The Palestinian Crisis: The Role of Zionist Occupation in Palestinian Environmental Pollution
Palestine is strategically located, as it is positioned at the crossroads between Asia, Africa, and Europe. The importance of this region increased after the digging of the Suez Canal and the discovery of huge reserves of oil in the Arabian Gulf, which contributed to the intensification of colonial competition.
To coincide with the imperialist ambitions, the Zionist movement arose in Europe as a reaction against the growing anti-Semitic tendency towards Jews. Zionism is the movement of the Jewish people that espouses and supports the re-establishment of a Jewish state in the territory defined as the historic Land of Israel (Canaan, the Holy Land, or the region of Palestine), which affected Palestinians who lost their lands, freedom and their human rights.
The time was right for Great Britain and the Zionist movement to recruit European Jews in order to join them as a reaction against the growing anti-Semitic tendency towards Jews in the time, not giving much concern to conflicts that would arise in the region nor the effects of this on the Palestinians, like the ones we are seeing today. Zionism, in modern times, also means supporting the violations of Israeli authorities towards Palestinians.
Imperial interests met Zionist interests, as Britain supported the Zionist project by issuing the Balfour Declaration on November 2nd, 1917, which stipulated the creation of a national homeland for Jews in Palestine in exchange for Zionists protecting British interests in the region.
The Zionists replaced the British ally with the United States of America. This alliance was based on the commitment of the USA to support the Zionist project and the Zionist movement’s support of American interests in the Middle East. Since December 1945, Congress declared its support for the establishment of a national home for Jews in Palestine.
It is recognized that it is the policy of the occupation to control the country’s resources and take benefit of all its advantages. The most important of them is to control the environment through which all-natural and living resources are violated even the most important elements of life. Through this concept, the Zionist occupation violations of the Palestinian environment are concentrated in all aspects of life.
After building the Apartheid Wall in 2002 during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, and annexing many agricultural and other Palestinian lands, the continued occupation led to damage and pollution to the lands that remained with the Palestinian side. Thus, this destroyed the crops and polluted the Palestinian groundwater through settlements waste seeping into the crops including solids and wastewater in different areas in Palestine such as the city of Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Hebron, and its environs, where the largest Zionist communities and settlements are located.
The occupation exploits the lands of the Palestinian West Bank, which are places of polarization for the owners of the Zionist factories, because of the ease of setting up factories under the bayonets of the military occupation. Without health control, due to the inability of the Palestinian Authority to impose its control on them, the destruction of agricultural crops, the spread of skin diseases, insects, and rodents is extensive.
In addition, the soil in the locations where the polluted water runs is clearly affected, and its colour turns black, ultimately leading to desertification of the Palestinian territories, as well as the spread of unpleasant odours, epidemics, and congenital deformities.
The Zionist occupation also prohibits the establishment of polluted water purification plants or the practice of any activity that limits the spread of pollution in the Palestinian territories. This shows the extent of the apparent aggression of the Israeli occupation by pushing pollutants of all kinds to harm the Palestinian people, which is reflected in climate change and increasing global warming.
Palestinian opinion and environmental activity are considered resistance against the Zionist occupation by spreading awareness of environmental pollution in the region, but environmental activists in the region remain in grave danger of arrest due to the threats of occupation and the silence of the global media.
We found that it is our duty as a climate justice organization to provide a platform for Palestinian voices. This article was written by a young Palestinian activist, who’s name is withheld to protect their safety in a dangerous situation.
