Robert Wright & Fadi Quran Interview on Water Access Issues

In this video, Robert Wright (journalist, author) talks to Fadi Quran (see: Stanford Daily - Fadi Quran arrested, detained in West Bank) about water access issues and inequalities in the West Bank.

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.

The Problem is Not Scarcity

The common sense assumption that desert regions mean insurmountable water scarcity is no longer true, thanks to developments in water desalination and treatment technology.  As this news article points out, the Israeli water company Mekorot predicts a water surplus "within eight years."

YNet Environment - Israel to water surplus within the decade

Desalination poses its own issues, including massive energy requirements and, depending on the desalination method, negative environmental impacts on the seawater source.  However, there is no longer the argument that water is so scarce that the Bedouins cannot receive their rightful share.

- F.B.J.

The Name Controversy: Naqab vs. Negev

Due to the dispute over the land ownership, there are two commonly referred to names for the desert villages, each representing the ownership claim.

Negev:

The State of Israel refers to it as Negev as they claim that the Bedouins did not register their land under the Ottoman Empire or British mandate prior to 1948.

Naqab:

The Bedouins refer to their land as Naqab and argue that under the traditional land claims they rightfully own the land upon which they reside or from which they have been removed.

For more reading see Harvard Kennedy School report by S. Murthy, M. Williams & E. Baskin:  The Human Right to Water in Israel: A Case Study of the Unrecognized Bedouin Villages in the Negev. Working Paper. January 10, 2011.  

Peace,

-S.B.H.

Naqab/Negev Bedouin Music played on a Handmade Harp

Jumma Mubarak (Blessed Friday), 

-S.B.H

Thank You! We Have Reached Our Goal!


Thank you to everyone who has supported our cause, as we have reached our goal We will be able to undertake the fact-finding portion of our mission.


Any additional funds raised will be used to purchase supplies for the Bedouins and Adalah, 
the legal organization advocating for the rights of the villagers. 


Please continue your support by following our blog and spread the word to raise awareness!


Peace,
- A.T.D.

The Unrecognized Communities Obtain Water In Two Ways

1- A Water Center. Photo 1.

• Water Source:  A "water center" located near a legal village.  

• Access:  Limitations are unknown. 

• How: The villagers must independently transport the water back to their homes. 

• Distance: Many kilometers (1 km = 0.6 miles).

• Villagers per water center: Anywhere from 20-100 people use the water coming from one water meter.

• Cost: Unknown.

2- A Roadside Water Pipe (Private Water Access Point).  Photo 2. 

• Water Source: Roadside water pipe. 

• Access:  Villagers may obtain permission from the water committee to establish this private access water point.  Permission is granted only if the applicant can substantiate "special humanitarian considerations" (term used by the Israeli Supreme Court's decision in Abadallah Abu Massad, et al. v. Water Commission & Israel Lands, Administration, 2011). 

• How:  Unclear, but it is not a household connection, thus it appears that the villagers must independently transport the water back to their homes. 

• Distance: Unknown, however the pipe is on the roadside. 

• Villagers per private access point:  Many families.  

• Cost: One person is responsible for collecting payment from other users and paying the water bill. 

Data and Photos obtained from the Harvard Kennedy School report by S. Murthy, M. Williams & E. Baskin:  The Human Right to Water in Israel: A Case Study of the Unrecognized Bedouin Villages in the Negev. Working Paper. January 10, 2011.  


-S.B.H

$3,600 remaining!!!

We are $3,600 short of our goal!!!  If we do not meet the goal, then we cannot undertake the fact-finding portion of the mission.  Please support us today! 

Arizona senator introduces tribal water rights deal

By FELICIA FONSECA Associated PressAssociated Press

Posted:   02/14/2012

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz.—Two northeastern Arizona tribes would waive further claims to water from the Little Colorado River system in exchange for the promise of groundwater delivery projects under legislation introduced Tuesday in Congress. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, who has shepherded other key American Indian water rights settlements through Congress, had asked negotiators for the tribes and 30 other entities to lower the cost of what was once an $800 million agreement so he could introduce the legislation ahead of his planned retirement.

Tribes often trade what could be huge water claims for the promise of federal funding to deliver water to tribal communities. While Kyl's legislation identifies funding sources, the groundwater projects are largely dependent on appropriations and are expected to cost more than $315 million.

