Tue 3.7.12, Afternoon Meeting with the mayor of Qabalan
Qabalan, Tuesday, 3.7.12 – Meeting with the mayor
On Tuesday, 5.6.12, we (Karin and Shoshi) came to Qablan, talked to people we met on the street who told us about the problems they were facing, and learned that the town has a serious water problem. We asked to meet with the mayor; one of the people called his home and the mayor came to meet us. Just like that, on the spur of the moment while standing in the street, we had a conversation at the end of which we promised to come again, this time for an organized meeting. Tzvia joined us today.
The municipal building is modern and spacious, contemporary furniture in the conference room. The text of the municipality’s vision for the town is posted on the wall, along with photos of Arafat and Abu Mazen flanking a picture of the Al Aqsa mosque.
Participants:
Yusuf Salah (Abu Ahmad) – Mayor
Abu Musa – Finance
Abu Hassan
Ali Qassem – Financial advisor (speaks Hebrew)
Qabalan – a young town, about 400 years old…
About 8,000 inhabitants; most work locally in commerce and services. Some work in the settlements. Their problem is primarily with the settlers, not the army.
There are six schools in town for boys and girls. University students go to Bir Zeit, Nablus and Jenin.
Yusuf’s son studied medical engineering in Algeria, returned to Qabalan a year ago but can’t find a job. Yusuf thinks higher education is important even though graduates can’t find work. We asked whether there are no entrepreneurial efforts to establish small, knowledge-based businesses. He said that donors today aren’t giving money; they’re just underwriting projects which don’t include such efforts.
He himself has a background in education; he was appointed mayor a year and a half ago, until the elections, but there aren’t any elections so he’s continuing in the position; he hope to return to his previous employment. Only after he became mayor did he discover that the town has large debts to the Palestinian Authority.
About 200 people have permits to work in Israel; the mayor doesn’t deal with permits. He’s in touch with the Palestinian Authority about the many unemployed people who need medical insurance through the National Insurance Institute.
The main crop is olives. People have planted apricot and fig trees next to their homes; they’re watered by the rain.
Qabalan receives water from Mekorot, but the amount is less than the minimum they need. They receive 13,250 cu/m per month, but need at least twice that amount. The Palestinian Authority asked Mekorot to increase the amount but was turned down.
The town is built on hills; the higher elevations don’t get water at all if there’s insufficient pressure. The mayor has to distribute water by area, so that each neighborhood is supplied in turn, and only for a few hours. People with money buy bottled water; the rest fill containers and bottles during the few hours that water is available. It’s been this way for ten years.
Before the Occupation there were springs in the area and every house had a cistern. In 1983 the cisterns were destroyed and Israel took control of the water. The population has also increased, and so have its needs.
The mayor thinks that water is the basis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel forbids digging wells so that it will be able to use the available groundwater.
Tzvia tells about Kufr A-Dik, whose water allocation was doubled with her help. She suggests he write to the Palestinian water authority and send her a copy of the letter; she’ll try to help from the Israeli side. She also gave him the phone number of Hassan, from Kufr A-Dik, who’ll tell him what to do.
Electricity comes from Israel. He shows us bills for unrecorded consumption; that is, their system didn’t show the total electricity consumption. The total was NIS 2,525,000, for the years 2005-2010. A lawyer is handling it.