Palestine: right to water and sanitation campaign launched

The “Thirsting for Justice” campaign kicked off on 22 March 2011, World Water Day, calling on European governments to put pressure on Israel to respect international law and Palestinian basic rights to water and sanitation. The campaign is an initiative of the Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene group (EWASH), a coalition of 30 Palestinian and European humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam International.

According to EWASH, Israel controls all sources of fresh water in the West Bank whereas Palestinians are only allowed to take 20 per cent of the “estimated potential” of the Mountain Aquifer underneath the West Bank. Also, Israeli security restrictions are preventing Palestinians from expanding their sewage network, which now only connects 31 per cent of the population. Some 90 to 95 percent of the Coastal Aquifer, on which Gaza inhabitants are dependent for water, is contaminated due to over extraction and sewage contamination. Restrictions imposed by Israel as part of its ongoing blockade make the rehabilitation of the aquifer and the search for alternatives extremely difficult, EWASH claims. An Israeli airstrike on 21 March 2011 destroyed about US$ 60,000 worth of water and wastewater materials stored in the Khuza’a municipality in Gaza.

The “Thirsting for Justice” campaign runs until the end of 2012.