Settlers, Palestinians, unite to trash garbage plan

Settlers and Palestinians posed a united front against a government plan to build a large refuse dump near Jericho that, they say, will pollute millions of cubic meters of spring water every year.

Residents of the Palestinian villages of Ramon and Nuima, along with Bedouin from the Khavanah tribe and Jewish settlers from Michmash and Rimonim, signed a petition titled “Peace with the Environment” to protest the scheme, Maariv reported on Tuesday.

Backed by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the Benyamin Regional Council, and the Union of Shomron Region Cities, the petition opposes establishing a new dump to serve the large Palestinian cities of Ramallah and El-Bireh. The proposed location for the site is close to the Nahal Machoch stream in the northern Judean desert.

“They brought the tea, we brought the cakes,” said Roi Siman, SPNI coordinator for the Judea and Samaria regions, of a meeting on the issue that was held a few weeks ago. “There is a joint interest. We all understand that the project will produce a threat to damage the environment and us. The campaign provides an opening for collaboration.”

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The joint effort comes at a time of strained tensions and recent violent clashes between settlers and Palestinians following the stabbing to death last week of Evyatar Borowsky, a father of five from the Yitzhar settlement. After killing Borowsky, the murderer, Salam As’ad Zaghel from the Palestinian town of Tulkarem, grabbed the slain man’s gun and opened fire on border police at an adjacent checkpoint. The police returned fire, wounding Zaghel, who had only recently been released from prison, before apprehending him and taking him to an Israeli hospital.

Siman explained that, unless the dump is operated to the highest standards, waste could seep into the ground and damage not just the stream, but also underground springs used by communities around Jericho.

“The main casualties will be Palestinians and Bedouin, some of whom will have land appropriated in order to build the garbage dump,” Siman said. “It could possibly damage 12.5 million cubic meters of water a year.”

The local civil administration responded that the dump is part of an overall coordination policy for the West Bank to establish organized waste disposal sites and close pirate sites that operate without permits.

“Before settling on the location of the site, alternatives were considered, and after careful examination, the place was chosen,” the civil administration said, and noted that the plan is currently on hold to give those who object an opportunity to protest.