater resources not flowing to Israel are also tapped by Israeli settlements. Third, the water crisis in the Gaza Strip, intensively cultivated and one of the most densely populated areas of the world, has reached alarming proportions: the future supply of fresh water is threatened, the quality of both drinking water and recycled water used in agriculture is rapidly deteriorating and the situation is aggravated by the additional use of water by Israeli settlements. While sea water intrusion from the Mediterranean Sea is permitted to pollute the fresh water in Gaza, Palestinians are prevented from fully contributing to control the water quality of the Mediterranean Sea and using their share of its natural resources. Israel acknowledges that it has not created public bodies for Palestinian participation in water policy formulation anywhere in the occupied Palestinian territory.

 EFFECTS OF ANNEXATION, LAND SETTLEMENT POLICIES ON THE PALESTINIAN WATER ECONOMY

Article 47 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 12 August 1949, (the Fourth Geneva Convention), the first article in section III on occupied territories, reads as follows:

Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory..., nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory."

In contravention of the Convention, to which Israel is a high contracting party, Israeli law has been extended to occupied territory in East Jerusalem and West Bank areas adjacent to Jerusalem (1980) as well as the Syrian Golan Heights (1981), changing, as a result, existing water rights and institutions.63/

As regards the occupied Syrian Golan, the General Assembly, during the 1980s and early 1990s, strongly condemned the imposition by Israel of its laws, jurisdiction and administration, its annexationist policies and practices, the establishment of settlements, the confiscation of lands, and the diversion of water resources. The General Assembly has also declared that all these measures are null and void and constitute a violation of the rules and principles of international law relative to belligerent occupation, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention.64/

On the West Bank, despite protests by the international community and in violation of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, Israel extended in July 1980 its basic law to Jerusalem occupied and expanded into West Bank communities in June 1967, involving a change in the character and status of occupied territory. Palestinian water users there and in other West Bank towns such as Ramallah are being steadily connected to the Israeli supply system, often against their will. Instances have been cited by residents of the occupied territories whereby as alternatives to permission for sinking wells, the applicants have been offered the option of purchasing water from newly established Israeli settlements or hooking up to the water grids that are being set up to supply the settlements. According to a United Nations report, the affected Palestinian communities have vigorously resisted these options as affronts to their sovereignty over their own natural resources.68/ The supply of water from Israeli networks is similarly controversial. For instance, the Jerusalem Post of 23 July 1990 reports that the Jerusalem municipality has substantially reduced the water supply to the West Bank village of Al-Ayzariyah, as confirmed by a municipal spokeswoman a day earlier. This was the second time in 1990 that the city of Jerusalem had cut by about 75 per cent the water available to a Palestinian area.69/

Disregarding the wishes of the Palestinian people, the Israeli water authority has been working for over a decade on the integration of the West Bank water system into large regional plants linked up with the Israeli water system. In 1982, the separate West Bank water system, which had been under military government management since 1967, was handed over to the Israeli national water company, Mekorot, to carry out the "take-over", stated Mr. Benvenisti in his 1986 report on developments in the West Bank.70/ A United Nations report by a team of experts found that the integration of the basic water services in the occupied territories with those of Israel is about to lead to the complete dependence of the former services on those of Israel and will eventually make the separation of the two very costly and difficult.71/ As a result of such integrative measures, the occupying Power has extended its leverage on the civilian Palestinian population in time of heightened tension and conflict, illustrated in particular by the events connected with the intifadah.

A full-page public service announcement presented by the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture in the international edition of the Jerusalem Post of 19 August 1990 elaborates on Israel's perceived need to control completely the use of water resources originating in the West Bank through the permanent occupation of that territory....Relinquishing the western slopes of the Judean and Samarian hills will create a situation in which the fate of the Israeli national water supply could be determined by the actions of whatever Arab authority controlled the evacuated areas after withdrawal". The text published by the Ministry of Agriculture concludes that "it is difficult to conceive of any political solution consistent with Israel's survival that does not involve complete, continued Israeli control of the water and sewage systems, and of the associated infrastructure, including the power supply and road network, essential to their operation, maintenance and accessibility".

