Holy Land: water is not the same for everyone
Reporting of Federici Studies Center
Thirsty Palestine
Having running water at home in the Palestinian Territories is not at all obvious or normal.
Neither in the West Bank nor in the Gaza Strip. For multiple reasons. Some testimonies from Bethlehem.
Observing the landscape around Beit Sahour, urban center east of Bethlehem, the cisterns on top of the houses allow Palestinian homes to be distinguished from buildings that are part of Jewish settlements. This is explained by the locals who every day deal with the problem of water shortage. The tanks on the houses are useful, Indeed, to conserve water or collect rain, but not all homes need it. In the West Bank, water is distributed differently from house to house, at a distance of a few meters from each other. To overcome the inconveniences of the water emergency, the population does its best, but the problem of resource management remains an open wound that shows no signs of healing, indeed it is "an obstacle to peace", as the BBC defined it.
According to the Palestinian Water Authority, il 95 percent of Palestinian water supplies are found in aquifers (there are three underground basins). Surface water, that could theoretically be available, instead it comes from the floods of the wadis (seasonal streams), from the possible desalination of the waters of the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. None of these resources, However, it is in fact usable by the Palestinians.