Last week I took a tour of unrecognized Bedouin communities in the Negev/Naqab, similar to the one that James did with Rabbis for Human Rights.
This tour was fascinating because of its subject matter, but also because I was introduced to an extremely cool organization called Lifesource, one of the sponsors of the tour.
Barely a year old but going strong, Lifesource is a Palestinian-led organization dedicated to achieving systemic change and building sustainable, socially just water management in the region.
Lifesource is cool not only because they are working to end the regional water crisis, but also because they are doing so in a manner that focuses on achieving shared, balanced decision-making power between disadvantaged and more privileged stakeholders.
They believe that there is systemic discrimination between Israelis and Palestinians in water distribution, so in order to truly manage shared water resources sustainably, all parties must be fully participatory and have an equal place at the negotiating table.
The Lifesource team describes their project as a “process, not a solution.” Through this process, water users should be educated about the complexities of the water situation, and empowered as popular representatives who have the power to help determine how the region’s ground and surface water resources should be managed.
They argue that this process should begin immediately, at the grassroots level, rather than waiting for political leaders or final status negotiations to do the trick.
Lifesource operates through a variety of methods under the heading of popular research, popular education, and popular action. Together with the Palestinian Hydrology Group, for instance, they are working on a full-length documentary film, based on interviews with community members, that explores the water situation in the region.
Another example is that they are meeting with the women of Jayyous in a series of three meetings this August to discuss the results of their interviews and plan a campaign for action to improve their drinking water quality and access to water.
For more information about Lifesource and their activities, or for ways to get involved (there are tons!) check out their website at www.lifesource.ps.
For more information on the Palestinian water crisis, check out A Green Prophet Finds West Bank in Water Crisis Too!
Author: Rachel Bergstein
When her vegan summer camp counselor explained to a fifteen-year-old Rachel how the dairy industry pollutes the groundwater in poor rural communities and causes global warming, there was no turning back. Her green fire lit, Rachel became increasingly passionate about the relationship between human societies and the natural environment, particularly about the systemic injustices associated with environmental degradation. After snagging a B.A. in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of Maryland, where she wrote an undergraduate thesis on water injustice in Israel/Palestine and South Africa, Rachel was awarded the New Israel Fund/Shatil’s Rabbi Richard J. Israel Social Justice Fellowship to come and spread the green gospel in Israel for the 2009-2010 academic year. She currently interns for Friends of the Earth Middle East in their Tel Aviv office. When Rachel is not having anxiety about her ecological footprint, carbon and otherwise, she can be found in hot pursuit of the best vegetarian food Tel Aviv has to offer. She also blogs about her experience as an NIF fellow and environmentalist in Israel at organichummus.wordpress.com. Rachel can be reached at rachelbergstein (at) gmail (dot) com.
thats interesting Rachel – I took a tour with Lifesource & Bustan of the Northern Negev last week. They are a great organisation, and from just a quick look at their website you can see that people (not Governments, or just NGO’s) are doing a lot to try & get adequate water for themselves, their families and communities – real grassroots activism……….
Great work.
I love that Lifesource doesn’t feel the need to wait for official peace to work together. Common ground- and all the resources that that ground provides and shares with us- is just the kind of common ground upon which we can to build, in order to figure out all the other political stuff.
Good to start the day on a happy note…Thanks!