The Little Colorado River runs through the southwestern portion of the Navajo Nation. Some Navajos and Hopis strongly believe the tribes have rights to most, if not, all the water and that their governments should fight for it in court.

For more: http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_19961938

-S.C.

BBC In Pictures: Palestinian Bedouin

The BBC has an excellent photo spread on the Palestinian Bedouin:

Click the picture to go to the BBC article

Photo # 6 describes the water-carrying process for these people, and has a picture of the plastic water containers.

- F.B.J.

Israeli Water Law 1959

Water Law, 1959


This law establishes the framework for the control and protection of Israel's water sources (under the responsibility of the Ministers of Agriculture and National Infrastructure and of the Water Commissioner) and includes water pollution prevention provisions (under the responsibility of the Minister of the Environment).

The law states that all sources of water in Israel are public property and that every person is entitled to use water, as long as that use does not cause the salination or depletion of the water resource.

Article 1 states: "The water sources in Israel are the property of the public. They are
controlled by the State and are intended to fulfill the needs of the
population and the development of the country."


Article 4 states: "A person’s right in any land does not confer on him any right over a
water source that is situated in that land, or that passes through it or in
its borders, but the provision of this section does not derogate from the
right of any individual under Section 3."

Article 7 states: "For the purpose of this law, it shall be immaterial whether a right to
water was established by law – including this law – or by agreement,
or custom or any other way, and whether it was established before this
law entered into force or afterwards."

Link:
http://sviva.gov.il/bin/en.jsp?enPage=e_BlankPage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=Object&enDispWho=Articals^l2419&enZone=wat_law

You can find the complete text of Water Law 1959 here:
http://sviva.gov.il/Enviroment/Static/Binaries/Articals/Water_Law_1959.excerpts_1.pdf

-S.C.

A Somewhat Recent Victory for Indigenous Water Rights in the Kalahari Desert

Last January, a Botswana appeals court recognized the right of indigenous Basarwa bushmen to use a well on their traditional land, as reported by the BBC here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12300285

It's not the most recent water rights ruling, but an important victory for an indigenous group's rights to its traditional practices, land, and resources.

- F.B.J.

Forced displacement of Bedouins in the Jordan Valley

These videos are from one of today's posts by Aid Netherlands - a blog/news agency reporting on human rights issues.  While the speakers are Bedouins in the Jordan Valley, rather than Naqab Bedouin, they face similar daily threats and affronts to their basic rights under the Israeli occupation.

The full article is available here: Aid Netherlands - Thousands of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley Risk Forced Displacement, Says UN Body 

- F.B.J.

The History of Water Conflict in Occupied Palestine

A water tank on a rooftop in Al-Khaleel / Hebron, rendered useless after having been shot several times by neighboring settlers.

In many ways, it is impossible to study water rights of the Naqab Bedouins without considering the broader history of water conflicts.  In the Naqab/Negev region, as in much of the Middle East and other water-scarce areas, there is a long history of conflicts exploiting water as a weapon.

One comprehensive study of water conflicts throughout history (including everything from early biblical stories of conflict to events in 2010) makes it appear that the Middle East contains the most fought-over water resources in recorded history.  See: http://www.worldwater.org/conflict/list/.  Of note are many conflicts between Israel and neighboring countries over the Jordan River and other water supplies.

Water also holds a central role in the broader Palestinian/Israeli conflict.  Starting in 1967, Israel claimed state property rights over the water in occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, Sinai, and other areas.  This illegal seizure put 90% of the water in the area under Israeli control.

Although the Oslo Accords in 1994-1995 saw Israeli forces withdraw from some of those areas, and ostensibly included an agreement for equal water sharing between the Israelis and Palestinians, the disparity in water control remains.  Today, most Palestinians in the West Bank must purchase heavily taxed water from Mekorot, an Israeli company, even though much of the water is sourced from within the West Bank.  For an overview of this issue, see: Palestine News Network, Op Ed: Water As a Tool for Continuing Oppression and Injustice.

- F.B.J.

Palestinians' Water Cut 'To A Trickle'

Amnesty International has launched a scathing attack on Israel, accusing it of rationing Palestinians to a "trickle of water".

The human rights organisation says Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are being denied the right to adequate water supplies.

