I recently received a message, with a link to a short video, from Mabel Grossi Mabel Grossi, a former PIJ intern who, in addition to her daily job coordinating advocacy campaigns at EU level to promote social justice across the MENA region, is also an ambassador for the Thirsting for Justice Campaign. They have just released a short video on Gaza’s water crisis. We are eager to do our small part and spread the message.

Mabel’s message goes as follows:

“The Thirsting for Justice Campaign, in cooperation with the film maker Celia Peterson, has just released a new video on the water crisis in Gaza. The film is short but very powerful and we are linking it with the Avaaz Campaign 'Gaza to run out of water by 2016', so we need as many people as possible to see it and sign the petition!

The film shows how the Israeli siege is causing the collapse of Gaza's natural water supply. Blocking the import of vital building materials and fuel, the Israelis have crippled the Strip's ability to treat sewage or maintain a functioning water network. As a direct result of this Gaza's only source of fresh water, the Coastal Aquifer will be unfit for human consumption by 2016. We need to take action!

Please share this video with your friends and networks and ask them to sign the petition here: http://bit.ly/1uMroyr

The link to the film is here: http://player.vimeo.com/video/116573544

If you have Facebook or Twitter, please mention us in your tweets or posts so we can re-tweet and share your material :

The Facebook group of the campaign is here: https://www.facebook.com/ThirstingForJustice and the Twitter handle is @Thirsty4Justice

If you have further ideas on how we can get people to see this excellent film then please share them with us, we will do all we can to support you.

Here's to 2015, let’s make it a great year for Palestinian water rights!”

About the Thirsting for Justice Campaign

The Thirsting for Justice Campaign has been launched by EWASH (Emergency Water Sanitation and Hygiene in the Occupied Palestinian Territory) to mobilize European citizens to "demand that their governments pressure Israel to change its policies and practices in order to comply with international law and respect Palestinians’ human rights." Their goal in this campaign is for Gaza to be able to rehabilitate its aquifer and obtain access to alternative sources of water, specifically the Jordan River and the mountain aquifer in the West Bank. They also stress the importance and urgency of improved wastewater treatment and the necessity of adequate equipment and technology.

EWASH is a coalition of 27 organizations which works to maximize efficiency and coordination in the Water, Waste and Hygiene sector in the Occupied Territories.

Celia Peterson is a Dubai-based portrait and documentary photographer and filmmaker. She works with a variety of editorial and advertising clients. “She takes on projects that stir her passions about the state of humanity”

It’s short and powerful, highlighting the urgency and severity of the water crisis Gaza is facing. Well worth a look.