Brukin is braced for its second summer as it battles against ghettoization, isolation of its farming lands and the dumping of raw sewage water in the village from Zionist settlements. The health risks to Palestinians from the sewage water threatens to unleash a fresh crisis as the Occupation ensures life along the Wallâs path remains unbearable.
The sewage water from Ariel settlement enters the village from the east. The industrial zone of Brukhin Settlement to the north of Brukin also spreads raw sewage into the village. The waste continues to run into the village since 2005, leading to the pollution of one of the natural springs in Brukin. The situation deteriorates dramatically in the summer when no rain water dilutes the waste water. Together with long-term effects upon the land and damage of natural water supplies, the hot season threatens the health and lives of the villagers.
Sewage runs in the streets between houses attracting pests and insects into the village. As a consequence skin diseases have spread. Last year, doctors treating cases of skin disease clearly stated in their reports that the problems were caused by insects that are thriving in the sewage water. Placed in this unbearable situation, villagers are appealing to Palestinian institutions, parties and organizations to support them and to struggle together to halt this attack on their village.
Brukin is one of many villages seriously threatened by sewage water from Zionist settlements, industrial zones or military areas. To mention only three exmples, the nearby village of Kufr Diek suffers pollution through sewage water from Ale Zahav settlement, whereas in Jenin district villagers in Zububa watch the destruction of their springs from the waste produced by Salem military camp and in Nablus district, the village of Deir Sharaf is suffering from the waste and sewage water coming from Kedumim settlement and a nearby Israeli industrial zone. The destruction induced by sewage hits all aspects of village life including farming and social activities. Devastating long-term effects will occur if the dumping practices are not brought to an immediate halt.
Surrounded by settlements and under the control of an Occupation watchtower surveying the village, Brukin faces land destruction and home demolitions for the construction of the Apartheid Wall all along the northern stretch of its residential areas. For several days, the Occupation has blocked the only entrances to Brukin and Kufr Diek and the road from these villages to Salfit with earth mounds and rubble. The gate of Qarawa Bani Hassan that dissects north and the southern Salfit district is again closed.
A whole series of villages in Salfit district are suffering a myriad of attacks on their existence as settlements expand their grip on the area. Villagers pledged their resolve and determination to remain steadfast to their lands, lives and communities.
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