West Bank water belongs to the West Bank. Israel covets so much of its neighbour's property, and the theft of West Bank water is well knows. Palestinians are forced to reclaim their water, for their own livelihoods. The settlements ARE the issue. BDS now.

People need to ask who stole the water first. It is well known that Israel has been and still stealing water from the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. They even tried to steal the water from Syria and Lebanon. The people of Hebron are trying to get some of their water back. The Israelis can not find water to have coffee and the Palestinain can not find water to drink. The Israelis can not find water for their swimming pools in the settlements and the palectinains can not find water to wash their faces. At least, neighbours can share resources equally and fairly.

lets see now , who isthe theif ? is it the one who owns the land and the water or is it the one who steals the land , water , roads , life , etc .. and in fact also will steal the breathing air if he could . its obvious the idf and the settlers are the obvious theives and forbidding the real owners from having acsess to their own water . if i was the palestenian authority i would o=poison all the water so that if i coudnt use it then the theifes will not be able to its simple

the Palestinians are merely exercising their right to quench their thirst from their rightfully owned own water stolen by Israel for the benefit of the settlers. Israel is an occupying power and has to fulfill its responsibilities to the indigenous Palestinian population. So cut the BS!

They are taking what's theirs!! Talk about stealing the entire country by the "Israeli"s and everything that it has including but not limited to water!! Palestinians are only taking back what has been stolen from them! Stop all the lies, you can't fool anyone! I know you will not publish my comment, because you want to keep the cover on your lies, but I had to say my mind to you, at least!

i am an israeli jew and i have to agree with everyone from 1 to 5, this is just ridiculous. How can someone steal their own property, these terror loving settlers should be booted out of our beautiful country. There is no room in israel for garbage theives . I feel ashamed of being israeli just by reading this idiotic article.

How can you steal your oun water ? its the other way arround. the jews are stealing the land the water and the oil from Lebanon. so go back to where you came from, simply you do not belong in that part of the world.

At first I thought, that all the Israeli have evil mind, but I think I am wrong about this. If all the jews think the way you think, there will be peace in that part of the world where jews and Arabs can live in peace.

Steal what he owes ain't the half of it, but I am grateful to you for acknowledging the great debt which the Palestinian people owe the Jews. It is TRULY gratifying that someone recognizes that the Palestinians are leeches, who owe Israel a great deal. We did, after all, bring them into the then-20th century in 1967, following their years under Jordanian rule living in the -- oh, tenth? Eleventh? How about we settle on whatever century it was where infrastructure was non-existent, hospitals were non-existent, universities were non-existent, sewage ran raw in the streets and people died like flies of diseases that had been successfully combatted for 300 years? That works for me. I truly do thank you for your extraordinary vision. The Palestinians owe Israel a great deal -- water is the least of it.

And so will it be forever. I wonder, why do we give them any water, electricity, gas at all. They've got too much comfort by living here. Stop supplying them and the scum will eventually leave for Jordan which was given out to them by Brits in 1948.

This article is the height of arrogance and shows how disgustingly ingrained the mentality of discrimination has become. Water allocation to West Bank Palestinians is in most districts less than the 100 liters a day per capita described by the WHO as the minimum required quantity for basic consumption. Jewish consumption is 2 to 4 times that amount! So go cry me a river you arrogant people!

Hows can it be stealing when the water is coming from the West Bank aquifier on PALESTINIAN land?

Citing the WHO should be enough to discredit anything you say but what do you do with 100 liters a day? How much does one need to drink? And to all of you who think they need to shower everyday and wash your car frequently, you are just as sorry.

The would be getting anything they wish. Palestinians don't lack water or anything material actually, what they lack is decent leadership which can get them to develop a steady country (or life). And for most of the above, Palestinians don't have ownership of any land. Palestine never existed! And there was no such thing as the palestinain people until 1967. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druzes, Bedouins, ... all lived there and have as much bragging rights.

You took Palestinians from 10th century and brought them to 21st? 1) You LIE, since even Israeli statistic bureau acknowledges that the Palestinian areas are underdeveloped! 2) Who asked you to bring them to 21st century? If they were happy in their 10th, who are you to bring them to 21st in the name of prosper! You work in BP, I can bet on it!

It mentions nowhere in this article that the water is from a "Palestinian" source, merely that the pipes are being hacked in the West Bank. The entire point of the national water carrier is to transport water from its source to where it's needed - would you all be complaining if the water was from the Galilee?

It is their water, it is the Israelis who are stealing it like the way they steal everything else.

