How Conflict Threatens Our Most Precious Resource

It’s nothing new to say war devastates the environment and human health. Long before battle ensues, mineral mines used for weapon production contaminate water sources. Nuclear testing spreads radiation for hundreds of miles via rainclouds. Military bases leak oil and pollute water supplies. CO2 emissions release from tanks and fighter jets, while gasoline pipelines spill oil into the surrounding landscape.  

According to the Conflict and Environment Observatory, militaries are responsible for roughly 5.5% of global emissions. Oftentimes, the environmental impact is not known until decades later, when official state documents become declassified. The surrounding environments of French Polynesia and Palestine face the long-term consequences of military operations that continue affecting water sources and the local population.

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Nuclear Testing In French Polynesia 

In an idyllic paradise of blue waters, palm trees, and warm winds, French Polynesians struggle with the repercussions of nuclear testing. Between 1966 to 1996, France conducted 193 nuclear tests on Mururoa and Fangataufa, two sister atolls in French Polynesia. The fallout from these tests affected approximately 110,000 people, or 88% of the entire French Polynesian population within the 121 islands. 

One of the most destructive tests, codenamed Centaur, exploded over Mururoa Atoll July 17, 1974. A declassified French document reveals after Centaur detonated, an atomic cloud drifted in an unplanned direction towards Tahiti and the surrounding islands, exposing inhabitants to high amounts of ionizing radiation. 

Citizens were rarely notified of nuclear tests or windfall, and unknowingly consumed poisoned rainwater and produce. In 1996, France stopped testing due to international protests, but about half of the radioactive chemicals—strontium-90, celsius-137, and plutonium—still linger in the air, water, and soil. Today, French Polynesia ranks 10th in the world in cancer mortality rates. 

A 2021 investigation named The Mururoa Files found the actual radiation from these tests is between two to ten times higher than the estimated number reported by France’s Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) in 2006. 

Decades later, the people of these nations continue to suffer its effects. In French Polynesia, more than 9500 people were diagnosed with cancer between 2002 and 2017. In 2020 alone, doctors identified 861 new cases. Any residents who have since developed one of the 23 illnesses officially linked to radiation exposure under French law could apply for compensation. However, as of 2022, 54% of claims have yet to be resolved. 

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Water Contamination In Palestine

Since 1948, Israeli-Palestinian tensions have remained high, and the waters of the historic holy lands have been affected throughout the decades. Israel and Palestine share three principal water sources that face depletion and contamination: the Jordan River basin; the Coastal Aquifer—with Israel upstream and Gaza downstream; and the Mountain aquifer, which starts in the West Bank and flows to the Jordan Valley. 

In 1948, Arab Palestinians rebelled against Israel’s newly declared independence. During the ten-month unrest that followed, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) occupied around 500 Arab villages and displaced 750,000 Palestinians in the Nakba (Catastrophe).

Israeli historians Benjamin Morris and Benjamin Z. Kedar reported that during the 1948 conflict, Israel conducted a scheme codenamed “Cast Thy Bread” to contaminate water wells with typhoid and dysentery germs in captured Palestinian villages. The intent, without regard for water resources, was to “weaken the armed resistance” and prevent displaced populations from returning.

The operation received criticism from within the Israeli Defense Forces and Israeli leadership due to the violation of the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which prohibits biological and chemical weapons. IDF soldiers poisoned the wells of Acre city and the Galilee Village of Ilabun in April 1948. According to British, Arab, and Red Cross documents, dozens of Acre residents became severely ill, resulting in a few deaths. 

In the following decades, water has remained at the heart of conflicts as Israel has controlled water access for both populations since the 1970s. A lack of infrastructure fails to sufficiently treat sewage, which flows into the Mediterranean Sea and back into Israeli desalination facilities that send water across both territories. In 2015, the New York Times reported more than 50 percent of water for Israeli households, agriculture and industry is now artificially produced, including desalinated seawater and recycled wastewater.

Today in Gaza, water and wastewater treatment plants have been destroyed or cannot operate due to lack of fuel. Untreated sewage, hospital waste, seawater-flooded tunnels, toxic chemicals like white phosphorus, and heavy metals from thousands of missiles have polluted Gaza’s groundwater resources, leaking into the Mediterranean sea. Waterborne illnesses are rapidly spreading, affecting children in particular. 

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Citizens Advocate For The Right To Clean Water

Today, modern technology allows individuals to become citizen journalists, documenting their own situations in real time. French Polynesia Assembly member Hinamoeura Cross, whose illness is linked to the French nuclear testing, advocates for reparations. In Gaza, individuals like Bisan Owda and Motaz Azaiza report the firsthand experiences within Palestine. The hope is that citizen journalism can expose environmental damage to hasten justice. 

Civilians continue to demand reparations and land sovereignty for their suffering and displacement. By understanding the environmental impacts of international conflict, concerned citizens can advocate more effectively for justice and environmental protection.

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What You Can Do  

• Explore the original investigative documents of the Moruroa Files and “Cast Thy Bread” 
• Follow Association 193 on social media, an anti-nuclear NGO in French Polynesia working to support the affected population and demand justice from France. 
• Contact your representatives to advocate for peace in Palestine and learn how you can support global refugees integrating into your community.