World Water Day in Boston with the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine

As if on cue, the all-day downpour ended just in time for our standout to commemorate World Water Day began.

“Leave no one behind” is the United Nations title for this year’s week- long series of events to bring attention to water issues and injustices in the world.

Fifty of us from several different organizations, students and individuals dedicated to pursuing the freedom and equality of Palestinians, gathered at the Boston University Bridge. We flanked all four corners of the bridge.

Our signs and banners received many nods and waves of appreciation and acknowledgement of the righteousness of our cause. Of course, not everyone agreed with us, but those who didn’t were surprisingly and happily few in number.

We gave out hundreds of fliers to people passing by and those in cars stopped at red lights.

Our mission is to explain what is happening on the ground regarding Israel’s theft of (with the help of U.S. taxpayer dollars) Palestinian water in the West Bank and Gaza.

Water is a human right. One most of us we take for granted, but denied to Palestinians

We believe it is our responsibility to let our neighbors and the world know that the situation is dire! While Jewish Israeli settlers are swimming in their pools, Palestinians are thirsty!

The Gaza Strip will be unfit for human habitation, next year according to the United Nations. Today in Gaza, 98% of the water is unfit to drink. In the West Bank, Israel’s water policies are forcing farmers off their land.

Palestinians are indeed being “left behind” and we are determined to put an end to this water injustice.

Susan Etscovitz, for the Alliance

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Leafletting on the bridge. Photo credit: Larry Aaronson

Leafletting on the bridge. Photo credit: Larry Aaronson

A Letter in Solidarity with the Alliance on World Water Day

JVP-NYC stands with the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine:

On March 22, in observance of World Water Day, the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine will demonstrate in Boston to demand a future where all people have access to clean and abundant drinking water, from the U.S. to Palestine and beyond. We as Jewish Voice for Peace – New York City state our solidarity with the AWJP, and we encourage our allies in Boston to stand with them in person.

The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine educates the public about how Israeli water policy functions as a tool of occupation, denying agency, dignity, and life to Palestinians. They remind us that water is a necessity—a requirement for life.

On World Water Day, we remember that across the world, colonial governments deny access to water to indigenous and other marginalized communities. We recognize that all struggles for water justice are interconnected.

In the U.S., gas and oil companies poison indigenous communities’ land and water. Our government defends these corporations while attacking and incarcerating indigenous activists on the front lines of the struggle against environmental destruction. Meanwhile, in Palestine, the Israeli government severely restricts Palestinians’ access to water. This restriction contributes to the public health crisis and human rights emergency that the Israeli occupation of Palestine creates.

We stand with those in Palestine and in the U.S. putting their bodies and lives on the line to resist occupation and violence. Today, we stand with those in Boston who put a spotlight on Palestinian resistance against water injustice, and call for an end to Israel’s discriminatory water policy.

The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine on our World Water Day standout. Photo: Larry Aaronson

The Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine on our World Water Day standout. Photo: Larry Aaronson

An Outrage, Indeed

“This World Water Day we should honor their steadfastness (sumud in Arabic) as we demand water justice for the Palestinian people.”

This article examines why agriculture, which accounted for 13 percept of Palestinian GDP in 1994, accounts for only three percent today:

Farming while Palestinian: a World Water Day outrage

Eyewitness Palestine delegation at the Om Sleiman farm which is surrounded by settlements. Credit Hubert Murray

Eyewitness Palestine delegation at the Om Sleiman farm which is surrounded by settlements. Credit Hubert Murray