Palestinians denied access to water ( By Al-Jazeera)

Palestinians denied access to water - 14 Nov 09

Israel dubs Palestinian farmers trying in vain to irrigate their lands "water pirates".

Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, or "water pirates" as Israeli occupation forces prefer to call them, are siphoning off drinking water pipes in an effort to secure water to irrigate their farmland.

Water is an increasingly disputed resource between Israel and the Palestinians.

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A World Bank report has accused Israel of using four times more water than Palestinians from the so-called Mountain Aquifer that bridges Israel and the territory and runs along the West Bank.

Israel disputes that claim and says the Palestinians are jeopardising the resource through illegal use.

Palestinians argue they are being denied access in order to force them off their land.

This exclusive report from Al Jazeera shows Israeli occupation forces dismantling a farmer's water pipes in the agricultural village of al-Baqa.

Badran Jaber, a Palestinian farmer, told Al Jazeera: "We were surprised by a large group of soldiers and settlers who surrounded the entire area. We asked them: 'why are you doing this and what do you want?' They refused to speak to us.

"Men who came with the soldiers stormed the field and pulled out all the irrigation pipes, destroying the crops."

Al Jazeera's Jacky Rowland reports on how Israeli rules blight the lives of many Palestinians.




Road restrictions for West Bank Palestinians (By Al-Jazeera)

Roads in the occupied Palestinian Territories are vital arteries connecting West Bank towns and villages. But major routes have been closed off to tens of thousands of Palestinians, for the benefi...
Roads in the occupied Palestinian Territories are vital arteries connecting West Bank towns and villages.

But major routes have been closed off to tens of thousands of Palestinians, for the benefit of a handful of Israeli settlers.

Now, in the first ruling of its kind, Israel's supreme court has ordered the army to open up a West Bank highway to Palestinian traffic again.

Nicole Johnston reports from the occupied West Bank.

Civilian fears on Gaza's Israeli border

Civilian fears on Gaza's Israeli border ( By Aljazera)

AlJazeeraEnglish
November 12, 2009

Almost a year after Israel launched its war on Gaza, Palestinians who live there are still trying to rebuild their lives from the devastation. For those living near the border, that task has become all the more difficult and dangerous.

Not only are these people living too far from population centres to receive aid, they also live in constant fear of being shot or coming under attack. Al Jazeera correspondent Zeina Awad reports on their plight in northern Gaza.
Category: News & Politics



Sea shrinks for Gaza fishermen by CNN
November 10, 2009

Fishermen from Gaza can't stray more than three miles from shore or they face danger. CNN's Paula Hancocks reports.




Locked In: The Humanitarian Impact of Two Years of Blockade on the Gaza Strip
United Nations Videos

United Nations, New York, 17 August 2009 - Daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. The ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, now in its third year, h...
United Nations, New York, 17 August 2009 - Daily press briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General. The ongoing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, now in its third year, has triggered a protracted human dignity crisis with negative humanitarian consequences, according to a new report released today by the United Nations relief wing.

The 6th anniversary of the death of Rachel Corrie

Film by Fida Qishta
Every year we remember 16th March. We remember a kind, insightful, talented person committed to the plight of the Palestinian people, who genuinely had the courage of her convictions. Her name was Rachel Corrie. This year, the anniversary of her death comes in the wake of Israel 's massive assault on the Gaza Strip. We believe Rachel would want the world to remember the 1,400 Palestinians killed before she is remembered herself. Now, six long years after her death, the situation in Gaza is even more desperate than when Rachel bore witness to it. Six years on we still demand justice.This is a highly poignant day for us, so to mark it in a positive and inspiring way, we joined five young Palestinian artists to create a mural on one of the few remaining sections of the Israeli wall on the Rafah-Egypt border strip. The same wall whose construction saw the destruction of residential neighbourhoods, including the one Rachel died trying to safeguard. The same wall that for years was intended to imprison Palestinian people. The same wall that was finally destroyed by the Palestinian people.As the artists began painting the wall, enlivening it with colourful symbols of defiance, Israeli F-16 fighter jets were heard flying over Rafah. Despite Israel 's announcement of a "unilateral ceasefire" on 18th January, the Israeli Air Force continues to unilaterally bomb Rafah and other areas in the Gaza Strip almost daily. Fortunately, today we weren't bombed by Israeli aircraft, maybe because we were protected by the "Palestinian Air Force". Palestinian children from the Lifemakers Center along with kids from the nearby al-Barazil refugee camp responded to the Israeli military flying F-16s by flying kites! 14 kites were flown in memory of the 14 hundred Palestinians killed recently in Gaza . Another kite sent our love to Rachel.Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie succeeded to gain entry to Gaza and celebrated International Women's Day with the courageous women of Gaza on 8th March. Commenting on their visit they said, "Despite the pain, we have once again felt privileged to enter briefly into the lives of Rachel's Palestinian friends in Gaza . We are moved by their resilience and heartened by their song, dance, and laughter amidst the tears."The Israeli Occupation Forces attempted to kill another American ISM activist, Tristan Anderson, on 13th March 2009, in the West Bank village of Ni'lin . Tristan, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Just as today we stood at the destroyed wall of Rafah, commemorating the sacrifice of Rachel, one day we will stand together with Tristan at the destroyed wall of Ni'lin to commemorate the sacrifice of its Palestinian martyrs.We should remember Rachel and all that she stood for. Similarly we must never let the world forget all the innocent Palestinian souls who perished without mercy. Their fate is already slipping from the collective memory of the international community, fading from the headlines of a fickle corporate media. It is time this manufactured catastrophe ends so that Rachels death and the deaths of countless Palestinians were not in vain.