22 March 11:  EI: "On World Water Day, Support the Academic Boycott Call"

1 November 10: LifeSource presentation, Palestinian Water Justice & Boycott as Non-Violent Resistance

12 October 10: LifeSource Letter to COOP-Italia to Boycott Carmel-Agrexco

24 October 09: Amnesty International Report: Troubled Waters

14 August 09: Ha'aretz Magazine Feature: A dry and thirsty land

20 April 09: World Bank Report on Assessment of Restrictions on Palestinian Water Sector Development

Welcome to the LifeSource Website - Presently Under Construction!

10 Jan 11

LifeSource is announcing a graphic design contest for young Palestinian graphic designers, aspring designers, artists and those in solidarity with the Palestinian people to participate in our rebranding by designing a new logo to represent the organization.  First place design will receive 1,000 shekels!  There are excellent runner up prizes as well.  Check out the announcement here in Arabic and English.  Everyone's a winner!

22 Nov 11

Veolia is the world leader in the privatization of water and sanitation services.  The following update from Who Profits details Veolia's profiteering from the illegal transfer of waste from inside of Israel to the Tovlan landfill in the Jordan Valley, a direct violation of international law.

 

Research and organizing by LifeSource led to this important release on Veolia's violations from Who Profits.

23 Mar 11

UJ ends ties with Israel, ending its agreement with Ben Gurion University for research re: the purification of water, and in so doing, UJ states clearly that Israel must end its human right violations if it wants to have normal relationships.

Yesterday London School of Economics released news that it will no longer carry Eden Spring Water on campuses.

To all of those in solidarity with the Palestinian people globally - thank you!

Here are links (part 1, part 2) to yesterdays interview on SABC Channel Africa with LifeSource's International Campaigns Correspondent Susan Koppelman discussing why LifeSource backs the UJ Petition to sever ties with Israeli institutions.

22 Mar 11

Today is World Water Day.  Globally access to water is a struggle for those living in poverty, who are the most affected by climate change and other factors contributing to the scarce availability of water resources. 

In Palestine and Israel, Palestinians and other Arab communities are suffering violations of our human right to water and sanitation at the hands of the Israeli military occupation, which is colonizing our land and our water resources.

Tomorrow the University of Johannesburg Senate will meet to assess what changes need to be made to a research agreement between UJ and Ben Gurion University in Israel.  The Senate has already agreed that changes need to be made, and among the options being discussed tomorrow is complete cessation of the agreement until Palestinians' rights are respected.

LifeSource issued a statement today backing the call on UJ to terminate cooperation with Israeli universities.

Op/Ed published by Susan Koppelman and Nidal Hatim in the Electronic Intifada: "On World Water Day, support the academic boycott call"

20 Mar 11

World Water Day is approaching, and while spring is just beginning, Palestinians are gearing up for water cuts which are expected to begin within the month. 

Communities in Jiftlick and As-Samu'a are holding events to discuss actions they will take to resist Israeli violations of their human right to water.  Both communities will be screening LifeSource films as a starting point for discussion.  In As-Samua' we will be working together with youth to produce a map on one-square dunum of land depicting communities in Palestine who are suffering from Israeli violations of the human right to water.

Globally groups are coming together to screen LifeSource films and to discuss what role they may play in averting violations of the human right to water in Palestine.  Private house parties screening Jordan Valley Blues and Gaza is Floating and Filling Point are organized in Boston, Seattle and Florida.  Public events in LA, Berkeley, Twin Cities, Boston and South Florida are being scheduled for next month.

Next month, LifeSource's International Campaigns Consultant Susan Koppelman will be in the United States briefly in LA, the Bay Area, Boston Area and South Florida.  Contact her at susan@lifesource.ps to arrange a visit to your community.

30 Jan 11

The LifeSource website is going to be completely redesigned to reflect the work that we are doing now.  Start looking forward to easier navigation, new presentations, handouts, videos, and more info on BDS!

