One case is the Palestinian communities near the Ariel colony in the Nablus
area. Ariel consists of a university, the West Ariel Industrial Park and
the colony itself, which has a population of around 20,000 Jewish-Israeli
colonizers.207 There is an estimated 2.3 cubic meters of sewage water poured
into Palestinian areas daily from Ariel colony and its university alone.208 It
is also reported that factories in the industrial zone of Barkan colony pour
wastewater into the Salfit Valley, located between Nablus and Ramallah,
every weekend.209 The sewage water coming from colonies has affected all
aspects of life in this area, causing diseases to humans and animals, pollution
of springs and soil, bad odors, and harming nature sites which attract
tourism. “[D]ue to the concentration of pollutant elements in this zone, many
agricultural fields have been destroyed and many animals and plants have
been killed. Moreover, many infectious waterborne diseases, like diarrhea,
have broken out especially among children.”210
Colonies have also been dumping wastewater into al-Mawat Valley in
Salfit.211 Several villages in the valley, such as Burqeen, have been flooded
with sewage many times. Farmers from the Salfit area have issued
complaints, particularly from Kfar ad-Deek, but nothing has been done and
wastewater continues to damage the environment, health and livelihoods
of Palestinians in these areas. As a result, these Palestinians are denied
the prospect of living in a healthy and clean setting, unless they leave the
contaminated area. This coercive environment affects their health, source
of income and even land; ultimately they are forced to leave their homes
and move out of their villages.
“I have five boys and two girls and I live in Burqeen [the built-up area of
the village is designated A, whereas the rest of the lands are designated as
Area C].
207 Tovah Lazaroff, “Settler Population Was 385,900 by End of 2015”, The Jerusalem Post, 6 October
2016,
available
at:
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Settler-population-was-385900-byend-of-2015-469607 [accessed 22 August 2017]; Ministry of Economy and Industry of Israel,
“Information on industrial areas,” n.d., available at: http://economy.gov.il/ENGLISH/INDUSTRY/
DEVELOPMENTZONEINDUSTRYPROMOTION/ZONEINDUSTRYINFO/Pages/deafult.aspx
208 “Settlement Sewage Water Pollutes Salfit Tourist Areas”, International Middle East Media Center
(IMEMC), 25 May 2015, available at: http://imemc.org/article/71696/ [accessed 22 August 2017].
209 Ibid.
210 Marta Fortunato, “Palestinian villages struggle as Israeli settlement waste contaminates the
environment,” Mondoweiss, 7 August 2012, available at: http://mondoweiss.net/2012/08/
palestinian-villages-struggle-as-israeli-settlement-waste-contaminates-the-environment/ [accessed
22 August 2017].
211 “Ariel settlement sewage destroying environment in Salfit, West Bank”, Palestine News Network
(PNN), 10 April 2016, available at: http://english.pnn.ps/2016/04/10/ariel-settlement-sewagedestroying-environment-in-salfit-west-bank/
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