Since decades, the Palestinian communities in the West Bank face various challenges and despite persistent efforts at various levels, the question of their status has not been clarified. As a result, the situation of these communities is dire and their access to water remains precarious.
Nevertheless, and irrespective from controversial opinions and political views, International Law – such as IHL and the Laws of Occupation – is applicable to the West Bank. The complex legal state prevalent in the West Bank has led to a situation of multiple standards: there are those who are governed by the centralized, military authorities and those who are governed by the local, civil administration. In everyday life, this disparity discriminates those who cannot resort to the civil authorities in case of dispute.
Those communities living under military rule thus struggle to claim their rights and to access vital natural resources – such as water and farmland – and they fear to lose their livelihoods. Unsurprisingly, this breeds further social and political tensions.
In view of these circumstances, I am, together with the Swiss NGO Right-to-Water (R2W) assessing two projects. These projects aim at
(1) rehabilitating and improving the existing infrastructure for the use of a water source and
(2) provide legal support to the community to get better water access.