- B'Tselem is the Jerusalem-based independent Israeli Information
Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (OPT) with a well-deserved
reputation for accuracy and integrity. It was founded in 1989 to "document
and educate the Israeli public, policymakers (and concerned people everywhere)
about human rights violations in the OPT, combat the phenomenon of denial
prevalent among the Israeli public (and elsewhere, especially among Jews),
and create a human rights culture in Israel" to convince government
officials to respect human rights and comply with international law.
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- It conducts wide-ranging, carefully researched, and thoroughly
cross-checked reports, most recently its June one titled, "Foul Play:
Neglect of wastewater treatment in the West Bank." This article discusses
its findings as further evidence of how Israel violates international humanitarian
law as an occupying power. Because no global authority holds it accountable,
over 2.8 million West Bank Palestinians suffer along with another 1.5 million
under siege in Gaza for over two years and counting.
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- Introduction
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- Human activity produces wastewater for which treatment
is essential "to prevent and reduce sanitation and environmental hazards"
that otherwise would result - from dangerous viruses, bacteria, parasites,
heavy metals, and other toxic substances that pollute water, farm crops,
flora, and fauna, and reduce land fertility.
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- Israeli West Bank and Jerusalem settlements produce about
91 million cubic meters of wastewater annually, more than double the amount
from Palestinian communities. Yet most of it goes untreated. As an occupying
power, international humanitarian law requires it be done, yet Israel violates
its obligations across the board making Palestinians suffer grievously
as a result.
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- Wastewater from Settlements and Jerusalem
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- Israel's Civil Administration environmental protection
staff officer, Benny Elbaz, told B'Tselem that (other than outpost wastewater)
all of it from settlements gets "adequate" treatment, and raw
effluent isn't allowed to flow freely.
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- However, an August 2008 study refutes his assertion.
Jointly conducted by the Nature and Parks Authority Environment Unit, the
Ministry of Environmental Protection's Water and Streams Department, and
the Civil Administration, it showed that in 2007, only 81 of 121 West Bank
settlements were connected to wastewater treatment facilities. Also, over
half of treatment plants (38 of 74) are small facilities able to service
only a few hundred families, way short of what's needed.
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- In addition, to operate properly, plants need "round-the-clock
maintenance," but because the per-capita cost is high, "maintenance
of most of the facilities is defective." They experience frequent
problems, sometimes shut down entirely, and can't handle the volume channeled
to them. As a result, "raw wastewater from settlements floods West
Bank valleys," Israel's disclaimer notwithstanding.
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- In large settlements, built in the 1970s and 1980s, no
wastewater is treated or facilities in place "have been neglected
for decades." Among them are:
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- -- Kirat Arba, founded in 1972; its wastewater flows
into the Hebron stream that runs into Israel;
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- -- Ofra, founded in 1975; its sewage flows into the Mountain
Aquifer and pollutes groundwater; in 2008, Israel began constructing a
settlement treatment plant, but it's being built on Palestinian land without
Civil Administration approval;
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- -- Kfar Adumim, founded in 1979; instead of being treated,
its wastewater is disposed of in cesspits cut into the ground for effluent
disposal; from there, it pollutes land and groundwater; and
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- -- Bat Ayin, founded in 1989; it has a partial collection
system, and residents dispose of their wastewater in cesspits.
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- Other settlements, like those below, experience frequent
breakdowns that shut facilities for extended periods:
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- -- Ariel's treatment plant was defective for a decade,
then shut down in 2008; thereafter wastewater flowed into the Shilo stream,
a major Yarkon River tributary;
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- -- Elqana's treatment plant stopped operating; its wastewater
flows into the Rava stream, another Yarkon tributary; renovation funding
was allocated to make it operable by the end of 2009;
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- -- Qedumim's two treatment plants ceased functioning
in 2007; its wastewater flows into the Abu Jamus stream; in March 2008,
one plant resumed operations;
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- -- Beit Ariyeh's plant stopped functioning in 2008; its
effluent flowed into the Shilo stream until renovations let it resume operations
in January 2009;
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- -- Qedar, Ma'aleh Amos, Nokdim, Otni'el, Etz Ephraim,
and Enav settlements dispose of their wastewater in septic tanks, "from
which it seeps into the groundwater and pollutes it;" and
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- -- 25 Jordan Valley settlements' wastewater is only partially
treated in sedimentation basins and oxidation ponds, an outdated method
not used inside Israel.
