Israel cuts off water supply to 45,000 Palestinians

For all of those that continue to defend Israel and their deplorable treatment of the Palestinian people....how do you justify these blatantly inhuman actions by the Israeli Government? Israel continues to paint themselves as the victims of Palestinian duplicity and violence, yet in this relationship....Israel holds the very power of life and death over the Palestinians every day.

Some 45,000 Palestinians living in the Shuafat refugee camp and the suburbs of Ras Shehadeh, Ras Khamis, As-Salam and Anata in Jerusalem have had their water cut off for nearly three days.

The residents said Israel's water company Gihon started by gradually reducing the water supply nearly two weeks ago until it stopped entirely.

A member of Shuafat's popular committee; Khaled Al-Khalidi said on Wednesday that 23,000 refugees had no access to water for three days while the residents of Ras Shehadeh; Ras Khamis, As-Salam and Anata have been without water for 20 days.

Water...as we all know, is a basic human neccessity for sustaining life. Israel has an obligation under International Law to see that these people have access to basic human neccessities, yet they seem to be able to ignore this at will, with no repercussions for their totally inhuman acts. Everytime the UN tries to bring resolutions against Israel for their treatment of the Palestinians they are vetoed by the United States....and so the Palestinians continue to suffer.


Source

Palestinians already receive far less water than the average Israeli.

Israelis - including those in the settlements - use three times as much water a day in their households as West Bank Palestinians do, according to figures provided by Palestinians and aid organizations. That is just one aspect of the large discrepancy between Israelis and Palestinians in access, development and use of water resources -- a discrepancy that has only increased since the signing of the Oslo Accords.

Some 113,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, in some 70 villages and communities, are still not connected to the water network and are dependent on water transported in tanker trucks, which raises the price significantly. In many of these communities, which are extremely poor, the families are forced to spend up to 40 percent of their income on this basic commodity. In these communities in Area C (under exclusive Israeli control) the average water consumption per day is about 20 liters per capita. Often a pipe of Israel’s Mekorot water company that reaches the settlements runs nearby, but the Palestinians are not allowed to connect to it.

Haaretz

I want to remind you all that this is all occurring as the Israelis are supposedly doing their best to achieve a peace deal with the Palestinians. Is this the type of thing that you do if you truly want peace? I submit to you that the Israeli's only want to keep up the APPEARANCE of a peace process, while doing everything in their power to sabotage that very process. Settlement building continues unabated, despite the Palestinians fierce opposition to it, not to mention it's blatant illegality under International Law.

The next time you hear the Israelis claim that they are the only willing partners in the peace process....remember that these are the types of tactics that the Israelis use to sabotage that process.

I put it to you ATS....does this sound like a country doing everything it can to achieve peace with the Palestinians?

reply to post by deadcalm

deadcalmFor all of those that continue to defend Israel and their deplorable treatment of the Palestinian people....how do you justify these blatantly inhuman actions by the Israeli Government?

Simple.

You clearly hate the Jews.

[/end sarcasm]

deadcalm

I put it to you ATS....does this sound like a country doing everything it can to achieve peace with the Palestinians?

Israel or Arab it doesn't make any difference since they are all extremist in their own ways. My question back to you is why are there refugee camps in a area surrounded by rich Arab countries that could help if they so choose to do so? That area was even under Egypt's control for decades and they did nothing too. Jordan is basically Palestinian too and they do not lift a finger to end this issue. Iran will dump millions of dollars in rockets, but don't want to see these people prosper at all since they are a political tool for them to use.

reply to post by deadcalm


The governments of both Israel and Palestine are filled with war criminals and human rights abusers.

Nothing will change until these two factions are removed and replaced with people, as opposed to monsters.

~Tenth

You certainly have that right Tenth.....
The Israelis are the "New Nazis"
Their treatment of the Palestinians is no less horrifying that the Hollocaust of the Jews.....
What goes around comes around I guess....but it makes me want to puke......

My question back to you is why are there refugee camps in a area surrounded by rich Arab countries that could help if they so choose to do so?

reply to post by Xtrozero


I want to remind you that Israel controls absolutely everything that goes in or out of the West Bank and Gaza. They are closed borders due to the military occupation. So even were the Arab states willing to help....it is Israel that holds all the power to either allow that aid...or not. A number of attempts have been made to break the blockade of Gaza, for instance only to be met by Israeli soldiers.....perhaps you remember this.....

