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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Steve Myersco,
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And I'm Marina Santee. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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"Lot looked up. He saw the whole Jordon River valley. It had plenty of water. It was like God's own land". These words are from the Jewish and Christian Bible. They describe the Jordan Valley thousands of years ago. It was so fertile! But, today, the Jordan Valley is very different. The river does not have plenty of water. Over the past one hundred years, the river has become smaller and smaller, and dirtier and dirtier.
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Today's Spotlight looks at how one group is trying to bring new life back to the Jordan Valley. The programme also describes how the river is uniting people who live along it.
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The lower part of the Jordan River flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. It is the most famous part of the river - the ‘Jordan' of the Bible. It flows along the borders of Israel, the Palestinian West Bank, and Jordan. The river is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, its religious history. Jewish and Christian history records important events that happened at the River Jordan. Much of the land around the river is also very important to Muslims.
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People in the surrounding countries depend on the river for water. But, as more and more people use the water, the river is getting smaller. This is having an effect on the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest area of water on earth. It is also famous for the high amount of salt that is in it. Many holiday visitors visit the Dead Sea every year. But the Dead Sea is also getting smaller. Every year it goes down one more metre. This is because less water is reaching it from the River Jordan.
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One group that is concerned about this is Friends of the Earth Middle East. This environmental group is worried about the Jordan River, and the effect it is having on the Dead Sea. Gidon Bromberg is one of the directors of Friends of the Earth Middle East. He says,
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‘Since the beginning of time, it was the Jordan River that filled the Dead Sea. In just 50 years, we have managed to turn the holy Jordan into a river of human waste. A third of the Dead Sea has also been dried up.'
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Gidon Bromberg is one of three directors of Friends of the Earth Middle East. Each director is from one of the areas that borders the Jordan River. Gidon Bromberg is from Israel. Munqeth Mehyar is from Jordan. And Nader Al-Khateeb is from the Palestinian West Bank. They show how people from all along the river need to work together to save the Jordan River.
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Currently, authorities on both sides of the river often take as much water as they want. But Friends of the Earth Middle East say this needs to change. The organisation thinks that the different authorities need to act now to control the use of the river's water. This is so that they are able to use the river in the future. Co-president Munqeth Mehyar says,
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‘Over the past ten years Friends of the Earth Middle East has made politicians think more about key water issues. This has happened both locally and internationally. We should all be concerned about saving the Lower Jordan River and the Dead Sea. They are part of our shared human history.'
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So Friends of the Earth Middle East brings together people who live along the River Jordan. Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian town leaders meet to discuss how to manage the river. They discuss the issues that they are all experiencing. This builds relationships between groups that normally do not work together. Communities are all encouraged not to use too much water.
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Another project that Friends of the Earth Middle East is working on is called the Peace Park. This is a protected area of land that will improve the local environment. Authorities would stop other developments in the area so that the wildlife can increase. Friends of the Earth Middle East believe this would not only improve the environment. It would also improve relationships between communities on opposite sides of the river. People would be free to visit the park without worrying about the national border that runs through it.
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The Peace Park would include a new lake. Project leaders plan to create this by flooding some of the land. This would also encourage birds to visit the area. Friends of the Earth Middle East hope foreign visitors would then come to visit the park. People who live near the park could also visit the river. Currently, even this is often not possible. Military authorities control much of the area around the Jordan River. So, most people cannot see the current state of the river. This is one reason why people have not taken care of it in recent years.
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Over the next few years Friends of the Earth Middle East hopes to start the first part of the Peace Park project. Town leaders on both sides of the river are supporting the idea. Three leaders from Israeli and Jordanian areas published this joint letter.
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‘We three mayors see the development of the Peace Park as a joint effort. It is at the centre of peace building efforts between communities. Today, the River Jordan is heavily polluted. It has become a place for people to leave their waste. This is destroying the wildlife. Today mayors and citizens of the communities want to change this. The mayors want the Peace Park to be the start of a larger project to bring life back to the River Jordan. We support the work of Friends of the Earth Middle East. It is helping to support good relations between the communities. These relations are based on peace and the environment.'
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So the Peace Park is not just important to save the local environment. It is also helping to bring traditionally divided groups together. In the past, many efforts to bring peace to the area have failed. The Peace Park could be one small way of bringing the different groups together. The future of the Jordan River may also depend on how these groups work with each other. So, the same river that divides the nations, could become one thing that unites them.
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