Owing to the sealing off of many agricultural areas as "closed security areas", several hundred water pumps owned by Palestinian farmers, which were used to pump water from the Jordan River to irrigate their farms in the Ghor region of the West Bank, have been destroyed and irrigation canals which supplied Palestinian farms in the Jiftlik region have been damaged.78/ Moreover, under no circumstances are Palestinian inhabitants permitted to drill wells close to the borders of Israel; the rejection of such a request by the inhabitants of Nablus was noted.79/ A witness from the Gaza Strip made a statement in this connection before the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Population of the Occupied Territories:

"There is also the problem of water. Of course, all over the world there are water problems, but the Israeli authorities have forbidden anyone to dig a well to irrigate his citrus groves because 'Gaza had no water'. But at the same time, ten metres away on the other side of the 1967 border, they will dig not one well but ten. I myself have a farm and they have prevented me from digging a well on my own land, on the pretext that there is not enough water."

Regarding the West Bank, an expert attached to the Palestinian Hydrology Group was quoted as saying that "You don't find a Jewish settlement without water,but you will find hundreds of waterless Palestinian villages".83/

reports indicate the direct interference with the water supply of Palestinians by the occupying Power to protect the water supply of Israeli settlers. For example, an article in Foreign Policy stated that many existing wells have been blocked or sealed by the occupation authorities, in some cases to prevent their use from draining nearby Jewish wells.87/ According to Mr. Harmlani, writing in the Journal of Palestinian Affairs, the Israeli occupation authorities closed in this connection 25 artesian wells outside Zawabidah and 42 wells in the Rafah area.88/

By contrast, many Israeli wells have reportedly been drilled in close proximity to existing Palestinian wells and springs, with a most detrimental effect on the quality and quantity of water made available to Palestinian inhabitants. In some cases, village wells and springs have dried up altogether. In the Security Council Commission report of 25 November 1980 specific references were made in that regard to the villages of Al-Auja, Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Bardala, Tel-el-Beida, and Kardala whose water supply had been drastically diminished owing to the new wells dug up for Israeli settlements within a few hundred metres of the existing Palestinian springs or wells.89/ The sinking of deeper wells by the occupation authorities in order to supply the needs of the newly created settlements has been one reason for the falling water tables in the West Bank which has allowed saline water to seep in from the saline belts in the areas north-west of the Dead Sea; in Jericho the significant increase in the salinity of water pumped from wells has been linked to two wells sunk by the Israeli Government near the existing well serving Jericho.90/

On the West Bank the deep-bore wells with powerful pumps, referred to locally as 'Jewish wells' have been developed down to some 300-600 m below the surface, and even lower in certain localities...Where a number of these deep pumped wells are working, their intersecting cones of depression produce a general lowering of the water table and the traditional wells are left literally high and dry. As a result, pastures may dry out or pastures that traditionally would have provided grazing for six years out of seven may now fail three or four years out of seven. Not only is the quantity of water severely depleted in the traditional wells, but the quality and salinity of the water may change quite dramatically...".91/

Pricing policies reveal a further inequality between the Palestinian population and Israeli settlers. Israel emphasizes that the Mekorot Water Company supplies water at rates varying according to the geographical, geological and hydrological factors influencing the cost of supply, and most certainly not on the basis of religion or nationality of users.105/ According to the findings of the 1986 report of the Israel State Comptroller on government activities in the occupied territories, Israeli settlers, whose water bills are institutionally subsidized by the World Zionist Organization, paid the Mekorot Water Company 15 and 23 agurot (approximately $.10 and $.16) per cu m of water for agricultural and domestic use respectively.106/ However, Palestinian consumers paid what Israel calls the "Civil Administration", created by the Ministry of Defence, 70 agurot (approximately $.48) per cu m of water supplied by Mekorot. Moreover, Palestinians, as compared to Israelis, do not receive a lower rate for agricultural use, which constitutes the bulk of water consumption.107/ Information contained in a paper entitled "Israeli plans to appropriate Arab water", presented to the Conference of Officials in Charge of Palestinian Affairs in the Arab Host Countries by the Economic Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, indicates that in May 1989 the Israeli occupation authorities decided to raise the water price in the occupied Palestinian West Bank from 90 agurot per cu m to NIS 1.4, and sell water to Israeli settlements at about 25 agurot per cu m.108/ In other words, the Palestinians are required to pay 5-1/2 times as much for water as compared to the Israelis.

