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Israel controls all of our water resources, and has allocated the resources of the Jordan river in an 83%/17% split, meaning that Israelis get 83% of its water while Palestinians are only allowed the remaining 17%.

Israel also routinely shuts of Palestinian water in order to supply Israeli settlements, which feature lavish swimming pools and well-kept community gardens - something we as Palestinians cannot have due to our limited water allowance and uncertainty regarding water availability.

What this leads to is a situation in which farmers cannot expand their crops or grow their gardens, because to do so would require time, money, and most of all, water. Because water is only allocated to us in an infrequent basis, how is a farmer to know that he has the water security required in order to expand his crops without worrying about having his water shut off for two weeks as all his crops die?

Each house in Palestine generally contains either a beir [well], large plastic containers, or both, meant to hold water. These are automatically filled when Israel turns on our water, with the house itself using the Israeli water before tapping into the beir or the other water reserves.

Motors in the house pump the water into the wells when Israel turns the water on, and then another motor pumps the water of the well into the house.

What makes things even worse is that if there’s no electricity and your well is empty, then it’s not going to fill with water, and if the well is full and there’s no Israeli water or electricity, then the water is not going to make it from the well to your house.

Aside from cutting off our water and only supplying it to us on set days, Israel also frequently cuts out electricity, especially on the hottest days of the year when Israeli settlers are blasting their ACs and creating a huge spike in electricity demand. 

This is just one small aspect of life under Israeli occupation that I feel many don’t actually realize or consider. 

When we say that Israel controls every aspect of our lives, we mean it in the absolute most literal sense. We can’t shower unless they turn on our water, we can’t plant our crops unless they turn on our water, we can’t visit neighboring cities unless the soldiers at the checkpoint are feeling generous, we can’t pray at our holy sites in Jerusalem without special permits that they rarely hand out, We can’t build up our own infrastructure without them tearing it down and claiming it’s a “security concern”. We can’t build on our OWN land without getting approval from them first. We can’t use mobile data services because they continue to deny us the equipment and mobile spectrum required for it, so while Israelis and Israeli settlers enjoy all the 4G they want on their phones, Palestinians are still stuck with having text and the OCCASIONAL “Edge” signal on ours.