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Israeli Bypass Water Project in the Jordan Valley

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Israeli Bypass Water Project in the Jordan Valley UPDATE IN THE PIPELINE: ISRAELI BYPASS WATER PROJECT IN THE JORDAN VALLEY FEBRUARY 2020 This update examines the construction of tlement enterprise at the expense of Pales- a bypass water pipeline on the lands of the tinian communities. The project’s execution Palestinian village of Bardala in the northern is made possible due to the involvement of Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli and international private corporations, Bardala bypass project will transport fresh- including the German Herrenknecht AG and water extracted from occupied Palestinian the US-based CETCO Mineral Technology. water sources to nearby Israeli settlements, Control over water resources is of great geo- 1 bypassing Palestinian communities. Palestin- political importance, especially in the context ians have no independent access to the water of prolonged occupation. Exploitation of Pal- sources in question. The project, advanced by estinian and Syrian water resources by the oc- 2 Mekorot, Israel’s national water company, is cupying power has contributed to the expan- a mechanism for consolidating Israel’s hold sion of settlement agricultural production. At over Palestinian land and natural resources. the same time, occupied communities are de- Its route and raison d’être further entrench nied the right to control water and other nat- Israel’s occupation, benefitting the illegal- set ural resources, resulting in intense economic de-development. 1 MahsomWatch - Women for Human Rights and Against the Occupation, “A Tour in The Jordan Prior to publication, Who Profits contacted all Valley,” 10 April 2019. companies profiled herein. As of the date of 2 Who Profits, Mekorot’s Involvement in the publication no responses were received. Israeli Occupation, December 2013. The Bardala Bypass Pipeline drilling project was estimated at 2.5 million The village of Bardala is located in the north- NIS (100,000 to be used in 2019, 500,000 in ern Jordan Valley, an area rich in groundwa- 2020 and the remainder for after 2020).10 ter, springs and wells.3 The Jordan Valley, In March 2019, Mekorot announced that which accounts for approximately 28.5% of Drawasha Subhi, an infrastructure develop- the West Bank, has long been a target for the ment contractor, won the tender.11 Israeli agricultural sector due to its favorable The new bypass pipeline is one of several such climate, fertile land and plentiful water sup- projects designed to entrench Israel’s de-fac- 4 ply. to hold over the occupied West Bank. Under Bardala was connected to the Israeli national the pretext of preventing alleged ‘water theft’ water grid in 1975. Since then, the community by underserved Palestinian communities, the has been dependent on Mekorot for its water Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) and Mekorot supply, despite the fact that there are three are elaborating an extensive system of bypass water wells situated within the village’s terri- pipelines designed to facilitate the smooth tory. This is because Israel has prevented the and rapid transfer of water supply to near- residents from maintaining or extracting wa- by settlements while bypassing Palestinian ter from these wells.5 The surrounding Israeli towns and villages.12 settlements rely on Bardala’s groundwater for Crucially, the Israeli occupying power deducts 6 drinking, as well as for agriculture. Nearby not only water payments, but also the costs Israeli illegal settlements, such as Mechola, of alleged water theft from clearance reve- take pride in their green landscapes and plan- nues and the taxes designated to the Pales- 7 tations. Meanwhile, on average Palestinian tinian Authority (PA).13 This means that Pales- residents of the Jordan Valley have access to tinian taxpayers effectively shoulder the cost 8 only some 20 liters of water per person a day. of any amount of water that is unaccounted In September 2018, Mekorot published a for. Israel’s deduction of Palestinian revenues tender for the development of a bypass pipe- for water as well as electricity payments cir- line near the village of Bardala (Tender 2018- cumvents its obligation under the Paris Proto- The bypass pipeline will be connected col to return tax and custom revenues to the .(פ/75 to the current Mekorot drilling site through a PA.14 Circumventing this obligation renders it 500 meter long fortified steel pipeline.9 The meaningless and inapplicable. 3 The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. The Bardala project, is one of a number of Bardala Village Profile, February 2006:3. other bypass pipelines planned by Israel. By- 4 Who Profits, Greenwashing the Occupation: pass pipelines will be built in a number of The Solar Energy Industry and the Israeli Occupation, February 2017:18. 5 The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem. 10 On file with Who Profits Bardala Village Profile, February 2006:8. 