"Israel allows the Palestinians access to only a fraction of the shared water resources, which lie mostly in the occupied West Bank," says the report's author, Donatella Rovera, "while the unlawful Israeli settlements receive virtually unlimited supplies."

It is claimed that total control of water supplies and discriminatory policies allow Israelis to use more than 80% of water from the Mountain Aquifer - the main source of water in the occupied West Bank - compared to only 20% going to Palestinians.

Palestinians are subject to the military orders controlling their use of water, while Jewish settlers in the West Bank are not. They answer to civilian Israeli law.

Israel denies 'rationing' water

The inequitable arrangement allows Jewish settlements, illegal under international law, to maintain swimming pools, lush gardens and irrigated agriculture, while Palestinians are often subject to rationing and shortages, says the report.
Israel disputes the allegations.
"We reject any charge of discriminatory policy," Israeli prime ministerial spokesman Mark Regev told Sky News.
The quantity of water Israel takes from the Mountain Aquifer is now less than it was in 1967, he claims. Israelis consume 66% less fresh water now per head than they did then. Palestinians consume 16% more. Although that still leaves Israelis consuming 70% more fresh water than Palestinians per head.
Teacher and father-of-seven Bassam Qdah has built a concrete water tank to collect rain water in his home in the village of Shukba.
The Israeli army has told him it will be demolished because it was built without a permit.
"We have seven young children," he told Amnesty researchers, "and even if we use it sparingly, we still need quite a bit of water.
"Why would they want to demolish this small cistern? It does not bother anyone and is on my land."

9:22am UK, Tuesday October 27, 2009

Dominic Waghorn, Middle East correspondent

-S.C.

What Bedouin Settlements look like

Here are several photographs which I took this summer, while in Israel, of Bedouin settlements on the side of Highway 1, a major road stretching from Tel Aviv to the Jordanian border. Note that these settlements are located in the West Bank, as opposed to the ones which we will be visiting, which are located in Israel proper.

For comparison, here is a photo of Ma'ale Adumim, one of the largest Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and a large suburb of Jerusalem. Ma'ale Adumim overlooks the above Bedouin communities.

-J.K.

Amnesty Calls for End to Forced Relocation

Just this past Friday, Amnesty International again called for Ehud Barak to end the forced relocation of more than 20 Bedouin communities to a site near the municipal waste dump of Jerusalem.  Nearly 2,300 Bedouins would be affected by the move.  Amnesty points out that this isn't the first relocation, and goes on to describe the living conditions Bedouins would face in their new neighborhood:

Israel forcibly moved Bedouin families to the same area in the late 1990s, placing homes as close as 150 metres to the garbage dump. Bedouin who live there have told Amnesty International that the site was unsuitable to their way of life, that they had had to sell off their livestock due to a lack of grazing areas, and that they suffered high rates of unemployment. Some have returned to the areas from which they had been displaced.  

According to the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, the dump receives up to 1100 tons of garbage per day, most of it from Jerusalem.  The ministry has stated that the dump site creates air pollution, ground pollution, and possible water contamination, is improperly fenced-off, and poses a “danger of an explosion and fires” due to untreated methane gas produced by the decomposition of garbage. 

The Bedouin, while having little or no contact  with Israel authorities about the plan, explained to Amnesty that they reject any plan to relocate, claiming that not only would the standard of living decrease, but that the Bedouin communities would be unable to practice their traditional way of life in the proposed location.

Israeli authorities have said the relocation is a matter of health and safety, particularly access to electricity and water. Amnesty has questioned the validity of that claim:

Israeli officials have emphasized that the displacement plan envisions connecting relocated Bedouin communities to the electricity and water networks. They have not explained why Israel can provide such services to illegal settlements and unrecognized settler outposts in the West Bank, but not to longstanding Bedouin communities. 

The water rights issue is dire, not only in the West Bank, but in the Naqab as well.  Amnesty makes a powerful argument about infrastructure, and some Bedouin groups are claiming Israel is violating international laws prohibiting racism. Stay tuned for that in my next posting.

In the meantime, read the full article and find Amnesty's report here: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/israel-cancel-plan-forcibly-displace-jahalin-bedouin-communities-2012-02-08

D.H.

We Still Need Your Help!

We raised $990 over the weekend, but we still need your help. Please, donate what you can to help this report and our advocacy work move forward. If you can't give financial assistance—spread the word far and wide. We can do great things, but only with everyone's support!