At least nine people have been killed after Israeli commandos stormed a convoy of ships carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army says.

BBC News

Iran will dump millions of dollars in rockets, but don't want to see these people prosper at all since they are a political tool for them to use.

Yes...good point. But it changes nothing really...because even if Iran wanted to supply aid to the Palestinians, there is NO WAY the Israelis would allow it. Once agian though....the Palestinian people are caught in the middle and made to suffer because of political expediency from ALL sides.

Here is a list of some of the items not allowed into Gaza...

The BBC has compiled reports from a variety of international organizations. They report that at various times the ban on importation has included light bulbs, candles, matches, books, musical instruments, crayons, clothing, shoes, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pasta, tea, coffee, chocolate, nuts, shampoo and conditioner. CNN reports that books and paper have also been kept out. Al JAzeera reports that there is a current list of 81 permitted items that seems to change almost daily.

Huffington Post

The governments of both Israel and Palestine are filled with war criminals and human rights abusers.

Nothing will change until these two factions are removed and replaced with people, as opposed to monsters.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I agree in principle certainly. In both cases all that are guilty of War Crimes and Crimes against humanity should be arrested and prosecuted. However, the point of this post is to illustrate the totally one sided narrative that is fed to the West by the media in regards to Israel/ Palestine conflict.

But what would you have the Palestinians do after 65 years of illegal military occupation? Would you not fight in whatever limited way you could aginst that oppression? Desperation breeds immoral acts in the absence of any other recourse.

reply to post by deadcalm

But what would you have the Palestinians do after 65 years of illegal military occupation? Would you not fight in whatever limited way you could aginst that oppression? Desperation breeds immoral acts in the absence of any other recourse.

No no, were not going to play this game where we try to pin the blame on the Israeli or the Palestinian. It's so far gone at this point, with SO MUCH bad blood on either side, that trying to claim one over the other is really just an exercise in political ideology.

Trust me, I'm no fan of the Israeli leadership, nor the Palestinian one, but let's be honest here, the people running the show on both sides of that aisle are exactly the same.

If we allow our emotions to govern our decision making in these sorts of conflicts, then you're simply telling one war criminal that his crimes are valid when somebody else's are not.

Both groups should be dragged to the Hague and given the most harsh sentence available under the Geneva Convention.

~Tenth

I'm a little confused here. Your OP seems to be about two distinctly different issues. One is the strategic control and distribution of water for the whole area (which is actually considered a state secret level issue in that region) or is it about the cut off of water to this refugee camp? The refugee camp sounds pretty cut and dry for getting something done with, and the article notes they tried this before and lost the effort.

Al-Khalidi pointed out that "UNRWA and Jordan signed an agreement in 1956 to provide water service to the Palestinian refugees without charge and in 1967 the Israeli Civil administration joined the Convention. However in 1988 when Israel tried to cut off the water supply to the camp residents, the refugees prosecuted the company and forced it to return the water supply."

followed with..

"Gihon has cut off water to the region to force us to receive services from the Jerusalem municipality and impose a new reality in the region," he said.

(1st Op Link)

That sounds like an interesting side there too, being a private company apparently playing the games on the refugee camp. A very damning story, indeed. What a coincidence, it notes, the Israeli military checkpoint in the neighborhood also closed for 3 days of maintenance. Err.. Nice timing to be elsewhere. Indeed. Yikes..... I think both sides have their white and black hats, but the only losers consistently come to be the normal Israelis and Palestinians just trying to get through daily life.

Both groups should be dragged to the Hague and given the most harsh sentence available under the Geneva Convention.

reply to post by tothetenthpower


I have already agreed with this point...so we are on the same page in that. Although I abhor violence perpetrated on both sides against innocent people....I can at the very least understand the Palestinians desperation....but do not condone it.

In WW2 the Jews caged in the Warsaw Ghetto did no less to fight their German oppressors and they are celebrated for their brave resistance, while the Palestinians are vilified for theirs. It makes no sense to me.

The point I am trying to make once again, is that the Israelis hold all the power in this case. The continued occupation is greatly to their benefit, therefore they have no reason to end it. You cannot negotiate in good faith, when only one side of the conflict holds all the cards.

I do agree with you though....enough blood has been shed on both sides and it is time for this to end.

