More precious than oil: help rebuild destroyed cisterns in South Hebron Hills

From Ta’ayush’s appeal to help rebuild cisterns destroyed by the Israeli military.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

The situation of the Palestinian cave-dwellers in South Hebron Hills continues to be difficult. They suffer from permanent harassment carried out by the military and settlers. This year, however, has been even more difficult, due to a severe drought.

As if it wanted to capitalize on the harsh conditions, on December 16th, the Israeli military destroyed 13 water cisterns belonging to Palestinian families in South Hebron hills built before Israel’s creation.

The military claims that these water cisterns (or reservoirs) were built illegally and therefore must be destroyed. Some were built in recent years with help from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and some were built during the Jordanian rule, but still need authorization of the Israeli Authorities. They are located on lands the state has designated for the IDF as “firing zones” – areas the military uses as training sites for live ammunition.

The destruction or the water cisterns, leave the Palestinian shepherds without water sources, and force them to limit their grazing areas – this is exactly what the Israeli authorities intend to achieve. It makes the life of this population, who is already probably the poorest in the whole West Bank, impossible.

In order to help the Palestinians to keep their lands and strengthen the Zumud (“Steadfastness”) in South Hebron area, Taáyush activists have started helping reconstruct the cisterns. We need $4,200 for each cistern. We have set out to reconstruct ten cisterns, please help us accomplish this goal.

Donation can be made to Taáyush:

Via Bank Deposit

Bank Hapoalim

Branch 574 (‘Hapalmach’)

Account no. 160213

Swift code ‘poalilit’
IBAN: IL61-0125-7400-0000-0160-213

Via Paypal

http://tinyurl.com/taayush-jlm
Please mail Anat566@gmail.com with the donation details.

Thank you in advance,
The south Hebron comity of Taáyush Jerusalem