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- Overall, Israeli and independent studies show that settlements'
waterwater treatment inadequacies are long-standing and serious - confirmed
by the Ministry of Environmental Protection saying that many settlements
"do not have a proper solution to wastewater." According to Yael
Mason, the Industrial Wastewater and Polluted Lands Department director,
some settlement plants "do not meet requisite standards and pollute
both the Mountain Aquifer and streams."
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- Conditions were as bad in 1998 when a Municipal Environmental
Association of Judea survey found half the plants (where over 40,000 settlers
lived), polluted the environment "to a great or moderate extent,"
and only 13 plants (for 16,000 people) performed "to a reasonable
extent."
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- A 2002 Municipal Environmental Association of Samaria
report (responsible for 100 settlements,) showed 14 left their wastewater
untreated. Eleven others either didn't treat it or only partially did for
25 years until the Kana stream conduit was completed in 2006.
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- Other reports document the same neglect, citing defective
maintenance, no electrical connection, raw sewage seepage into groundwater,
"usually primitive" factory wastewater treatment, and pollution
caused by "cow pens."
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- For over 40 years of occupation, "Israel has not
built advanced regional wastewater treatment plants in the settlements
to match those inside Israel" even though a 1983 master plan was formulated.
After its cost was estimated to be $110 million, budgetary constraints
stopped its implementation. The single recent facility addition began operating
in 2006, servicing six settlements.
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- Under still in force Jordanian West Bank building and
planning laws, provisions for treatment must be approved before proceeding.
However, Israeli authorities ignore the requirement and allow building
occupancies and industrial operations anyway. The Modi'in Illit settlement
was approved even though raw sewage from 17,000 people flowed into the
Modi'im stream, and construction was never completed for a Meitarim industrial
area treatment plant.
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- Blurred authority between the Civil Administration and
Ministry of Environmental Protection complicates the problem. The former
ensures that building plans include treatment solutions, but enforcement
power lies with the latter. From 2000 - September 2008, it was used only
53 times for not treating wastewater. Most were warnings. Only four indictments
were filed. By comparison, in 2006 alone, 230 enforcement measures were
taken inside Israel, mostly warnings on suspected Water Law violations.
In Israel, building plans are stopped until proper hook-up to wastewater
treatment is in place. "Across the Green Line," no similar action
is taken.
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- Jerusalem's Wastewater Channeled East
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- Since the 1940s, untreated wastewater has been channeled
from West and East Jerusalem to the Kidron Basin in the city's southeast.
It flows into an open duct from where it moves over 30 kilometers into
the Dead Sea.
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- A Horqaniya Valley diversion facility treats some of
it for Jordan Valley settlements' irrigation, while the rest flows freely
into the Mountain Aquifer, "an area sensitive to pollution."
It creates dangerous sanitation and environmental hazards, including groundwater
pollution. Yet it's used as livestock drinking water and for Palestinian
farmland irrigation, "despite the (considerable) health risk."
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- Since the 1970s, remediation plans were proposed and
rejected - according to Israel's Jerusalem Municipality because of a lack
of Palestinian Authority (PA) cooperation, not gotten because giving it
would grant legitimacy to the settlements.
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- More recently, Jerusalem's Ministry of Environmental
Protection director warned Israeli officials about criminal responsibility
for failure to address this growing problem. Only then were various treatment
options suggested, including piping it from its origin through Abu Dis
and Eizariya to the Og Reservoir facility to be expanded with added capacity.
However, PA opposition over the "geopolitical situation" suspended
the plan. Jerusalem's District Planning and Building Committee scheduled
discussion of alternative options, but nothing so far has materialized.
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- Despite inadequate solutions, Jerusalem's population
growth exacerbates the problem. For example, residents moved into the Pisgat
Ze'ev settlement before a treatment facility was completed - in violation
of by-law provisions that Jerusalem's District Planning and Building Committee
chose to ignore, either there or in other settlements.
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- Wastewater from Palestinian Communities
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- Only 20% of Palestinian homes are connected to sewage
systems. Yet they're outdated, often leak, can't handle the volume, and
thus spill into cesspits along with effluent from the other 80% of Palestinians.
As a result, groundwater gets seriously contaminated because 90 - 95% of
Palestinian sewage isn't treated at all, and only one treatment plant for
it is functioning.
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- Israeli neglect is the problem. In the early 1970s, it
built four treatment facilities - in Jenin, Tulkarm, Hebron and Ramallah,
but their effectiveness has been "minimal to poor" and three
of them no longer function. The one Ramallah operating one is small with
inadequate capacity to handle the city's wastewater. As a result, it's
barely treated.
