The California billionaire couple Stewart and Lynda Resnick are under scrutiny again for their monopoly over water rights in California. As the largest private owners of water in the state, their agricultural empire under The Wonderful Company (they own Fiji Water, Halo oranges, POM) has been criticized for its outsized impact on water distribution. California is often hit by droughts and wildfires - which are worsening due to the climate crisis. The Resnicks have been accused of prioritizing their profits—growing water-intensive crops like almonds and pistachios—over the needs of struggling Californians. They continue to exploit the water to the detriment of human life, despite decades of criticism. Their control of Kern County water banks, in particular, is what made them key players in California’s water crises—like right now. They control almost 60% of the freshwater bank (which holds billions of gallons). They use 150 billion gallons a year for their farms.

But there’s more to the Resnicks. Their “philanthropy” extends to investments in the apartheid and genocide regime of Israel. Surprise.

It is not a coincidence, ever, that the exploitation of land and water “over there” is directly tied to the exploitation of land and water here.