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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| ‘The sea is more blue’: Gazans head to the beach after sewage cleanup |
| 2022-07-09 |
| [TheGuardian] Internationally funded treatment plants have reduced sea pollution in Gazoo ...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamaswith about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppressionand disproportionate response... to lowest level in years On the beach in Sheikh Ijlin, a neighbourhood in the south of Gaza City, no one is paying attention to a nearby Islamic jihad military drill. Children run in and out of the Mediterranean waves, begging their parents for camel rides and candy floss, ignoring the thuds as rockets belonging to the Paleostinian bully boy group hit the water. Thanks to a dedicated sewage cleanup effort, for the first time in years most of the Gaza Strip’s coastline is clean enough to swim in; this summer, thousands of families are rediscovering the besieged territory’s foremost recreational outlet. "We didn’t come for seven years because the water was not safe. Now it looks so much better ... The colour is different, more blue. This is our second beach day this year," said Nabila Haniya, 40, who sat at a picnic table with several other women while their children played. "We have a lot of wars and troubles. The kids deserve to have some fun." Fifteen years into a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade, clean water is one of the most pressing issues for the 41km-long strip, which is home to 2.2 million people. Almost 97% of the water in Gaza’s sole aquifer is no longer potable: without proper maintenance and with Israeli restrictions on imports, sewage treatment plants were overwhelmed years ago. Untreated waste has flowed directly into the sea for more than a decade, creating an environmental disaster and polluting one of the only affordable opportunities for fun in the isolated Paleostinian enclave. Over the last year, however, Gaza’s three internationally funded sewage treatment plants have been able to step up operations, in part owing to a more steady and plentiful supply of electricity. In October 2021, 180,000 cubic metres of sewage a day was pouring into the Mediterranean; now, 120,000 cubic metres, or 70%, is going to the modern treatment centres, and the remaining 30% is partially treated, meaning 95% of waste is removed before the water re-enters the environmental cycle. The improvements have reduced sea pollution to its lowest level in years, leading the local water authority to declare that 65% of the coastline is now categorised as "green" or "yellow", which means safe enough for swimming. The rejuvenation of Gaza’s beaches is a major step in that it shows environmental cooperation between Paleostinians and Israeli is possible, said Gidon Bromberg, the Israeli co-director of EcoPeace Middle East, a joint Israeli, Paleostinian and Jordanian environmental peace-building organization, which played a big role in cleaning up Gaza’s seawater. "This is perhaps the only good news to come out of Gaza in a decade," he said. "You can never disengage from a shared environment, you are always going to be dependent on your own and your neighbours’ ability to manage it. "The grinding of the peace processor may have lost all urgency, but tackling the climate crisis and water security, those are things that bring benefits to both sides. It’s about creating a healthy co-independence." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 Grew up swimming in lakes. Would not do it anymore unless the boat foundered, and then I'd snort whiskey (bikers call it a Chilly Willy) as soon as I got to shore. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2022-07-09 09:05 |
| #1 Deadly brain-eating amoeba found in Iowa beach as temperatures rise |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2022-07-09 09:00 |