Meretz helping Palestinian villages in need of drinking water

The Meretz website (Hebrew only) is calling for donations to provide drinking water to 15,000 Palestinians in desperate need. Four villages northwest of Ramallah have been victimized by the takeover of a nearby water source by "Mekorot", Israel's national water company, and are now receiving less than 1/5 the amount required for basic needs. Some of the villagers have not had running water for more than three months, and are forced to buy water from tankers at outrageous prices. Many lack the means to pay. Some children are drawing water from polluted wells or begging for water. Other residents are abandoning their homes and relocating.

Meretz is part of an effort to combat this situation through the courts, and through diplomatic and political means, in addition to generating public protest. In the meantime, and as an intermediate step, the party's Dror Morag is collecting donations to help relieve the immediate suffering.