As a result of the present peace process and the changes that our region of the world is facing, the Land and Water Establishment (LAWE) held extensive meetings with its administrative staff, employees, field workers and volunteers to discuss our institution's position on these new developments, and to formulate a plan which LAWE can follow during the coming years. This is in addition to our present work of defending Palestinian land.

LAWE is a non-governmental organization which offers free legal services to Palestinians experiencing attacks on their lands, homes and trees. Since last year, LAWE has been interested in dealing more with environmental issues and has even adopted several environmental court cases which involve Israeli settler violations.

The position of LAWE is that we must continue to defend the rights of the Palestinian people, whether this involves offering legal services or presenting their case via the mass media.

As a result of new and dangerous technology introduced during this century, including the use of nuclear energy, there had arisen a need to defend the human race and its environment against pollution so that life on our planet can continue.

The number of pieces of land which were registered before the occupation does not exceed the 25% from the total area of the West Bank, plus the pieces of land which were under the process of being registered were all canceled according to the military order # 291 (19/12/1968). All of this means that most of the land in the West Bank did not have any registrations in the Land Administration, therefore it was easy for the occupying authorities to confiscate land claiming it is a "State Land".

We, as Palestinians living in the developing world, and under occupation, are suffering from human rights violations in all aspects of life. Furthermore, we are denied the right to live in a clean and suitable environment. Therefore, LAWE is increasing its efforts to documents environmental abuses, which we will distribute through publications and other media so the entire world may learn that Israel has been doing in Palestine. In fact, LAWE adopted a case - now still in court - which involves the building of a polluting chemical factory in Tulkarem located in an Israeli settlement. The factory deposits its waste onto the nearby Palestinian farm lands. Moreover, LAWE is also interested expanding its academic involvement by holding more workshops and seminars in order to discuss environmental issues.

Therefore, LAWE has decided to take measures to expand our involvement and potential contribution to the environmental protection.

The new Palestinian authority that will govern the autonomous areas will face all the present problems involving all aspects of infrastructure, such as factories, airports, providing housing for repatriated Palestinians and creating job opportunities. This land area is very small and therefore might lead to serious environmental problems.

LAWE intends to play a role in environmental issues, since this is part of our policy, and we will go on defending the human rights during these quickly changing times. Therefore, LAWE has begun preparing a comprehensive plan in coordination with other international establishments, to gain experience from them and apply these methods and procedures to develop our country