22 Dec 10

This past year LifeSource produced 4 new films, which have been screened at festivals around the globe, and we have continued our work with communities to understand their rights and their options, supporting communities to:



- submit briefs to the UN Human Rights Council which found Israel is violating our human right to water (Um Maghezi, Gaza)


- hold demonstrations to demand improved water access and full water rights (Jiftlick/Jordan Valley, Qarawa Beni Zayid/N. Ramallah District, Assamua/S. Hebron)


- organize a regional committee to lobby the Israeli national water company as one stronger, unified entity (Assamua, South Hebron)


- produce a mural depicting water struggles, which was covered by Al Jazeera, further raising awareness of the issue (Jabalya Camp, Gaza)


- connect to a water source!!! where international humanitarian orgs spent millions and failed (Al Farisiya and Jiftlick in the Jordan Valley)
 
As LifeSource, we published a letter in an Italian newspaper in Italian and wrote directly to every COOP board member, urging COOP Italia not to resume purchasing Carmel-Agrexco products on account of the fact that they are profiting from the exploitation of Palestinian water resources and benefitting from the oppression of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley and throughout Palestine.
 
Most recently, we completed a very successful 3-day Strategic Planning Workshop in the West Bank and Gaza, where LifeSource team members, volunteers, community partners, organizations working in the water sector and members of the Palestinian Water Authority and Gaza’s Coastal Municipalities Water Utility came together to discuss strategic objectives and agree on a 3-year course of action.
 
Following the training we contracted with the 3 most qualified individuals to lead LifeSource to the next stage: Zayneb Ashalalfeh, Ghareeb Zahran and Nidal Hatim.  Please give them a warm welcome.
 
We are all set to go.  Now all we need are the funds to continue!
 
Please help us to continue this work.  Whatever you can give will go a really long way! 

Click the DONATE LINK at the bottom of the screen.  Or you may make a tax-deductible contribution by mailing checks addressed to “Gandhian Foundation” with LifeSource in the memo line mailed to 16 Dias Ave, Westport, MA 02790.



A thousand peaces & a happy New Year!

1 Dec 10

LifeSource is pleased to announce the release of our 4th new film this year, Jordan Valley Blues.  We are especially excited, as Jordan Valley Blues and Filling Point have been accepted to this year’s Culture Unplugged on-line film festival entitled Humanity Explored.
 
Please take a minute to visit the links right away and vote for Filling Point and Jordan Valley Blues to help us to promote Palestinian water justice!  Then, when you have some time, sit down and relax and watch the films :)

http://www.cultureunplugged.com/storyteller/LifeSource
 

22 May 10

BDS Victory: Huge Italian supermarket chains suspend sales of settlement products [read full story].  Download and distribute LifeSource BDS handout to support your community group in your campaign for BDS of Israel.

18 May 10

Jordan Valley Solidarity and LifeSource connect the village of Al-Farisiya in the northern Jordan Valley with water, freeing up many thousands of dollars in resources that NGOs were planning to spend delivering water to the community via water tanker this summer.

22 March 10

World Water Day

LifeSource film, Besieged Waters, will be screened at the Ramallah Cultural Palace as part of the Palestinian Water Authority's ceremony for World Water Day.

LifeSource releases a new DVD with three short films that LifeSource produced for the EWASH Advocacy Task Force in the occupied Palestinian territory, a sub-committee of the EWASH group. (EWASH represents over 25 organizations working in water, sanitation and hygiene in the occupied Palestinian territory and its members include local and international NGOs and UN Agencies).  Write to info@lifesource.ps to order your copy today.

Watch new LifeSource films online now!

Besieged Waters - 10 mins

Filling Point  - 15 mins

Gaza is Floating - 9 mins

LifeSource releases a statement this World Water Day, “No More Israeli Colonization of Palestinian Water Resources”.

19 February 09

LifeSource condemns Israel's intimidation tactics in Jayyous

10 December 09

International Human Rights Day

LifeSource partners in Jabalya Refugee Camp Gaza paint a mural depicting their water situation. 

