The Israeli Army Routinely Demolishes Communal Water Cisterns and Water Wells

In 2011 alone, the army destroyed 89 water structures in the West Bank, including 21 wells, 34 cisterns, and many small fixed water tanks that have been given to rural households: 

"The Israeli government uses such denial of water to trigger people displacement, particularly in areas slated for colonial expansion, especially since these communities are mostly farmers, who depend on water for their livelihoods. Cutting off Palestinian communities from their water resources usually precedes dispossession of land for new colonial projects." 
Although this article was posted in 2014, we have put it on our blog because of its comprehensive overview and graphic (Palestinian Springs Affected by Settler Activity, March 2012. See below.) As you can imagine, the situation is much worse three years later.

Israel’s Water Genocide

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Water used as a Weapon in a Land Grab

The seizure of a natural spring in the Bethlehem area would deny Palestinians access to this much needed source of water; Israel will also continue construction of the Separation Wall which would turn the local village "into a prison."

"Residents of al-Walaja have lost over three-quarters of their land since Israel was established in 1948, when most of the village’s residents became refugees. During Israel’s illegal occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, 50 percent of al-Walaja’s lands were annexed to the Jerusalem municipality."

Israel to move Bethlehem-area checkpoint deeper into Palestinian territory

 

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The World Bank Weighs in on Gaza

The bank’s local specialist warns that the U.N.’s prediction that Gaza will be unfit for people by 2020: 

“Irreversible damage has already been done to parts of the Coastal Aquifer in the Gaza Strip as a result of overpumping and seawater seepage, according to a senior water-sanitation specialist at the World Bank.

The financial institution is one of many local and international organizations that have been warning against, and trying to prevent, such an occurrence over the past 20 years.”

Gaza Water Crisis Has Caused Irreversible Damage, World Bank Warns

 
Palestinian children collect water during a five-day truce in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 14, 2014. Reuters

Palestinian children collect water during a five-day truce in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, August 14, 2014. Reuters

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MA Legislators, Governor and Boston Police Commissioner are all on junkets

It's an ominous prospect.

"The last thing Boston needs is training in Israeli-style racial profiling and surveillance, and in the violent suppression of nonviolent popular resistance such as that taking place on a weekly basis in the West Bank village of Bil’in.   And the last thing Massachusetts needs is the ‘Israel, right or wrong’ mentality and casual corruption that these junkets promote." 
This piece is written by Nancy Murray, a member of the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine.

It’s junket season again in Massachusetts

Hannah Kane, State Representative for Massachusetts's 11th District, visiting the Knesset with the Jewish Community Relations Council. (Photo: Twitter/ @HannahEKaneMA) 

Hannah Kane, State Representative for Massachusetts's 11th District, visiting the Knesset with the Jewish Community Relations Council. (Photo: Twitter/ @HannahEKaneMA) 

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