Mexicans demand cutting ‘Israel’ ties over Chihuahua water deal
Hundreds of demonstrators marched along Reforma Avenue in Mexico City on Saturday calling on the Mexican government to cancel a water management agreement between Chihuahua state and ‘Israel’s’ MASHAV agency and to sever diplomatic relations with ‘Israel’.
The protest formed part of a nationwide day of action held in at least 14 states, linking local concerns over water scarcity and transparency to broader solidarity with Palestinians amid ‘Israel’s’ assault on Gaza.
The agreement in question, signed on February 23, 2023, between Chihuahua’s Central Water and Sanitation Board (JCAS) and MASHAV—’Israel’s’ Agency for International Development Cooperation under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—runs until 2027.
Officials describe it as a non-binding technical cooperation plan focused on exchanging knowledge and technology for designing, building, and maintaining water systems under crisis conditions, improving treated water reuse, drinking water efficiency, sanitation, and sustainable agriculture.
Chihuahua Governor Maru Campos Galván and JCAS director Mario Mata Carrasco claimed that the pact creates no legal obligations, grants no rights or concessions over state water, and simply allows Chihuahua to learn from ‘Israel’s’ experience in water treatment, reuse, and desalination amid severe drought.
Activists reject this framing.
Groups including Salvemos los Cerros (Save the Hills of Chihuahua) and the Feminist Assembly of Chihuahua argue the deal was never registered with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SRE) or the Mexican Agency for International Development Cooperation (Amexcid), violating the Law on the Conclusion of Treaties.
They contend it opens the door to ‘Israeli’ private-sector involvement in Chihuahua’s water infrastructure and risks advancing privatization of a vital public resource in a state already facing extreme water stress.
In Mexico City, marchers chanted slogans such as “Water for Chihuahua, more for Palestine,” “The children of Gaza are not a threat,” and “Break, break relations with Israel—Palestine will prevail.”
Similar demonstrations took place in Chihuahua city, where protesters marched from the Pancho Villa traffic circle to the Government Palace, and in Ciudad Juárez, where participants partially blocked the Paso del Norte international bridge while flying Palestinian flags.
