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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Stolen sand caused Gaza sewage tsunami
2007-03-30
Further deadly sewage floods are feared after a wave of stinking waste and mud from a collapsed septic pool inundated a Gaza village, killing five people, including two babies. The collapse has been blamed on residents stealing sand from an embankment.
Stand by for handwringing:
It highlighted the desperate need to upgrade Gaza's overloaded, outdated infrastructure - but aid officials say construction of a modern sewage treatment plant has been held up by constant Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
But
However, construction of a new plant did not appear to have been affected by year-old international sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. The Gaza City mayor blamed the collapse on local people digging dirt from an earthen embankment around the structure and selling it to building contractors.

The existing plant in northern Gaza - located just a few hundred metres from the frontier with Israel - stored incoming waste in seven holding basins. But with the burgeoning population producing nearly four times as much waste as the plant could treat, local officials were forced to store the overflow in the nearby dunes, creating a lake of sewage covering nearly 45 hectares, according to the United Nations. An embankment around one of the seven holding basins collapsed, sending a wall of sewage crashing into the neighbouring village of Umm Naser. The wave killed two women in their 70s, two toddlers and a teenage girl and injured 35 others, hospital officials said. More than 200 homes were destroyed, health officials said. "This is a human tragedy," said Public Works Minister Sameeh al-Abed.

Rescue crews and gunmen (!) from the militant Hamas group rushed to search for people feared buried under the sewage and mud. Most residents fled or were evacuated. Rescuers in wetsuits paddled boats through the layer of brown foam floating on the green-brown rivers of waste. Others waded up to their hips into the sewage. Angry residents drove reporters out of the area and mobbed government officials. When Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh arrived to survey the damage, his bodyguards fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

Fadel Kawash, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, said the sewage level had risen in recent days, creeping up the earthen embankments. Gaza City Mayor Majid Abu Ramadan, who leads a council of Gaza municipalities, blamed the collapse on endemic lawlessness. He accused local residents of stealing the dirt and selling it to building companies for 300 shekels ($A86.80) a truckload.
Posted by:Seafarious

#32  Umm Nasser is about 300 yards from the border with Israel, in an area where Palestinians have frequently launched rockets into Israel

The place was litterally awash in terrorists!

Posted by: Zenster   2007-03-30 23:52  

#31  Hey Bevis that Gaza is shit holeo...heheheheh... a shit holeo Bevis.. heheheh... heheheeh
Posted by: Butt Head   2007-03-30 23:37  

#30  isn't there a song in there somewhere?

I love that muddy water. Ahhhh, Gaza you're my home!

If only Sean had been there to help bail, lives could have been saved.

Posted by: KBK   2007-03-30 23:30  

#29  This one says it all , with a pic of the two rescue workers wading through 1 metre + of sewage.

Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-03-30 23:13  

#28  And a pic at the Electronic Intifada website showing a building flooded in sewage. Ima gonna write a book about vacationing in the world's most stupid places.

Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-03-30 23:09  

#27  And Link: HERE is an article from Haaretz about the Israelis sending floating suction pumps to help the Paleos avoid more problems.

Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-03-30 23:06  

#26  Hmmm, not registering on the sympathy meter. I suppose I could 'give a shit', but they seem to be covered in that respect.
Posted by: DMFD   2007-03-30 21:16  

#25  Interspersed throughout the many (snark-laden) comments here are many bits of wisdom, that the Paleos, should they ever evolve beyond living in shitty conditions, choose to ruminate over, could actually help them elevate their standard of living. although right now almost anything would be an improvement.
all i can say is that i keep having a mental double-exposure wherein the shit storm that struck the paleos would almost have been funnier if it had happened in New Orleans and then we could listen to ol' Ray bleat. picture, if you will that huge fleet of school busses mired in turds.....
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2007-03-30 17:48  

#24  How very clever Bruce from MS is. He brings to our attention that the Gaza authorities were informed in 2004 by nothing less than the UN itself that they needed to upgrade their sewage facilities immediately. About which the Gaza authorities clearly did nothing useful (filling in the gaps between non-waterproof sand dunes to form a makeshift sewage swamp is not a useful response)... and he blames US for finding dark humour in the predicted, inevitable, and clearly avoidable result.

Bruce dear, you seem incapable of reading the words your own fingers type. You might want to consider a brain transplant.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-03-30 16:00  

#23  One of the major sanitation issues in Gaza is the raw sewage generated there and how it is disposed of. To the north is the intake for the RO fresh water plant at Ashquelon for Israel. The raw sewage coming off the Gaza Strip will not help this plant.

