August 14 1998 - VOL 5 NO 9
by: Joharah Baker
This week's political focus was not the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, or lack thereof. Rather, all eyes were directed towards Palestinian president Yasser Arafat and his new cabinet. On Wednesday, August 5, president Arafat announced the long-awaited reshuffle of his cabinet in a special session of the Legislative Council.
No one truly expected a radical change in the government, but what occurred was a disappointment even to those who expected little. Arafat not only managed to keep all the ministers openly accused of mismanagement and questionable practices in the General Control Office report of last year, but he even added 10 new ministers. This brings the number of ministers in the Palestinian cabinet to 28, six of them without portfolio. On August 9, the PLC voted its approval of the new government by a wide margin of 55 Council members for and 28 against.
However, the change was not entirely smooth. Many Council members were angry; two of the cabinet's most prominent ministers and Council members themselves, Hanan Ashrawi and 'Abdel Jawwad Saleh, were ousted from the higher education and agriculture ministries respectively, and reassigned, Ashrawi to tourism and Jawwad Saleh to a ministerial position without portfolio. Twenty-four hours later, Ashrawi stated clearly that she would not accept the tourism portfolio, saying she preferred working in a “smaller, professional and more effective government.” 'Abdel Jawwad Salah, who was designated a “minister of state”, also resigned, and expressed his anger with the Cabinet changes by telling the press the “effective ministers were discharged and corrupt ones remained in their place.” Later, on August 11, Council member for Bethlehem Salah Ta'mari announced that he was declining the offer to be minister of state with the settlements portfolio.
The reshuffle has ended up looking more like musical chairs than anything else “ as well as a move by Arafat to reduce the level of pressure from the Council by giving its members as many positions as possible. Jamil Tarifi, the minister who was most expected to be dismissed from the Cabinet on the basis of the GCO corruption report, remained in his position as minister of civil affairs. He, of course, is more than content with the reshuffle. “The change is positive because it distributes the tasks,” referring to Arafat's statement that the next phase contains new challenges which will require extra effort.
Former industry minister Bashir Barghouti of the Palestinian People's Party was also expected to be excluded from the new cabinet due to his failing health. Instead, he was appointed minister of state. Also designated a minister of state was Talal Sidr, the former minister of sports and youth. In addition, Arafat created a few new ministries, such as the ministry for parliamentary affairs, to be headed by Nabil 'Amr, also a PLC member; and assigned portfolios to several new ministers of state.
Even as criticism of the obviously cosmetic government change was continuing to circulate, the government was sworn in, the new ministers taking their oaths with their right hands on the Qur'an, vowing to serve the Palestinian cause to the best of their ability, and PA president Arafat, secure in his seat just as he had expected, flew off to South Africa for an official three-day visit.
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Whose to blame for the severe
water shortages?
by: Muna Hamzeh-Muhaisen
Record high temperatures, the highest in over 35 years, have turned this into a hellish summer in the Palestinian areas, with temperatures reaching into the 40s in some areas and humidity making things even worse. Floor and ceiling fans are useless, doing little to alleviate the stagnating heat. Even so, sales of electric fans have skyrocketed in the second week of August, because they are relatively inexpensive “ US$27-$54 “ compared to the high cost of installing central air-conditioning, which runs anywhere between US$1,644-$1,918.
Keeping cool seems as elusive to Palestinians as real peace. While most Israelis are escaping the heat by spending a day at the beach or in the swimming pool, most Palestinians can do little except swim in their own sweat. Israel's blatant refusal to supply the Palestinians with sufficient amounts of water to meet daily demands has left tens of thousands of Palestinian homes, particularly in Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin, without running water for periods extending anywhere from two weeks to three months.
In the Hebron area, the population of 300,000 has a daily summer demand of 25,000 cubic meters of water but only receives 5,548 cubic meters. With a population of 180,000, Bethlehem is supposed to receive 370 cubic meters per hour but only receives 60 cubic meters. While simple everyday tasks like taking a shower, watering plants or sticking a load of laundry in the wash are a constant headache for thousands of Palestinians, the Israeli public and settlers are splurging on water without giving the matter any thought.
