"Palestine: It's Hell" Tour
Contacts: John Reese, 206-650-0834 (c), jreese@scn.org (interviews possible in Madison 5/9 or by phone) Erica Kay, 206-568-7110, can@drizzle.com
Human Rights Activist Speaks about Environmental Effects of Occupation
John Reese, hydrogeologist and human rights worker, will present his findings and eyewitness reports of the environmental and human impacts of occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Madison, Wisconsin on the UW Campus on May 9th. Reese documents destruction of agricultural lands, needed infrastructure and pollution: Friday, May 9, 2003, at 7:30 pm at the University of Wisconsin Humanities Building, Room 2650.
Reese spent seven months in Palestine during 2002 working with the nonviolent International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Palestinian Hydrology Group (PHG). While in Palestine he coordinated ISM actions, including those part of ISM's fall Olive Harvest Campaign. He also collected information on the environmental effects of the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and co-authored and co-edited the Palestinian Environmental NGO's Network's (PENGON's) first report on the Israeli Apartheid Wall.
In 2003, Reese has presented his slides and shared stories about people living under occupation in over 40 US cities. A peace activist since the Vietnam War and a hydrogeologist and environmental consultant for over 20 years, Reese talks about the impacts of war and occupation on the environment and the people of Palestine.
"The Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) is not only making war on the people of Palestine, but it is also making war on the environment. The IOF is using the environment as a weapon to drive Palestinians from land they have lived on for thousands of years. Industries, colonies and the IOF dump their waste on it, destroy trees that are hundreds of years old, deplete and pollute the water, and destroy the natural flora and fauna of Palestine" says Reese.
"I attended your presentation and have not stopped thinking about it since. What a powerful way to present the suffering of the Palestinian people, and what a unique perspective on the myriad of issues they have been facing for the last 55 years. When I saw the title of your presentation, I thought to myself, who would worry about the environment there? It is the last of their worries, then when you began your presentation I was in awe of how effective your approach reflects the conditions the people are living under there." Rima Akkary, Ed.D.
The environmental destruction caused both directly and indirectly by the Israeli occupation of Palestine is severe. Groundwater is being withdrawn faster than it can be replenished. Drinking water is contaminated due to broken pipelines which results in drinking water mixing with sewage. Over 250,000 olive trees and other fruit trees have been destroyed in the last 2 years. In some areas air pollution has become a problem due to the burning of garbage. This is all in addition to the environmental destruction that wars and their industries bring from uranium poisoning by the use of depleted uranium shells to land and property laid waste by fire, bombings and the machines of war.
The Apartheid Wall intensifies these problems in the surrounding areas and poses immediate and long-term destruction and degradation to the Palestinian environment and natural resources. The impact on water supplies of the areas around the Apartheid Wall are of serious concern. In villages around Qalqiliya and Tulkarem over 30 agricultural wells will be lost in the first of three phases of the Apartheid Wall.
By addressing the problems of the environment Reese hopes to be able to speak to many Americans that are concerned about the global environment. As people learn what the State of Israel does to this land they will also learn what the government of Israel is doing to the people of Palestine.
For pictures from Palestine and a schedule of the "Palestine: It's Hell"
tour, view
This tour is dedicated to the memory of Rachel Corrie, another human rights worker from the Pacific Northwest, who was killed by an Israeli bulldozer on March 16, 2003, while trying to halt the demolition of a Palestinian doctor's home in Gaza.