California – Los Angeles Photo Exhibit: Israel Blocks Palestinian Access to Water

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    National Geographic photo exhibit in Los Angeles features a photo from Paolo Pellegrin, Magnum Photos West Bank, 2009 and gives the following caption 'A source of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, water is emblematic of their unequal relationship. During dry summers, West Bank Palestinians—restricted to shallow wells by Israel’s occupation—have to buy groundwater tapped from beneath them.'California – Israel is stealing water from Syria and is blocking Palestinian access to water resources, this according to a National Geographic photo exhibit in Los Angeles.

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    The “Water – Our Thirsty World” exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography is generally non-political, apart from nine photos taken in the West Bank, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea areas.

    The caption under one of the photos reads, “Israelis relax by the Sea of Galilee, a lake near the Golan Heights that is fed by the Jordan River and that supplies a third of Israel’s fresh water. Since 1967, Israel has blocked Syria’s access to the shoreline.”

    The caption under another photo reads, “At a water park in Tiberias, Israelis bask in the resource’s relative abundance. A 2009 World Bank report said Israelis use four times as much water per capita as Palestinians. Israel has disputed this, saying its citizens use only twice as much.”

    The exhibit also features a photo of a Palestinian woman drawing water from a well. The caption reads, “A source of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, water is emblematic of their unequal relationship. During dry summers, West Bank Palestinians—restricted to shallow wells by Israel’s occupation—have to buy groundwater tapped from beneath them.”

    The caption under a photo showing Christians bathing in the Jordan River reads, “Christian pilgrims immerse themselves in the lower Jordan, where Jesus is believed to have been baptized. With fresh water being diverted to cities and farms up north, this stretch of the river has almost no clean water.”

    The caption of another photo showing Christian pilgrims bathing in the same area reads, “Israeli border police stand guard on the Jordan River’s western bank. Over on the Jordanian side, churches and a tourist center commemorate the traditional site of Jesus’ baptism.”

    Israeli Consul General in Los Angeles Jacob Dayan sent a complaint letter to the owners of the Annenberg Space for Photography, saying the venue is being used as a political tool to spread lies about Israel’s part in the global effort to provide clean and fresh drinking water.

    The diplomat added that the exhibit falsely depicts Israel as a country that steals water while its neighbors suffer from a drought. The opposite is true, wrote the consul general.


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    15 Comments
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    Non Jew
    Non Jew
    13 years ago

    Don’t believe it. This is another episode of waronterror promotion done on Israel’s back. It’s actually not about Israel but you’re supposed to discuss anti-Semitism. You’re supposed to discuss Arab (Palestinian) issues. You’re supposed to discuss the “peaceprocess.” (What is a peaceprocess!) You’re supposed to ignore the obvious contradictions and intstitutionalized misinformation. (You’re supposed to ignore that America has a president with name like….) I’m not telling anyone to stop discussing these ‘issues.’ Just make sure to keep perspective. In other words: you can’t question yourself because of propaganda hype. Nor should you question Israel. (And to some extent Israeli officialdom has to play along with the hype.) We all know that disenfranchised individuals use headlines as an excuse to aggress on others. We all know that peaceprocess warfare-militarization continues, and so does remapping, and so does phoney warcrimes investigations, etc. But this is device, it has unspoken motive. You shouldn’t spend sincere energy defending against hype.

    HaNavon
    HaNavon
    13 years ago

    Wait a second, doesn’t the Palestinian Authority get billions of dollars in aid? Isn’t Hamas being supported by many Gov’ts and NGO’s?
    Let them build water desalinization plants! If they want their own state it is not the onus of Israel to support their water usage!

    Babishka
    Member
    Babishka
    13 years ago

    Hamas kept taking parts from their own water treatment facility, to make rockets to shoot at Sderot, and cause a flood of raw sewage in Gaza.

    World Saver
    World Saver
    13 years ago

    I got this National Geographic magazine last month and could not believe my eyes. There were many things making the Israelis look bad and the Palestinians mistreated. I was wondering how they can get away with this. It looks like it is finally being addressed.

    george
    george
    13 years ago

    I went there yesterday and loudly protested (I did back off when 3 very large guards came over and made some vague threats). I suggest everyone in the area go their and LOUNDLY let everyone there know they are in a anti semitic zone. Enough with talk, let’s DO something!

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I don’t get it. Israel has to give water to Arabs but they don’t need to sell Israel gasoline? I mean, gas in Israel is through the roof because they need to buy through a middleman. But if the Palestinians want water for free, National Geographic goes nuts.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    NG has always hated Israel, for some reason. It’s strange, since they report about geography and culture, not politics, yet they can’t help but poke at the Israelis.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    This is not the first time that National Geographic has done something like this. Years ago they had a photo spread of Israel showing Muslims as quiet people, going about their business and worshipping in mosques, while every photo of a Jew was of a soldier or a scantily clad woman.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    NG has a long history of targeting Israel. A few months ago they had the gall to write that Christians are fleeing the Middle East because of Jewish persecution!

    To add insult to injury, the Annenberg family were Jews.

    Liberalism is a Disease!!!
    Liberalism is a Disease!!!
    13 years ago

    “The “Water – Our Thirsty World” exhibit at the Annenberg Space for Photography is generally non-political, apart from nine photos taken in the West Bank, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea areas. “

    “… generally non-political” yeah, except with this case!

    Kahane Was Right
    Kahane Was Right
    13 years ago

    You want piece, get rid of all of them !