A paper presented by Jad Issac, Director of the Applied Research Institute in Bethlehem, at an environmental crisis conference in Switzerland in October 1994, provides some startling figures: “While Israel consumes 1,700 million cubic meters per year, Palestine (excluding settlers) consumes only 219 mcm. Each Israeli (excluding settlers) annually consumes an average 370 cubic meters (cm); each Palestinian, on the other hand, uses only 107 cm.”
The settlers are an altogether different story. In addition to the fact that they receive a continuous supply of water, each Jewish settler annually uses between 650-1,714 cubic meters. In a recent report on the water crisis in the Bethlehem area, Middle East Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), a London-based Arab satellite TV, showed settlers splashing around in an indoor swimming pool inside a West Bank settlement, while Palestinian women and children in a nearby village were washing their piled dishes from small 10-liter containers of water that the head of the household had managed to bring home.
Israel's control of most of the water resources means that the Palestinians are likely to continue to suffer. The chief surface water resource in the area is the Jordan River basin. The headwaters of the Jordan River, which feed Lake Tiberias, are located in northern Israel, the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Southern Lebanon, including Israel's self-proclaimed security zone. Meanwhile, Syrian and Jordanian waters, West Bank and Israeli springs all feed the Jordan River below Lake Tiberias. Surface waters contribute 30 percent of the total supply in Israel and the Palestinian areas and are under total Israeli control.
Israel also controls the rest of the water which comes from underground water resources. The major West Bank groundwater system is the West Bank Aquifer system, which annually discharges 600-660 million cubic meters but of which the Palestinians receive a mere 115-123 million cubic meters.
While the September 1993 Declaration of Principles between Israel and the PLO recognizes Palestinian water rights, it is vague on whether the Palestinians or Israelis will control water resources during the interim period. Annex III of the Declaration states that there will be “cooperation in the field of water, including a Water Development Program prepared by experts from both sides, which will also specify the mode of cooperation in the management of water resources in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and will include proposals for studies and plans of water rights of each party as well as the equitable utilization of joint water resources for implementation in and beyond the intperiod.”
The May 1994 Cairo Agreement on Palestinian autonomy in Gaza and Jericho makes the issue of water control even less clear. At first glance, the agreement looks promising since it gives the Palestinians complete control over water resources in Gaza and Jericho, with the exception of Israeli military areas and settlements which will be served by Israel's Mekorot Water Company. Yet the agreement also states that “the Palestinian Authority shall pay Mekorot for the cost of water supplied from Israel and for real expenses incurred in supplying water to the Palestinian Authority.”
The Multilateral Working Group on Water has yet to make any serious progress on the issue. Israel's refusal to address the issue of water allocation and water rights, coupled with the absence of two vital parties to the issue of regional water dispute, Syria and Lebanon, has left the Working Group virtually impotent. Aside from focusing on data, enhancing water supply and water management, the Working Group has not reached any vital decisions worth noting.
When it comes to finding a drink of water to quench their thirst, many Palestinians don't give a hoot about the politics of the matter. Everyone knows that Israel follows a policy of unfair water distribution and they also know that the settlements are drowning in water at Palestinians' expense. But, many Palestinians know too that even the small amount that the Palestinians are getting from Israel is not being fairly distributed.
The 60 cubic meters/hour supplied to Bethlehem is far from sufficient. Since this is the case, area residents wonder why is it that the water supply in certain neighborhoods in Bethlehem is never cut off. An old water pipe which for years now has been going past the house of deceased former Bethlehem Mayor Elias Freij ensures that Freij's house and the surrounding neighborhood is never out of water.
"The fact that the house is located on the main Jerusalem-Hebron Road means that whenever water is pumped to Dheisheh or any of the villages in the south, that neighborhood gets water as well,” says an angry Mohammed Laham, president of the Public Service Committee in Dheisheh Refugee Camp.