Water Scarcity in Central Asia

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to visit Kazakhstan.  The former capitol, Almaty, is lush—a place almost as gorgeous as Kyrgyzstan to the south.  But in the southwest of Kazakhstan the Aral Sea shimmers in a dry valley, and barely at that.  In the 1960s, when the USSR was in full bore, the sea provided much needed water to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.  The waters of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya (the rivers that fed the sea) were diverted for irrigation.  Since 1960, irrigated land has increased 100 percent, the population in the Aral Sea region by 140 percent, and the volume of the sea has decreased by 66 percent.
The Aral Sea stands out as one of the world's worst man-made "natural" disasters—rivaling Chernobyl, given that the population around the sea has increased.  Today, with the USSR left only in history books, a bittersweet sense of nostalgia in the flailing nations it once propped up, and the spirit of the Duma, Central Asia is left with unrepairable wreckage. And worse yet, there's oil to be had under the ever drying sea bed—a spill could cause even greater misfortune.

The Aral Sea isn't all lost cause, as some report, though it may appear so by first glance at the former ships rusting along the shore, and surfacing like rising dead as the water drops.  Hulled and graffiti'd the trawlers are a constant reminder of the disaster still taking place, but one that can be remedied with political action and smart water policies.  So far, none have taken, or even been raised, by the politically adept and able.  Worse still, nearby lake Balkash may face a similar fate, and likely won't get attention until it too hosts rusting fishing boats.
I spent a day visiting with a group of residents, most were teens and knew the "lake-front" as a place to drink or break bottles.  No one I spoke with thought of the dry sea as a disaster, just life.  What can be done?  The sea will dry, as it has.
I spent the afternoon taking photos—which went to promote a conference on Water Scarcity and

Water Rights in Asia.  They're still some of my favorite photos, probably because there is such a powerful—if not morbid—story behind them.
I'm looking forward to visiting the Negev and, with luck, we'll be able to use our images and information to promote new water policies in Israel before resignation sinks in.  Of course, not all the residents near the Aral Sea were worse off.  Camels don't need much, and the one pictured above seemed perfectly content.

D.H.

Israelis get four-fifths of scarce West Bank water, says World Bank

Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 May 2009

A deepening drought in the Middle East is aggravating a dispute over water resources after the World Bank found that Israel is taking four times as much water as the Palestinians from a vital shared aquifer.

The region faces a fifth consecutive year of drought this summer, but the World Bank report found huge disparities in water use between Israelis and Palestinians, although both share the mountain aquifer that runs the length of the occupied West Bank. Palestinians have access to only a fifth of the water supply, while Israel, which controls the area, takes the rest, the bank said.

Israelis use 240 cubic metres of water a person each year, against 75 cubic metres for West Bank Palestinians and 125 for Gazans, the bank said. Increasingly, West Bank Palestinians must rely on water bought from the Israeli national water company, Mekorot.

In some areas of the West Bank, Palestinians are surviving on as little as 10 to 15 litres a person each day, which is at or below humanitarian disaster response levels recommended to avoid epidemics. In Gaza, where Palestinians rely on an aquifer that has become increasingly saline and polluted, the situation is worse. Only 5%-10% of the available water is clean enough to drink.

The World Bank report, published last month, provoked sharp criticism from Israel, which disputed the figures and the scale of the problem on the Palestinian side. But others have welcomed the study and its findings.

Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli head of Friends of the Earth Middle East, said there was a clear failure to meet basic water needs for both Israelis and Palestinians, and that Israelis were taking "the lion's share".

"The bottom line is there is a severe water crisis out there, predominantly on the Palestinian side, and it will be felt even worse this coming summer," Bromberg said at a conference on the issue in Jerusalem.

He said the Joint Water Committee, established in 1995 with Israelis and Palestinians as an interim measure under the Oslo peace accords, had failed to produce results and needed reform.

The World Bank report said the hopes that the Oslo accords might bring water resources for a viable Palestinian state and improve the life of Palestinians had "only very partially been realised".

It said failings in water resource and management and chronic underinvestment were to blame. In Gaza, the continued Israeli economic blockade played a key role in preventing maintenance and construction of sewage and water projects. In the West Bank, Israeli military controls over the Palestinians were a factor, with Palestinians still waiting for approval on 143 water projects.

