French parliament report accuses Israel of water 'apartheid' in West Bank
Israeli Embassy in Paris had no foreknowledge of the French parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee report, which was published two week ago, and thus did not refute it or work to moderate it.
By Barak Ravid Tags: West BankThe French parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee published an unprecedented report two weeks ago accusing Israel of implementing "apartheid" policies in its allocation of water resources in the West Bank.
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A man collecting drinking water in buckets in Jisr al-Zarqa. |
| Photo by: Nimrod Glickman |
The Israeli Embassy in Paris had no foreknowledge of the report and thus did not refute it or work to moderate it. Foreign Ministry officials called the incident "a serious diplomatic mishap."
The report said that water has become "a weapon serving the new apartheid" and gave examples and statistics that ostensibly back this claim.
"Some 450,000 Israeli settlers on the West Bank use more water than the 2.3 million Palestinians that live there," the report said. "In times of drought, in contravention of international law, the settlers get priority for water."
The author of the report was Socialist Party MP Jean Glavany, who in the past served as agriculture minister under French President Lionel Jospin and as cabinet secretary for President Francois Mitterrand.
The Foreign Affairs Committee had assigned Glavany to report on the geopolitical impact of water in confrontation zones throughout the world. He visited Israel and the Palestinian territories on May 17-19 of last year and met with several senior government officials, including Energy and Water Resources Minister Uzi Landau and Water Commissioner Uri Shani.
Both the Foreign Ministry and the embassy in Paris were aware of the visit and knew that Glavany planned to write a report. But Israeli Ambassador to France Yossi Gal did not follow up on Glavany's work.
No one in the embassy attempted to get a draft copy of the report so as to ensure that its conclusions were not overly harsh. Nor were Israel's allies on the French Foreign Affairs Committee contacted to ascertain whether the report could be moderated.
The embassy only learned about the report a few days after it appeared on the French parliament's website, when the Foreign Ministry's European desk in Jerusalem, which heard about it from an outside source, informed the embassy.
The report states that water is not allocated fairly to West Bank Palestinians and that Palestinians have no access to the territory's underground aquifers. Glavany said Israel was perpetrating a "water occupation" against the Palestinians.
"Israel's territorial expansion is seen as a 'water occupation' of both streams and aquifers," the report said.
It also said that "the separation wall being built by Israel allows it to control access to underground water sources" and to "direct the flow of water westward."
The report accused Israel of "systematically destroying wells that were dug by Palestinians on the West Bank," as well as of deliberately bombing reservoirs in the Gaza Strip in 2008-09. It also claimed that "Many water purification facilities planned by the Palestinian Water Ministry are being 'blocked' by the Israeli administration."
Senior Foreign Ministry officials said the Paris embassy had been asleep at the switch.
"This report is a serious mishap that has caused diplomatic damage and has seriously damaged Israel's image in France," one senior official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Glavany had inserted extreme terms into the report on his own, at the last minute, without consulting other members of the report's working group.
"These unacceptable remarks surprised his colleagues in the working group, who were shocked to find them in the final version after it was published, after Israeli diplomats called their attention to them," Palmor said.
The report, he continued, "was loaded with the language of vicious propaganda, far removed from any professional criticism with which one could argue intelligently." Moreover, the report's author omitted numerous facts and acted "with blatant tendentiousness."
"After embassy staffers pointed out the exceptional seriousness of the wording ... all the working group members disassociated themselves from [the report], including the chairman, who sent an official letter to the ambassador renouncing responsibility for the report's anti-Israel expressions," Palmor added.
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Does Israel Have a RON Paul? Please find 1, you all deserve a real peace Leader! Havnt had 1 yet, will do u a lot of good, thanks and bless you
But hey. Stick with him.
How dare the French use such silly numbers?
China, Russia Just told Puss USA back off, and now every one is turning gainst you, shoulda thought this 1 out eh?
were left out of the report? Argue about the facts not the conclusions.
Palestinians should have been busy peacefully looking after the infrastructure needs of their people for 64 years now, not squandering their donated funds on futile and counter-productive violence against Israel all this time.
, but in reality there is nothing to smiel
, but in reality there is nothing to smiel
water, well, that's a good start ! Has Israel tried waterboarding?
differential access to water depends on productive use of the water. The simple truth is that Israel squeezes more productivity out of every drop than virtually any country on earth. So, if your the decision maker, do you allocate to those who are wasteful, unproductive or those that are productive?
The vaunted Israeli propaganda machine was asleep at the wheel I see.