There is no area in which the discrimination against the Palestinians by Israel is so blatant and cruel as in the area of water allocation. Israel controls the Mountain Aquifer and the water sources from the Jordan River. The Israeli army destroys ancient Palestinian water cisterns, used by Palestinian villagers to rob them of the little water they have. Bet'selem, the World Bank, international water experts, Amnesty International, all agree on the enormous gap in allocation of water between Palestinians and Israelis in all areas other than agriculture. We are talking about 1. HOUSEHOLD USE (drinking, cooking, hygiene, house cleaning, flushing of toilets, laundering clothes, dish washing, watering gardens and small plots of vegetables and fruit trees), 2. URBAN USE (watering green areas, filling swimming pools, supplying water to businesses, hospitals and hotes) and 3. INDUSTRIAL USE of various kinds (chemicals-, food-, drinks-, building- and textile industry). For all these needs the average Palestinian in the Westbank consumes sixty (60) litres of water per day. The average per capita consumption in Israel and the colonies is three hundred and fifty (350) litres per day. The US Agency for International Development recommends a minimum quantity of 100 litres per person. The inequity is especially apparent when one considers that the AGRICULTURAL sector, which consumes water for economic reasons and not to meet basic needs is the largest water consumer in Israel. In 1998 for instance this sector consumed fifty-three (53%) of all the drinking-quality water produced that year. One international water expert who studied Israeli practices in the Jordan Valley remarked that is "is easy to make the desert bloom by using someon else's water". Per head of the population the Palestinians in the Westbank now consume less than in 1967!! The situation in the Gaza Strip is much worse. Here the poorest amongst the Palestinians are literally forced to "drink the sea", because the deep wells drilled by Israel have depleted the water table in the Gaza Strip. If you want to check out the extent of this injustice go to the report issued by Amnesty International. It is called "Troubled Waters - Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water. Israel Occupied Territories." Amnesty points out that water is a human right. Consequently Israel violates the human rights of the Palestinians by denying them access to a fair share of the available water.

If the water is in west bank its their water.

The idea of manifest destiny is thankfully buried since the early 20th century. Clearly you didn't get the memo.

If some people believe the Palestinian inhabitants are entitled to the water beneath the soil, let the PA build their own water carrier. Surely with all the billions in donations they can afford it. What most these commenters are attempting to do is justify theft. There is no justification. Further, there is no indication that the Mekorot (Israel National Water infrastructure) is taking the water from aquifers beneath Judea and Samaria. It is most likely coming from other sources. The comments by most of these posters show they will say just about anything to justify theft and lack of initiative by the Palestinians and the PA.

I have to agree that people living in the same area must get the same amount of water for their needs, it does not make any difference if they are Palestinians or Israelis. everyone must have water, it is not fair for settlers to have swimming pools and to water their gardens and their Palestinians neighbours sufer from lack of water. Water must be avalibale to all... and then if someone steals water , he must be dealt by the law

I think Sarah sort of misspoke herself on one point. The Palestinians have not been brought to the 21st century, it has only been provided for them by Israel. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. The Palestinians are a good example of this. As to Palestinian areas being underdeveloped it is because of poor leadership. They could have a decent infrastructure if they invested in it rather than spend their time and money on trying to destroy Israel and if their leaders didn't rob them blind like Arafat did. As for the quip on BP, that was rather childish and pathetic.

Palestinians owe you nothing. You have taken enough homes, land, water, freedom and lives. You have not given us anything but wars and destruction. Our people were happy living simple lives without your 20th century air strikes and advanced missiles.

TB 24: If you knew anything about the conflict you would know that the PA actually has no authority to engage in infrastructure projects without the approval of the Civil Administration (ie. the Occuptation Military Bureacratic Dictatorship of the West Bank) hence they can't simply build their own water network. If you knew anything you'd know that water is one of the core issues of the negotiations that the Israeli government has been consistently dodging since before Ehud Barak. As for Sarah B. Your racism, your arrogance and your sheer ignorance is contemptible. It's as contemptible as this terrible one-side and biased article that does not mention any FACTS about water allocation (leaving it to the TBers to fill in the gaps), the fact that water is a salient issue in the negotiations and a point of sometimes lethal friction between the Israeli authorities and their Palestinian subjects and is nothing short of settler PROPAGANDA

Mike have you bothered to read any of the other articles about what goes on in Israel? You state that you thought all Israeli people have "evil minds" which shows how narrow minded you are on this subject. Either that or you are not moved by the practically free surgeries for Muslim children that are provided on a regular basis. Not to mention all of the other good deeds that Israel does on a regular basis such as in Haiti and the rescue team that Israel sent to Turkey a few years ago after an earthquake to name a few. Every issue has two sides always-

#16, #18, #21, #25, #26 all see Sarah for what she is -- a arrogance racist filled with hatred and ignorance who embarrasses Americans and Jews alike. What are you trying to defend such a vile mentality????????

All the infrastructure to pump the water was built by the Israelis. What they are doing is illegally tapping into the infrastructure and damaging it in the process. If it is "their own water" they can dig their own wells and their own pumps and not steal the use of Israeli's equipment.

You Israelis make me laugh.