"We consider that the efficiency of our aid in the current situation is compromised," said Pier Mantovani, a Middle East water specialist for the World Bank, which is an important source of aid for the Palestinians.

Most went on short-term emergency projects with limited long-term strategic value. It was a "piecemeal, ad hoc" approach, he said.

Yossi Dreisen, a former official and now adviser at the Israeli water authority, disputed the Bank's findings and said many remarks in the report were "not correct". He produced figures suggesting Israeli water consumption per person had fallen since 1967, when Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, while Palestinian consumption had risen.
Israel argues that the water problem should be solved by finding new sources, through desalination and water treatment.

"There is not enough water in this area," said Dreisen. "Something must be done. The solution where one is giving water to the other is not acceptable to us."
However, Fuad Bateh, an adviser to the Palestinian water authority, said Israel continued to have obligations under international law as the occupying power and should allow Palestinians water resources through an "equitable and reasonable allocation in accordance with international law".

He accepted that there was a lack of institutional development and capacity on the Palestinian side, but he said the Palestinians were caught in an unequal, asymmetric dispute. Palestinians had not been allowed to develop any new production wells in the West Bank since the 1967 war.

"Palestinians have no say in the Israeli development of these shared, trans-boundary, water resources," he said. "It is a situation in which Israel has a de facto veto over Palestinian water development."

Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/27/israel-palestinian-water-dispute

World Bank Report: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/Resources/WaterRestrictionsReport18Apr2009.pdf

$3,900 Remaining!

We are $3,900 short of our goal!!!  If we do not meet the goal, then we cannot undertake the fact-finding portion of the mission.  Please support us today! 

"Drip, Jordan", Ben Ehrenrich, Harper's Magazine

"West Bank Palestinians consume an average of 50 litres of water per day. Fill your bathtub about a third full and try using that water to drink, cook, and flush your toilet, and to wash yourself, your clothes, your dishes and (if there is any spare) your floors. That’s precisely half the amount the World Health Organization has determined as necessary to guarantee basic health and sanitation, and a quarter the quantity used by the average Israeli. In the poorest and driest parts of the West Bank, the figure drops to ten litres per day, an amount comparable, according to a 2009 World Bank report, “to that of refugee camps in Congo or Sudan.”

Drip, Jordan

Israel’s water war with Palestine

Ben Ehrenreich, Harper’s magazine, December 2011

We Need Your Support!

We are $4,600 short of our goal.  If we do not meet the goal, then we cannot undertake the fact-finding portion of the mission.  Please support us today! 


Rewards:

For donations of above $50: We add you to our list serve so that you can partake in our events. Past events include a visit to the MET, dinners at authentic ethnic cuisines, and attendance at independent films relating to political/current events.

For donations of above $100: In addition to the list serve addition, we will mail you a handwritten post card from the Naqab/Negev Dessert and

For donations above $250: We will mail you a set of 5 postcards with original photographs depicting the Bedouins, the villagers, and the water access. Additionally, we will mail you a handwritten post card from the Naqab/Negev Dessert and bring back souvenirs from the villages. And add you to our list serve!

All who donate will be invited to attend our final presentation of the gallery of photographs, the video showing, and the final article discussion.

If you have any questions, please email us at right2water@gmail.com.

PROJECT DETAILS: 

In an effort to enhance access to water, we have put together a legal advocacy mission to the Bedouin villages of Naqab.  We will be collaborating with Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, to raise awareness of the inequality faced by minorities regarding their right to water.

The project focuses on the access to water in the villages in Naqab (Negev), a desert region in the south of Israel. 85% of Naqab is used by Israeli Defense Forces for training purposes. The remaining part of Naqab is home to over 180,000 Palestinians, who live in the 35 villages that are not recognized by the Israeli government and therefore are ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash pickup. Most homes in these unrecognized villages are not connected to a sewage system and suffer from an unreliable water supply.  The villagers are not permitted to build permanent structures and thus, cannot build a water system on their own. While there is some progress in the recognition process, the villages are yet to receive water, electricity and garbage services. 

In June 2011, the Israeli Supreme Court concluded that the right to water is grounded in the right to dignity. Nevertheless, the Israeli water authority has not recognized the Supreme Court ruling, claiming that the villages in Naqab are illegal. 