Palestinians should have been busy peacefully looking after the infrastructure needs of their people for 64 years now, not squandering their donated funds on futile and counter-productive violence against Israel all this time.
Water issues have been well known, settlers use considerably more and Israel has been attempting to move water westwards for decades, not just in the Palestinian territories either. There have been water disputes with Lebanon and Syria as well. Israeli settlers live like Americans, consuming way to much and ignoring the suffering they cause around them. Except worse, because they are actively taking those resources in contravention of international laws. Americans at least pay (if much too poorly) for them.
about water. The Israeli misuse of water in the West Bank has been reported on many times in the past...in little sidelines about Palestinians trying to get to their fields, punishment for that being demolition of their wells. Why do you think Israel kidnapped Abu Sisi, he being their water engineer, and accused him of making weapons for Hamas. He had the water system in Gaza under control.
The Truth is slowly coming out in all its fronts, Israelis and Jews cannot cover the Sun with their hands....
Yigal Palmor: "The report was loaded with the language of vicious propaganda..." Okeee Yigal, show us which part of that vicious propaganda report was not true and factual.
The report is accurate, because it accurately reflects Israeli policies. What is there to "moderate", and how can you argue that it is "overly harsh"?
Instead of trying to refute the truth, why doesn't Israel reform its policies?
How is this Europe's fault? Have they been withholding water from Israel or denying their right to exist? No, but if they had I would agree that would be anti-Israel. Now...who was responsible for the limited use of aquifers and streams? Couldn't be Israel...no, must be Europe...those bastards!!
Shame on you for using the good name of Canadians...
They said Israeli treatment of Palestinians reminded them of apartheid South Africa. Shouldn't that be enough????
After Year of unfairness. Some one speaks out. While sprinkler systems are running in settlements, I had to go without water for days. Bethlehem has the worst water situation. If you are one of the palestinians whose line is connected to settelement, you will have water 24/7 if not. 4 cubic feet better last you a month
Its amazing to me how posters think they can spout any lies about Israel and get away with it...
France uses more resources than Algeria. The USA uses more resources than any other country in the world. So what.
No there wasn't
I would venture to say that IF indeed the committee and its chairman all disassociated themselves from, and condemned, the report...it wouldn't still be on the parliament's website. I doubt very much that anything in the report was exaggerated very much, since most of this is known to anyone who's taken the time to look into it - water allocation disparities, destruction of wells and reservoirs, everything! And no coincidence, by the way, that ALL the territories Israel's occupied sit on major sources of water in one form or another. Also no coincidence that Israel saw fit to withdraw from Gaza once its settlements/agriculture there had depleted the fresh water aquifer to the point that salt-water had begun to encroach into it. The report contained exceedingly harsh language? I doubt if any language could possibly be harsh enough to describe Israel's agenda in regards to the control of the aquifers in the Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian territories its occupies...
Terror killers get nothing. Not even a drop of water. We really don't pay any attention to your harsh language, Unsavory. You are as meaningless as the life of the killer of the Fogel Family. Utterly meaningless.
Hey, the report couldn't possibly contain enough justification for what Israel does to fight the counterfeit nation of terrorists, that are called Pals, who are inculcated into a culture of delusion, hate, lack of productivity and death.
Israelis work hard for the beautification of their State using science and technology along with blood, sweat, and tears. The blood and the tears were not necessary if the jealous, covetous, militant Palestinians were humble and teachable instead of being violent and contentious.
If it was, there'd be no issues, would there? No need for Netanyahu to threaten the Palestinians for going to the UN, no international condemnation of Israel for its policies, no need for it to use "punishment" as an excuse to expand settlements, no need for the US to constantly embarrass itself by protecting it in UNSC, no 100-plus UN resolutions levied against it, and of course, there'd be no French report accusing it of water 'apartheid' in West Bank. No sir - it's NOT your land!
congratulations! is it israel? my 1945 map does not show isreal.
Its always the same for those who seek to assasinate Israel off the face of the earth. They read and article and close their eyes to the parts they don't like. So the entire working group that did the report and the Chairman renounced the anti-Israeli portions. So, its intriguing, don't you think. What exactly is going on. If those reponsible for the Report renounce it, who is responsible for the report?
says PALESTINE from the east of Present day Jordan right up to the sea coast in present day Israel.
the country palestine under british mandate
that was something of fashion......
It was the ancestors of the indigenous "Palestinians" - Jews, Christian, and Muslims - who chose to remain, despite the Roman occupation, for their love and attachment to THEIR land...while the rest abandoned it!