Running water 12 hours a week: Jerusalem residents protest shortage in Kafr 'Aqab

By EVE YOUNG

Published: JULY 21, 2024 15:26

Updated: JULY 21, 2024 19:50

View of Kafr 'Aqab and the abandoned Atarot Airport, north of Jerusalem, July 31, 2022. (photo credit: GERSHON ELINSON/FLASH90) — View of Kafr 'Aqab and the abandoned Atarot Airport, north of Jerusalem, July 31, 2022.

(photo credit: GERSHON ELINSON/FLASH90)

Water currently runs in the neighborhood's pipes around 12 hours a week, according to an ACRI report from the end of June, which cites residents.

Protesters gathered in the east Jerusalem neighborhood Kafr ‘Aqab and in front of Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion’s Rehavia home Saturday, in two protests calling on officials to ensure water supply Kafr 'Aqab, where water is available through the neighborhood’s taps only for hours every week.

The severe water shortage has been ongoing in the neighborhood, which is part of the Jerusalem Municipality, since early June, said the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), citing the residents.

Kafr ‘Aqab is the northernmost Palestinian neighborhood in Jerusalem and was annexed and added to Jerusalem’s municipal jurisdiction in 1967. It is located behind the security barrier, near the Kalandiya checkpoint.

The protest in Rehavia was meant to echo and bolster the Kfar ‘Aqab protest and protesters held signs in the shape of water droplets and calling for water in the neighborhood.

Water currently runs in the neighborhood’s pipes around 12 hours a week, according to an ACRI report from the end of June that cites residents. This has had a significant impact on daily life in the area and has led to students being sent home, medical centers struggling to provide service, camps being canceled and more, they said.

A bottle of mineral water (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

The ACRI sent a letter to Jerusalem’s mayor, the Water Authority, the Energy and Infrastructure Ministry, and the Mekorot Water Company, demanding that the water supply to the neighborhood be renewed.

The company that supplies the neighborhood is the Ramallah Water company, because of a “historic anomaly,” said ACRI in the letter, adding that this “does not exempt other authorities from their legal responsibility to provide water to the residents.”

“The fact that in Israel in the 21st century, residents are being forced to buy water from unauthorized companies at unregulated prices and to store it on the roof of their homes is a badge of disgrace to every organization responsible for water supply,” they said.

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Working to find a solution

Jerusalem’s municipality said that they are in constant contact with the neighborhood’s residents and are working to find a solution. Mekorot said that the amounts they provide to the water supplier in the area have not changed, and emphasized that they are not the supplier. The company is “not authorized to work in the cities because of regulation” of the company, they added.

The Water Authority said that the Ramallah water company determines what amount of water is supplied and to where, and that the authority has already approved the development of infrastructure to increase water supply to the area. This infrastructure development should end in 2026, it added.

The unauthorized building in the neighborhood has made supplying the neighborhood with water more difficult, the authority added, saying that this circumstance has led to difficulties in supplying the appropriate amount of water for the continuing expansion of the population.

“By law, supplying water to illegal structures is not allowed, but the Water Authority is continuing its efforts to increase the general amount that is streamed to the area as soon as possible,” the authority said.

The unauthorized building is a common problem in many Jerusalem neighborhoods and sometimes stems from an inability to obtain permits that would allow for new housing to accommodate expanding populations.