IN STEREO

The lack of water is related to the occupation because they control our resources. The amount they pump to Bethlehem district is very limited, not enough for human usage. We have a spring in Al-Makhrour, and the water now is very limited because when [Israel] opened the tunnel, the water became less and less. And we can’t do anything to encourage the water to come back. It’s not allowed for us to dig new cisterns to collect water. And even if you want to put a water tank there, it’s not allowed – it’s very risky to put it there. The whole area is always under observation because there are a lot of cameras. [But] what’s forbidden for us, it’s free for the settlers to do – on our land. – Issa A.

I’ll tell you a joke. A man had two daughters. Each one lived in another area. He visits the first one: “How are you?” “We are waiting for God to give us rain. We’ve sown the seeds; now we’re waiting for the rain. If it rains, we will live. If it doesn’t rain, we will not.” He leaves and goes to the other girl: “How are you?” “Oh, I hope everything will be alright: every seed is giving, and we’ll harvest everything. But the sky is starting to become cloudy, thundering. If it rains, we will lose everything.” So he comes back to his wife, and she asks him, “How are the daughters?” He said to his wife: “If it rains, you’ll cry; if it doesn’t rain, you’ll cry.” We are like that here. If, God gives us rain like this year, we cannot excavate the land. We cannot work on it. Then the rain finishes [and] the heat comes. So all the moisture in the ground evaporates. You know, the rich people who have money, they plant. They don’t have to worry about the time; they don’t care about the money. – Abu Yousef