Description

JERUSALEM, March 19, 2012 (WAFA) - A total of 56 water springs across the occupied West Bank were the target of Israeli settler activities in 2011, a United Nations agency official said Monday.

Ramesh Rajasingham, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Palestinian Territory (OCHA), told a press conference in Jerusalem that settlers' takeover of water springs affect daily life of Palestinians.

OCHA presented a report titled “The Humanitarian Impact of the Takeover of Palestinian Water Springs by Israeli Settlers,” which monitored and documented Israeli settlers’ activities that impaired Palestinian access to and use of water springs in the vicinity of Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank.

The large majority, about 93%, of the water springs are located in Area C, which is under full Israeli control, and at least 84% of the springs are located on land parcels recorded by the Israeli Civil Administration, the arm of the Israeli military government in the West Bank, as privately owned by Palestinians, said the report.

Palestinians have been deterred from accessing the springs by acts of trespass; intimidation and physical assault; stealing of private property; construction without a building permit; de facto annexation of spring areas to the settlements; as well as threats and violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers in most of the spring areas, said the report.

“This phenomenon comes in the context f Israel’s longstanding policy of settling its civilian population in the occupied Palestinian territory, in violation of international humanitarian law,” added OCHA.

The report pointed to the multiple ramifications of the settlers’ takeover of springs on the daily lives of Palestinians living in affected areas, including the erosion of their agricultural livelihoods as the springs remain the single largest water source for irrigation and a significant source for watering livestock.

The loss of access to springs and adjacent land reduced the income of affected farmers, who either stop cultivating the land or face a reduction in the productivity of their crops, said the report. Other farmers, herders and households are confronted with increased expenditures due to the need to purchase more expensive piped or tankered water.

“The takeover of springs also undermines the scope of control over space for Palestinians in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel retains extensive control. This is because of the spatial interaction between the taken-over springs and other settlement infrastructure in the area, such as settlement outposts and industrial areas,” said the report.

OCHA official Dror Etkes said in the press conference that Israeli settlers have begun to develop the surrounding areas around the water springs into “tourist attractions,” by announcing Hebrew name of the springs and the construction or renovation of water pools without building permits, as required by the Civil Administration.

The settlers’ actions entail entrenchment of the settlement enterprise by expanding the scope of territorial control of settlements; adding a source of employment and revenue for the settler population; and contributing to the “normalization” of settlements in the eyes of larger segments of Israeli society, said the report.

OCHA demanded the Israeli authorities to stop facilitating the transfer of Israeli civilians into the occupied Palestinian Territory, including by allowing the expansion of settlements; restore Palestinian access to the water springs taken over by settlers, and ensure their safety; conduct effective investigations into cases of settler violence and trespass and prosecute those responsible; and adopt measures to prevent ongoing settler “tours” to springs located on private Palestinian property.

R.Q./M.S.