NEW ALBANY, Ind. (ABP) — Israel's tourism ministry said July 27 that
water at a spot traditionally regarded as the baptismal site of Jesus
was "fit for baptism," countering claims by environmentalists that it is
polluted, unsafe and should be closed to tourists.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Israeli health officials are reportedly considering erecting signs warning: "Polluted Waters, Entry Forbidden" at Qasr al-Yahud near Jericho. Tradition holds Jesus was baptized there 2,000 years ago, making it one of Christianity's holiest sites.
A group called Friends of the Earth Middle East, however, said that due to decades of mismanagement and drought, elevated levels of raw sewage in the lower Jordan River pose a health risk to pilgrims who immerse themselves in the waters.
All four Gospels report that Jesus went to the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist, but no one today is certain of the exact location.
Kathy Dehoney Evitts of Dehoney Travel in New Albany, Ind., said Qasr al-Yahud is not on the itinerary of their Holy Land tours.
"This area is actually not very accessible on the Israeli side, so we instead make our visit to a very nice facility just south of Tiberias where the Jordan River flows out of the Sea of Galilee," she said. "Most evangelical Christian groups from North America would use this Yardenit site for a visit."
Last year Jordan opened its own baptism center with a dedication ceremony that included dignitaries representing the Baptist World Alliance.
Located in an area between Israel and Jordan's border fences, Qasr al-Yahud is accessible only with military permit and escort. It still draws more than 100,000 visitors each year, however. Israel's tourism ministry has been spending about $2 million a year improving the site after years of neglect.
Tourism officials said water samples collected July 25 tested for 88 fecal coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters of water. That is within health ministry standards of 1,000 fecal coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters of water.
"The Tourism Ministry ascribes great importance to tourists' sense of security and to the service provided to tourists who choose to visit Israel, and is making every effort to ensure that the experience of their visit is the best possible," Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said in a press release. "These tourists should serve as our ambassadors to the world."
Friends of the Earth Middle East renewed its call for baptisms to be banned on the lower Jordan River, saying that bacterial levels in flowing water vary from hour to hour and that other tests have shown pollution levels to be far higher.
Long decline of water quality
A cooperative effort of Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists, Friends of the Earth Middle East said the ecological degradation of the lower Jordan has been decades in the making but has gone largely unnoticed, taking a back seat to political strife.
"The lower Jordan River is arguably the most famous river in the world, of international significance to more than half of humanity due to its rich natural and cultural heritage and its symbolic value and importance to three monotheistic religions," the group said. "Sadly, the lower Jordan River has long suffered from severe mismanagement."
The Jordan has been steadily drained over the past half century to provide drinking water and irrigation for the people of Israel, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinian territories. Most recently it has been taxed by construction of a tributary dam on the Jordanian-Syrian border, completed in 2006.
On top of multiple nations siphoning the river basin, Friends of the Earth Middle East said, severe drought has reduced the lower Jordan to a dirty trickle.
It is also the most significant factor in the demise of the Dead Sea, the surface area of which has shrunk by a third in the past 50 years. Its shoreline is receding at the rate of a meter a year.
One idea under discussion to stabilize water levels is a controversial Red-Dead Sea Conveyance Project. It involves digging a canal and a series of water-pipeline conduits 100 miles from the Gulf of Akaba in the Red Sea.
The project has backing by the World Bank and is supported by Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but some question its impact on the environment.
Friends of the Earth Middle East said the huge public-works project could cost $5 billion to $10 billion and would do nothing to protect the livelihood of Jordanians, Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley who depend on the lower Jordan for water.
They say the project would not be needed if nations bordering the Jordan would begin putting water back into the river through conservation programs and public policy.
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Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.