If the Paleos are going to go on the warpath and be hostile to Israel, then the Oslo Accords will not be valid, and Israel can go ahead and shut down water and power to Gaza. I do not know why they have not started turning off the spigot now. Probably Olmert sez no, being the good liberal that he is.

The collapse of the holding ponds for the raw sewage is just another example of why the Paleos are incapable of governing themselves. This is a human tragedy, all right. It shows what really stupid people, who are purposely kept ignorant, stirred up, and indoctrinated in hate by their Arab taskmasters can do, given 60 years.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-03-30 15:47  

#22  ALL of Gaza should be swept away in a tidal wave of sewage.

In our dreams, Mac, only in our dreams.

The pipes that were sold to Zak were intended for the construction of a sewage system in Gaza. The Shin Bet has been unable to determine the amount of metal that actually made its way to the terror organizations, and how much went to the sewage project.

How much went to the sewage project? Ooh, ooh, lemme guess! Howabout, zeer-fucking-oh? Only Africa's tribal despots can remotely compete with the Palestinians for routinely squandering such stupendous amounts of money with so little to show for it afterwards.

The Palestinians' abject refusal to comprehend Cause and Effect makes them a prima facie case in proving Cause and Effect. The profound irony of this is lost solely upon them and their Muslim brethern. For the Palestinians, much like the Iranians, the global community's reaction should be only scorn and hilarious laughter at the puffery and idiocy manifest in their every thought, action and deed.

I have often used the analogy of the cock on the dunghill to describe the Palestinians. That the cock has sunk into the dung is indescribably precious. How often have the Palestinians had free houses built for them, only to use them as sniper outpotsts and had them consequently bulldozed for their troubles? Nonetheless, they have the temerity to go about wringing their hands over their well-deserved homelessness. The Palestinians have worked indefatigueably to turn their turf into a complete shithole. That it is now become one in fact has a sense of poetic justice and fitness that ordinary words simply cannot express with any degree of completeness.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-03-30 14:59  

#21  gotta love karma.

brown foam floating on the green-brown rivers of waste

isn't there a song in there somewhere? Great green gobs of greamy grimy gopher guts....
OMG
Posted by: Jan from work   2007-03-30 12:38  

#20  The Christian thing to do would be to help evacuate Gaza but we don't want to be accused of illegally occupying Muslim lands. Perhaps the neighbors could welcome them like Houston did for Katrina survivors?
Posted by: Danielle   2007-03-30 12:15  

#19  I still can't get over the dozen or so greenhouses that were handed to the Gazaians(?) Paleos with the withdrawal of the Israeli settlements a couple of years ago. So, what did the local dysfunctionals do? They trashed them and stole parts to sell to junk dealers.

Gotta love the part about STEALING SAND in a desert. HAAHAAHHAAAHHAAAA!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839   2007-03-30 12:04  

#18  Apparently it was better to pour their humanitarian funds into terrorism and corruption than to build infrastructure or a meaningful economy.

Think we'll hear any crying about that? I didn't think so. At most it will be just another lesson where corruption ends and undeniable consequences begin, and even that will be hazy to the people doing the embezzling.

The Palestinians are all idiots on this one, from the idiots who lived near the cesspool who stole the sand and thereby created a timebomb(what kind of people steal dirt anyway?), to those who witnessed it and said nothing, to those who owned/oversaw the "facilities" and knew/did nothing.
Posted by: gorb   2007-03-30 11:56  

#17  Actually this kind of shit (pun intended) really gets the Paleos worked up but for the wriong reasons. Just a couple of miles down the the road Israelis have fresh water, indoor plumbing, plenty of food, education, computers, Ipods, cars (without bombs), and a much higher standard of living. The Paleos are still stuck in the middles ages and they blame the problems on the Israelis. Not to sound racial but it's much like Jesse Jackson blaming "White America" for all the ills of Black America. Problem with the paleos is that they have no "Leaders" beyond the murderers in Hamas, PLO, etc.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge   2007-03-30 11:06  

#16  The Paleos are living their own metaphor. They have actually pounded sand and are stuck with the consequences. As a sanitary engineer who has designed septic systems, lagoons, and sewage treatment plants, I am in SHOCK and AWE™ from these events in Gaza.

A Sewage Tsunami. Allan works in mysterious ways.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2007-03-30 11:01  

#15  Hoist on their own petards.
Posted by: Excalibur   2007-03-30 10:05  

#14  Wow. Just....wow.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-03-30 09:51  

#13  Here's another possible cause...

