Palestinian National Authority Ministry of Environmental Affairs

(MEnA)

 

 

 

Report on the Israeli Aggression Against Palestinian Environment During Al-Aqsa Intifada

 

 

 

29/9/2000 - 9/11/2000

 

 

Forward

 

The well being of the Palestinian public depends in the short run on the political stability, peace process headway which induce the guarantee of land property and natural resources. In the long run, it is the health of this land and the related sustain of varied natural resources to underwrite the prosperity of the Palestinian society with diverse local communities.

 

During the Al-Aqsa Intifada and ruthless Israeli retaliation, Palestinians have been imposed under comprehensive siege on the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem. Hence, we are very alarmed at the current situation that is worse than we have previously experienced. 

 

Through this analytical and statistical account of the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people and their environment, we have documented the environmental effects of the on-going total transgression imposed by the Israeli occupying authorities. This report has been a result of conducting daily monitoring and documentation of the most devastating effects of the continuous aggression against Palestinian lives, reported through most of local, regional and international news and broadcasting channels.

 

We would extremely appreciate that our friends in this earth, partner organizations and international institutions will do their best to bring an end to the escalating violence which threatens the lives of so many in the most sacred lands on earth for all religious traits. This unprecedented ethnic collective punishment endangers not only the god-given right to life but extends to the basic elements of decent dignified life through which may ensure the integrity of the natural resources and wild life habitats. 

 

 

Minister of Environmental Affairs

Former United States Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, noted: “As we move into the 21^st century, the nexus between security and the environment will become even more apparent.” The IUCN and most concerned international organizations have recognized the importance of this issue and put in place the concept of "Human Security" which aims at empowering disadvantaged groups, addressing social and gender inequities, strengthening basic human rights and enhancing the control of local people over their local resource base. All proactive environmental forces in the world work together to conserve nature and ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.

 

Damage to nature affects the basic ability of people to survive, creates economic hardship, increases the flow of refugees, diminishes public health, encourages internal migration, empower political upheaval, spurs ethnic disputes and threatens our food supply. Although the environmental pressures are rarely the only, or even the primary, reason for conflict, there is a surprisingly common correlation between environmental degradation on one hand and social disruption and conflict on the other. A prime example is the Israeli-Palestinian struggle.

 

The on going Palestinian-Israeli conflict has peeked in the tail-end months of the current year, 2000, and showed its ugliest face in the form of the Israeli aggressions against not only the Palestinian people but their environment as well. Palestinian men, women and children are being victimized through all sorts of unjustified cruelties against their economic welfare, social stability, environmental assets and their basic human right to, simply, live.

 

Most influential part of any environment is, undoubtedly, the human being. In excess of 180 were brutality killed and thousands where injured; some are clinically dead and some sustained an ever lasting disability. Amnesty International states in its report dated Oct. 19, 2000 that "Israeli security forces have repeatedly resorted to excessive use of lethal force in circumstances in which neither the lives of the security forces nor others were in imminent danger, resulting in unlawful killings". The report goes on to assert that "the security forces have impeded access of the wounded to medical assistance in a number of cases." French TV crew have captured the cold-blooded killing of Mohammad Al-Dura but not the ambulance driver who tried to rescue him and his father. Bassam Al-Bilbaysi, the ambulance driver working for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, died after Israeli troop shot him in the chest at Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip in an ambulance. At the time Bassam and his colleague were reportedly trying to approach Muhammad Al-Dura and his father who both had gunshot wounds; they had been fired on by Israeli soldiers. In another immoral and arrogant assault against women and religion, Israeli military thugs have blinded a Palestinian woman in Jerusalem after her declining taking off her Vail, in accordance with Islam basic principles. Blindness has emerged as a direct result of inhumane battering with rifle-ends the woman has sustained (Palestinian Broadcast Channel).

