By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – “We only get running water a few hours each day,” says Aziz Harbi, a Palestinian Authority security officer who lives with his family in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.  “The water is not drinkable.  We use it for cleaning and washing.  But it is dirty.  After a shower, the skin is irritated, and my children often come out with a rash.”

Since the Israeli military siege on Gaza in January 2009, only 7% of the available water supply meets the standards of the World Health Organization.  The World Bank reports that in 2005 the Gaza Strip began a “well-designed master plan for water and sanitation,” though less than 2% of the plan has been fully implemented, and since the end of the siege, progress has frozen.  In addition, the water filtration systems were damaged and the aquifer beneath the Gaza Strip dropped, saline water from the Mediterranean has flooded into the aquifer. 

A recent World Bank report found that Israel uses four times more water than the Palestinians from a vital West Bank aquifer.  Israelis use 240 cubic meters of water per person each year, compared with 125 cubic meters per person in the Gaza Strip and 75 cubic meters in the West Bank. Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli head of Friends of the Earth Middle East said there was a “clear failure” to meet the water needs of both Israelis and Palestinians, and that Israel was taking the “lion’s share.”

As severe as the water crisis is in Gaza, matters are more complicated in the West Bank.  According to several agreements, the mountain aquifer running the length of the West Bank is to be shared by Israel and the Palestinians, but the World Bank reports that the Palestinians have access to only a fifth of the water.  Palestinian water sources are often contaminated by pesticides and fertilizers from Israeli settlements.  Palestinians are also concerned by the impact of the Israeli separation barrier, which dips into the West Bank to include water sources, and which many Palestinians contend undermines Palestinians’ hope of a viable independent state.

For more information, please see:

The Guardian – Israelis Get Four-Fifths of Scarce West Bank Water, says World Bank – 27 May 2009

The Electronic Intifada – Israeli Army Contaminating Water Sources – 25 May 2009

The National – Water Fails to Flow Fairly in West Bank – 20 April 2009

Palestinian Hydrology Group – The Water and Sanitation – 12 January 2009 

Palestinian Monitor – Water – 18 December 2008

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt– Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal spoke in Egypt on Tuesday, giving conditions on which the peace process between Israel and Palestine can succeed after a conference with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.  Meshaal stressed the need for disputes between factions to cease, specifically, the security forces of Fatah need to stop their raids against Hamas in the West Bank. Additionally, immediate action to create and implement a two state solution must be taken.

Exiled Meshaal resides in Damascus in  Syria. Meshaal referred to conflicts on the West Bank,  as the biggest hurdle in the peace process for Israel and Palestine. He cited last week’s violent attacks which killed nine Palestinians, four security officers of President Mahmoud Abbas and one civilian as an example of these conflicts.

Meshaal found the speech that President Obama gave in Cairo last week “encouraging.” However, Meshaal is concerned that these words need to be followed with action in the form of true continued pressure from the United States for an Israeli and Palestinian peace process, or there will not be any progress. Meshaal welcomes Obama’s contact with Hamas as the first American contact since President Carter.

Egypt is also putting the pressure on Hamas and Israel to come up with a viable two- state solution. Particularly, Egypt is putting the pressure on the different Palestinian factions, like Hamas and Fatah, to “bridge divisions” by July 7, so that the Palestinian state could hold elections in 2010.

Meshaal thinks that if the violence between Fatah and Hamas could stop then there would be a real chance for the peace process to succeed. Meshaal expressed his approval of a two- state solution that would use the 1967 borders to delineate the two states. He also expressed Hamas’s willingness to be involved in the peace process.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Hamas: Fatah Raids Disrupting Talks– 10 June 2009

BBC News- Hamas ‘Will Not Obstruct’ 1967 Borders Deal – 10 June 2009

Xinhua- Meshaal in Cairo to Defuse Tension Between Hamas-Fatah– 10 June 2009

Reuters- Raids Hamper Palestinian Reconciliation- Hamas – 9 June 2009

Voice of America- Hamas Leader Meshaal in Egypt for Reconciliation Talks– 9 June 2009

By Meredith Lee-Clark
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BEIRUT, Lebanon – A report released on June 3 by Transparency International, an anti-corruption group, has found that 36% of Lebanese view domestic political parties as the most corrupt organizations in the country.  The report was released ahead of Lebanon’s national elections scheduled to take place on June 7.  The report also stated that 29% of Lebanese perceive civil servants as the most corrupt element in Lebanon, with repercussions on the upcoming elections.

Some young Lebanese voters plan to accept bribes from competing political parties, waiting until the day of the election to accept such bribes, when the prices are at their highest.  Ghassan, a 31-year old man from Beirut, said that he and his friends will certainly vote for the party that pays them the most.  “We will wait until the last two hours,” said Ghassan, “This is when our votes will be purchased as if we were in an auction…People are saying at the last hour on voting day, each vote would be worth as much as $1,000.”

Some Lebanese voters hope that this election will be different, turning to Ziad Baroud, the country’s interior minister, who has made it a personal mission to fight corruption in the Lebanese government.  Baroud will also be supported by an international monitoring team, led by former-U.S. president Jimmy Carter.  Others, including Ghassan, are more skeptical:  “This country will need at least 10 Ziad Baroud’s [sic] to fight the corruption.”  Baroud has battled such practices such as vote buying, fake identification cards, free flights for expatriates back to Lebanon, and ballot boxes that go missing.

