[Peace-discuss] J Street: Tell Congress to tell Israel to turn the water on for Gaza

Mon Oct 20 14:42:24 EDT 2014

This looks like a winnable fight.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street <info at jstreet.org>
Date: Mon, Oct 20, 2014 at 1:04 PM
Subject: Word on the Street: The water crisis in Gaza
To: "Mr. Robert Naiman" <naiman at justforeignpolicy.org>

 View this email as a web page.
<http://act.jstreet.org/mailings/view/3390?akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>  [image:
JStreet - The political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans]

[image: Join J Street for a Google Hangout Briefing on the Water Crisis in
Gaza]
<http://act.jstreet.org/signup/Gaza_water_briefing/?t=1&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>

Robert,

Even before the horrible 50-day military confrontation this summer in Gaza,
the water situation for the 1.7 million Palestinians who live there was
desperate.

According to UNICEF[1], more than 90 per cent of the water extracted from
the territory's sole aquifer is unsafe for human consumption; an estimated
four-fifths of the water sold by private vendors there contaminated.
Additionally, nearly 100,000 cubic meters of wastewater are discharged into
the sea every day because sewage treatment plants are overwhelmed.

Currently, potable water flows from Israel to Gaza through two pipelines. A
third pipeline has been constructed but has not been turned on. Israel
could turn the lever tomorrow and double the flow of clean, potable water
to Gaza.

This action is being held up pending broader negotiations that, of course,
are complex and may never reach fruition.

*Israel should open the pipe now, without waiting for a final agreement.
This is a humanitarian action that in no way threatens Israel’s security.*

*Email Representative Rodney Davis and Senators Dick Durbin and Mark
Kirk today to urge them to call the Israeli Embassy in DC, asking Israel to
turn the water on.*
<http://act.jstreet.org/sign/water_for_Gaza/?t=2&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>

This summer’s war made a bad situation much, much worse. The International
Committee of the Red Cross recently reported[2] that Israeli air strikes
destroyed much of the already inadequate sewage network and damaged the
territory’s sole power plant. Desalination and water delivery systems were
also severely impacted.

Raw sewage now flows through the streets to the sea, creating a massive new
hazard to public health, not just for Palestinians but also for Israelis.
As we all know, tides and groundwater do not recognize international
borders.

Today, the waters that lap the sunny beaches of Ashkelon are increasingly
contaminated with Gaza’s raw sewage. A regional outbreak of typhoid or
cholera would put at risk the people of Israel and Egypt as well as Gaza,
and health officials believe such a pandemic is a real possibility.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited Gaza last week, said that
almost half a million Gazans do not have access to the municipal water
supply. Others put the number as high as 1.2 million.[3]

Israel could do more – much more – to help avert a humanitarian
catastrophe, and it is in its own interests to do so.

*A simple first step is to turn the new pipeline on. Tell Representative
Rodney Davis and Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk to ask the Israeli
Embassy in DC why that isn’t being done
<http://act.jstreet.org/sign/water_for_Gaza/?t=3&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>.*

Gidon Bromberg, Israel Director of EcoPeace/Friends of the Earth Middle
East, writing with journalist Oded Eran in Times of Israel, has also called
on Israel to urgently deliver fuel and more generators to Gaza “to help
operate what exists of Gaza’s inadequate sanitation system.”[4] A new waste
water treatment plant financed by the World Bank at Beit Lahia could come
online if Israel only delivered the power to operate it.

So let’s take action and make a difference in the lives of the people of
the region. A few well-placed calls from US Senators and Representatives
would certainly catch the attention of the Israeli government. And we would
see quick results.

Being pro-Israel and pro-peace does not mean only advocating for a
two-state solution or protesting the expansion of Israeli settlements.

It also means taking action in emergency situations – and this is a true
emergency. The health of children is especially threatened.

Email your elected representatives and ask them to call on the Israeli
ambassador to prevent this disaster from unfolding.

Thank you for all that you do,
Jeremy Ben-Ami
J Street
------------------------------

[1] A fresh solution to Gaza's water crisis
<http://act.jstreet.org/go/2648?t=4&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>, UNICEF.

[2] Gaza: Damaged water and sewage systems post health danger
<http://act.jstreet.org/go/2649?t=5&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>, International
Committee of the Red Cross

[3] Conference Pledges $5.4 Billion to Rebuild Gaza Strip
<http://act.jstreet.org/go/2650?t=6&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>, New York
Times.

[4] On water for Gaza, put politics aside
<http://act.jstreet.org/go/2651?t=7&akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>, Times of
Israel.

© 2014 J Street

Sign up for SMS Updates
<http://jstreet.org/sign-up-for-j-street-sms-alerts/?akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>
  |   Donate Now
<https://jstreet.actionkit.com/donate/donate/?akid=3390.183166.bDn-en>
  [image: JStreet on Facebook] <http://www.facebook.com/jstreetdotorg> [image:
JStreet on Twitter] <http://twitter.com/JSTREETDOTORG> [image: JStreet on
Flickr] <http://www.flickr.com/photos/jstreetdotorg> [image: JStreet on
YouTube] <http://www.youtube.com/user/jstreetdotorg>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20141020/fdbbc977/attachment.html>