Of course she’s right. But maybe this is where we can play a role after all: we can’t build the treatment plant that will stop the pollution, but we can keep tell ing people around the world about the sad state of our water resources and we can keep asking them to help us reclaim our human right to water. Don’t say it’s not your business, because Palestinians are humans, and so are you. Mohammed Shehada is a student at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration at Al Azhar University in Gaza and an ambassador for the Thirsting for Justice campaign.
Thirsting for Justice The Thirsting for Justice Campaign was launched on 22 March 2011, World Water Day, by the Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene group (EWASH) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which is a coalition of 30 leading humanitarian organizations working in the water and sanitation sector in the occupied Palestinian territory. The campaign calls on European governments to pressure Israel to respect Palestinian rights to water and sanitation, remove obstacles for the development of water and sanitation infrastructure, and end demolitions. Read more about water in Gaza and the EWASH campaign at www.thirstingforjustice.org, join their campaign on Facebook and follow them on Twitter: #T4J.
You know there is a problem when you find it normal to see sewage flowing down the street.
Children collecting stones next to the sewage flow in Wadi Gaza, which used to be a natural marshland. Today it is an open sewage drain. Source: Ghada Snunu/EWASH oPt
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