 

Aljazeera.com accounted for the death of Asil 'Asleh, aged 17, who had been a supporter of "Seeds of Peace", a group which worked for Jewish-Arab friendship…[he] was wearing his Seeds of Peace T-shirt when he was shot down". Dr. Stephen Males of Amnesty International wrote that "The Israeli security services were almost invariably well-defended, located at a distance from demonstrators in good cover, in blockhouse, behind wire or well-protected by riot shields, and the stones had little effect. Certainly, stones- or even petrol bombs- cannot be said to have endangered the lives of Israeli security services in any of the instances examined by Amnesty International."  On November 9, 2000 Israeli warplanes have stricken a civilian car and its occupants in Beit Sahur in bright daylight. The occupant of the car and two bystander women have instantly died, where eight others have sustained various injuries. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson made it clear that he felt that every death caused by the IDF was justified by saying: "This is a warfare situation" and "We could have made ten times more causalities".

 

Al Quds Al-Arabi reported on Nov 9, 2000 that the total killed has reached 180, the wounded are 9000, the clinically dead are 280 and 2000 disabled as per the following statistics published by the Ministry of Health:

Table 1 : Deaths and Injuries toll (as of Nov.9, 2000)

 

Far from the smoky, rock scattered Palestinian streets, The Israelis are waging a second secret war. This second offensive is being fought not with bullets, or tanks, but with the axe, curfews and bulldozers in the heartland of Palestine. Hidden from the eyes of the media, the war against nature is just as deadly as the daily street confrontations that make the daily headlines and TV newscasts. According to Addameer Organization, which is based in Jerusalem, Israel's "war aims at weakening the Palestinians financially, and exhausting their societal structure."

 

Israeli's agricultural, environmental and socio-economic war plans are not, however, new but were born and implemented during the first Intifada, 87. Three deadly strategies are embodied in imposing curfews for months at a time, besieging villages and cities by fracturing transportation links, and preventing Palestinians from working either in Palestine or in Israel.

 

Now, during the current Al-Aqsa Intifada, "deorchardization" and harassment of farmers have been added to the deadly triad of strategies. In the North of the West Bank, in Nablus, Tulkarem, Hossan, Salfeet, Jenin, Qalquilia and many areas around, most of citizens declared that they have been exploited by settlers protected by military troops. Beit Forik Municipality has reported that 14.0 tons of its olive crops have been burglarized and no less than 18 olive trees were uprooted. Elsewhere, IDF troops and settlers have terrorized women and children with cutting-edge assault weapons, punched them in a way that completely prevents crop cultivation. Another wont used, as witnessed by farmers, is to ostracize people and arrest them if they do not comply with military orders and hence return home.

 

Similarly in Gaza, the Ministry of Agriculture has reported that the Israeli Army has uprooted all olives and orange trees and bulldozed 24000 m² of land surrounding the martyrs' crossroads (Netzarim Crossroads) and 1.0 hectare of agricultural land near Dougit settlement in the north area of Gaza Strip. . Farmers are also banned from attempting to gather the olives from the uprooted trees, because the orchards were closed to all Palestinian residents. As for settlers, Al Quds Newspaper, dated 14 and 25/10/2000 reported that settlers with military consent and presence robbed tons of villagers' yields in the area of Jenin.

 

Figure 1 : Sweeping of 2.40 ha of Orange and Lemon Fields.

The overall damage of agricultural land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are distributed in the following table and highlighted in the annexed map.

Table 2 : Damage to Agriculture Lands in West Bank and Gaza Strip

Source: MEnA

 

According to Ministry of Environmental Affairs (MEnA), villagers in Al-Arroub and Wadi Al-Quf isolated from the surrounding cities have used wild shrubs and trees as an alternative heating fuel instead of the natural gas they've been deprived of due to the Israeli blockade enforced upon them. This blockade has forced Palestinians to open by-pass roads through agricultural lands in order to reach their homes safely. . Meanwhile, several consequential infrastructure projects were suspended earlier than planned in Ramallah and Nablus, where 13km road stretch was stopped and Jenin-Ramallah highway refrained.