Water cost money why continue providing the spicket to that neighbor who hates you. He shoots at your children, he never pitches in to pay for the water and electricity he is stealing from you. The other welfare recipients on your street think your a bad guy because you dont let your neihbor mooch off your hard work.


Israel definetely lives in the wrong neihborhood

No one wants to work they just want to shoot stuff, beat on their woman, complain about deplorable conditions while they squander away billions in welfare on stuff to terrorize their neihbors with.

Its funny when its an issue with Christians you come into a thread screaming about how bad religions is, but when its a muslim vs Jew the Muslims are always the victim.

I think both sides have their white and black hats, but the only losers consistently come to be the normal Israelis and Palestinians just trying to get through daily life.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Agreed on the white and black hats. I do take issue with the second part of that statement though. The average Israeli isn't affected at all in a negative way by the occupation, with the exception of the occasional homemade rocket being fired into Israel. The Palestinians however, cannot enjoy any freedom of movement, security in their homes or lands, or any expectation that their lives will ever improve. Israeli settlers routinely attack Palestinian farmers, kill their sheep and cut down their olive groves....and are protected by the IDF...the most "moral" army in the world according to them. Palestinians inside Israel, especially in East Jeruslalem are denied building permits, forcibly removed from their homes, only to have Jewish families moved in....or have to watch as homes they have lived in for centuries, are bulldozed to the ground by teh IDF....the list just goes on and on.

Israelis, however enjoy all the benefits of a wealthy modern state, while the Palestinians live under a crushing military occupation that never ends. To compare the lives of the average Israeli and the average Palestinian is, with all due respect....ridiculous. They are not even remotely the same.

. Your OP seems to be about two distinctly different issues. One is the strategic control and distribution of water for the whole area (which is actually considered a state secret level issue in that region) or is it about the cut off of water to this refugee camp?

Both you could say. As they are both solely controlled by the Israelis...however the main thrust is to draw attention that this is all taking place under the backdrop of supposed "peace talks". It is a deplorable thing to do to human beings and does absolutely nothing to foster good will among the Palestinians or bring them any closer to a lasting peace.

That sounds like an interesting side there too, being a private company apparently playing the games on the refugee camp. A very damning story, indeed. What a coincidence, it notes, the Israeli military checkpoint in the neighborhood also closed for 3 days of maintenance. Err.. Nice timing to be elsewhere.

Although Gihon is a private company...I guarantee you, though I cannot prove it that this is being done with the full support of the Israeli goverment. I'm so glad you took the time to read the article....I hoped someone would pick up the checkpoint being closed for "maintanance". I'm too old to believe in coincidence.

Thanks for your thoughtful reply.

Xtrozero

deadcalm

I put it to you ATS....does this sound like a country doing everything it can to achieve peace with the Palestinians?

Jordan is basically Palestinian too and they do not lift a finger to end this issue. Iran will dump millions of dollars in rockets, but don't want to see these people prosper at all since they are a political tool for them to use.

As a note to this, Jordan has been instrumental in the Palestinian cause, and generally on the more positive side of it. As much for enlightened self interest as anything, but no less committed for whatever the specific motives have been. There is also history of why I'd term it enlightened self interest..

The partnership with the Palestinians desired by King Hussein fell apart in September, 1970. The pervasive and chaotic presence of armed Palestinian fedayeen groups who expected immunity from Jordan’s laws was leading to a state of virtual anarchy throughout the Kingdom. Moderate Palestinian leaders were unable to reign in extremist elements, who ambushed the king’s motorcade twice and perpetrated a series of spectacular hijackings. Forced to respond decisively in order to preserve his country from anarchy, King Hussein ordered the army into action.

The Conflict of 1970

Now to be completely and 100% fair, I can't post that for an example without noting it comes within many pages of continous narrative of the history for Jordan, as told by Jordan. It's the sole example of serious conflict between the Jordanian Government and the Palestinians across the narrative. In fact, Jordan helped designate the PLO as the Palesitnians sole international representatives as well as taking many in after the Gulf war.

Aside from Iraq and Kuwait, no state suffered more from the Gulf Crisis than Jordan. With a population of only about three and a half million people at that time, the Hashemite Kingdom hosted over a million refugees from the conflict. While most of these were third party nationals in transit through Jordan, about 300,000 became permanent “returnees” from the Gulf. Many of these “returnees” were Palestinian refugees who benefited from Jordan’s unique policy of granting citizenship to any Palestinian who seeks it.