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- The 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim (West Bank and Gaza)
Agreement stipulated that both sides cooperate on taking "all necessary
measures" to prevent water pollution or contamination. An Israeli-Palestinian
Joint Water committee (JWC) was established with unanimity required for
all decisions. Yet no dispute resolution mechanism exists so Israel can
unilaterally approve or reject all water and wastewater treatment requests
and it does. As a result, new facilities haven't been built despite an
urgent need for them.
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- Besides adequate funding, approval procedures are prolonged
and complicated because of environmental and other considerations. In addition,
Israel's approval is needed, and a large land area (away from residential
neighborhoods) is required for an initial facility with plenty of room
for expansion.
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- Years elapse with no resolution, so today the Palestinian
Water Authority says Israel is currently delaying or obstructing 140 water
and wastewater projects. For example:
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- -- in 1996, a Tulkarm plan was submitted; yet it took
until 2006 before the JWC agreed on an Area C location - under Israeli
control on matters relating to land, planning and building; in December
2008, the Civil Administration's International Organizations Desk chief
recommended that "establishment of the facility in Area A (under Palestinian
control) be examined, and that care be taken that it does not extend into
Area C;" the project is now in jeopardy;
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- -- in 1997, the JWC received a West Nablus plan; the
Civil Administration twice demanded a location change, and it took until
May 2008 for construction permits to be issued, yet nothing so far has
proceeded; another East Nablus proposal was cancelled because of delays
in obtaining approval; and
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- -- in 1999, a West Ramallah proposal was submitted to
the JWC; it was approved, but the Civil Administration demanded a location
change because it was close to the Separation Wall's planned route; a final
plan has yet to be introduced for approval.
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- From 1996 - 1999, Israel required Palestinian facilities
to treat settlements' wastewater, way beyond their proposed capacity and
something the PA won't do because it would grant legitimacy to the settlements
in violation of international law.
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- Israel creates other obstacles as well. In 2002, the
Civil Administration required a proposed Hebron plant to meet advanced
treatment standards, not demanded for settlement facilities or in Israel
until 2005 under a plan for gradual implementation through 2015 because
of the cost involved.
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- Israeli policy exploits the situation to its advantage.
It treats some Palestinian wastewater flowing into Israel but charges the
PA for doing it. Also ignored is a proper Palestinian water treatment solution
and the contamination that results.
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- Consequences of Neglecting Wastewater Treatment in the
West Bank
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- Settlers rely on Israel's water supply system with no
problems. Palestinians, however, suffer from pollution and a shortage of
safe drinking water. Also, using wastewater for irrigation contaminates
crops and endangers human health. Over time, land fertility is also diminished.
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- A 2002 UN Environmental Program report showed that raw
sewage polluted West Bank Palestinian water sources. A 1998 Al-Quds University
study of the Jordan Valley, Nablus, Jenin and Tulkarm found one-third of
samples with higher than WHO recommended nitrate levels. A 1999 Bethlehem
University investigation showed over 99% of 400 spring water samples with
high concentrations of coliform bacteria requiring removal before use.
Later studies revealed similar problems - exacerbated because most settlements
are on ridges and hilltops so their wastewater flows down to nearby Palestinian
communities. The problem is extremely serious.
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- Three years ago it was exacerbated when the Elon Moreh
settlement facility broke down causing wastewater to flow toward nearby
Palestinian villages. Elon Moreh processed very toxic effluent from leather
and meat-processing plants - containing extremely high acidity levels able
to cause burns on contact. Lab analysis confirmed "a grave sanitation
risk to humans and animals (likely to) cause loss of life (and an) environmental
and health disaster."
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- The wastewater destroyed crops and olive trees for up
to 30 meters on either side of its channel. Azmut farmers couldn't sell
their contaminated crops, and a severe mosquito problem and powerful stench
caused allergies, dizziness and headaches among nearby village residents.
A woman called life their "terrible...as if we're living in a swamp.
We can't even eat our food."
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- Other villages were also affected the same way. In 2008,
B'Tselem demanded that action be taken to stop this. Only then did the
Municipal Environmental Association of Samaria take any remediation measures
that diminished but didn't eliminate the problem.
-
- Similar conditions exist throughout West Bank areas,
exacerbated by growing settler populations and scant attention to Palestinian
needs and welfare. Ariel is one of the largest settlements, yet its facility
experiences frequent breakdowns. In 2006, the Ministry of Health reported
that it was non-functional, and in 2008, the Civil Administration's environmental
protection officer told B'Tselem that the "facility can't handle the
load."
