Bluewashing around the USA

This article, written by Nancy Murray of the Alliance, summarizes of some of the efforts to promote Israel's "water solutions" in various states. While the list isn't complete, it does show how water technology is being used to demonstrate that Israel is an indispensable force for good in the world. Is your state on this list?

The Israeli national water company Mekorot is the flagship of Israel’s Apartheid Water practices.  Where it has sought international contracts it has been targeted by (sometimes successful) Stop Mekorot campaigns, including in Argentina, Italy, Greece, Portugal, India, Brazil and the Netherlands.

In the USA, while Mekorot has a presence (see Delaware and Ohio below), the state company is not the sole face of Israel’s water prowess.  Instead, over the past few years, some of Israel’s 300 or so water tech ‘start up’ companies have been ratcheting up efforts to push into US markets, often with the backing of the Israeli government.  Governor-led trade missions to Israel have resulted in agreements to form water partnerships and many joint water and other high tech projects have received funding from the Israel-US Bi-national Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation.  

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Failing Sanitation Infrastructure in Gaza →

Report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the shortage of water infrastructure in Gaza:

the longstanding shortage of adequate sanitation infrastructure in the Gaza Strip has resulted in the discharge of around 90 million litres of untreated or partially treated sewage into the sea every day, posing serious health and environmental hazards. Development of water and sanitation infrastructure has been severely impacted by the import restrictions imposed by Israel in its nine-year blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Gaza: shortage of sanitation infrastructure raises health and environmental concerns [via OCHA]

Polluted beach in Gaza city, June 2016. Photo by OCHA

Polluted beach in Gaza city, June 2016. Photo by OCHA

News Roundup: Ramadan 2016 Water Crisis

To compensate for the water cut, Palestinians have resorted to buying water tanks to meet their basic needs. The added expenditure of 250 shekels is a financial burden for many families who cannot afford it.

Israel cuts water in West Bank during Ramadan [via Gulf News]

Can you imagine going without water for a week?

"On the first day of Ramadan, the water stopped for 24 hours, with no notice," Afaneh told Al Jazeera. "Since then, it has been coming in at less than half the capacity. We've done everything we can to try and make residents comfortable, but this is a crisis."

Israel's water cuts: West Bank 'in full crisis mode' [via Al Jazeera]

Source: Getty Images via Al Jazeera

For the past three weeks, the lives of tens of thousands of Palestinians around Salfit and Nablus have revolved around water…On the morning of June 4, we discovered that our main water reservoir, with a capacity of 1,500 cubic meters, was completely empty,” Salfit Mayor Dr. Shaher Ishtayeh told Haaretz last week. No one warned the local council in advance that Mekorot [Israel’s water supply company] was cutting off the supply for a day.

Palestinian City Parched After Israel Cuts Water Supply [via Haaretz]

How Israel uses water as a weapon of war →

Good summary of what is happening now as well as a history of water as weapon from 1948 on:

Israel has been ‘waging a water war’ against Palestinians, according to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. The irony is that the water provided by “Mekorot” is actually Palestinian water, usurped from West Bank aquifers. While Israelis, including illegal West Bank settlements, use the vast majority of it, Palestinians are sold their own water back at high prices.

Palestine’s ‘prayer for rain’: How Israel uses water as a weapon of war [via Informed Comment]