The total amount of water for both agricultural and domestic consumption planned for allocation to the estimated 1 million Palestinians (in the West Bank) at the end of the 1980s is 137 million cu m per year, while approximately 100 million cu m will be made available to about 100,000 Jewish people.113/ ....n the late 1980s, the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory was feared to worsen as a result of the large-scale immigration of Jews from the Soviet Union and elsewhere...and the plan by Mr. Ariel Sharon, Housing Minister, to build thousands of new housing units on the West Bank, including Jerusalem, caused apprehension. An estimated 6-10 per cent of the new immigrants to Israel settle in the occupied Palestinian territory.114/

1989...the latest event was the most recent attempt to move residents out to make way for the expansion of a nearby Israeli settlement housing military personnel.178/ An expert at the Gulf Centre for Strategic Studies reported that he was a witness to the 43-day total curfew of Jelazoun refugee camp during April 1989; although the curfew was reported widely in the local and international press, according to that source no mention was made of the water cuts, which were in addition to power cuts and restrictions on food supplies....The Israeli Administration denied at the time using water as a "weapon"

Based on published information detailed below, the consumption of the approximately 850 million cu m annual potential of fresh water resources originating in the occupied Palestinian territory is restricted by Israel, the occupying Power, in such a manner that Palestinians there are permitted to use some 27 per cent, or 230 million cu m, of these resources. Well over two thirds of the water is made available directly or indirectly to consumers in Israel and in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The Israeli consumption of the transboundary water tables exceeds 95 per cent.

In the mid-1980s, some 750,000 Palestinians in the West Bank had to make do with the annual allocation of approximately 120 million cu m, while some 21,000 Israeli settlers received approximately 45 million cu m, or almost one third of the total 165 million cu m local groundwater estimated as being consumed per year in the West Bank. A stark imbalance in water consumption, at times with privileges for settlers at an annual rate of approximately 2,143 to 139 cu m per capita consumed by Palestinians, was maintained throughout the 1980s

"239. As water is a scarce and precious commodity in the area, its control and apportionment means control of the most vital means of survival. It would seem, therefore, that Israel employs water both as an economic and even political weapon to further its policy of settlements. Consequently, the economy and agriculture of the Arab population are adversely affected by the exploitation of water resources by the occupying authorities."

In accordance with Military Order No. 1015 of 1982, the Commander of the Israeli forces in the West Bank, "in order to preserve the water resources and the agricultural production" has prohibited the planting of fruit trees without a permit from the military government. Trees already planted had to be registered within 90 days and a permit obtained for each of them. Moreover, government inspectors have the power to make searches and to uproot unlicensed trees at the expense of the owners. A subsequent order, reportedly No. 1039 of 1983, contains similar restrictive provisions regarding vegetables.149/ Mr. Ataöv, professor of international relations, found that even though citrus production accounted for one quarter of the GNP in Gaza, and Palestinians there were traditionally farmers irrigating half of the farmland, the military authorities refused permits to plant new citrus trees even to replace damaged ones.150/ In the Gaza Strip it is forbidden to plant new citrus groves without permission by the military authorities, according to an Israeli statement referred to earlier.151/ The aforementioned 1991 ESCWA report states that citrus trees have, in fact, been uprooted and Palestinian farmers have been prevented from planting new citrus trees, both in the Ghor region of the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip.152/

Since the beginning of the intifadah in December 1987, over 99,000 trees owned by Palestinian have been uprooted by the occupation authorities. The following table on trees uprooted during the period from December 1987 to April 1991 was provided by the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Jerusalem, as appendix 3 of a written communication dated 9 June 1991                                                                                     

 Trees Uprooted During the Period from December 1987 to April 1991

Month                       Number

Dec. 87                     1,000

Jan. 88                      50

Feb. 88                     500

Mar. 88                     821

Apr. 88                      2,384

May 88                      3,748

Jun. 88                      4,005

Jul. 88                       1,733

Aug. 88                     1,832

Sep. 88                     3,212

Oct. 88                     3,365

Nov. 88                     1,090

Dec. 88                     2,594

Jan. 89                      5,253

Feb. 89                     3,097

Mar. 89                     1,405

Apr. 89                      4,298

May 89                      5,422

Jun 89                       3,207

Jul. 89                       2,319

Aug. 89                     2,308

Sep. 89                     1,875

Oct. 89                     3,565

Nov. 89                     835

Dec. 89                     828

Jan. 90                      1,697

Feb. 90                     4,483

Mar. 90                     3,156

Apr. 90                      1,145

May 90                      2,552

Jun. 90                      5,932

Jul. 90                       2,257

Aug. 90                     1,145

Sep. 90                     5,927

Oct. 90                     2,479

Nov. 90                     7,728

Dec. 90                     No info.

Jan. 91                      247

Feb. 91                     1,596

Mar. 91                     2,615

Apr. 91                      1,781