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.

Source: MEnA

 

The "domino effect" of these curfews continues; the medical wastes produced in the hospitals are not being disposed of properly. Transportation means to central and regional dumping facilities are being cut-off (i.e. Bethlehem hospitals dispose their waste in Hebron) and local Autoclaving units are overwhelmed and often inoperable. With the numbers of wounded, clinically dead and the sick sky rocketed, most this lethal and dangerous waste found its way to the already accumulated municipal solid waste. Ministry of Health reports extreme difficulties in dealing with the situation, and warns of a looming epidemic that will out-last the current uprising. As a consequence, both MEnA and Ministry of Health have put their cadres on alert to deal with urgent medical outbreaks and environmental deterioration.

 

On the larger scale, regional and local disposal sites serving the entirety of the West Bank are blocked off, where access is prohibited not only by actual military presence on sites, but through roads and cities disconnection, as emphasized in the annexed maps. Concurrently, the Hebron-Bethlehem joint landfill project funded by the European Investment Bank has come to a discordant halt as well as the preparation for the GTZ/KFW solid waste project intended for implementation in Ramallah. In Jenin, the World Bank sanitary landfill project has stopped, and two projects in Tulkarem (the installation of an Incinerator in Anabta along with Italian landfill project) have been upheld indefinitely.

 

The situation in Gaza Strip is not any better: MEnA has reported that numerous solid waste piles have been cumulating last month and collection efforts have gone fruitlessly, due to the continued closure of transportation routes to disposal sites and prolonged harassment of municipality workers who tried incessantly to remove the existing garbage. Reports have stated those municipality employees and volunteer workers have been the targets of Israeli guns, even while collecting the trash overnight.

 

In the same concern, MEnA delegates stated that during confrontations with Israeli troops, certain unknown radioactive shimmer was detected and observed when high strength light beams are used to illuminate the area of concern. In the same consideration, His Excellency The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Dr. Yousef Abu Safieh, has submitted a formal request to the Arab Ministers of Environment Session held in Cairo, November 1^st, 2000, to call upon the international community to drive Israeli Government to shut down the nuclear plant located in Dimona, where radioactive testing of dangerous and various substances are under way. This plant has been erected under mysterious conditions and has not been subjected to safety evaluation by impartial international committee(s)- as the norm is- and is out-dated and should be shut down for the overall safety of the whole region. Albawaba.com reports that it is widely believed that the reactor is capable of producing the plutonium needed for atomic bombs and up to 200 nuclear warheads are stored at the plant.

 

On a different note, International Red Cross Society has, reportedly, requested a sample of the new tear gas mixture used to disperse stone-throwers and was rejected harshly. This new weapon results in dizziness, vomiting, severe headaches and frequent pass outs, asthma and nervous disorders. The excessive use of this material might (and did) lead to suffocation and ultimately death. On November 5^th, a 23-day old baby girl innocently died after losing her breath to a teargas bomb in Hebron, Al-Quds reports.

 

In Tulkarem, Palestinians have burnt down three Israeli owned and operated factories that have long been a source of nuisance and extreme pollution. One of the factories specialized in Gas-Bottling, the other in Fiberglass production and the last was of a chemical processing nature. All in all, this chemical warfare against the Palestinian people has dour effects on air quality, soil fertility and underground water profile that cannot be foreseen or estimated and that will sure be left to our future generations to endure. Notably, the increase of use of bullets and different weaponry has drove the concentration of heavy metals (i.e. Pb) to ascend to unprecedented proportions in the soil and water ways, which ultimately will find its way through the food web into human diet.

UNICEF-Geneva has reported on the 28^th of October that most of the Palestinian cities and all the villages are suffering from water shortages due to the inhuman Israeli attacks. Along the same lines, it was reported in Al-Quds that most of wells in the vicinity of settlements and across Palestinian land have been destroyed by repeated settlers' attacks. Moreover, the water distribution networks were damaged and water lines were broken. In Halhul-Hebron, Israeli bulldozers have dugout tunnels at city entrances to nullify intra-city transportation deliberately ruining existing water networks, leaving thousands of people thirsty, depending strictly on rainfall. In Jenin, the main water pump was rendered useless due to the repeated power outage and parts imprisonment in Israeli airports. Elsewhere in Ramallah, citizens were forced to utilize the heavily polluted water wells in Ain Areek and Ain Qinya.

 

Noise pollution has also recorded an acute presence in the Palestinian environment these past weeks. World Health Organization (WHO) reports that "social survey data indicate that stress related disturbance is considered to be a major environmental noise effect" Noise levels during Israeli bombings and in confrontation arenas has exceeded by far safety thresholds (80-100 dB LAeq) set by various international institutions. Although not reported in hospitals, the stress levels resulting from those noisy conditions are reflected evidently in the daily life practices (i.e. interference with communication, annoyance responses, and effects on sleep, the cardiovascular and psychophysiological systems, performance, productivity, and social behavior). Babies, children and women are particularly more sensitive to noise during sleep than men and account for most of the stress-related sickness reported worldwide.

