Amnesty International waterrapport Palestijnse gebieden

 

Amnesty International heeft het - in tegenspraak met haar reputatie van een degelijke en neutrale mensenrechtenorganisatie - wederom klaargespeeld om een misleidend rapport over Israel en de Palestijnse gebieden naar buiten te brengen, waarin feiten, achtergronden en context vakkundig worden genegeerd. En vanwege haar reputatie nemen media als het NOS Journaal AI's bevindingen helaas klakkeloos over....

 

De suggestieve beelden van uitgedroogde Palestijnse landbouwgrond tegenover Israelische zwembaden - liefst nog in de Joodse nederzettingen - is ronduit vals en achterbaks. Ik kan in Nederland ook wel beelden verzamelen van een villa in het Wassenaar en een arme allochtoon en vervolgens betogen dat Nederland een racistische maatschappij is waar mensen zwaar worden gediscrimineerd en uitgebuit.

 

Wij logeerden onlangs in Galilea bij een gezin waar het douchewater werd opgevangen om nadien de tuinplanten mee water te geven. Om de waterschaarste in Israel te bestrijden wordt binnenkort het verbruik boven een minimum hoeveelheid per persoon extra zwaar belast.

 

Wouter

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http://blog.camera.org/archives/2009/10/amnesty_water_falsehood_1.html

October 28, 2009

Amnesty Water Falsehood #1

We will keep a running list of Amnesty International's falsehoods in its new report "Troubled Waters -- Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water." Keep checking back for updates.

Here is the first:

An Amnesty news report accompanying the report ("The Day the Bulldozers Came") alleges:

The village of Beil Ula, where Mahmoud [al-'Alam] lives, is not connected to the Palestinian water network.

Fact: The Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem, a Palestinian outfit, has a 17-page town profile of Beit Ula, which states on page 13:

Beit Ula has been connected to the water network since 1974. Provided by the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA), almost 70% of town households are connected to the network.

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http://blog.camera.org/archives/2009/10/amnestys_water_report_will_the.html

Amnesty's Water Report: Will the Facts Trickle Out?

Yesterday Amnesty International issued a report condemning Israel's water policies and charging the Jewish state with discriminatory practice vis-a-vis allocation to its Palestinian neighbors ("Troubled Waters: Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water"). The report is based solely on Palestinian sources.

NGO-Monitor, Israel's Foreign MInistry, and the Water Authority have responded, blasting Amnesty for the report's flaws.

CAMERA is reviewing the report and will provide updates as they are available. In the meantime, we were struck by this promotional video for the report, which juxtaposes photographs of sprinklers and swimming pools in Israeli communities with images of barren Palestinian water reservoirs and children carrying water vessels. Yet, there is no shortage of swimming pools in the Palestinian West Bank. As Ha'aretz's Avi Issacharoff wrote on Aug. 8, 2007:

Nowadays, every city in the West Bank has a pool or a recreational complex: Bethlehem has one similar to Al-Khaluf [a clover-leaf-shaped pool in Dura, near Hebron], while Ramallah has more than 10. One of Jenin's swimming champs committed a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's Sbarro restaurant in August 2001. Nablus has a pool reserved for women, and an Olympic pool. Another pool and recreation complex sits between Nablus and Tubas.

Al Khaluf draws more than 2,500 people on an average weekend day, [lifeguard Ahmed] Rajoub says. ("West Bank swimming pools help Palestinians brave the heat")

For more on water issues concerning Israel and the Palestinians, see earlier CAMERA reports here.