Israel and the West Bank are experiencing record temperatures this week. The heat always brings the issue of water access to the forefront of Palestinian minds in the South West Bank. The issue of water inArea C of the South Hebron Hills in the West Bank is a major one. Because the area is under full Israeli military and civil control, the Israeli government at the request of the Israeli army often denies water infrastructure for Palestinians villages. The idea is slowly starve the villages in order to pressure the residents into moving to major city centers such as Yatta and Hebron. Dramatic images of a Palestinian child holding on to his father as he is arrested by Israeli soldiers for ‘stealing water’ surfaced some weeks ago made international news.
Ta’ayush activists were on the ground in the South Hebron Hills last Saturday helping Palestinians create a water station for a village. What was captured on tape (below) are settlers verbally and physically attacking the activists and the Israeli soldiers that almost always accompany Ta’ayush activists in order to harass them. After the settlers rampage of destruction, the army turned to the Ta’ayush members with a closed military zone order. The struggle for water continues in the South Hebron Hills as settler violence shows no sign of slowing.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ER8VKHwgxns[/youtube]