Waterless Palestinian Village's Plight Illustrates Weakness of Oslo II Pact

By Allegra Pacheco

The Palestinian village of Obadiyya outside of Jerusalem has been without water for more than a year. The Israeli water company in the occupied territories—Mekorot—has been pumping just enough water into the local piping system to reach the neighboring Israeli settlements of Maale Adumim and Qedar, while Obadiyya remains dry.

In 1994, the residents of Obadiyya petitioned the Israeli High Court to compel the Israeli occupying authorities to supply water. Fearing an outright scandal, the Israeli authorities promised to supply water immediately, and on that promise, lawyers for Obadiyya withdrew the petition. One year passed, and the village still had no water. The villagers recently submitted another petition and another hearing was scheduled. Two weeks before they were to stand before the Supreme Court again, the Israeli authorities promised for the second time that the village would receive water.

Israel's Hold Complete

Since 1967, the Israelis have had a complete hold on the Palestinian natural water supply, issuing numerous military orders and restrictions that still are in effect even after the signing of Oslo II. All Palestinian wells in the occupied territories remain under a strict Israeli system of controls and permits which prevent Palestinians from drilling new wells to replace those that have been taken over for Israeli use or rehabilitating those that have dried from Israeli over-pumping for expanding Jewish settlements. Excessive over-pumping by Israeli wells, whether located in the occupied territories or within Israel's borders, has severely damaged original Palestinian wells and has markedly decreased the quality of the ground water.

The underlying objective of the Israeli apartheid-water policy in the West Bank has been to restrict pumping from Palestinian wells to a bare minimum to preserve the largest volume of usable ground water for Israeli use. Indeed, in 28 years of occupation, only 23 wells have been dug for a population of over 1 million Palestinians. By contrast, Mekorot has drilled 32 wells to serve Jewish settlers in the West Bank numbering no more than 100,000 persons.

The water shortage has created a macabre form of "Prohibition" in the West Bank. Palestinians from Obadiyya and elsewhere are forced to buy water in small quantities on the black market at the rate of 20 New Israeli Shekels (one U.S. dollar equals roughly three shekels) per cubic meter. Meanwhile the cost for Jews receiving water through the Israeli water company is 2-3.5 NIS per cubic meter.

Palestinian agriculture is virtually on the same level as it was in 1967.

Israeli exploitation of Palestinian water resources for Jewish settlers and Israeli cities completely violates the letter and the spirit of international law. Under the Hague Regulations governing the conduct of military occupiers (which Israel accepts as legally binding) the plundering of the property and resources of the occupied population is expressly forbidden. Article 33 prohibits pillage in any form, and Article 55 states:

The Occupying Power may not requisition foodstuffs, articles...available in the occupied territory, except for use by the occupation forces and the administration personnel [i.e., the IDF] and then only if the requirements of the civilian population have been taken into account.

The plundering of Palestinian water sources by the Israelis is only part of the destructive policies in force in the occupied territories that have devastated Palestinian society. The confiscation of over 65 percent of West Bank land, coupled with the drying up of thousands of dunams by diverting the water, has virtually destroyed a large sector of the Palestinian economy. Palestinian agriculture is virtually on the same level as it was in 1967. Since the Israeli occupation, only three new wells have been dug for Palestinian agricultural use. Further, the water rationing for Palestinians has forced Palestinian agriculture to become seasonally rainwater dependent, reducing its competitiveness with Israeli year-round agriculture nourished by plentiful irrigation systems using water from many of the West Bank aquifers closed to Palestinian farmers.

Oslo II provides no relief from this drought. Indeed, Palestinian negotiators have agreed to postpone discussion of critical water issues until the establishment of a joint committee designed to "protect the interests of both sides." The subjugation and exploitation of Palestinian land continues.

No Legal Claim

By agreeing to participate in a joint committee protecting "both sides," Palestinian negotiators have effectively legitimized the Israeli claim to Palestinian water supplies. But no such claim legally exists. The Israeli occupiers have no right whatsoever to Palestinian water resources. The fact that Israeli citizens need the water resources does not give them the right to claim them.

Nor is there any legitimate claim regarding water for the Jewish settlements whose presence in the West Bank violates all international norms and is considered illegitimate by every nation-state including the United States. Under international law, the Jewish settlers have never had and do not have any legitimate basis to continue residing in the occupied territories, nor to demand a share of Palestinian water.

And yet under Oslo II, Palestinian negotiators have agreed to discuss the Israeli demands, exposing how successful the Israelis have been in legitimizing the Jewish settlements and their confiscation of Palestinian resources, and the extent to which the Palestinians have been duped into relinquishing sovereign rights over these natural resources before the discussions even begin. Instead of forcing negotiations on dismantling the settlements and transferring sovereignty over water in the West Bank back to the indigenous Palestinians, the Palestinian members of this joint committee have from the outset cornered themselves into an agenda focusing on sustaining the green lawns and swimming pools of Israeli settlements in Maale Adumim and Qedar with water from desiccated villages like Obadiyya.

In a "normal" withdrawal from occupation, the occupying power would set up a joint committee to discuss arrangements for paying the Palestinians for a constant water supply. Under Oslo II and its twisted norms, the withdrawing Israeli power continues to have legitimate rights to the natural resources of the territories it no longer occupies.

Allegra Pacheco is a staff attorney for the Society of St. Yves, a human rights/legal aid office in Jerusalem. The Society is representing the Obadiyya village in its petition to the Israeli High Court.