Tuesday, October 27, 2009

MFA: Response to Amnesty International's report on Israeli-Palestinian water issues

Response to Amnesty International's report on Israeli-Palestinian water
issues

27 Oct 2009
Israel has fulfilled all its obligations under the water agreement regarding
the supply of additional quantities of water to the Palestinians, and has
even extensively surpassed the obligatory quantity.
(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesperson) The Israel-Palestinian water policy is based on an interim agreement between
the two parties, particularly on Article 40 of Annex III to the agreement,
which relates to the question of water and sewage. According to the
agreement, 23.6 million cubic meters of water will be allocated to the
Palestinians annually. In actual effect, they have access to twice as much
water.

Israel has fulfilled all its obligations under the water agreement regarding
the supply of additional quantities of water to the Palestinians, and has
even extensively surpassed the obligatory quantity. The Palestinians, on the
other hand, have significantly violated their commitments under the water
agreement, specifically regarding important issues such as illegal drilling
(they have drilled over 250 wells without the authorization of the Joint
Water Commission) and handling of sewage. (The Palestinians are not
constructing sewage treatment plants, despite their obligation to do so and
the important foreign funding earmarked for this purpose).

Data regarding consumption of fresh natural water clearly shows Israel's
fair treatment of Palestinian requirements:

In 1967, Israel's per capita consumption of fresh natural water was 508
(m3/person/year). In 2008, it dramatically dropped to 149. The Palestinian
figures for the
same consumption went from 86 (in 1967) to 105 (in 2008).

Israel has offered to supply Palestinians with desalinated water, but this
possibility is systematically rejected due to political motivations.

While Israel has significantly reduced its use of fresh natural water since
1967, consistently closing the gap between Israeli and Palestinian
consumption, it remains unclear how Amnesty's claims of "discriminatory
policies" towards Palestinians can sustain the trial of reality. The authors
of the report chose to ignore Israeli data, papers and reports, although
they contain verifiable facts presented with total transparency. This
questionable approach, which consists in systematically disregarding
Israeli material while relying exclusively on Palestinian allegations,
raises doubts as to the real intentions of the report's authors and of the
organization itself.

A thorough report on the issue of water between Israel and the Palestinians
can be consulted on the website of the Israel Water Authority.
www.water.gov.il/NR/rdonlyres/A111EFEF-3857-41F0-B598-F48119AE9170/0/WaterIssuesBetweenIsraelandthePalestinians.pdf

Comment: Of course we are correct and possess the moral high ground. The problem, AGAIN, is the PR damage has been done. Notice, we offer a "Response"-we should have anticiapated this-next up, Israeli only roads-wait for it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

one of the most dirtiest organisation in the world is amnesty international .
the are very good to critics israel but never arab country .
the dirty as some can be dirty one sided . like united nation .
never criticized american police or any america violation of the law or European country
no any Palestinian organisation that kill Israeli the support murder . amnesty international . pinko communist that support murder.
all the report base on fabrication and lie .
greenfeld