1 ‫עמוד‬

HRW and water

Sir, Human Watch
Rights The World Bank found that the
publisheddetailedreport
recently water supplyfor Palestinians
who
showingthat Israel's
treatment of are connected to the water system
Palestinians
in Area of the West is"variable
and discontinuous,"
Bank and east where
Jerusalem, and of worsening
quality;
quarter
Israelexercisestotalcontrolover of the Palestinians
with water con-

everything from the issuanceof nections receivelessthan 50 liters

building permits to access to water,
was systematically discriminatory
comparison with Israel'streatment
of neighboring settlers.Your
December 21 editorial )‫״‬HRW cri-
per day,and increasing numbers
in suffer from water-borne disease.
In Area Israelroutinelyrefuses
to allow Palestinians to repairwells
or even fixleaking water pipes.

tiquethat doesn't hold water") Readily granting such permission

argued that the report was mis- would be good for both Palestini-
ans and Israelis. Itisin no one's
guidedbecause Palestinians in the
West Bank are receiving more interest to let34 percentof the
Israeli
water than ever before. water flowing throughthese pipes
That claim isboth misleading go to waste.
and beside the point. Discrimina- Your editorial
also evaded the
tion can never be justified,
even if of discrimination
question by con-
the quality of life
isimproving, and tending in Area
that Palestinians
for many Palestinians
itisnot. have better access to fresh water
While Israeli
settlements boast than citizensof neighboring coun-

swimmingpoolsand fountains,the tries.

UN estimatesthat up to 000,06
Palestiniansliving under fullIsraeli
control lack access to running
water and must pay up to one-
sixthof theirincome to buywater.
In fact,the World Bank report
you citedfound that Jordanians,
Lebanese and Syrians have access
to more freshwater per capita than
In any event, such
do Palestinians.
an argument reads as ifone were

to
According the World Bank, to have triedto )imCrow
justify
Israel's
over-extractionof water has discriminationagainst blacksin the
wells,which
dried up Palestinian southern United States byclaiming
producelesswater now than at the that African-Americans were better
time of the Oslo Accords,while offthan blacksin Africa.
Israeli orders prohibit
military Pales- BILL VAN ESVELD
tiniansfrom drilling
new ones. Jerusalem
Palestinians
must buy increasing The writeris researcherfor
of water from Israel
quantities Human RightsWatch's Middle
much of which in the
originates Africadivision
East/North