Middle East & Africa | Water in the West Bank

Nor yet a drop to drink

Palestinians go thirsty, despite sitting on an underground ocean

The hard way
|SALFIT

IYAD QASSEM is trying to run a coffee shop without water. He reuses the stuff in his sink, which quickly fills with muck, and in the shishas that Palestinians puff on his patio. It would be a difficult task, if he had many customers: but it seems people who haven’t showered in a week lose interest in sipping tea in 35°C heat. “The café is empty because everyone is worried about the situation. It’s getting impossible to run a business,” he says.

This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Nor yet a drop to drink”

The new political divide

From the July 30th 2016 edition

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