[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3xqfNNYjl8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]
A group of Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian environmentalists have put politics aside to fight a $15 billion World Bank plan to revive the Dead Sea, which is dropping by about three feet a year. The bank’s plan proposes building a canal or tunnel to link the salt-laden sea to the Red Sea in the south.
It may look calm, but the Dead Sea is shrinking rapidly and there’s a battle brewing among those who hope to save it. The environmentalists, members of Friends of the Earth Middle East, along with prominent businesses like Israel’s Dead Sea Works, believe the canal could destroy the sea’s fragile and unique ecosystem.
The Dead Sea, one of the saltiest bodies of water on the planet, is bordered by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. While it doesn’t support marine life, it is bursting with minerals and salts which provide healing therapies for people suffering from cystic fibrosis to psoriasis.
Find out why the Dead Sea is shrinking and what plans are afoot to save it in ISRAEL21c‘s report, featured above.
Turning The Dead Sea White? Red-Dead Study Draws Environmentalist Ire
You can read the story on JO Magazine’s site: http://bit.ly/aOfLI8
Ezekiel 47
The River From the Temple
1 The man brought me back to the entrance of the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. 2 He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was flowing from the south side.
3 As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits [a] and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. 4 He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. 5 He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 6 He asked me, “Son of man, do you see this?”
Then he led me back to the bank of the river. 7 When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. 8 He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, [b] where it enters the Sea. [c] When it empties into the Sea, [d] the water there becomes fresh. 9 Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 10 Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. [e] 11 But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. 12 Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
Know The Facts – you are right. In this story we have one mega-entity up against the other, both with interests. The DSW and its Jordan corollary are very much implicated in the destruction and drying up of the Dead Sea.
If I am not mistaken, the corporation known as the Dead Sea Works is owned by the multi-billionaire Ofer brothers. The Dead Sea Works mines minerals from the Dead Sea. The less water in the Sea, the easier it is to dig it up, the greater their profitability. DSW has been deliberately drying up the Dead Sea for years. They even have gigantic “evaporation pools” that are plainly visible in satellite photos. If DSW is opposing the canal project, it is not because “the canal could destroy the sea’s fragile and unique ecosystem”. The environment is the last thing on their minds; they’re the ones who are killing the Dead Sea in the first place! It’s important to know who your friend is – and who is not!