11 On file with Who Profits 6 Judea and Samaria Council, Stolen Water?, 12 Ministry of Defence’s Subcommittee for Ju- (Hebrew) myesha.org.il, 10.5.17. dea and Samaria, Protocol No. 64, (Hebrew), 19 June 7 Mechola Settlement, About, (Hebrew) 2018:22. mechola.co.il 13 Ministry of Defence, Water Plans for 2040 8 B’tselem. The Jordan Valley. November Will be Ready Within Four Years, (Hebrew) 19 June 2017. 2018. -He- 14 Gisha, Will we Always Have Paris?, 13 Sep) פ/Mekorot company Tender 2018-75 9 brew) tember 2012. 2 | IN THE PIPELINE other locations including near the Palestin- ian towns of Huwara, Nabi Elyas and Azzun Atme.15 Operating in tandem with a complex web of bypass roads, including newly built and planned roads bypassing these very same towns,16 water bypass pipelines ensure Israeli control over vital infrastructure. In June 2018, the head of the ICA, Brigadier General Ahvat Ben-Hur, announced that a master plan for water distribution in the Jor- dan Valley for 2020-2040 is in its final stages, and includes repairs and fortification of exist- ing Mekorot facilities. New drilling projects and pipelines will also be constructed accord- ing to Ben-Hur’s indications.17 Bardala Bypass Pipeline construction site. The result of such policies and projects is what Photo: Who Profits | 18.6.19 has been identified as “water apartheid”18 in the occupied territory, whereby Jewish Israeli related issues on Palestinian land, including settlers enjoy an uninterrupted supply of wa- approval and denial of permits for the ex- ter while Palestinians are denied their collec- traction of water.19 A further order issued by tive right to water through a set of institution- the military – Military Order 291, issued De- alized discriminatory policies and practices. cember 1968, declared all water resources to be ‘public property’, bringing all privately and municipally owned Palestinian water facilities Water under Occupation under Israeli control.20 Following the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in 1967, Is- The enforcement of these orders was later di- rael issued Military Orders 92 and 158. The vided between various Israeli state bodies, in- orders, issued in August and November 1967 cluding the ICA, the Attorney General of Israel, respectively, granted officials appointed by the Israeli military, police and military courts, 21 the Israeli military authority over all water the Israeli Water Authority and Mekorot. The Israeli Water Authority and Mekorot in- 15 Ministry of Defence’s Subcommittee for creased their activity in the West Bank, taking Judea and Samaria, Protocol no. 64, (Hebrew) 19 June 2018. over Palestinian water resources, expanding 16 Who Profits, Roads and Infrastructure Nabi drilling projects and constructing water wells. Elyas Bypass Road (Highway 55), January 2018 and Arutz Sheva, This is What the Huwara Bypass Road 19 Israeli Military, Order No. 947. Also see: Arutz Sheva Will be Liked, (Hebrew) , 4 April 2019. Israel State Comptroller, Judea and Samaria Annual 17 Ministry of Defence’s Subcommittee for Ju- Report, (Hebrew) 2013:133. dea and Samaria, Protocol no. 64, 19 June 2018; Arutz 20 Selby, Jan. Water, Power and Politics in Sheva, Water Theft in Judea and Samaria, 19 June the Middle East: The Other Israel-Palestine Conflict, 2018 19.6.18 and; Israel Water Authority, Approval of I.B.Tauris, 2004:81. Consumption - Jordan Valley, (Hebrew) 11 June 2015. 21 Israel State Comptroller, Judea and Samaria 18 Al Haq, Water For One People Only. Dis- Annual Report, (Hebrew) 2013:146. criminatory Access and ‘Water-Apartheid in the OPT, 2013:90-91. 3 | IN THE PIPELINE Extracted water was used to supply illegal set- not brought before the JWC for approval.27 tlements and their agricultural expansion. Furthermore, Israel’s total control of Area C, The terms of Israel’s control over the Palestin- where the West Bank`s main water resourc- ian water sector, though long present on the es are located, renders this agreement obso- 28 ground, were reorganized and codified in the lete. Oslo Accords. The Accords stipulated that the Oslo stipulated that the PA must purchase PA would be responsible for water facilities water from Mekorot, further entrenching Pal- and distribution to Palestinian communities estinian dependency on Israel for the supply in Areas A and B, while Israel, through Me- of water, while accumulating increased debt. korot, would be responsible for the supply of Israel’s control over water sources and sup- water to Palestinian communities and settle- ply, grants it the power to dictate the terms ments in Area C of the occupied West Bank.22 of purchase. Since the Palestinians are pre- Under the Accords, a Joint Water Commit- vented from installing water networks, they tee (JWC) was set up, comprised of an equal are forced to pay eight times more than what number of Israeli and Palestinian officials. The Israeli settlers pay for water, due to transpor- 29 JWC was tasked with overseeing the manage- tation fees.
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