LifeSource partners in Maghazi Refugee Camp Gaza ‏write a letter to the human rights office in Geneva, conveying their concern over the deterioration of their aquifer and their running water which is, to a large extent, becoming useless. In their message, they call upon the high commissioner and the international community to put pressure on Israel to lift the siege, which followed a great deal of devastation during the latest war on Gaza.

LifeSource partners in Jiftlick Village, Jordan Valley, hold an open day of activities for the children to explore themes of water access, culminating in the release of biodegradable balloons with personal messages from the children, that may just land in one of the nearby illegal Israeli colonies.

22 September 09

LifeSource debuts two short films next week Wed 29 September at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival: By Land or by Water and Gaza is floating.  LifeSource team member Susan Koppelman will speak on a panel following the films.

2 September 09

LifeSource screens preview of new documentary short film Gaza is floating at major press conference in Gaza hosted by UN Humanitarian Coordinator and the Association of International Development Agencies. 

View clip released to all local and major networks for broadcast

(Contact us to receive clip in .avi)

8 August 09

Interview after water convoy on Raising Sand Radio: The Politics of Water and Medical Care in Israel and Palestine

7 August 09

In protest of Israeli Water Authority and Mekorot policies, LifeSource supports Demo at Qarawat Beni Zayid

10 July 09

Mayyada Qutub from LifeSource on ABC Australia Radio talking about the impact of the Wall on access to water.

9 July 09

A Wall to Water Access, LifeSource supports communities to host a press conference

17 June 09

For two years now, Gaza has been under siege by Israel.

Just before the anniversary of the first humanitarian shipment to enter Gaza after the siege began, LifeSource releases: By Land or by Water: Gaza Under Siege.

Watch 8 min film
Watch 1 min trailer

By Land or by Water press release
Info sheet: Israeli siege on Gaza affects access to water

24 May 09

Photos from youth developing their own media and their own messages about water and the Occupation (LifeSource with Images for Life, Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem). 

14 May 09

LifeSource echoes the call from other Palestinian civil society organizations for BDS of Israel

27 March 09

LifeSource mourns the death of our colleague and friend Fadia Daibes, who was killed in a car accident on March 26, 2009, as she was returning home from the World Water Forum in Istanbul.  This interview is the last interview that she gave, just the day before she passed away. 

1 Sept 09

LifeSource is excited to announce the release of our first documentary film and our first installment of original LifeSource maps, printed in Palestine.

We, the Women of Jayyous
LifeSource, 2008, 34 mins

Take a tractor ride through the Jayyous countryside behind the Wall, where more than 70% of the village's land and all six of its ground water wells have been confiscated.

See the illegal Israeli dump with industrial waste from the settlements located just above Azzoun's Well, from where the Jayyous residents now get their water.

Learn about the sewage crisis affecting 90% of Palestinians in the West Bank.

And meet the women of Jayyous, who together with LifeSource, are beginning to do something about all of this.

Available on YouTube. 
Or order your copy of We, the Women of Jayyous today.  Suggested donation $20.

Palestinian and Israeli Water Resources and the Segregation Wall
LifeSource, 2008, 60 cm x 90 cm

This map shows Palestinian and Israeli water resources from the Mountain Aquifer together with the Segregation Wall and Palestinian municipal boundaries, which, where they border Israel, demarcate the Green Line (the 1949 Armistice Line).  The purpose of this map is to raise awareness of the Palestinian water resources being confiscated, together with Palestinian land, by Israel.  (Jamal Press, Beitunia, Palestine).

Maps are available from our office in Huwarra (just south of Nablus) or by mail order.  Suggested donation $10 (plus shipping and handling).

LIFESOURCE is a Palestinian-led collective of people who recognize it is crucial to address the current and unfolding regional water crisis immediately – on the humanitarian level, the environmental level, and the political level. We are launching a campaign of popular research, popular education and popular action, with the goal of motivating communities to engage in their own analysis of information and direct their own courses of learning and action.