Essentially, our project will focus on the issue of the right to water under Israeli and international laws. The project comprises three major phases: 

Phase I: Conduct research focused on the domestic  and international laws on the right to water and prepare a preliminary research paper prior to leaving New York City (currently underway: see Research Week # 1 and Research week # 2);

Phase II: Fact-finding mission in Naqab:

• Gather research by interviewing individuals including people of Al Araqi, Israeli authorities, the regional council, lawyers representing the villagers etc.,
• Conduct legal research and analysis of the Supreme Court case on the right to water, and
• Determine the distances of each village from sources of water and living conditions in the unrecognized villages of Naqab by taking photos and recording;

Phase III: Assemble a final report containing the research findings including the hurdles faced by Naqab Arabs, and an analysis of  their rights under Israeli and international law and propose potential solutions to the water problem experienced in the area. The report shall provide a detailed account of the activities of student while on-site and be presented to law journals to be published in 2012. 

The fact-finding portion of this project will take place in March 2012. Adalah has just informed us, as of January 31, 2012, that the Water Tribunal rejected Adalah’s appeal to compel the Water Authority to implement the Supreme Court decision and connect three villages to water. The Court accepted the argument of the state that “facts on the ground” indicate that the villager have minimal access to water. We will examine determine the elements that other jurisdictions have examined to establish the standard for “minimal access to water”. 

Accordingly, our fact-finding, reporting and documenting is of exceptional importance. 

As a student run organization, the funding for this project has presented an exciting challenge.  In addition to requiring each participant to personally contribute to the expenses, our Law School has provided us with limited funding with our project. We have reached out to several organizations within our law school. Specifically, the Student Bar Association and the Office of Student Affairs have both contributed to our project. 

For this purpose, we are turning to you, to provide financial support of our project. If you desire, your support will be recognized in our publications. As of February 9, the remaining balance on the budget is $4,600.

           

Your donation will be tax deductible. As a 501(c)(3) entity, the law school will issue the required receipts acknowledging a gift for tax purposes. 

Please feel free to contact us at right2water@gmail.com for more information.  

Sincerely, 

The TEAM

Research Assignment # 2 

1. “Minimal Access to Water” standard 

1. South America - A.S.C.
2. North America and Australia- F.B.J.
3. West Africa - D.N.
4. South Africa - S.B.H.
5. Turkey - A.T.D.
6. Middle East - D.H.
7. Israel- J.K.

1. Background Info paper on Bedouins - A.S.C. 
2. Background Info paper on Naqab Region - J.K., D.H. and F.B.J.
3. Do any other Palestinian territories or Israeli territories with minorities deal with similar water rights problems? 

Update from Adalah - 31 Jan 2012

Appeal Rejected: Need more Facts!

“Your research will be particularly useful as just Sunday, the Water
Tribunal rejected Adalah’s appeal to compel the Water Authority to
implement the Supreme Court decision and connect 3 villages to water.  

The Court accepted the argument of the state that “facts on the ground”
indicate that the villagers do have minimal access to water. 

We need your good reporting and documenting skills to counter their assertions!”

A link to that decision for any Hebrew speakers:
http://www.court.gov.il/BookReader/getbook.asp?path=%5C%5C172.25.40.1... 

Week # 1: Researching Water Rights in Israel by D.H.

Most advocacy research on water rights in Israel focuses on international solutions; information on local water usage tends to be protected within Israel's borders as tightly as information on military exercises.

  Even the Hebrew press has strict orders to submit water information to censors and academics are often left with only official sources for primary data.

  Since 1959, Israel's water has been a "nationalized public good"—property of the state, including water from the Jordan River and two main aquifers, as well as waste, sewer and runoff water.

  Landowners do not own the water under their land and all water rights are allocated by a Water Commissioner who sets water prices, licenses the drilling of wells, and regulates water quality.

  

Steven Plaut explains that Israel's water allocation is based largely on political influence of users (largely farmer and settlers) and that such interests over-consume "with little fear of punishment, fines or reprisals."

  Plaut calls for auctioning water based on a pure market system.

  While such a system will eliminate political inequities, it will likely do little—if not figure detrimentally—for the marginalized Bedouin communities.  Many Bedouin towns in the Naqab aren't even recognized, let alone have the financial means or representation to compete economically or politically for water resources.

