 |
|
|
Testing the Waters— Palestine & Israel, 2006 |
|
|
Journal, April 11, 2006—JerusalemPhotos: Water in Salfeet & Ariel Water in Salfeet & Ariel By law, no plant which produces industrial wastewater can be approved until it ensures adequate treatment of its wastewater prior to discharge into the municipal system. The Model By-Law for Local Authorities on the discharge of industrial wastes into the sewage system prohibits the discharge of industrial wastes into the sewage system in a manner, quantity or quality that might cause damage to the sewage system, to the flow of sewage or to the treatment process. Thus, many factories have established in-house facilities for the pretreatment of industrial sewage before their discharge into the municipal sewage system. --The State of Israel Except in the case of industries located in occupied territories such as the Salfeet region of Palestine.
Click image to enlarge Context Salfeet (also spelled Salfit) is a cluster of Palestinian villages lying halfway between Ramallah and Nablus. A city now with a population of 7,000 (some 60,000 more in the immediate region, called the Salfeet governate), historically the region is known for its rich lands producing grapes (Salfeet is alleged to mean box + grapes) olives, almonds, apricots and other delicious gems of the earth. The richness seems a combination of good water, sitting atop the western aquifer, one of the largest in the West Bank, and what I observed to be about 1 meter of topsoil. Usually there is not much soil in the West Bank--much more rock, usually limestone. The rock is a gift of the oceans once inundating this region. Since 1978 Israeli Jews, perhaps also drawn by this hilly and productive terrain, have settled near Salfeet--illegally by international law, the usual case with settlements. Settlements can also be termed colonies, or, if you prefer Israeli nomenclature, neighborhoods. The largest of these settlements is Ariel, named not after Ariel Sharon, the most recent prime minister, although some might assume so since he had been such a devoted settlement builder. The name, Ariel, is from scripture, synonymous with Jerusalem and the T emple Mount, the purported site of the two Jewish temples (Isaiah 29:1) . One of its slogans is " Ariel, Capital of Samaria," where Samaria is the Jewish term for the West Bank. Naming suggests the agenda of the settlers. According to the International Women's Peace Service House Report No. 52, by 2004 the settlements have confiscated some 45% of Salfeet region land. This is the backdrop for my story of water in Salfeet. In short the story is: water is unjustly distributed and constantly threatened with pollution. The deciding agent here is the government of Israel, largely supported by the citizens; the acting agent is the population of Ariel and adjoining settlements; the context is occupation; and the recipients of this injustice are the people of Salfeet and neighboring villages. The chorus--this has to be added to my story because it plays a pivotal role--is the international community, largely deaf, dumb, and ignorant. And that includes me but I'm learning and I'd like to share the story of my education with you. Thanks to Hannah Mermelstein, a Jewish American activist regularly in the occupied territories, I contacted Fareed T, former journalist, current election commission head in Salfeet, and peace and justice activist. He hosted and helped guide me in my mission of discovery. Into the wadi First, a taxi ride over a broken gravel road down a wadi (valley in Arabic) to the site of one of two springs that provide Salfeet's water. The other major water source, aside from cisterns and wells, is water purchased from Israel's private water service, Mekorot . Too bad that Ariel's untreated wastewater flows into this wadi and can seep into the spring. In fact, last week (April 5-7 or so), during heavy late spring rains, the seepage contaminated the spring. The water was useless, the municipality shut off the water, people had to rely on purchased water. Eventually, water held previously in reserve was disinfected (with chlorine, which is poisonous in large doses, and in small doses can stink) but the spring has not yet been rehabilitated. What is Ariel's responsibility in this? According to the Palestinians--serious, they must clean their sewage and provide proper disposal. Consequences of pollution should be remediated by Israel. According to Israel--have no responsibility, not even for timely testing of the water. Instance number one of the politics of water. What I saw on this wadi ride did not turn my stomach as I expected it might. The water stank, I found a few plastic bags and some oily substances, but no feces, nothing dramatic, so what I have to show in my photos could be mistaken for a gentle mountain stream. But you wouldn't want to drink it, or wash in it, nor would you want it anywhere near your water source. Along this same road, I saw workers digging a ditch and laying a pipe. It is to bring 70% of Salfeet's sewage (that portion that comes from houses concentrated together) to a treatment plant yet to be built. A few years ago, with funding from the KFW bank of Germany, Salfeet municipality received all the permits from Israel I t need to begin construction. As soon as the first tool dug into the ground, Israel stopped construction, and claimed they'd reversed their decision and now required new siting. The city had to procure new funding and pay for land for a site further from the original one, increasing costs. To this moment, Israel has not given all the required permits. So the pipe laying seems to be an act of supreme faith. Getting home Fareed lives in the small village of Qira, about 3 km north of his office in Salfeet. Ariel--8 miles long, housing some 18,000 Israelis, while the settlement block houses a total of about 37,000 people, mostly from Russia (45% of the Ariel's residents) and Europe, some from the States--squats in between Fareed's home and office. Until the 2 nd Intifada began in 2000, Fareed could reach his office in 10 minutes, a direct route. Now with new checkpoints, blocked roads, and the separation fence, he must wind his way around Ariel. The trip takes between 45 and 60 minutes. Granted, it is a beautiful ride in parts, with little traffic, but it is an imposition. And he has a car. There is no public transport here and so without a private vehicle, a person must walk or stay in one place. Instance number two of the politics of water, the injustice wrought by the occupation. Fareed drove me past a huge Israeli industrial park, called Barqan (also spelled Bruqin), that like Ariel dumps its sewage directly into wadis without treatment. Indeed, an industrialist would love a site like this--no environmental laws. I left the car and walked into the wadi, sharing the seemingly pristine site with cows and horses grazing nearby. As with the pollution in the first wadi, little leapt out as obvious poison. However, I can imagine a chemical analysis would demonstrate toxins of a myriad variety, emitted after making plastics, combining chemicals, and fabricating with metal and glass. As with the first case of wastewater, Palestine and Israel have opposite positions on responsibility but because of the power imbalance and the total absence of any monitoring by international agencies like the United Nations, the poisoning continue. Instance number three of the politics of water. On this ride to Fareed's home we stopped at a spring along the road that had once supplied the neighboring small village. No longer used, they use a smaller spring nearby, but its flow is sufficient only for a few families. They've laid temporary pipe and hosing to carry the water, better than trundling down the hill with vessels each time they need water. Fareed also pointed out a larger spring across the wadi and road. A field of bright red poppies flourished near it. We observed Bedouin who were camped in the wadi--subject to flash floods--moving slowly with their donkeys to the spring to collect water. To be continued. This is a preliminary and partial account of my trip to Salfeet. I have submitted it to the Salfeet water engineer for verification and might later make revisions. |
