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del.icio.us Digg It!  new A bad odor By Amira Hass Tags: Israel This is most definitely not a pastoral picture: Two village council heads are standing in front of the garbage dump of one of the villages, Beit Liqia, and counting, one by one, all of the environmental hazards. The village's houses are 200 meters away. There are people who burn garbage (mainly to separate metal from old cables or the iron from tires) and then black smoke forms and wafts around the windows of the crowded homes. Around the garbage dump are olive groves. Nobody harvests the olives there any more. At the garbage dump in the village of Beit Anan they burn the waste. Though it is situated relatively far from the village houses, it is also located among olive groves and alongside the narrow road. The smoke and the smell of burning plastic and organic waste accompany travelers. It is impossible to accuse the two council heads - Hassan Mfarja of Beit Liqia and Naji Jamhur of Beit Anan - of lacking awareness of the importance of preserving the environment. They have participated in workshops and training courses, learned about advanced waste disposal sites in Japan, and know all there is to know about sorting refuse and what happens to groundwater. They had a dream: to open an orderly dump site far from the built-up area that would serve seven villages in the area and enable more stringent environmental protection. But the Civil Administration blocked the route they paved to the site and confiscated the truck. This is Area C, they were told. And the Civil Administration is the master in Area C (which is under complete Israeli control) and in those villages, which are close to the Green Line, 95 percent or more of the lands are included in Area C. Advertisement Area C (60 percent of the West Bank, as determined in the Oslo years) is exactly the territory that Israel has its eye on in the hope of annexing a large piece of it in the context of the "permanent status agreement." Palestinian development of the territory endangers its chances of becoming Judaized. Therefore, Israel is not allowing Palestinians to build on their own lands, to expand the master plan (which explains why Beit Liqia looks like a refugee camp) or to connect villages to the water grid. For a period of four years, the Palestinians conducted exhausting negotiations with the Israel Defense Forces and the Civil Administration over establishment of a central and very advanced waste disposal site, with German funding, in the Ramallah district. Finally, the army and Civil Administration authorities agreed that it would be established in a part of Area C that is not built up and not in Area B (under Palestinian administrative control and Israeli security control), right between the villages. This site will not open before 2010, maybe even 2011. And what will happen until then? In the Ramallah district, an area of 960 square kilometers, there are about 85 similar waste dumps: authorized but unfriendly to the environment. Prior to September 2000, there were 45 local dump sites. The number has nearly doubled because of the multiplicity of roadblocks and barriers. Getting to the overflowing dump in Ramallah, or the waste site in Al Azariyya east of Jerusalem, is financial suicide for the Palestinian local councils. Nearly all of them have no income (because of the prohibition on building in Area C and the absence of income from municipal taxes, due to the residents' accumulating debts, who default mainly on paying water bills, and because of the general impoverishment as a result of the closure policy). Nowadays a local council cannot afford to pay for a garbage truck journey of more than 10 kilometers, says Mafarja. And this is without taking into account the fact that at least five military roadblocks in each direction ensure that the driver will not be able to make several trips in a single day. It emerges that the lust to take over Palestinian lands is even stronger than the logic of preserving the quality of the environment. Bookmark to del.icio.us Foreign correspondents Police probe 3 Israeli journalists suspected of unauthorized travel to enemy states. Petrol protest Gaza gas station owners refuse to accept reduced fuel supplies from Israel.   