wfn.org | WCC FEATURE: Taking water to the Jordan

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>World Council of Churches - Feature

>TAKING WATER TO THE JORDAN

>For immediate release: 20 July 2010

By Doris R., Ecumenical Accompanier in Yanoun, and the EAPPI summer  team
2010

A few days ago, I was handing out bottles of water within a few  miles of
Israel/Palestine’s only major river, the Jordan. The village  of Al
Fasayel lies in a desert landscape, a contrast to nearby Israeli
settlements, which have access to almost unlimited water. Al Fasayel
itself has not had water on tap for over seven weeks.

The Jordan Valley is an area of stunning natural and rugged beauty.  The
mountainsides are barren, the illegal settlements in the valley  floor
dark, fertile green. But the valley is also an area of discrimination  and
grinding poverty.

The first time I and other participants in the Ecumenical Accompaniment
Programme in Palestine and Israel (Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.p 
hp?RDCT=cca2308b34d7d73dee75
) (EAPPI) visited Al Fasayel, we were offered glasses of sweet tea.  It was
only when we went outside to talk with the children that they showed  us a
tap that has been dry for almost two months.

EAPPI brings internationals to the West Bank to experience life  under
occupation. Ecumenical Accompaniers provide protective presence,  monitor
and report human rights abuses and support Palestinians and Israelis
working together for peace. We had come to the Jordan Valley to  visit some
of the region’s most vulnerable communities.

Lack of access to water has long been a problem for Palestinians  in the
Jordan Valley. Since it occupied the West Bank in 1967, Israel has  denied
them access to the waters of the Jordan River and severely limited  their
access to other local aquifers. The Oslo Accords of 1993 merely
consolidated Israel’s control over the West Bank’s  water resources.
Israel now places severe restrictions on Palestinian usage.

Palestinian water consumption in the Occupied Palestinian Territories  is
only around 70 litres a day per person, whereas the same figure  for
Israelis is around 300 litres, according to a report by Amnesty
International (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=556aad2914f088710d9d
). Some Palestinians survive on barely 20 litres per day, the necessary
amount calculated by the World Health Organization (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=0c3c7521b65a0cb0d6fb
) for short-term survival in emergency situations. The 450,000 Israelis
living in illegal West Bank settlements use as much or more water  than the
2.3 million Palestinians in the same area. The World Bank
(Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=33d4720afe88b765de64 )
reported in 2009 that Palestinian access to water is in decline.

Near Al Fasayel lies the Bedouin encampment of Ein Al Hilweh. The  25
families living in these modest tents have to collect their water  from a
well an hour’s drive away. The army sometimes bans them  from using the
road, and the trip to collect water may bring a fine of several  hundred
shekels. The settlers, who live in well-built houses with running  water,
also regularly harass the Bedouin.

Around 9,600 Israelis now live in the illegal settlements that blanket  much
of the Jordan Valley. They grow a variety of fruits and vegetables  for
export to Europe, particularly by the Israeli company Agrexco. Experts
estimate that with their artificial irrigation systems, these settlements
use over half of all water consumed in the West Bank. This places  intense
strain on the valley’s scarce water resources, says George  Rishmawi of
the Near East Council of Churches.

“Israel is trying to isolate the Jordan Valley from the  rest of the West
Bank and forcibly remove its Palestinian inhabitants by denying  them
access to water,” he says.

Much of the sewage from Palestinian towns goes untreated because  Israel
does not allow the Palestinian authority to build new treatment  plants.
According to a recent report by Amnesty International, the Israeli  army
frequently smashes up water infrastructure built by Palestinians  – even
rainwater harvesting systems.

>Duties of the occupier

So what could we do? We contacted a local businessman, Arab Al-Shorafa,  who
runs the Yanabee, a company that sells bottled water. He was also  the
mayor of the Palestinian town of Beita. We had reached him using  the phone
number on the back of one of the company’s water bottles,  and told him
about the situation in Al Fasayel.

Immediately he offered to donate over 700 litres of bottled water,
providing we could collect them from the factory that evening. He  phoned
back later, offering to quadruple the number.

We agreed to collect and deliver the first batch that night. We  drove to
the factory and loaded a van. Al-Shorafa met us and promised to  provide
more water and the truck for another delivery the next day.

We drove back to Fasayel. In the dark, we distributed the water  to the
families as they appeared through the darkness with their children.  The
next morning, with temperatures in the mid-30s centigrade, we delivered
another batch.

Tony Blair, envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, recently visited
Fasayel. He managed to persuade the Israeli authorities to rescind  a
demolition order on the local school. But the village’s  taps remain
dry.

Our deliveries to Fasayel have provided enough water for each family  in
that village for a week. But Al-Shorafa’s act of charity  merely
underscores the fact that ensuring access to adequate food and water  is
the duty of the occupying power.

Many locals believe that Israel’s failure to fulfill this  is part of a
strategy to drive them from their ancestral lands. As we delivered  bottles
of water in the searing heat, we could understand their point of  view.

>[856 words]

More information on water scarcity in the West Bank is available  from the
Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=ebc4306a25d3f8160070 )

Sign up to instant updates from EAPPI at www.twitter.com/eappi
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=8cf35b7e07d21544f471  ) and join 
the EAPPI
Facebook group (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=22ea71a01dfd853b378c ).

WCC member churches in Palestine and Israel (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=8855b4a197f9fbbb1294 )

The Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel
(Link: http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=90eb1798f49799cdc59b  ) (EAPPI) 
was launched in August
2002. Ecumenical Accompaniers monitor and report violations of human
rights and international humanitarian law, support acts of non-violent
resistance alongside local Christian and Muslim Palestinians and  Israeli
peace activists, offer protection through non-violent presence,  engage in
public policy advocacy and stand in solidarity with the churches  and all
those struggling against the occupation. The programme is coordinated  by
the World Council of Churches (WCC).

Opinions expressed in WCC Features do not necessarily reflect WCC  policy.
This material may be reprinted freely, providing credit is given  to the
author.

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

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