http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/2011/09/waters-for-life-in-palestine.
html
>From its founding Israel as an apartheid colonial power has appropriated
natural resources from native people to use for immigrants imported from
around the world. Before 1967, Israel diverted waters that normally flowed
into the Jordan river basin and also restricted water usage by the
Palestinians who remained in what became the state of Israel in 1948. After
1967, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza were denied access to most of
their water resources in a calculated process to impoverish the population
and destroy the economy in the occupied Palestinian territories. Today,
Palestinian are allowed to use an average of 72 liters per capita per day
versus Israeli average of 280 liters versus settlers in the West Bank
average of 400 liters daily. For some communities of Palestinians like
those in area C including the Jordan Valley, the situation is worse as
Israel routinely destroys their sources of water.
The international community and local Palestinians are called to work
together to address this system of inequality through direct positive
actions. The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People, the
Applied Research Institute- Jerusalem, and the Palestine Justice Network
have jointly proposed a plan of action for activists interested in helping
us to ameliorate the water situation and also challenge the Israeli policies
and practices via non-violent methods of resistance. We call you to join us
by:
a) Donating towards rehabilitation of existing ancient wells and cisterns.
While most labor will be via volunteers and owners of the wells and
cisterns, there is need for purchasing cement, gravel, ladders, and other
building supplies to implement this project. To donate, please go to
http://www.pcr.ps/read/donate-pcr or http://www.imemc.org/donate and specify
in your donation that it is for the "Waters for life". Other portals for
receiving donations will soon be opened, and the transaction details for
these portals will be forthcoming. The more money we receive, the more well
and cistern rehabilitation/protection projects we will be able to perform.
All collected money will be spent only on this water project
b) Coming to Palestine to help directly with your labor to rehabilitate old
wells. You can arrive at anytime but you may want to coordinate arrival for
our week of action focused on land and water beginning March 30th (email to
info@palestinejn.org to get details)
c) Join our international advocacy group and publicize the water situation
via pressure on governments and reaching out to others via mainstream and
alternative media (share any letters you write with us at
media@palestinejn.org ).
To implement this project, we created a local committee composed of
activists knowledgeable in the area who laid out plans not only for
rehabilitation of wells but also for their protection from Israeli
destruction through legal and direct action methods. A project coordinator
was selected from ARIJ and donations towards this project will be set-up in
a separate account in PCR.
Resources
http://www.ewash.org
http://www.btselem.org/water/consumption_gap
http://www.btselem.org/jordan_valley/water
http://www.arij.org/publications(2)/papers/2007%20Status%20of%20Environment.
http://www.arij.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=330&Itemid=
62
http://www.arij.org/publications(5)/Papers/2009/Survey%20and%20assessment%20
of%20ancient%20Cisterns%20in%20the%20West%20Bank.pdf
About ARIJ: Founded in 1990, the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem
(ARIJ) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting sustainable
development and the self-reliance of the Palestinian people through greater
control over their natural resources. ARIJ has more than 19 years of
organizational experience in the fields of natural resources management,
water management, and environmental management. ARIJ plays an active role in
the local community as an advocate for greater co-operation among local
institutions as well as international and non-governmental organizations. In
its capacity as a research institute, ARIJ focuses on its applied approach
to projects which contribute to sustainable development, on one hand, and
finding solutions to community problems, such as providing safe access to
water and sanitation ; better management and utilization of land, water and
other natural resources, self-reliance and empowerment of the people, on the
other hand.
Waters for Life in Palestine
Back to Messages
From: "Mazin Qumsiyeh"
About PCR: The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between Peoples (PCR)
was founded in 1988. Its mission is to promote, develop and implement
unarmed civilian peacekeeping as a tool for reducing violence and protecting
civilians in situations of violent conflict. We work to bridge the gap
between Palestinians and people from all around the world, informing the
public about the reality in Palestine, and empowering the community through
nonviolent direct action. Our Goals are: 1) Promote arriving at a just and
peaceful Palestine, 2) Promote harmony and rapprochement within society and
between societies, 3) Raise awareness Provide accurate and first hand
information about Palestine, and 4) Enhance civic duty and civic
responsibility especially for empowering youth, women, and for marginalized
segments of our society. PCR activists co-founded the International
Solidarity movement which was headquartered at PCR for the first 5 years.
About Palestine Justice Network (PJN) and Welcome to Palestine (WTP)
Campaign: PJN mission is to build a global network of activists and
organizations that work together in advocacy in order to support the goals
set forth by the Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action 2005. WTP has
hosted internationals in support of this mission and to do exploratory and
support missions to Palestine for example during Christmas 2010 and the
attempt to arrive by the hundreds in July 2011. See http://palestinejn.org
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