Salem military camp, the key base for the Jenin massacre, and nearby kibbutzes are slowly destroying the lands of Zububa and their water resources. Life in the village is threatened as it has become the sewage dumping ground of the Occupation.
The military camp was built in 1997 on 28 dunums of Zububa village land. This camp poses an extremely dangerous environmental and health hazard, as the Occupation forces pour their sewage water directly onto village land. The dirty water runs down the valley until it reaches the springs that provide the 2,200 villagers with water for domestic and agricultural use. In winter, the sewage pollutes all eight springs in the valley, while in summer, the sun dries out the sewage before it can reach more than three springs. However, all springs retain traces of sewage year-round due to lack of resources to properly treat the water. An added threat to the villagerâs health is that insects find a breeding ground in the sewage waters. Village lands close to the military camp have been inaccessible since the baseâs instalment, but now, the entire area is devastated and hazardous.
On the other side of the village, two Zionist kibbutzes located on the opposite side of the Wall further destroy Palestinian lands. Giveâat Oz and Taânakh kibbutzes both raise cows, and the colonizers throw their cattle manure over the Wall into Zububa. The village suffers from a constant smell, that poses another serious threat to the residentsâ health.
Zububa is situated in Jenin District. Before the Nakba, it spanned over 15,400 dunums. However, most of its land was stolen by the Occupation in 1948, and even more land was taken in â57 and â67. The Wall is now the latest stage of a continuing land grab which currently leaves the village with no more than 1,500 dunums, much of which is polluted and unusable.
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