1.   My God , Amira this is scandalous ! 08:39  |  Dutch 05/12/07   2.   Israel - temporary masters of their tiny, stinking universe 10:29  |  Clickfool 05/12/07   3.   TAKE BACK THE WASTE DUMPED TO THE DOORS OF SETTLER HOMES 10:36  |  TrippleJump 05/12/07   4.   I wonder why? 11:46  |  Motic 05/12/07   5.   And what do we hear from the zionist diehards on this site? 12:12  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/12/07   6.   !doris and a waste of time again 12:33  |  victor hardman 05/12/07   7.   Re Victor #6. Why change the subject?! 12:58  |  Esther 05/12/07   8.   A question about zionism 13:00  |  Doug McFarlan 05/12/07   9.   #6 13:36  |  Zionist diehard 05/12/07   10.   Olmert misleading global public opinion over prisoner release #1 13:36  |  Mustafa Barghouthi 05/12/07   11.   Olmert misleading global public opinion over prisoner release #2 13:38  |  DrMustafa Barghouthi 05/12/07   12.   israel,the blight unto nations! 13:54  |  lakshmi 05/12/07   13.   zionist diehard, the difference is.... 14:11  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/12/07   14.   #8 esther the subject is the same 14:19  |  victor hardman 05/12/07   15.   These responses prove my point 14:20  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/12/07   16.   These postings merely prove my point, as we read 14:26  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/12/07   17.   #14, Sullivan, the paper freedom fighter 14:54  |  Zionist diehard 05/12/07   18.   Zionist Values = Jewish Values? 15:16  |  POP 05/12/07   19.   Victor, Israel has created this public health problem 15:16  |  Dutch 05/12/07   20.   IF I WERE ISRAELIS 15:24  |  indrajaya 05/12/07   21.   Which in this case Israel has caused #18 15:37  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/12/07   22.   #19 doris and more total ignorant tripe ! 15:46  |  victor hardman 05/12/07   23.   # 4 and 5 15:53  |  Kevin 05/12/07   24.   A bad response to a bad odor 16:06  |  Gene Bocknek 05/12/07   25.   Palestinians are sub-humans. 16:09  |  Janet 05/12/07   26.   #21 16:27  |  Zionist diehard 05/12/07   27.   #12 Lakshmi India The Blight Unto the Nations 16:33  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   28.   zionist diehard, well, youre right about "exhaustivenegotiations" 16:52  |  Yaakov Sullivan 05/12/07   29.   #2 Clickfool 16:53  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   30.   Is Qurai involved in the deal? 16:56  |  El-Birawi 05/12/07   31.   To Amira Haas 17:15  |  Christine Bell 05/12/07   32.   Yet another reason... 17:45  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 05/12/07   33.   Ms. Bell 17:50  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 05/12/07   34.   Yaacov should recycle his soapbox 17:51  |  Jacob Blues 05/12/07   35.   Daybreak 17:52  |  Jacob 05/12/07   36.   The Bottom Line is... 17:53  |  Ariel 05/12/07   37.   Responsibility 18:07  |  Esther 05/12/07   38.   #35 Jacob 18:09  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   39.   More success!! 18:14  |  Danite 05/12/07   40.   "We didn`t know" doesn`t hold water anymore. 18:16  |  Lars Hansen 05/12/07   41.   Not Jew haters 18:22  |  Jacob 05/12/07   42.   Daybreak 18:25  |  Jacob 05/12/07   43.   #31 Hase~Haas~Hass 18:26  |  peter 05/12/07   44.   Gaza restrictions & dumps are compromising Public Health 18:49  |  Dutch 05/12/07   45.   DUTCH my Dear again it is Israel who is to blame 18:53  |  Gil 05/12/07   46.   Daybreak 18:53  |  Tess 05/12/07   47.   #42 Jacob 19:02  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   48.   #46 Tess 19:11  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   49.   