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.”
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