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- It stopped operating the same year, and ever since, raw
sewage has flowed into the Shilo stream, a tributary of the Yarkon River,
then southwest toward the town of Salfit and west to Brukin and Kafr a-Dik
villages. Despite its best efforts, Salfit Local Council member, Dr. Bassam
Madi, said infectious diseases occur as well as damaged crops, livestock,
and the virtual extinction of deer, rabbits and foxes once common to the
area. Natural vegetation like hyssop also disappeared.
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- Until 2004, the Ministry of Environmental Protection
turned a blind eye to the situation. It then merely warned of a Water Law
violation. Enforcement measures were frozen after agreement was reached
to build a collection pipeline to move Ariel's wastewater to the Dan Bloc
Wastewater Treatment Plant in Israel. Its estimated completion date is
2011, but so far no financing has been arranged, and the pipeline's planner
said the project "would take years" once final approval is gotten.
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- Wadi Fukin village is gravely harmed by Betar Illit settlement
wastewater. About 20 meters above its fields, the Housing Ministry built
a facility that directs effluent to the Soreq treatment site. Frequent
breakdowns occur because a growing settlement population overtaxes the
facility causing spillage into Wadi Fukin fields, including ones near the
village center that produce a severe stench.
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- A Bethlehem University study showed that test samples
from nine adjacent springs contained coliform bacteria concentrations and
high nitrate levels. It concluded that the water was unfit to drink. Betar
Illit settlement assumes no responsibility for the problem, and until mid-2008,
did nothing minimally to address it. It remains a major problem
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- Israeli Breaches of International Law
-
- Israel is a serial offender, including repeated violations
of its obligations as an occupying power. Its failure to address wastewater
issues is one of many examples, and B'Tselem puts it this way:
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- "Neglect in treating wastewater in the West Bank
infringes the rights of Palestinians to (clean) water and sanitation and
their right to gain a livelihood from their agricultural crops."
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- Fourth Geneva's Article 56 requires an occupier to "ensur(e)
and (maintain), with the cooperation of national and local authorities....public
and hygiene in the occupied territory, with particular reference to the
adoption and application of the prophylactic and preventive measures necessary
to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics."
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- Israel is obligated to assure safe water sources to ensure
"public order and safety" and protect the population from harm.
The High Court of Justice interprets this to mean a duty to take "all
means necessary to ensure growth, change and development (and do what's
essential through) investments and carrying out long-term plans for the
benefit of the local population (even if they remain in place) after the
military government ends." The Court also held that this duty "applies
to the varied living requirements of the inhabitants, including medical
needs, sanitation....and other needs that people require in modern society."
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- In 1966 for the first time, the UN's Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) defined clean drinking water as a right,
given that it's essential to life, health and well-being. So do other UN
Conventions, including the 1981 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms
of Discrimination against Women and the 1989 Convention on the Rights of
the Child.
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- In 2006, the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion of Human
Rights adopted CESCR recommendations for safe drinking water and sanitation.
They require nations to prevent water pollution and assure that all persons
have the "right to access adequate and safe sanitation that protects
public health and the environment." UNICEF also calls access a "basic
human right" to assure health and human dignity. The UN 2000 Millennium
Declaration affirmed a goal of halving by 2015 the world population without
these fundamental essentials, and a UN Human Rights Council 2008 resolution,
among others, included the same declaration.
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- Conclusions and Recommendations
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- Of the West Bank's 2.8 million Palestinians, wastewater
for over two million of them goes untreated, the result of Israel's willful
neglect in violation of international humanitarian law and its obligation
as an occupier. As a result, the Nature and Parks authority warns that
"sooner or later, critical damage will be caused to Israeli and Palestinian
water sources."
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- The Palestinian Applied Research Institute Jerusalem
calls neglect "a grave environmental threat," and a UN Environmental
Program delegation said "urgent action" is needed to address
the problem. Israel remains unresponsive to a worrisome situation, and
its growing settlement population exacerbates it.
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- It's essential for a joint Israeli - Palestinian initiative
to address it responsibly, but Israel must take the lead. B'Tselem puts
it this way:
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- So long as Israel is an occupying power and its "settlements
remain, all their wastewater (and that of Palestinians) must be treated
in accordance with treatment standards (applied) inside Israel, and the
law must (strictly) be enforced against polluting settlements." In
cooperation with each other, remediation projects must be undertaken to
serve both sides, and "ultimately....Palestinians, if the settlements
are evacuated," as international law so states.
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- Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre
for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at
<mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net>lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
-
- Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and
listen to The Global Research News Hour on Republic Broadcasting.org Monday
- Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished
guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy
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