As part of MA’ANs Environmental Online Magazine activities, a press conference on the Israeli crimes against Palestinian water resources was held on 22 November 2011. This conference aimed to uncover Israel’s theft of underground water sources (aquifers) as well as surface water, in addition to their destruction and pollution of these sources. The organized, systematic “parching” policies of Israel in the West Bank and Gaza are particularly targeting the Western basin as well as the Jordan River basin.

The press conference was conducted to mobilize local, Arab, and international media to form a lobbying force in support of the interventions of international communities in the occupied Palestinian territories in hopes of halting Israeli’s theft of various Palestinian water sources.
There was an impressive, wide-ranging media attendance and coverage on this event; Arab and Palestinian television stations such as Al Jazeera, Al-Arabia, MBC, Palestine, Palestine Al Yawm, Wattan, and others. Additional coverage was provided by several radio stations such as The Sound of Palestine, news agencies such as Reuters News and MA’AN News Agency, and other local newspapers.

Spokespersons included Jameel Mtour, Vice President of the Palestinian Environmental Quality Authority (EQA), who presented a general yet intensive viewpoint on the most prominent Israeli violations committed against the Palestinian environment. Ahmad Al Hindi, Director General of the National Water Council, spoke about how the occupation exhausts the supply of Palestinian underground and surface water by illegal pumping.

Dr. Ayman Al Rabi, Executive Director of the Palestinian Hydrology Group, presented data that prove Israeli theft of Palestinian water in accordance with Israel’s water-hoarding policies. Finally, George Kurzom, Editor-in-Chief of MA’AN’s Online Green Magazine, addressed Israel’s policies of systematic destruction in the Jordan River basin. He presented information about misleading, forged facts by Israel related to the amounts of and access to Palestinian water resources. Furthermore, he discussed the overexploitation and drought of the Jordan River and Dead Sea, as well as the Israeli waste water and factories that are polluting the Jordan River basin.

Recommendations included urging environmental and human rights institutions to focus their work on legal aspects concerning environmental humanitarian issues, and for the media to provide additional coverage of such initiatives. There is a need to highlight the Palestinian water crisis in order to work towards change.

Additionally, it was strongly recommended that a neutral, international team of scientists and technology experts be formed in order to test water contamination levels caused by Israeli pollution in the Jordan River basin and the Palestinian aquifers. There are many dangerous effects of such pollution, which create significant health hazards that affect the local population, about which the community needs to be aware. Raising awareness is crucial in order to bring Israel to justice for its offenses against Palestinians with regard to its abuse of Palestinian water resources.