 

Even in the villages where orchards have not been destroyed, the Israeli occupation forces have made it impossible for Palestinian farmers to harvest their olives by a vicious combination of curfews and attacks by both Israeli army units and Israeli settlers. Albawaba.com reported that as of October 28, Huwarra-Nablus was in its twenty-first and Hebron in its twenty-eighth day of curfew making it impossible for their Palestinian inhabitants to farm the land. Particular vicious attacks by Jewish farmers have been reported almost daily. On 24^th October, Huwarra residents were attacked by armed settlers while attempting to harvest their olives and one day later, there were many reports of Israeli settlers attacking olive farmers in the Bethlehem area. Some villagers who farm, raise livestock, cereal grains, or vegetables, and most of those who harvest olives, figs, cactus pears, guava and banana have not escaped the military aggression and harassment.

 

 

According to MEnA, total damage reported in Jenin of crop loss has amounted to US$ 21,210. On the larger scope, Green Palestine Project in the West Bank implemented by Ministry of Agriculture has totally ceased and agricultural roads and various land reclamation projects are frozen as well.

As the cost of feeding livestock soars and more land is confiscated, economic self-sufficiency is on the decline. The socio-economic impact of this agricultural catastrophe is reported by pna.net as 12% decline in agricultural revenue since farmers found it impossible to freely access appropriate markets. Statistically, the Palestinian economy has plunged by 50% in Gaza Strip and 31% in West Bank.

Figure 2 : Destruction of Agricultural Fields in Southern Area of Gaza Strip.
The damage reported has exceeded the agricultural sector to effect animal production and Biodiversity in all Palestinian districts. MEnA reports that animal and agro-biodiversity have been drastically damaged by the current situation. The excessive use of military weapons and dangerous chemicals have frightened animals and birds away and killed various types of plants in battle fields. Bird watchers have reported significant decline and, in some cases, disappearance of numbers and kinds of migratory birds used to pass over the area to their final destination (refer to biodiversity maps). Hebron Municipality reported that Israeli troops were deliberately shooting cats, dogs and other domestic animals in downtown Hebron to add to the daily and environmental misery. Their remains were later left to rot and municipality crews were prohibited from eliminating them out of the way.

 

Al-Ayyam newspaper dated 29/10/2000 reported that in Jericho, Bee Harvesting Sector has been severely damaged due to the spread of seasonal diseases on the account of the limited access to healthier beehives located near Israeli settlements where fear of getting attacked or shot is paramount. MEnA has conducted a study and reported that in excess of 276 beehives have been eliminated with a total loss of US$ 40,755, in Jenin alone. The Ministry of Agriculture has reported devastating damage in both fisheries and animal production: Having fallen from the top of the priority list, farms and fisheries have regressed and their yield have plunged into substantial national expense opposed to revenue, as originally intended.

 

Figure 3 : Bombardment of Gaza Harbor.

 

On the same day, both Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda newspaper and Hebron Municipality reported that the accumulated solid waste in downtown Hebron (H2) was becoming an environmental disaster and a health hazard. Due to the continued curfew that lasted a month, then, municipality and volunteers were unable to collect the accumulated waste in so many blockaded areas. Several NGOs and volunteers have tried to dispose of the heaped piles of refuse but were shot at by the Israeli forces. This led the problem to escalate to the extent that all hospitals were put on additional state of emergency to deal with air and water-borne diseases resulting from insects and rodents breeding on the waste and the leachate generated from these piles. In the light of these serious developments and in the dawn of the exclusive entry of all wastes generated from the Israeli settlements and cities into the dumping sites located within the PA territories, MEnA has compiled the harsh reality of this important environmental crimes in the following table and annexed maps. 

Table 3 : Solid and Hazardous Waste Accumulation in PT.