Some things are invisible until pointed out. Take the water tanks peppering the West Bank landscape; large black cylinders towering heavily on buildings and homes. 'That's how you tell between Palestinian villages and Israeli settlements,' a friend points out from the bus.
'The Palestinian homes need water tanks because of restricted water supply from Israel, whereas the settlements don't.' I realise that in all my years living in Israel, travelling these roads, staring at the scenery, I had never noticed the water tanks.
On our next drive to Jerusalem I would point out the water tanks to my mum, who hadn't noticed them either. Why should she? They don't impact Israelis directly, and mean nothing for our daily lives. But to our Palestinian neighbours, the water tanks are integral for survival.
The situation highlights alarming discrimination. According to a 1995 interim water-sharing agreement, Israel is the sole provider of water to Palestine and sells it to them at full price. Palestinians are prevented from maintaining or developing their water infrastructure, including digging wells on their own land.
According to the World Health Organisation the minimum per capita per day water consumption is 100 litres. In the West Bank, Btselem — the Israeli information centre for human rights in the Occupied Territories — provides that the average water consumption for domestic, commercial and industrial use is approximately 79 litres a day. At times, water will be further restricted or cut off.
Compare this with average domestic, commercial and industrial water consumption in Israel, which is 287 liters per person, per day. In settlements, the average water consumption is 369 litres per person per day. We don't need the UN to tell us that access to clean water is a fundamental human right, thus the water situation in Palestine reveals a cruel privileging of one group over another.
As our bus pulls in to the dusty station, I can't get the images of the water tanks out of my mind. I see them everywhere. Later, we drive around with a friend who says she often shares her rationed water with her neighbours. 'For me the water we get is enough, but it's just me living there. My neighbours have children. They need the water to cook, to clean, bathe ... how can you have a family live on that?'
Among the Palestinian villages, enclaves of settlements stand out. Despite their proximity to their Palestinian counterparts, the settlements' red roofs are free from