Eden Springs replies

Following a request to the bottled water supply company Eden Springs for a comment on our story that  the University of Glasgow was not renewing their £200,000 contract, the company has sent a statement:

‘Eden Springs UK is aware of the campaign and is taking steps to address inaccuracies contained within it.

‘We have a well established customer network across Scotland and the UK, supplying spring and mineral water directly to consumers in their homes and offices, using water coolers and bottles.

‘Water supplied by Eden Springs in the United Kingdom is sourced, bottled and distributed entirely in the UK.  The Scottish water supply is sourced inAyrshire.

‘The long running campaign against Eden Springs’ Scottish operation by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been discredited on many occasions, including the official dismissal by MSPs of a petition to the Scottish Parliament due to the campaign’s flawed and inaccurate assertions.  Across all the countries we operate in, the company strictly complies with all laws and legislation as required by national and local government.’

 

Honey stops for Eden Spring

A campaign by students at the University of Glasgow has succeeded in persuading the institution to drop its contract for bottled water from an Israeli company, Eden Springs.

In a well- argued and researched document, the Glasgow University Palestine Society (GUPS) showed that the company was illegally occupying the Golan Heights where the original Eden Springs water comes from. That company is the parent company of the Scottish based one which supplies Scottish sourced water throughout the campus.

Said Sarah Watson a founder of the Society who has travelled in the area and seen for herself what has happened to the Palestinian people: ‘The contract is worth around £200,000. This has been a long time coming – at least seven years. But we have a sense of achievement. It is scandalous for the University to spend so much money while it is sacking staff.’

Secretary of the GUPS, Catherine Harris, added: ‘This is absolutely fantastic news. We had around 500 students and 50 staff who had signed a petition urging the University to stop using Eden Springs company. The links are very clear and the company has forced people to leave that land at the Golan Heights to use the spring water for their own commercial gain. What they’ve done is illegal and that is acknowledged in international law.’

The campaign to stop using the Israeli company has been on-going for several years. But this is the first time the campaigners have compiled a dossier and presented it to the Principal. Glasgow is one of the last universities in Scotland to severe ties with Eden Spring.

Both Eden Springs and the University have been asked to respond and their comments will be posted as soon as possible after they are received.