Jerusalem Post 3/4/07

It took seven years, but the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) has finally put a stop to one of the more ironic aspects on Israel's war on terror: Kassam rockets made of Israeli metal. A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip who worked as a metal merchant at the Karni crossing between Israel and the Strip was arrested by the Shin Bet last month for allegedly selling pipes he bought in Israel to terrorist groups that used them to manufacture Kassams, it was released for publication on Sunday.

On February 9, the Shin Bet arrested Amar Azk, 37. During his interrogation, he confessed selling the pipes to Hamas and other terrorist organizations that manufactured Kassam rockets, fired almost daily at Israel. The Shin Bet said Azk's activities began with the start of the second intifada in 2000 and were only brought to a halt by his arrest. The agency could not say how much metal Azk traded, except that it was "significant."

The pipes that were sold to Zak were intended for the construction of a sewage system in Gaza. The Shin Bet has been unable to determine the amount of metal that actually made its way to the terror organizations, and how much went to the sewage project.

The Shin Bet arrested Azk after it received numerous reports last year that hollow pipes made in Israel were being used to manufacture Kassam rockets and shoulder-launched missiles.

The Shin Bet found that most of the raw materials used to manufacture Kassams came from Israel. The Israeli companies, the security service said, were used by the terrorist groups without their knowledge. As such, the Shin Bet refused to divulge the names of the firms.

In November 2006, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant issued an order forbidding the sale of hollow pipes of certain sizes to the Gaza Strip.


Put me down for "big joke in the US" also.
Posted by: tu3031   2007-03-30 09:37  

#12  ...officials were forced to store the overflow in the nearby dunes, creating a lake of sewage covering nearly 45 hectares...

I think we found a new site for the United Nations Building.....
Posted by: CrazyFool   2007-03-30 08:18  

#11  "... but it's just a big joke for U.S."

Damn straight, skippy. I think it's hilarious. ALL of Gaza should be swept away in a tidal wave of sewage. And no Paleo should gripe about it either because the sewage is just exercising its legitimate "right of return."

The stupid Gaza bastards have, as Abba Eban said about all Paleos, "never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity." They could have had peace DECADES ago if they had really wanted it. Instead, they prefer to live this barbarous existence whose sole reason for being is the destruction of Israel. It's long past just stupid and self-destructive; it's arguably mass insanity, probably caused by their attachment to the moon god cult.

That said, I am constantly amazed at the self-restraint the Israelis show in the face of such flagrant and continuing provocation. Even using conventional weapons they could make Gaza and Gazans cease to exist any afternoon they chose to do so and still be home for dinner. Maybe one day, when they've finally had enough of Paleos murdering innocent people, they will.

If they do, the Paleos will have no one but themselves to blame because they could have changed the path leading to that outcome at any time--but absolutely refused to do so.
Posted by: Mac   2007-03-30 07:50  

#10  "... but it's just a big joke for U.S."

As it should be, along with all the neurotic liberals who think everything wrong with the world's chronic shitholes is somehow our problem.

IT'S THE PALESTINIANS, STUPID!!!!!

Posted by: Dave D.   2007-03-30 07:19  

#9  Poor Mr. Hanky.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2007-03-30 07:19  

#8  I feel so sorry for the sewerage , being released into Gaza . I bet its gutted .

:p
Posted by: MAcNails   2007-03-30 07:11  

#7  "A 2004 United Nations report warned that the sewage facility, built to service a population of 50,000, was handling waste from 190,000 people, and flooding was inevitable. It warned that the lake created by the overflow from the seven basins posed a serious health hazard, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes and waterborne diseases."

gotta go a bit further from the link ... but it's just a big joke for U.S.
Posted by: Bruce from MS   2007-03-30 07:08  

#6  Sweage is that sewage does.
Posted by: newc   2007-03-30 06:08  

#5  forced to store the overflow in the nearby dunes

In addition to the bit in the Bible about thou shalt not steal, I'm pretty sure there is something in there about a house (or sewage lagoon) built on sand will not stand.
Posted by: SteveS   2007-03-30 05:58  

#4  But with the burgeoning population producing nearly four times as much waste as the plant could treat...

Worst. Genocide. Ever.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2007-03-30 05:20  

#3  Meanwhile in Michigan 15 million gallons of sewage have mysteriously vanished. Where has it gone?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2007-03-30 04:33  

#2  This displeases allah.
Posted by: Sneaze   2007-03-30 03:42  

#1  Too bad their holy book doesn't spell it out plainly like in the Bible.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-03-30 02:47  

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