http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8327188.stm

Israel is denying Palestinians access to even the basic minimum of clean, safe water, Amnesty International says.

In a report, the human rights group says Israeli water restrictions discriminate against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

It says that in Gaza, Israel's blockade has pushed the already ailing water and sewage system to "crisis point".

Israel says the report is flawed and the Palestinians get more water than was agreed under the 1990s peace deal.

'Basic need'

In the 112-page report, Amnesty says that on average Palestinian daily water consumption reaches 70 litres a day, compared with 300 litres for the Israelis.

“ Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water ”
Donatella Rovera Amnesty International

It says that some Palestinians barely get 20 litres a day - the minimum recommended even in humanitarian emergencies.

While Israeli settlers in the West Bank enjoy lush gardens and swimming pools, Amnesty describes a series of Israeli measures it says are discriminating against Palestinians:

* Israel has "entirely appropriated the Palestinians' share of the Jordan river" and uses 80% of a key shared aquifer
* West Bank Palestinians are not allowed to drill wells without Israeli permits, which are "often impossible" to obtain
* Rainwater harvesting cisterns are "often destroyed by the Israeli army"

# Recommended for short-term survival: 20 litres
# For the medium term: 70 litres
# Recommended for the long term: 100 litres (Source: WHO)

# Israeli soldiers confiscated a water tanker from villagers who were trying to remain in land Israel had declared a "closed military area"
# An unnamed Israeli soldier says rooftop Palestinian household water tanks are "good for target practice"
# Much of the land cut off by the West Bank barrier is land with good access to a major aquifer
# Israeli military operations have damaged Palestinian water infrastructure, including $6m worth during the Cast Lead operation in Gaza last winter
# The Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza has "exacerbated what was already a dire situation" by denying many building materials needed for water and sewage projects.

The report also noted that the Palestinian water authorities have been criticised for bad management, quoting one audit that described the sector as in "total chaos".

"Water is a basic need and a right, but for many Palestinians obtaining even poor-quality, subsistence-level quantities of water has become a luxury that they can barely afford," Amnesty's Donatella Rovera said.

"Israel must end its discriminatory policies, immediately lift all the restrictions it imposes on Palestinians' access to water."

'Fair share'

Ms Rovera also urged Israel to "take responsibility for addressing the problems it created by allowing Palestinians a fair share of the shared water resources".

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said "the idea that we're taking water away from someone else is simply preposterous".

He argued that Israeli fresh water use per capita had gone down since 1967 due to efficiency and new technologies, while the Palestinians' use had increased and more than a third of their water was wasted.

If there were allegations of military wrongdoing, those would be investigated, he said.

He also rejected the claim that Israel was preventing Palestinians from drilling for water, saying Israel had approved 82 such projects but the Palestinians had only implemented 26 of them.

"They have received billions of dollars in international aid over the last decade and a half, why have they not invested that in their own water infrastructure?" he asked.

The report also criticised the Oslo Accords, which the Palestinians agreed to in 1993.

It said that under them, the Palestinians gained the responsibility for managing an "insufficient" water supply and maintaining "long neglected" water infrastructure.

Also, the deal left the Palestinians paying Israel for half of the domestic water used in the West Bank, despite the fact it is extracted from the shared aquifer.

Mr Regev said Israel provides the Palestinians with more water than it was required to under the accord.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/m ... 327188.stm

Published: 2009/10/27 08:58:03 GMT

here comes the propaganda and lies train all aboard .

fancy that israel taking the palestinians water now , well they have taken everything else from them, land,diginity,freedom,rights,childrens lives, so you might aswell take the water ,israel would take the oxygen if they could .....

yes you are so right ,we should kill all the jews

Yup the UN/BBC propaganda train

this report came out few weeks ago and was all ready
denied by Israel water authority and government .
the truth is that israel supplied water way above what the
agreements bound it to .
this all report is either miscalculated or plain lie , Palestinians gets
270 liters a day and not 70 like the report claim .

your words not mine ,,,your anti semetic
maybe if the goverment was not so warmongering things would be different,,how was israel founded ,after a terror campaing ,killing british soliders ,,once a warmonger always a warmonger ,and if your in israel you must of servrd in the army ,well how many wars do you want to fight in ,war sucks bigtime ,,so dont you think the attiude of the goverment needs to change ,because there attuide for wanting conflictand and crying off to the us makes the rest of the world pissed off

you are so hypocrite , how was the islam founded ? with wars ,
once warmongering always warmongering .
British empire ,conquered half world, once warmongering always warmongering .

same thing could be said about every nation and religion in the world .
but no you only judge israel .

maybe if the hamas wasn't trying to destroy israel the government wouldn't
be so warmongering ...
it all goes round and round ...

both sides should take responsibilities instead of accusing the other
side ,anything less then that is just dumbing down reality .

as far as im concerned all religion suck ,and anyone who want war is retarded ,but when you have a powerful nation backed by the us killing at will it has to stop ,and on both sides ,because if it dont ,were will it end ,and i judge every nation including my own ,war solves nouthing it just makes things worse ,ive fought in conflicts since the mid 80s and all ive seen is death and pain ,it takes brave men to say enough is enough ,how about israel taking the lead ,stop the settlers running wild land grabs ,at the end of the day hows it all going to end ,no planet left for any of us?

Israel doesn't kill Palestinians at will as some wants you to believe , the last war
in gaza was after years of tolerance of hamas shooting thousnds of rockets at the
south of Israel , enough is enough .

Israel doesn't let settlers "run wild land grabs" , they demolish every
new settlement that the settlers try to build illegally. the current policy is expanding
the existing settlements,and not building new ones ,
with the exception of east Jerusalem where the gov itself still builds .

beside of the two above things i agree with you , war doesn't solve anything we have
enough pain and death , but how the hell do we stop this circle of violence .
it takes brave leaders to do that , something we are in great shortage .