Lebanon has struggled with corruption for at least thirty years.  During Syria’s long military occupation, the weak Lebanese government struggled to maintain autonomy and neglected enforcement of anti-corruption regulations.  During the Lebanese civil war, the sale of fake IDs and documents was rampant, as many Lebanese tried to conceal their religion and protect against being killed.  While the Lebanese press has often reported on instances of corruption in recent years, such reports rarely spark a judicial inquiry.

For more information, please see:

The Daily Star – Political Parties Seen as Most Corrupt Groups in Country – 4 June 2009

The National – Buying Votes Just a Part of the Price of Democracy – 4 June 2009

IPS – Legal Flaws Could Twist Election Result – 1 June 2009

Lebanese Transparency Association – The Civil Campaign for Electoral Reforms – 2007

Global Integrity Report – Lebanon:  Reporter’s Notebook – 2007

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

TUNSI, Tunisia– Tunisia has requested that the United States send two Tunisian nationals being held on charges of Terrorism back to Tunisia. Both men have been convicted in absentia on terrorism-related charges. Earlier in May the United States requested that Italy take in the same two men, as Italy had been investigating their connection to an Islamist group. One of the men is currently being held in Guantanamo Bay prison, and the other is being held at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Since President Barack Obama ordered the closure of U.S. run Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, the United States has been trying to persuade other countries to take in Guantanamo’s current detainees. Tunisia announced on May 26 that it would take all the Tunisian Nationals currently being detained in Guantanamo.

Bechir Tekkari, Tunisian Minister of Justice and Human Rights, says that Tunisia is happy to welcome ten Tunisians that are currently being detained at Guantanamo Bay. Tekkari vouched for Tunisia’s desire to try the detainees under the Tunisian legal system and under the ‘principle of the presumption of innocence’.

While Tekkari has not had any contact with the Obama administration Tunisia is ready to take the prisoners back. He also attempted to convince human rights activists that Tunisia would judge and punish the detainees appropriately under the existing Tunisian Laws. Tunisia has been scrutinized following a critical report from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch. The report alleges torture and “other ill-treatment in police stations and detention centers run by the state security department”, as well as a vivid description of one man’s ordeal in custody and the severe abuse that he endured.

Tekkari attempted to deal with the allegations of the Human Rights Watch report in his in his address on Tuesday. He also discussed a new bill that sought alternative sentencing, and would greatly reduce the number of detentions. Tekkari also welcomed inspectors from Human Rights Watch to come into Tunisian prisons and investigate first-hand.

The United States will be considering the sincerity of Tekkari’s remarks when they decide where to send the ten Tunisian Guantanamo detainees back to Tunisia. Given Tunisia’s specific request for two prisoners to be returned and the United States prior requests for other countries to take the Guantanamo prisoners, it will be a difficult decision for the US to make.

For more information, please see:

Legalbrief America- Government Prepared to Accept Guantanamo Detainees -1 June 2009

Reuters- Tunisia asks Washington to Hand Over Two Detainees– 31 May 2009

Tunisia Online News- Alternative Sentences Will Prevent the Detention of 10000 people Each Year – 27 May 2009

AFP- Tunisia Tells US it will Take in All its Guantanamo Nationals – 26 May 2009

AP- Tunisia Will Accept 10 Citizens Held in Guantanamo– 26 May 2009

By Ann Flower Seyse
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

JERUSALEM, Israel – On May 31, the committee which advances bills to the Israeli parliament voted against proposing the ‘loyalty oath’ bill to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament. The committee rejected the proposal eight votes to three.

The only votes in favor of this bill in committee were cast by members of the Yisrael Beitenu party, the same party that introduced the bill initially. The Yisrael Beitenu party has been described as “ultra right”, and is headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. This loyalty bill was one of Lieberman’s main campaign pledges.

Members of other parties thought that the bill’s intentions were discriminatory, and were glad to see that the majority of the people on the committee that concurred, and voted down the measure. Israeli Arab Lawmaker Jamal Zahalka called the vote “an achievement in the fight against fascism and racism.” 

The proposed legislation would have mandated that all Israeli citizens to swear allegiance to Israel as a “Jewish, Zionist, and democratic state before they could be issued national identification documents that are required for all citizens over age 16. The bill would have also forced all citizens to either work for a period of national service, or serve in the army. If a citizen did not comply with their service requirement their citizenship could be revoked. Many saw this bill as discriminatory, especially towards Arab citizens, and Orthodox Jews. Most Arab citizens do not serve in the Israeli military, though a few volunteer to serve.

The bill could still be “privately sponsored” by a member of the Yisrael Beitenu party, who introduced the bill initially. However, given the lack of support that this bill received in committee, it is unlikely to pass the legislature. It would be required to pass an extra, fourth vote on the Knesset floor.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera- Israel ‘Loyalty Law’ Rejected – 31 May 2009

AP- Israel Throws Out Proposed ‘Loyalty Law’– 31 May 2009

Reuters- Israeli Cabinet Rejects Proposed Loyalty Oath – 31 May 2009

Examiner- Hardline Israeli Party to Introduce Loyalty Bill– 25 May 2009