Ariel, a nation is not faith 19:17  |  Space 05/12/07   50.   27 Daybreak,nice try! Won`t fly,try another tack! 19:17  |  lakshmi 05/12/07   51.   # 25 Bad title 19:22  |  Mike the American 05/12/07   52.   Zionism and Jewish Racism is to blame 19:30  |  Mike the American 05/12/07   53.   # 36. No hate for Jews, but fight goes on against Zionism 19:39  |  Mike the American 05/12/07   54.   The rhetoric on this site alone reeks 19:46  |  Jacob Blues 05/12/07   55.   This is democracy Israeli style 19:47  |  The Arab Hammer 05/12/07   56.   To Daybreak, Haaretz please publish 19:52  |  FOX 05/12/07   57.   Indeed Mike, and your racism stands out front and center 19:55  |  Jacob Blues 05/12/07   58.   Hass Increasing Anti-Semitism 20:05  |  interestedparty 05/12/07   59.   #56 Fox 20:06  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   60.   Hass is German for Hate 20:24  |  Symbolic selfhate 05/12/07   61.   If only there was a Santa Claus 20:28  |  FOX 05/12/07   62.   Jacob 20:34  |  Danite 05/12/07   63.   Interestedparty, on the flip side 20:43  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 05/12/07   64.   Arab Hammer,El Birawi,Mike the Hammer,never mind israel`s past 20:48  |  lakshmi 05/12/07   65.   Gil, Why can`t you help Amira & those people near the dumps? 20:55  |  Dutch 05/12/07   66.   Daybreak 21:47  |  Jacob 05/12/07   67.   Fox 21:56  |  Jacob 05/12/07   68.   all of west bank is a dump along with gaza 21:58  |  Igor D. 05/12/07   69.   #64 lokshmock,Dellusional,urgent intervention 22:05  |  TOMY 05/12/07   70.   Make like American 22:05  |  Stranger 05/12/07   71.   danite 22:06  |  Jacob 05/12/07   72.   #66 Jacob 22:19  |  Daybreak 05/12/07   73.   #65 doris just will not learn about garbage 22:19  |  victor hardman 05/12/07   74.   #11 Dr Mustafa Barghouthi, Ew The prisoner Release 22:25  |  Dutch 05/12/07   75.   Amira, Re Fox`s self impose superiority 22:43  |  dutch 05/12/07   76.   CONCER OVER GARBAGE NOT LIFE 23:13  |  TOBIA 05/12/07   77.   Daybreak, may I chime in... 23:22  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 05/12/07   78.   Mother Goose (amira`s) Fairy Tales 23:52  |  I believe in Santa 05/12/07   79.   Sweet smell of occupation/Aparthied/Ghetto life 00:07  |  Charlie 06/12/07   80.   A bad odor from Amira 00:08  |  Moshe benNoun 06/12/07   81.   garbage to energy 00:09  |  dan seidel 06/12/07   82.   First we need to think about how.... 00:11  |  reciprocal thinker 06/12/07   83.   DESEASE CONTROL.BAD ODOUR 00:26  |  MAX BERNSTEIN 06/12/07   84.   #21 indrajera "If I were Isralies" 00:34  |  leo 06/12/07   85.   So, what`s so surprising? 00:42  |  David Ben Gurion 06/12/07   86.   Jacob 01:30  |  Danite 06/12/07   87.   daybreak 01:57  |  Jacob 06/12/07   88.   Dutch,greetings! Do check out my post 64. 03:19  |  lakshmi 06/12/07   89.   3 Triple Jump,they don`t belong in civil society,they must be 03:22  |  lakshmi 06/12/07   90.   Daybreak, may I chime in...(2nd try) 04:35  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 06/12/07   91.   Anyone who hikes the land of Israel knows the truth 06:43  |  Steve 06/12/07   92.   #35 06:48  |  DANNY 06/12/07   93.   Ugly architecture! 06:52  |  Maureen Ann 06/12/07   94.   whenever i want to give israel the benefit of doubt 07:30  |  eric 06/12/07   95.   Ugly Creature 08:13  |  Joe Moer 06/12/07   96.   Dumb Dutch.......please explain.......... 08:19  |  Joe Moer 06/12/07   97.   Josh #67 A short Stroll 08:54  |  FOX 06/12/07   98.   Pity... 09:07  |  Esther 06/12/07   99.   Israeli governments failed big time on environmental issues 09:10  |  Sara 06/12/07   100.   Tess, Jacob 09:47  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   101.   Hey Israelis, do you see how Haaretz promotes anti-Israel hate 10:08  |  Steve Randolph 06/12/07   102.   To Fox in Karkur, and to Miss Hass 11:13  |  Eleni Schmidt 06/12/07   103.   #102 Eleni Schmidt 12:12  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   104.   