Amnesty’s Water Report: Will the Facts Trickle Out?

By Published On: October 28, 2009

Yesterday Amnesty International issued a report condemning Israel’s water policies and charging the Jewish state with discriminatory practice vis-a-vis allocation to its Palestinian neighbors (“Troubled Waters: Palestinians Denied Fair Access to Water”). The report is based solely on Palestinian sources.

NGO-Monitor, Israel’s Foreign MInistry, and the Water Authority have responded, blasting Amnesty for the report’s flaws.

CAMERA is reviewing the report and will provide updates as they are available. In the meantime, we were struck by this promotional video for the report, which juxtaposes photographs of sprinklers and swimming pools in Israeli communities with images of barren Palestinian water reservoirs and children carrying water vessels. Yet, there is no shortage of swimming pools in the Palestinian West Bank. As Ha’aretz‘s Avi Issacharoff wrote on Aug. 8, 2007:

Nowadays, every city in the West Bank has a pool or a recreational complex: Bethlehem has one similar to Al-Khaluf [a clover-leaf-shaped pool in Dura, near Hebron], while Ramallah has more than 10. One of Jenin’s swimming champs committed a suicide bombing at Jerusalem’s Sbarro restaurant in August 2001. Nablus has a pool reserved for women, and an Olympic pool. Another pool and recreation complex sits between Nablus and Tubas.

Al Khaluf draws more than 2,500 people on an average weekend day, [lifeguard Ahmed] Rajoub says. (“West Bank swimming pools help Palestinians brave the heat”)

amnesty hebron swimming pool.jpg
A Palestinian boy jumps into the swimming pool in Hebron (Photo by Nayef Hashlamoun/Reuters)

For more on water issues concerning Israel and the Palestinians, see earlier CAMERA reports here.

We expose the anti-Israel lies so you don't have to. But we can't do it without your help. Join the fight -- Donate now
CAMERA logo
Tell the World – Share Now!

More from SNAPSHOTS

  • Reuters Arabic Misidentifies Dome of Rock

    June 2, 2020

    The following photo and caption appeared in the Arabic version of an article by Reuters’ Stephen Farrell, published on April 24 and dedicated to the opening Friday of Ramadan in the Old City of Jerusalem: [...]

  • When Palestinians Like Checkpoints

    April 2, 2020

    To some pundits, it goes without saying that checkpoints in the West Bank should be discussed with the bleakest of terms. The checkpoints Israel erected in the West Bank during waves of Palestinian suicide bombings [...]

  • CNN’s Amanpour Condemns “power grab” By Israel’s Prime Minister and Others

    April 1, 2020

    We’ve said it often, but it’s worth repeating: Anyone interested in reasonably unbiased information about Israel (at least) should avoid the broadcasts of CNN’s Chief International Correspondent and Anchor, Christiane Amanpour. In characterizing responses to [...]

  • Italian Artist Posts Image of Jewish Ritual Murder on Facebook Page

    March 25, 2020

    Giovanni Gasparro being interviewed on a news show in Italy at the unveiling of one of his paintings at a basilica in Italy. (YouTube screenshot) Giovanni Gasparro, a popular artist in Italy, has posted images [...]

  • NY Times Shows How Framing Slants Coverage

    March 16, 2020

    A couple of days ago, we highlighted how David Halbfinger, the New York Times bureau chief in Jerusalem, cast Israel's prime minister as a scold for, well, trying to protect vulnerable populations from a pandemic. [...]

  • Seattle Media Oblivious To Imam’s Hateful Indoctrination Condemning Jews

    January 7, 2020

    The Masjid Ar-Rahmah mosque teaching – that Allah transformed Jews into apes and pigs for disobeying him – delivered by Imam (prayer leader) Mohamad Joban – was posted online by mosque personnel. This December 2019 [...]

  • AP Distorts: Bethlehem ‘Almost Completely Surrounded’

    December 10, 2019

    Over two years after improving inaccurate language falsely citing Israel's security "barrier surrounding the biblical city" of Bethlehem, the Associated Press once again misrepresents. AP's Joseph Krauss and Mohammad Daraghmeh wrote yesterday ("Palestinians in Bethlehem [...]

  • Variety Redraws Israel’s Map

    December 10, 2019

    "Variety is the most authoritative and trusted source of entertainment business news," boasts its web site but readers should not have any expectations about the accuracy of its geopolitical coverage. A May 2019 movie review [...]

  • Again, NY Times Silent on Islamic Jihad Terror Designation

    November 13, 2019

    As we noted yesterday, the New York Times chose to remove the word “terror” from its article about fighting between Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Israel. While early versions of the story informed readers that Islamic [...]

  • Reuters Errs on Administrative Detention For ‘Anti-Israel Activity’

    November 5, 2019

    The Ofer Prison, near Ramallah (Photo by Tamar Sternthal) A Reuters article today egregiously misrepresents administrative detention, erroneously asserting that it is mainly applied to "Palestinians suspected of anti-Israeli activities," when in fact the Israeli [...]