Water is a human right

Collecting water in the West Bank Palestine

Water is a human right, a basic need, most of us would agree. The UN recognized in 2010 that access to clean water in sufficient quantities was essential to achieve the rights spelled out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Yet every summer, Palestinians in the northern West Bank – the bread basket of Palestine – are unable to access sufficient water and become dependent on the occupier, paying Israel to buy back their own water. Israel has prevented Palestinians from maintaining their water infrastructure and controls all Palestinian water resources, taking 87% of them and leaving 13% for the Palestinians.

But every year in the hot summer, water to Palestinian villages is cut off for days and weeks while illegal settlements are not affected. See Al-Jazeera article on water as a domination tool.

Now Israel has admitted cutting the Palestinian water supply but says the PA is to blame! See Haaretz article here. Drastic cuts/sweltering heat/Ramadan fasting, and the cuts will last all summer according to Israel's Mekorot water company.

We think of our farmers in the West Bank, and this additional injustice, and remember MLK's words: The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. How long must we wait for justice?