Laham believes that internal disputes between the previous and new management of the Water and Sewage Authority is partly to blame for the severe water shortages seen in the district this summer. Following accusations of corruption and mismanagement, the previous director was replaced nearly two years ago but many of those who worked with him still have maintained their jobs.
“Sabotage is clearly taking place,” says Laham. “The new management is constantly replacing water switches which are intentionally being broken by individuals believed to be loyal to the old management, and I believe that Israel is taking advantage of this internal dispute by reducing the amount of water it is pumping into the district.”
The last time this summer that Dheisheh Refugee Camp was supplied with water was between July 22-27. Two weeks and many unbearably hot days later, water finally arrived on August 10, to the relief of the 10,000 residents of the camp. After reaching a few houses at the edge of the camp, the water was cut off again. This on and off situation lasted nearly all day and then the water was cut off again.
“When something like this happens, you can be certain that sabotage has something to do with it,” says Laham. “Someone simply switched the water to a different location and it will take the Water Authority one or two days to find the location where this was done. Meanwhile, everyone in the camp is screaming to high heaven because they are completely out of water.”
Due to this water crisis, many Palestinian families are finding themselves forced to purchase water from mobile water tanks, a booming business in the Palestinian areas this summer. Palestinians whose homes are directly connected to water pipes pumping water to Israeli settlements are selling water to fellow Palestinians at exorbitantly high prices. One Bethlehem area resident is selling six cubic meters of water for US$41-$54 when the price of one cubic meter doesn't actually exceed US$2.74.
While the Bethlehem Municipality and the Water and Sewage Authority in Bethlehem are aware of the situation, they haven't taken any action to bring these money-hungry individuals to justice. In fact, all they have done is to tell the public, through a local newspaper report, to bring in their complaints about this overcharge.
The demand for water is so high that many families not only pay the cost but have to wait for nearly a week before their turn comes up because the waiting list is so long. Others who cannot afford to purchase water send their children door-to-door to fill empty coke bottles with drinking water.
“Our laundry has piled up, the house is filthy and the children scream for a shower every day,” says Intisar Hasan, a resident of the town of al-Doha, south of Bethlehem. “It is at times like this that I hate the Israelis for saying that Palestine was a desert and they made it green. My beautiful vegetable garden is all shriveled up when the sprinklers in Israel are never turned off. And what about my children? Don't they deserve a to splash around in a pool in this heat? Will they grow up without knowing what a pool looks like except on TV?”
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Working Children
a Problem: Two new reports focus on the Palestinian labor
force
by: Adnan Dagher
Approximately 12,125 kids aged 12-16 are part of the workforce in the West Bank and Gaza Strip “ 81.2 percent of these working and the remainder looking for work. This information was released by the Ministry of Labor's Department of Planning and Information in a recent report on working children.
While the report identified “working children” as between 12 and 16 years old, an age group constituting almost 12 percent of the Palestinian population, it does not refer to working children who may be under 12 years of age. Existing labor law in the Gaza Strip, which dates from 1964, prohibits children under the age of 14 from working. Children 14 to 16 years of age are allowed to work under certain circumstances.
Of the focus age group, according to the ministry, a large percentage leave school in search of jobs, either because their families are poor and need the money, or because there is little awareness of any future options which may be available to them if they stay in school. Of these working children, approximately 11.6 percent remain in school while working.
According to the ministry, some 1.3 percent of girls between the ages of 12 and 16 are part of the Palestinian work force. However, while 98.7 percent of girls, therefore, are not working or looking for work, only 81.4 percent are enrolled in school.
Of the working children identified in the report, 53.4 percent are employees, salaried workers, while 46.6 percent are unpaid workers in family businesses. The bulk of work performed by children is unskilled, requiring no specialized knowledge or technical skills. The children on average work 42 hours a week, six hours above the maximum allowed under the law.
