environment

The editor of This Week in Palestine Tony A. Khoury: un numero dedicato all'ambiente.

Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem came to a virtual standstill when President George Bush came to visit last month to give the peace process a push. The residents of Jerusalem, in particular, were happy to see him leave due to the havoc his presence created on the city’s traffic for three days. The peace process is also at a standstill. There are periodic meetings between Palestinians and Israelis but not much seems to transpire from them. Gaza continues to be the hermetically sealed jail that it has become - not that it was much better in the past - with the added punishment of power cuts for hours on end, reduced supplies of fuel (especially during the unseasonably cold spell of a few weeks ago) and food staples, not to mention other products that Israel is not allowing into the Strip, thus bringing the economy to a near total collapse. Many factories and workshops have run out of the raw materials needed for their work, thus forcing them to shut down and lay off their workers. Another casualty of the Israeli occupation, perhaps less visible but no less serious, is the environment. For years now, Israel has been siphoning off the West Bank’s underground water reserves, abundantly supplying Israeli settlements created on Palestinian lands with it, while rationing the water supply to Palestinian villages and farmers. Water is one of the subjects covered in this month’s issue of This Week in Palestine, which is dedicated to the environment. Among the other topics highlighted are wildlife, desertification, global warming, waste management, and biodiversity. Legislation dealing with laws that should be put in place to protect the environment is the focus of one article, while another looks at the effect of the environment on the economy. It is interesting to see how the environment affects many aspects of our lives. Awareness of such issues should start early and be incorporated into the school curricula. Think twice before throwing that candy wrapper or tissue paper on the ground or out of your car’s window.