Life in Gaza in becoming more difficult than ever with the blockade and unavailability of essential services such as water. Water in Gaza is heavily contaminated with salt and sewage which are difficult to remove. The majority of the population in the strip depends on desalinated water purchased from private vendors at high cost ($13 for one cubic meter). Families with poor conditions can’t afford desalinated water; therefore depend on contaminated municipal water or water from private agricultural wells. This impacts people’s health, particularly children and puts their safety at risk. Water contamination causes serious diseases such as cancer, liver problems, renal failure, high blood pressure, diarrhea, and hepatitis.
As a Gazan blockaded since 2007 and suffering, among other things, from the water salinity and shortages, I decided to learn more about the daily life of the poor in the marginalized areas of the Gaza strip who are not able to buy potable water, listen to their problems, and try to be their voice through brining attention to their suffering.
I visited Al-Malalha village, which is located in the southern part of Gaza city. I heard a lot about Al-Malaha but never imagined that life there is almost below zero. I was shocked with what I have seen; the villagers are suffering from poverty, unhealthy life and unemployment. They are thoroughly disfranchised; they even do not have the essential basics of life including water, food and health care centers. Municipal water is not available most of the time, and when it comes, it is dirty and mixed with sewage.
Amna Ahmed Al-Mallahi, 39 , a mother of 5 daughters and 3 sons, and a wife of unemployed man, has been living in Al-Malalha village for 25 years. Life burdens are drastically affecting her family members. They have no money to buy food. Amna doesn’t receive the municipal water at all, although her house is connected to the municipal network . ‘We get water from our neighbor’s well which is so saline”, Amna said. ‘We sometime borrow money to buy this polluted water’ she added.
“The unavailability of water hinders my ability to undertake the household chores and maintain hygiene”, Amna Said. Amna’s children suffer from waterborne diseases due to the unclean environment they live in and lack of water. Amna rarely cleans her house, and her children bath once every two or three weeks. One of Amna’s sons said, “my school’s mates avoid talking to me because of my bad smell; their treatment bothered me, that’s why Im thinking about leaving school”.
Recently, a charity organization has provided Amna with desalinated water so people can drink and cook with, but Amna still need more than that to have a dignified life for herself and her family.
Well, they are still breeding, don’t they? Obviously, there is nothing wrong with what Israel is doing as their numbers keep going up. You are an Anti-Semite if you say so. Its Pals own fault. They can always leave by the Rafah crossing. Nobody is stopping them. If they didn’t breed like vermin there would be more water to go round. They have all those excess males, that threaten new Holocaust. Can you see how dirty they are? Don’t blame Israelis for their primitivity. Israel is a light to the nations and invented Intel. It’s Hamas’s fault. If Hamas were to commit communal Harakiri, the Gaza would turn overnight into second Singapore. And what monster of a mother gives a child contaminated water? Especially if she knows that this water causes cancer, liver problems, renal failure, high blood pressure, diarrhea, and hepatitis. Surely its better not to give your child water than give contaminated water. EVERYBODY KNOWS that Jerusalem is Israel’s eternal capital and that Pals do not love children the way Israelis do. And don’t even start me on unemployment. Instead of breeding they should all start looking for a job. There is always job for those who REALLY want it. (/outrage off)
Alert to Mondoweiss/Samah – can this be reviewed it not already?
Front page news at Haaretz – Knesset walkout on European Parliament President Martin Schulz for saying Israelis use 70 l per Israeli capita as compared to 17 per Palestinian capita
Netanyahu is condemning Schultz – PLEASE if Schultz’s numbers are true then this is a MAJOR PR coup against Apartheid
What are the numbers? – can these be sent to Schultz IMMEDIATELY
Cached page at Haaretz for those of you without subscriptions below:
:
“Give him all due respect, but the president of the [European] Parliament stands here and says a blatant lie as though Israelis have the right to use 70 cubic liters of water and the Palestinians 17 cubic liters,” she said. “That is a blatant lie. This speech will be spread all around the world as though this is true. When he says these things, and in German yet, it’s no wonder that Knesset members and ministers are objecting to these comments.”
http://208.71.46.190/search/srpcache?ei=UTF-8&p=Netanyahu+accuses+EU+Parliament+chief+of+%27selective+hearing%27+after+Bennett+walkout&type=1button&fr=ush-everything_uh3_02&u=http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=Netanyahu+accuses+EU+Parliament+chief+of+%27selective+hearing%27+after+Bennett+walkout&d=771620423044&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=CjRbVEwxDPOpNER1e3rSu2ZsRSiR7Qrs&icp=1&.intl=us&sig=Jwg8ZE1PL7u0TUzUQAHJLQ–
The UN predicts that Gaza’s aqua fir, already heavily salivated, will be unusable by 2016. The crisis is another tragic consequence of Zionism and the fascist pretentions of the Jewish State.
Don’t forget the nitrates in the Gaza/Coastal aquifer water supply. They’re the source of “blue baby” birth defects (w/ lifelong effects).
It’s a very sick mentality/society that inflicts these conditions on millions of people in order to bring about a political result. VERY sick.
Where are the usual hasbara clowns to tell us Israel isn’t occupying Gaza?