Palestinians Struggle to Hold on to Land, Watering Holes 
Henry Norr in the Berkeley Daily Planet - Life in the tiny Palestinian hamlet of Qawawis seems straight out of the Old Testament, but that doesn’t stop the Jewish settlers in the hilltop outposts that surround the place from doing their best to destroy it. And if something isn’t done soon about the settlers’ latest threat—denying Qawawis’s shepherds access to watering holes their flocks depend on—the villagers might have no choice but to abandon their ancestral homes and lands. more

 Vandals Foul Palestinian Village’s Water Supply 
Amira Hass in Haaretz - The Madama village’s spring was deliberately contaminated and its water supply system was sabotaged 10 days ago, village council head Ayed Kamal said Sunday. more

 Occupied Salfit: Living in the Stench of Settlers’ Sewage and in the Shadow of the Apartheid Wall 
IWPS - Israel has a long history of water theft in Salfit, which has the biggest water table in the West Bank. 16 artesian wells in Salfit have been confiscated over the years – the water was diverted miles away to Israel itself as well as settlements in Salfit and the Jordan valley. Israelis and settlers consume five times as much water as Palestinians, but Palestinians pay 300% more. This racist system of water delivery, perfected by the South African apartheid regime, is controlled by the Israeli private water company Merkorot. The nearby villages of Kufr Dik and Bruqin are currently without a consistent supply of water because of overconsumption by settlers. more

 Water War Leaves Palestinians Thirsty 
BBC News - Like many other things in the region, water is in hot dispute between the Israelis and the Palestinians. more

 Blood and Water, Part One 
Jessica McCallin in Grist Magazine - Oil, namely the vast reserves in Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia, is the cause of many of the broad geopolitical battles plaguing the Middle East. But it is access to water, a more fundamental resource, that is at the root of much of the bitter conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. more

 Blood and Water, Part Two 
A variety of explanations have been offered as to why Israel is reluctant to redistribute water resources. The most obvious reason is that doing so would require a change in Israeli lifestyles: no more private swimming pools and green lawns. But the motives go deeper than that, according to Robin Twite, director of the Environment Program for the Jerusalem-based Israeli/Palestine Center for Research and Information, a public-policy think-tank. Twite says Israelis have what he calls a “mythical belief in development.” more

 Rising Malnutrition Among Palestinians 
UN News Service in Human Rights Education Associates - The United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) today warned of rising hunger and malnutrition among Palestinians living in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – a situation the agency blamed largely on Israeli polices and practices. more