Home About Services Partners Fellows Blogs Resources Take Action

A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Partners > Community-based P... > Middle East > Alternative Infor... > AIC Newswire

AIC Newswire

Palestinian territories suffering from water shortage

July 17, 2008, Jerusalem: The water crisis has started early this year in the Palestinian Territories, according to a report published this week by the Alternative Information Center (AIC).

Due to the worst drought the area has seen this decade and the continuing effects of Israeli occupation, families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have already seen their faucets run dry or are waiting for the arrival of tankers to bring water from far away.

According to the Palestinian Water Authority, over 220,000 West Bank Palestinians are not connected to a piped water network, instead relying on water tankers, harvested rainwater and untreated natural springs for their water supply. In the Gaza Strip, while the vast majority of people are connected to the water network, there is an enormous problem with water quality.  Ninety percent of water supplied to Gazans does not meet World Health Organization drinking water standards. According to the AIC report, interruptions in water supply for Gaza’s residents come as a result of Israeli military operations and restrictions in the entry of goods into Gaza, that damage water infrastructure or interfere with the supply of electricity to power wells and pumping stations.   

The AIC is a partner of The Advocacy Project (AP). Rianne van Doeveren, an AP Peace Fellow, is volunteering with the AIC this summer.

•      Read the full article.

Gaza bombing survivors sue Israeli military officials

July 2, 2008, Palestine: Six Palestinian survivors of an Israeli bombing of Gaza City in July 2002 have filed a lawsuit in Spain against top Israeli military officials, according to an article by the Alternative Information Center.

The lawsuit, initiated and prepared by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, represents the first time that Palestinian survivors of Israeli military attacks have directly petitioned the Audiencia Nacional – the Spanish National Court that deals with special crimes. 

Fifteen Palestinians were killed, and 150 were injured in the July 22, 2002 incident, when the Israeli air force dropped a one-ton bomb on the Al Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City in order to demolish the home of a suspected Hamas commander. The lawsuit requests that the court investigate whether the bombing can be considered a crime against people and goods protected during armed conflict. 

The Alternative Information Center (AIC) is a partner of The Advocacy Project (AP), and Peace Fellow Rianne Van Doeveren is volunteering with them this summer.

• Read the full article from AIC.

Back