Sectoral distribution of working children in the Gaza Strip is as follows: 55.7 percent in the service sector; 20.8 percent in agriculture; 23.5 percent in industry and quarries. In the West Bank, 48.1 percent work in the service sector; 38.4 percent in agriculture; 36.6 percent in industry and quarries.
According to a study by MAS, the Palestinian Institution for Economic Research and Analysis, the Palestinian work force in the West Bank and Gaza comprised approximately 500,000 workers in 1996, with 440,000 people working in the Palestinian territories and around 60,000 inside Israel, legally and illegally. On average, prior to the institution of the closure in 1991, Palestinian workers inside Israel numbered 120,000. Now, foreign workers have been brought in to take their place, with some 80,000 foreign workers now in place and estimates far higher of those non-Palestinians working illegally.
MAS pinpoints two major phenomena accounting for the continued Palestinian labor force in Israel: the “expulsion” of laborers due tothe high unemployment in the Palestinian territories and the “attraction” of the relatively high wages available in Israel, some 20 percent higher than those in the Palestinian territories. Most Palestinian workers in Israel are concentrated either in jobs Israelis refuse to do or in unskilled labor: 68 percent in the construction sector; 12 percent in agriculture; 9 percent in industry; and 11 percent distributed among other sectors. Forty percent of Palestinians who work in Israel come from villages, and 30 percent from refugee camps, both areas hard-hit by the economic decline in the territories.
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The more things change…
Public opinion poll on the Cabinet reshuffle
The vast majority of Palestinians believe that the Palestinian Authority is corrupt, according this week's poll conducted by Jerusalem Media and Communication Centre. And fully a third of people polled felt that the recent Cabinet reshuffle will only increase the problem.
JMCC found, however, that one-fifth of people polled, 20.3 percent felt optimistic about the Palestinian Authority's future performance following the ministerial changes. But 33.6 percent were pessimistic after the reshuffle, and 40.2 percent said the reshuffle had not changed their opinion.
In mid-1995, about a year and a half after the installation of the Palestinian Authority, some 40.5 percent of Palestinians felt that the PA was doing a good job, while 32.3 percent felt its performance was average. Only 17 percent expressed a negative opinion about the PA. A little over a year later, in August 1996, opinions were only slightly more critical, with 31.1 percent judging the PA's performance as good, 45.8 percent as average, and 16.5 percent as poor. Things took a turn for the better in August 1997, when 66.7 percent of Palestinians polled felt that the PA was doing a good or very good job; 28.3 felt that PA performance was either bad or very bad.
By this time, however “ August 1997 “ stories of monopolies, favoritism, double salaries and multiple mobile phones were rampant, and reports on the problem by the General Control Office and the Palestinian Legislative Council had been released. At this point, the majority of Palestinians felt that there was a corruption problem within the government: 47.3 percent felt that corruption was widespread, while 43.3 percent felt that it was significant but not widespread. Only 5.5 percent felt that there was hardly any corruption.
The Council essentially handed an ultimatum to PA president Arafat almost a year ago: change the Cabinet or else. It appears from the results of this week's JMCC poll that most people feel decidedly gloomy about the prospects for change or were already pessimistic. Asked whether the Council should approve the new Cabinet, 38.6 percent of those polled felt it should not and 27 percent did not know, compared to 31.4 percent who felt that the Cabinet should get Council approval. Furthermore, less than one quarter, 23.4 percent, felt that the changes in the Cabinet would help deal with the corruption problem. This could actually be seen as a relatively high level of confidence, given that all the ministers named in the PLC's corruption report remained in place, and may be due to the fact that so many Council members were added to the government.
JMCC's poll was carried out on August 8, 1998, among a random sample of 1,204 people over the age of 18 throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip; the margin of error is three percent. People interviewed numbered 765 in the West Bank and 439 in Gaza; 28.3 percent were villagers, 43.7 percent from refugee camps, and 42.2 percent live in urban areas. Respondents' average age was 33.6 years.
To view results go to JMCC public opinion poll no. 28 on Palestinian attitudes towards the Palestinian Cabinet reshuffle, Aug. 1998