Dorothy, an Israeli activist, forwarded the following message from Fareed, a villager in Qira, in the Salfit region of the West Bank, south of Nablus and near the major Israeli settlement of Ariel. The town faces an acute water shortage directly caused by the diversion of water by Israeli occupation authorities, and requests urgent action. Details follow.

Dorothy Noar (dor_naor@netvision.net.il)
URGENT HELP NEEDED; WATER CRISIS IN PALESTINE
Sun, 19 Jun 2005

Dear All,

Fareed, below, calls attention to the water crisis in Qira--while settlers use the water for swimming and gardens, the residents of Qira are deprived of water. Among the several consequences for the villagers is one that Fareed omits to mention: a high proportion of children in Qira suffer from kidney problems. One possible reason for this, it has been suggested, is insufficient water. Water problems are endemic for Palestinians throughout the West Bank. For more information about the problems and their sources, see:

B'tselem [the Hebrew for 'In the Image of'; a human rights org.]
http://www.btselem.org/English/Water/Index.asp
[click on each of the topics on the right side of the screen for an overview of the problem]

PHG [Palestinian Hydrology Group] -- after the link, click on "background", and read as many of the items as you can.
http://www.phg.org/campaign/campaign/campaign.html

Fareed's appeal follows, and after that a few addresses to protest to. In addition to these, please write to your local authorities that might be able to pressure Israel to change the situation, and to inform them, wherever in the world you live.

Best, Dorothy

From: Fareed T

Dear friends,

Every summer, the Palestinians suffer from the water
crisis, when the Israeli authorities slow down the running
volume of water which feed the Palestinian communities.
this summer, Israel began that procedure very early. Since
more than 2 weeks, the village of Qira (my Village) and
other villages suffering from disconnected water, now the
crisis is very serious, the villagers are thirsty and very
angry. There is no water in the pipes and the reserved rain
water in the wells is finished.

The village council of Qira, wrote many letters to: the
DCO [District Coordinating Officer], Israeli water company,
the ministry of local government, Palestinian authority of
water who told us the crisis is caused by the Israelis, who are
not responding to our appeals.

On behalf of the villagers of Qira, I appeal to provide
help for the residence in the village.

The water goes to settlers to irrigate their gardens and
to fill their swimming pools while we are prevented to use
water for drinking.

Note: the average Israeli settler consumes 7 times as much water as
the Palestinian. [Not because Palestinians don't need or
want the water, but because they don't have it. Dorothy]

with regards,
Fareed
====================================================
Please protest the situation to the following:

Dan Naveh, Minister of Health
Phone from abroad +972 2-675 3754
from Israel 02 675 3754
Fax 02 675 3750
email: dnaveh@knesset.gov.il

Ophir Pines-Pas Minister of Internal Affairs
Telephone [from abroad the prefix +972 2] 02 675 3754

02 675 3953
Fax

02 649 6171
email pinespaz@knesset.gov.il

Shalom Simhon Minister of Environment
email only
ssimhon@knesset.gov.il

See our last post on land and water occupation on the West Bank.