set Palestinian communities on a water-rotation schedule that results in long periods where they have no water delivery at all.159 This lack of adequate supply has reached crisis levels in many Palestinian communities. The average Palestinian is estimated to have access to around 70 liters per capita per day (lpcd), markedly less than the 100-150 lpcd considered adequate for human survival by the World Health Organization (WHO) and discriminatorily disproportionate to the 300 lpcd Israeli colonizers in the West Bank receive.160 However, the World Bank reports that a quarter of Palestinians connected to water networks receive less than 50 lpcd, while a further 16 percent receive less than 20 lpcd161 – a level of water access comparable to refugee camps in Sudan and the Congo.162 Moreover, the 200 Palestinian communities in Area C that are unrecognized by Israel are denied access to the water network altogether. These communities are forced to find springs, collect rainwater in cisterns, or transport water via tankers.163 Water delivered by tankers is of poorer quality than piped water,164 and often costs five times more,165 prompting many of these communities to spend up to 40 percent of their income on water purchases.166 “I am 54 years old and I am employed with Palestinian Preventive Security (PPS). I am married and I have eight children. I have lived my entire life in Burqa and I never left this place. Our lands in Burqa are designated as Area C. The main problem we face with water is that the amount we get is not enough for all the people who live here; I mean when Mekorot distributes the water, the amount we receive is never enough. There is a lot of water available, but the amount we receive is limited [by Israel]. Before the neighboring colonies were built, the situation was different and people used to be able to access water. [The lack of water in our daily life] is very annoying. Look at the sink, it’s full of dirty dishes, and the home, there is no water to clean anything! I don’t have animals here anymore; I sent them to another house in Atara [a village located 159 B’Tselem, “Background: Water Crisis,” 28 Sep 2016, available at: http://www.btselem.org/water [accessed 21 August 2017]. 160 D’Cunha, “The First Plague,” 297-298, supra note 145. 161 World Bank, West Bank and Gaza: Assessment of Restrictions on Palestinian Water Sector Development, April 2009, 17, available at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWESTBANKGAZA/ Resources/WaterRestrictionsReport18Apr2009.pdf 162 D’Cunha, “The First Plague,” 297, supra note 145. 163 Amnesty International, Troubled Waters, 37, supra note 37. 164 D’Cunha, “The First Plague,” 295, supra note 145. 165 Amnesty International, Troubled Waters, 38, supra note 37. 166 D’Cunha, “The First Plague,” 295, supra note 145. 43

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