 

Coastal management efforts in Gaza are threatened to reach the point of no return. MEnA reports that the on going LIFE project aiming at rehabilitation of the virtually damaged 40-kilometer shore is now crippled. Coastal aquifer management programs (CAMPS) intended to improve the water situation for approximately 1.20 million Palestinians over the next 20 years has missed the implementation of its second phase due to the experts pull out from the whole area as a consequence of the extremely volatile situation.

 

Wastewater disposal problems have also surfaced during this holy uprising. In Tulkarem and Jenin, Israeli forces have prevented municipalities' crews to access the wastewater treatment stations to carryout their usual duties. Reportedly in Ramalla/Al-Bireh, cesspits- the most wide spread, and in many areas the only, wastewater disposal means in the Palestinian territories- has suffered from lack of regular maintenance and emptying due to road blockades and frequent attacks on villagers and equipment. Municipalities narrated tens of cesspits have been bombarded by Israeli Air Force and were rendered unusable. Destruction to those especially in refugee camps has eliminated access to them and revoked their treatment capacities. Most of the local cesspits are ill designed and maximize infiltration of its contents to groundwater and ultimately to human diet.

 

Wastewater disposal has been a long established problem between the Israeli and Palestinian parties. Settlements are constructed on mountain tops and hill summits and the generated wastewater is allowed to flow down to the surrounding Palestinian lands. MEnA, Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem (ARIJ) and several NGOs have repeatedly noted microbiological pollution detected in agricultural crops produced from fields surrounding Israeli settlements and factories. Several projects have been instated to counterattack this flagrant aggression against Palestinians. These projects have been building momentum for the past several years to where they're able to minimize most of the negative effects of these practices. Nowadays, all of these projects are halted and the painful effects experienced for the past thirty years are resurfacing again. The indicators of this regress are the rivers of flowing sewage, the microbiological destruction of crop yields and sewage pouring into the Palestinian houses bordering the settlements.

 

Israel 's continuous direct and undirect humiliation and control over Palestinian life have hampered the development of environment, social and economic fabric that could address important humanitarian needs. The limited independence enjoyed by PA Ministries across West Bank and Gaza Strip makes it very difficult to improve the infrastructure needed to alleviate the wide range of hardships facing Palestinians.

 

Some of the projects deeply affected in the environmental sector are those reported in Gaza. Substantial wastewater treatment plants and tangible sewerage projects had come to a complete cessation. Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) agrees with MEnA on the fact that the nationally important wastewater treatment plants and sewerage projects being implemented in different districts have suffered deterioration and significant regress. Hence, MEnA has sought alternative venues and steps to help alleviate the environmental torment resulting from these projects' disruption. Mainly, an Emergency Committee has been enacted to entertain public complaints and respond accordingly.

 

Similarly, MEnA has faced the same fate in its environmental projects. The National Strategy and Action Plan to Combat Desertification meeting scheduled to be held in October was cancelled and resulted in delaying the final decision indefinitely. The Biodiversity Country Study was doomed alike after two final reading sessions and approval meetings were postponed. Project Development Fund for nature reserves (IUCN/GEF) to develop a workplan to manage the newly acquired nature reserve in Eastern Slopes and the Italian project working on Environmental Legislation were frozen as well.

 

International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) projects being implemented since 1996 has claimed disastrous consequences in all its schemes as illustrated in the following table and annexed maps.

 

Table 4 :  Economic Loss and Environmental Impacts for the Projects to Combat Desertification

Source: MEnA

Conclusion

 

During the Al-Aqsa Intifada and ruthless Israeli retaliation, the Palestinian environment has sustained more damage than it had over the passed years. Given the already deteriorated state of environment in Palestine, the breakdown of the projects intended to improve the current status has served these efforts a fatal blow. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has raised to another level and the Israeli aggression has adopted other forms. The Palestinian people have been exposed to new types of pollution that includes certain unknown radioactive shimmer used with spotlights illuminating demonstration fields. Palestinians were also subjected to new type of teargas that causes dizziness, vomiting, severe headaches and frequent pass outs, asthma and nervous disorders.

 

The Israeli occupying authorities continue to impose a total siege on the whole of the Palestinian Territories. This policy of collective punishment against the Palestinian people in the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza Strip is a blatant violation of internationally accepted standards of human rights. This policy has destructive effects on the lives of the Palestinian on the economic, environmental, social and cultural levels.

 

It is globally known that the olive branch is the symbol of peace, health, wealth and happiness to the three great monotheistic religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) that hold Jerusalem to be sacred. Conversely, Israel transcend all the human, cultural and religious principles and arrogantly denied all international resolutions and regulations to completely abolish agricultural and environmental assets to the extent that the, once, the symbol of peace is now the sad symbol of war, death, and servitude.

 

Ministry of Environmental Affairs strongly condemns continuing to impose a total siege on the West Bank and Gaza Strip and warns of disastrous effects on the environment, agriculture, economic and humanitarian levels. We call upon the international community that witnessed and continues to witness the brutality of the Israelis troops and settlers against the unarmed children of Palestine to force Israel to AWOL its horrible military, political and environmental wars waged.