Report: Israel suffers environmental problems of the developing world - Haaretz

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Tue., November 06, 2007 Cheshvan 25, 5768

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Last update - 08:26 06/11/2007

Report: Israel suffers environmental problems of the developing world

By Zafrir Rinat, Haaretz Correspondent

tags: environmental, Israel

The Green umbrella organization in Israel, Life and Environment, states in its latest report that Israel suffers from many of the health and environmental characteristics of the developing world, even though the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is expected to offer it a place in its prestigious club for developed nations.

The organization also notes that there are still neighborhoods in main cities of Israel where living conditions resemble those of 1950s immigrant shanty towns.

The Monitoring Committee for Environmental Justice, which prepared the report on behalf of the umbrella group, will present it to the Knesset Tuesday. This year's report, the third of its kind, focuses mostly on issues pertaining to urban areas.

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According to the report, there are large urban areas that are cut off from any water supply because of economic difficulties, and whose residents are not consulted about urban planning.

The authors of the report also describe shantytowns, where people live in homes made of tin planks, lacking in roads and sidewalks, with livestock nearby, and with no sewage or garbage collection services. The report points to cities with mixed populations, such as Lod and Acre, as being particularly prone to such conditions.

According to the report, there is no permanent sewage infrastructure in 70percent of the Arab communities, and some of these towns are cut off from a regular water supply for periods of up to three to four days due to overdue debts to Mekorot, the national water carrier.

In Ramle and Bnei Berak, for example, garages and chop-shops are situated next to residential buildings.

The authors of the report also point to vast differences between neighborhoods in Tel Aviv. In northern Tel Aviv, there are 15 square meters of green spaces for every resident, compared with neighborhoods in the south where the average is between zero and four square meters per person.

In south Tel Aviv and Jaffa, there are areas where the noise pollution levels are particularly acute, reaching as high as 50 percent above that permissible by law. This involves neighborhoods along the Ayalon Highway, and the area of the Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv.

The report details the story of the Barbour neighborhood in Acre, which lacks infrastructure such as sidewalks, lighting and properly marked roads. It also uses an open sewer, the garbage accumulates in large piles, and there is animal manure from the livestock that is kept nearby.

Because the garbage is not collected for long periods of time, the residents are reduced to burning it, causing dangerous polluting gases to be released.

The neighborhood had no parks or playgrounds, and the children are under constant danger of being hit by passing cars.

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1.	PARTS OF JAFFA LOOK LIKE GAZA / 3rd world	03:57	\|	D.Pressing	06/11/07

2.	Alas, defence eats up resources	06:06	\|	sweis Melbourne	06/11/07

3.	Common theme: Arab-Israeli=poverty=neglect	06:07	\|	Gil62	06/11/07

4.	most parts of Israel are 3rd world	06:38	\|	Kris	06/11/07

5.	Poor environmental awareness	08:08	\|	Diana	06/11/07

6.	Still a long way to go	08:32	\|	Margie in Tel Aviv	06/11/07

7.	Continous exageration from Zafrir Rinat.	09:12	\|	S	06/11/07

8.	Old Central Bus station area in Tel aviv.	09:29	\|	Eric	06/11/07

9.	re: Gil62 Israeli Arabs=MKs that Hang out in Syria	10:12	\|	Efox	06/11/07

10.	Arabs want infrastructure? Work and don`t attack workers.	10:16	\|	Efox	06/11/07

11.	Half-truth is not true at all	10:27	\|	Alex	06/11/07

12.	#7# Awareness has nothing to do with population increases	10:33	\|	D.Fender	06/11/07

13.	reply to #9	11:24	\|	elsie	06/11/07

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