Palestinians rejoice with rainfall; countless proverbs and folk songs celebrate its blessing. Each year, Palestine’s climate grows more extreme, and each year rain falls in quantities that overwhelm drainage systems, floods roads, neighborhoods, and even homes.
For Palestinians in Jerusalem, however, rain is hardly a blessing with the poor infrastructure. In the Old City, for instance, Palestinians have a community-based emergency plan involving civil defense-trained volunteers who bring out pumps to drain overflowing rainwater during storms (see In the Absence of Any Institutional Safety Net, Palestinians of the Old City Turn to Each Other for Support). Nonetheless, these volunteers have limited capacity in the face of extreme weather conditions, and ultimately, it is the municipality’s duty to provide such services.
It is significantly worse in neighborhoods that lie beyond the Separation Wall, such as Kufr ‘Aqab, Shu‘fat refugee camp, and ‘Anata. Although the first two lie within the municipality boundaries, infrastructure is poor, residential buildings are not built up to par with governmental regulations, and municipal services are hard to come by.
Rain becomes much more dangerous in these East Jerusalem neighborhoods, as people spend winters without proper drainage systems in densely populated residences.
