The Jordan River has been named as one of the world’s 100 most endangered ecological sites. An environmental group blamed the poor cooperation between Israel and its Arab neighbors as one reason for the river’s demise. “The region’s current policies treat the river as a backyard dumping ground,” Friends of the Earth Middle East said in a statement, blaming Israel, Syria and Jordan for diverting 90 percent of the river’s natural flow for domestic and agricultural use, replacing it with sewage. Munqeth Mehyar, the organization’s Jordanian director, told the Jordan Times that Israel and Jordan are not working together to preserve the river, as they promised in the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty. The river has significance in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Meyhar said the two nations shift the blame. When we talk to Jordanian officials they tell us if the Israeli side gives the go-ahead, then we will follow suit and vice versa,” he said. “Meanwhile, nothing is done and the two countries continue to dump their waste into the river and divert water for agriculture.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
