August 22, 2007
CommonDreams - When the Occupation Gets Really Filthy
South of Artas village, sewage from the Gush Etzion settlement bloc is slowly decimating the farming village of Beit Ommar, a small community reliant on its agricultural exports. Next to a vineyard owned by several families in Beit Ommar sits Gush Etzion's sewage treatment facility, surrounded by a fence with barbed wire. Two pipes jut out from the edge of the brackish open water pool, aimed directly at the vineyard.
March 24, 2007
Environmental Justice For Palestine
Water, solid waste and wastewater infrastructure were
practically non-existent; hence the standard of living in Palestinian
localities lagged way behind that enjoyed within Israel and also in
other Middle Eastern countries; and poor waste management threatened
the environment with serious pollution and degradation. The reason
for this was essentially neglect and underinvestment during the
Israeli Administration from 1967 to 1993. It is pointed out in the
report that the investment in Palestinian infrastructure by the
Israeli Civil Administration was not equal to the amount payed in
taxes by Palestinians.
March 7, 2007
Solidarity - The Water Crisis in Gaza
by Alice Gray
The political rhetoric and frequent violence of the Israeli-Ppalestinian conflict often serve to mask underlying environmental
issues which, if not resolved, may pose an even greater threat to the
well-being of the Palestinian population than the guns and bombs of
the military occupation.
September 10, 2006
Independent UK - Poisonous clouds of pollution spread after Israel air strike
Lebanese minister says damage was deliberate, causing 'an even
bigger disaster than the war itself'
By Geoffrey Lean , Environment Editor
More people will die as a result of pollution unleashed by Israel's
bombing of the Lebanon than perished in the month-long war itself, the Lebanese government believes.
Yacoub Sarraf, its Environment Minister, speaking exclusively to The Independent on Sunday, said last week that a highly poisonous cloud spread over a third of the country - an area that is home to half its people - from a fire in a bombed fuel tank that burned for 12 days.
The same bombing released about four million gallons of oil into
the sea, in the largest ever spill in the eastern Mediterranean. He
insists that the environmental damage was "deliberately" caused.
Experts say that, if this was so, it would constitute a war crime,
in breach of both the Geneva Convention and the statute of the
International Criminal Court. Israel retorts that any such
suggestion is "very ridiculous".
The damage began on 13 July, when Israeli rockets hit a fuel
storage tank at the Jiyyeh power station 18 miles south of Beirut.
The government managed to repair the damage and prevent an oil
spill. But two days later, he continued, the rockets returned, not
merely hitting the same tank again - just 25 metres from the sea -
but fatally damaging its protective burm, a concrete and earth
barrier designed to stop any oil spilling from the tank from
reaching the Mediterranean.
"It was definitely deliberate.," he said. "They did not hit the
power station, just the fuel storage, and this was the tank that
was closest to the sea."
He expects the greatest "catastrophe" from the toxic cloud that was blown by the prevailing wind over Beirut and one-third of the country. Tests have shown, he says, that it contains high levels of poisonous lead and mercury, and highly dangerous PCBs.
"Not only have we been breathing this for a month, but all the
agricultural produce has been subjected to it. Even worse, all
these poisons will come down with the rain, and some will seep
through the soil and give us a polluted water table.
"Then in a couple of years every single citizen in Lebanon will
definitely be subjected to poisonous matter in his drinking water."
He expected more Lebanese to die from the pollution than the 1,300,
overwhelmingly civilians, killed in the war. He added that studies
have shown there would be decreased fertility and higher rates of
cancer. "This is a bigger disaster even than the war itself," Mr
Sarraf said.
A spokesman for the Israeli government said: "We deny the
minister's accusations. They seem to be very ridiculous.
"We never deliberately targeted any civilian capacity or place, we
only targeted places or facilities relevant to Hizbollah."
September 5, 2006
"Israel" blockade on Lebanon prevents oil spill clean-up. AFP [2006, Sept.5]
The "Israeli" blockade on Lebanon is preventing the widescale intervention needed to clean a massive oil slick caused by the Zionist state's bombardment of a power station, Greenpeace has said.
July 2006
Haaretz - Oil spilled from IAF bombed power plant pollutes Lebanon's coast
A south Lebanon power plant that was knocked down by Israel Air Force planes some two weeks ago caused a massive oil spill along the Beirut's coast. Lebanon has made an urgent request to the UN in recent days for assistance in the ecological crisis.
Greenpeace - Let's start with a nuclear weapons free zone
Istanbul , Turkey — Greenpeace is gravely concerned and shares horror at the escalating violence and conflict in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza.
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