Water Tribunal Refuses to Connect Unrecognized Arab Bedouin Villages to Water Network, Despite Israeli Supreme Court Ruling

A recent press release from Adalah:

ADALAH PRESS RELEASE
9 February 2012

Water Tribunal Refuses to Connect Unrecognized Arab Bedouin Villages to Water Network, Despite Israeli Supreme Court Ruling

Tribunal Calls Water Source 9km Away "Reasonable"

Arab Bedouin boy drinking from a rusty water tanker
in the unrecognized villages in the Naqab

(Beer el-Sabe, Israel) On 29 January 2012, the Haifa District Court, sitting as a Water Tribunal, rejected Adalah's appeal to connect the unrecognized Arab Bedouin villages of Umm el-Hieran and Tel Arad in the Naqab (Negev) to the water network. Tel Arad lies 4 kilometers from the closest water point, and Umm el-Hieran 9 kilometers away. Families in these villages sometimes resort to purchasing water at exorbitant rates from individuals who have access to the water network. The Water Tribunal stated that it considered these arrangements "reasonable", and that they met the standard of "minimum access to water" recently established by the Israeli Supreme Court. The appeal was filed by Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher.

Adalah appealed to the Water Tribunal in Haifa on behalf of residents of the villages against a prior decision by the Water Committee denying the residents' request for their homes to be connected to the water network. The Water Tribunal rejected the appeal despite a Supreme Court decision delivered on 5 June 2011 holding that the right to water was a constitutional right, and that the state must therefore guarantee a "minimum access to water" for the residents of the unrecognized villages (see C.A. (Civil Appeal) 9535/06, Abdullah Abu Musa'ed, et al. v. The Water Commissioner and the Israel Land Administration). In its precedent-setting judgment, the Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right to water stemming from the constitutional right to dignity. The Court added that Arab Bedouin residents of unrecognized villages were entitled to "minimal access to water" regardless of the status of their village. The Court then asked the petitioners to return to the Water Tribunal to make the necessary arrangements.

Appellant Mr. Salim Abu al-Qi'an, an Arab Bedouin citizen of Israel living in Umm el-Hieran, has represented his family and an additional 34 families from the village for the past several years in this litigation with Adalah. About 500 people live in the village. They have lived in their current location since 1956, when the residents were moved at the order of the military government from their ancestral land in the Western Naqab. Despite the Supreme Court's ruling three months ago, the village remains unconnected to water.

A second appellant, Mr. Eid al-Nabari, an Arab Bedouin citizen of Israel living in Tel Arad and head of the village committee, represents his family and an additional 40 families in the appeal, a total of 250 people. The village has approximately 1,500 residents, including 550 children. They have lived in their current location since the military government forced them to move there from their original villages in 1952.

In refusing to connect the villages to the water network, the Water Tribunal stated that two other solutions existed to ensure access to water for the residents: they can move from the unrecognized villages to recognized towns or else purchase water tanks and fill them from water connection centers in recognized towns. The appellants reject these solutions.

Case Citation: Appeal 51011-09/11, Salim Abu al-Qi'an, et al. v. Water Committee, et al.