May 14, 2009

On this 61st anniversary of the Nakba, which led to the destruction of more than 500 Palestinian villages by the newly formed state of Israel, we draw your attention to the ongoing Occupation and colonization of the West Bank, which is undermining Palestinian water and sanitation development, restricting Palestinian access to Palestinians’ just share of the region’s shared water resources, and expropriating Palestinian water resources for use in illegal Israeli colonies and inside of Israel, policies which make between ½ million and ¾ million Palestinians in the West Bank vulnerable to Israeli cuts in water supply every summer. 

On this 61st anniversary of the Nakba, which has created 6 million Palestinian refugees to date, we draw your attention to the nearly two-year Israeli siege of Gaza preventing humanitarian supplies and priority development materials from getting into Gaza, and to the recent December 27, 2008 – January 18, 2009 Israeli offensive on Gaza, which claimed more than 1,133 lives in 21 days and completely destroyed water and sanitation infrastructure in many areas -- actions, which have left more than ½ million people in Gaza without running water.

Israeli Occupation and colonization of Palestinian territory has resulted in many violations of Palestinians’ human rights, including violations of Palestinians’ human right to water and sanitation. 

Israeli violations of human rights demand accountability and penalty.  The growing BDS campaign is one way that we may hold Israeli companies and institutions and the international corporations that do business inside of Israel and the colonies accountable for the human rights violations that they are all complicit in. 

LifeSource calls on all individuals, organizations, institutions and companies who value the human right to water, to join the international movement for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction of Israel until the Israeli Occupation is brought to an end and Palestinian sovereignty over Palestinian land and Palestinian water resources is respected by Israel.

LifeSource is a Palestinian-led collective working at the grassroots level to improve access to water and sanitation and achieve Palestinian water sovereignty.

Read LifeSource BDS Statement