Jordan History

BTW... That's pages of 'slide show' narrative to Jordan's history, but written through it, covers and tells the history of most other major events in a quick form from 1948 to near present. (Including some water agreement issues, since the refugee camp here is tied up in Jordanian water supply agreements too)

Xtrozero

deadcalm

I put it to you ATS....does this sound like a country doing everything it can to achieve peace with the Palestinians?

Israel or Arab it doesn't make any difference since they are all extremist in their own ways. My question back to you is why are there refugee camps in a area surrounded by rich Arab countries that could help if they so choose to do so? That area was even under Egypt's control for decades and they did nothing too. Jordan is basically Palestinian too and they do not lift a finger to end this issue. Iran will dump millions of dollars in rockets, but don't want to see these people prosper at all since they are a political tool for them to use.

Once the Arab countries learn to love the Palestinians more than they hate Israel, then maybe they will get some Arab aid. Until then, the Arab countries will use them as pawns to show how bad Israel is.

reply to post by deadcalm


Disgusting
/

Simple.

You clearly hate the Jews.

reply to post by gladtobehere


LOL. Thanks for injecting a little levity into a situation that generally has none.

I do want to say, for the record that this is not about bashing Jews. It is about shedding light on the duplicity of the Israeli Government and their discriminatory treatment of Palestinian Arabs....both inside Israel and in the occupied territories.

Xtrozero

deadcalm

I put it to you ATS....does this sound like a country doing everything it can to achieve peace with the Palestinians?

Israel or Arab it doesn't make any difference since they are all extremist in their own ways. My question back to you is why are there refugee camps in a area surrounded by rich Arab countries that could help if they so choose to do so? That area was even under Egypt's control for decades and they did nothing too. Jordan is basically Palestinian too and they do not lift a finger to end this issue. Iran will dump millions of dollars in rockets, but don't want to see these people prosper at all since they are a political tool for them to use.

Since there is a Sunni/Arabs against Shiia/Persians going on right now for instance in Syria, why would Persian Shiias help Arabic Sunnis that will probably will be opposed them in the future. It is not Lebanon that has a large Shiite population. If you are looking for a country that have the same religion then you should look at Saudi Arabia instead. But they have no real interest in helping since the conflict is a good distraction to keep the population in Saudi Arabia from internal conflict along with the money pouring down from House of Saud.

Xtrozero

deadcalm

I put it to you ATS....does this sound like a country doing everything it can to achieve peace with the Palestinians?

Israel or Arab it doesn't make any difference since they are all extremist in their own ways. My question back to you is why are there refugee camps in a area surrounded by rich Arab countries that could help if they so choose to do so? That area was even under Egypt's control for decades and they did nothing too. Jordan is basically Palestinian too and they do not lift a finger to end this issue. Iran will dump millions of dollars in rockets, but don't want to see these people prosper at all since they are a political tool for them to use.

Co-existing in that region of the world is a never-ending, delicate balance.

Could the Failure of the Oslo Process Doom Israel’s Friendship With Jordan?

A few years back, Israel also had a lot to say when Jordan wanted enriched uranium for reactors.

Overall, though I agree that the middle eastern nations don't step up...not about Palestine, and not about anything else either.

One of my beliefs is that they're all caught in a silent war between Israel and Saudi Arabia...both of whom have nukes and don''t want anyone else in the middle east to. And we all know that the only ones really allowed to play are the ones with nukes.

LittleByLittle
Since there is a Sunni/Arabs against Shiia/Persians going on right now for instance in Syria, why would Persian Shiias help Arabic Sunnis that will probably will be opposed them in the future. It is not Lebanon that has a large Shiite population. If you are looking for a country that have the same religion then you should look at Saudi Arabia instead. But they have no real interest in helping since the conflict is a good distraction to keep the population in Saudi Arabia from internal conflict along with the money pouring down from House of Saud.

I guess my point is no Arab country has any interest and some want to purposely keep them in a refugee state, so why not Israel too. Why do all these other countries get a free pass on editorial comments where Israel seems to always have a negative post running about them.

To Israel, the Palestine are nothing more than a weapon being used against them, and until that changes I would not expect much humanitarianism from the Jews.

BP