Dear Daybreak 12:49  |  Eleni Schmidt 06/12/07   105.   Daybreak, read the definition... 12:50  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 06/12/07   106.   Daybreak, read the definition...2 13:04  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 06/12/07   107.   #104 Elemi Schmidt 13:29  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   108.   #106 Tess 13:32  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   109.   #105 Tess Part Two 13:54  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   110.   Daybreak, I read, I just disagree... 13:55  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 06/12/07   111.   cesspool society 13:56  |  real vision 06/12/07   112.   BTW, Daybreak... 13:57  |  Tess 06/12/07   113.   #110 Tess 14:10  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   114.   Oh, the book.... 14:12  |  Tess 06/12/07   115.   #114 Tess 14:32  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   116.   Smell of arrogance 14:52  |  jjvanka 06/12/07   117.   Daybreak.... 14:56  |  Tess 06/12/07   118.   #116 jjvanka 15:26  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   119.   Daybreak, response... 16:25  |  Tess 06/12/07   120.   Daybreak, response...2 16:26  |  Tess 06/12/07   121.   Daybreak, response...3 16:31  |  Tess 06/12/07   122.   #119 Tess 17:20  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   123.   #120 Tess 17:32  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   124.   Daybreak, last question for now... 18:10  |  Tess 06/12/07   125.   #122 Tess 19:20  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   126.   Tess Part Two 19:25  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   127.   LOL, Daybreak 19:35  |  Tess 06/12/07   128.   #122 Tess Second Attempt 22:19  |  Daybreak 06/12/07   129.   #98 Esther, Constructive criticism is never rubbish in my book 22:52  |  Dutch 06/12/07   130.   Joe, My response 00:09  |  Dutch 07/12/07   131.   daybreak- on Semites in the USA 01:00  |  Tess 07/12/07   132.   Still Can`t Believe It 04:26  |  Sprite 07/12/07   133.   Daybreak- on Meirsheimer.... 05:20  |  Tess 07/12/07   134.   Tess 09:37  |  Daybreak 07/12/07   135.   Daybreak.... 13:25  |  Tess 07/12/07   136.   Daybreak, I forgot.... 13:39  |  Tess 07/12/07   137.   Tess 15:44  |  Daybreak 07/12/07   138.   Daybreak, you misunderstand my reference... 16:27  |  Tess 07/12/07   139.   Daybreak, I see now... 16:36  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 07/12/07   140.   #139 Tess 18:55  |  Daybreak 07/12/07   141.   Thank you, Daybreak... 12:58  |  Teresa-Maria (Tess) 08/12/07   142.   #141 Tess 14:34  |  Daybreak 08/12/07

Today Online Bradley's Burston: Self Test: Are you a fanatic on the Middle East? Responses: 124 Rice warns Israel against East J'lem construction Responses: 245 Defense officials: Hamas upgraded Qassam arsenal Responses: 227 Magnate in U.K. scandal: I feared charges of a 'Jewish conspiracy' Responses: 107 Yoel Marcus: Olmert wants to leave his mark as a PM with a peace agenda Responses: 63 More Headlines 13:19 U.S. Defense Sec.: Gulf nations must band together to counter Iran 14:24 Housing Min.: There's no reason to cease E. Jerusalem construction 14:36 Report: Hamas wants cease-fire with Israel in the Gaza Strip 08:26 Magnate in U.K. scandal: I feared charges of a 'Jewish conspiracy' 08:29 Poll: Few West Bank settlers willing to leave homes for cash 14:04 Activists build mock W. Bank 'outpost' to protest settlement expansion 19:08 Thousands come to J'lem to protest plans to divide capital 17:41 Muslim religious heads from Indonesia pay a rare public visit to Israel 20:27 Arab League head urges world to increase aid to Palestinians 17:16 Palestinians: IDF soldiers kill Gaza farmer near Israel border Previous Editions Select Day 07 dec 06 dec 05 dec 04 dec 03 dec 02 dec 30 nov 29 nov 28 nov 27 nov 26 nov 25 nov

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