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The public presence of Palestinian women in Oush Grab is a strong social statement against the presence of Israeli settlers in the area. (photo: Cosimo Caridi, AIC)
Over 40
Palestinian women attended a presentation and discussion entitled Endangered
Water, held yesterday afternoon in the Oush Grab area of Beit Sahour. Conducted
under the auspices of the AIC’s Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Training
project, participants learned of the political reasons behind the severe water
shortage affecting the West Bank.
Alice Grey,
a co-founder of LifeSource
and co-director of Bustan Qaraaqa ,
provided an overview of the current water shortage in the West
Bank, a situation known only too well by the participating women.
“My house has not had water for 6 days now,” commented one participant, “and
I’m glad to finally understand why.”
Israel is currently undergoing one of the worst droughts
that it has seen in years resulting in a severe drop in its reserve water in
the Sea of Galilee. To compensate for growing water shortages, Israel has begun confiscating even more water
from the reserves of the West Bank, an area in which Israel controls 80% of the water
sources. This removal of water is accompanied by regular water restrictions,
approximately every ten days, for Palestinian communities throughout the West Bank.
Two of the
three water pumps in the Beit Sahour area require repairs, which can only be
conducted by the Palestinian Authority following permission from Israel. In the
meantime, the sole functioning water pump in this area is located in the Oush
Grab area, currently under direct threat of takeover by Israeli settlers .
In addition to the land, Israeli settlers could take over the water pump, thus
further exacerbating an already unbearable situation for Palestinians in the
Beit Sahour area.
An
additional problem is the extremely close proximity between the water
infrastructure and open waste water sewage flows. “Apart from the severe
environmental damage due to the sewage itself,” noted Grey, “even the smallest
problem with the infrastructure of the Oush Grab pumping station would mean the
contamination of the area’s sole source of drinking water.”
“It was
important for us to hold this event in Oush Grab itself, to bring the women
here to see what is happening,” said Amira Hillal, coordinator of the AIC women’s
project. “This public presence of women in Oush Grab is a strong social
statement against the presence of Israeli settlers in the area.”
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