  Unrecognized, the Bedouin lack even legal rights within Israel,

 and no formal legal structure exists to advocate for their legal rights internationally.

  

Jonathan Kuttab notes that although Israel considers all water conflicts national matters (both those with the Bedouins and with the occupied territories), there are several controlling international rules that Israel is party to.

  While Kuttab shies from exploring domestic law options in Israel, the international law community—particularly the International Law Association—has noted a global trend toward convergent legal principles in international and domestic law where water rights are concerned.

  The ILA's Berlin Conference Report notes that "there is increasingly explicit support in legal instruments for a right of access to water.

  

Kuttab points to the need for comprehensive data alongside legal arguments and highlights three major water resources that factor into any legal analysis of water issues in Israel: (1) water that originates and discharges completely within the Palestinian territories, (2) riparian waters related to the Jordan River, and (3) rainfall that feeds the two main aquifers within the State of Israel.

  The latter two apply aptly to the Bedouin in the Naqab—which have suffered significant disparities in water availability alongside the Palestinians.

  

While Kuttab focuses on the need for accurate data, other commentaries on the research and advocacy of water rights note the equal importance of public participation.

  Jeffrey Dornbos contends that public participation is important in resolving any transboundary dispute [which more closely resembles the Bedouin conflict than most typical local water rights disputes] because the more democratic process can reach the community interests more accurately, and because the community is in a better place to relate important facts and information about the situation.

  Such information gathering is essential to alleviating the difficulties posed by Israel's tight restrictions on water data.

Week # 1: Israeli Legal Background on Water Rights by J.K.

Recently, the Israeli Supreme Court, sitting as the Court for Civil Appeals, released a landmark decision in the area of water rights. In Abadallah Abu Massad v. Water Commissioner, the Court held that while the right to water is a basic human right, undeniable to all individuals, that right is not absolute, and must be balanced against the interests of the state.

The appellants, a collection of Bedouins who lived in communities that Israel considers illegal settlements, appealed to the high court a denial by the Israel Water Authority (IWA) of their request for water connections to be placed near their homes. The appellants argued that the method in which they received water, which was to travel to “water centers” in which they could buy water and transport it themselves to their communities, was so onerous as to violate their basic right to human dignity. The court has previously held that, for unrecognized communities, “direct” connections may only be established when justified by “special humanitarian concerns.”

The Court first held that the right to water is an inherent part of the right to human dignity, a right codified in the Basic Law on Human Dignity and Liberty. (FN: Israel does not have a formal constitution in the vein of the United States, and its basic laws serve as its constitution). However, the Court cautioned, this right is not absolute; it must be balanced against the state’s legitimate interests.

The Court’s standard in assessing whether or not the appellants’ right outweighed the interest of the state in denying their appeal to the IWA was that of reasonability and proportionality. The Court invoked Israel’s policy of relocating Bedouins to planned communities, calling it a valid state interest. The Court went on to speak of the problems inherent within illegal Bedouin settlements, including challenges in the areas of planning and construction, issues with the protection of property, and the disregard for the law. The Court especially focused on the latter point, holding that “a civilized and well-managed country cannot accept a situation where a group of people make a law for themselves, which opposes the rules of public order and law, and exceeds the realms of a normal society.” Therefore, the Court held that the broad policy of the IWA “withstood the test of relevance, reasonableness and proportionality.” This test is analogous to, in the United States, determining that the state’s purported interest has met the “legitimate government interest” prong of the rational basis test.

The Court then went on to examine each appellant’s case in its particular individualized context, to determine whether or not the particular circumstances outweighed the state’s interest. The Court held that three of the appellants’ claims did not, while three needed additional examination in order to properly decide.

There is interesting dicta at the end of the opinion which speaks of the dilemma that the state of Israel faces in regard to the Bedouin. On the one hand, the court says, the Bedouin are human beings who are entitled to the right to human dignity. But on the other hand, the phenomenon of illegal settlements is one which defies the law of the state of Israel. The court illustrates this dilemma by writing:

“...the State is responsible for ensuring the basic access of a person to water sources in Israel, even if he resides on land that is not his...even if he has violated the foundations of the rule of law. One must find the balance between the demand for keeping the law and its appropriate enforcement and the concern for a person’s basic and existential need for water, even if he does not abide by the law.”