The EU is one of the latest global powers to wade into the fertile crescent of the Middle Eastern Levant, and to involve itself in political and historical situations far beyond its capabilities. This time, the EU is aiming to help fund a $4 million project to draw up plans for the Dead Sea and Jordan-valley region, concerning the shrinking water levels in the Dead Sea itself.
The Dead Sea should be a global heritage site, full as it is of rich minerals, and surrounded by the lands that Moses, David, the Prophets and Jesus walked and lived in. Yet its location in the arid and hot setting of the Middle East, at the lowest point on earth, and in the intense Arab-Israeli political situation, means that this ancient sea has suffered a lot.
The present concern is over the shrinkage occurring in the sea, which is at a rate of 3 foot every year. One hundred years ago, the sea was 80 foot higher than at present, and the River Jordan, which was 180 foot wide compared to today’s 20 foot, was depositing fifty times the amount of water into it.
The EU’s funding for plans is a waste of taxpayers’ money and another case of overreach. Plans involving the pumping of water from the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea to the Dead Sea have long existed, though there are strong environmental concerns that the realisation of such plans could make matters worse both in the Dead Sea and in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Yet the real need is to identify what is causing the decrease in water levels in the Dead Sea. The reduction in the level has been attributed to numerous sources, ranging from climate change, industrial evaporation and the damming and diversion of water for irrigation and political ends.
As such, a coherent European policy would focus on these factors. The first of them, climate change, is quickly dispelled as a major cause by looking at the history books. Changes in the level of the Dead Sea are nothing new. Research by Amos Frumkin of the Geography Department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Yoel Elitzur of the Eretz-Israel Studies Department at Herzog College, showed that Dead Sea levels were extremely low from 2000-1500 B.C. in the Bronze Age, rising for a short period from 1500-1200 B.C., before falling again from 1000 to 700 B.C. in the Iron Age. Indeed, many Biblical records indicate that during the 'dry periods' the southern basin of the Dead Sea was completely dry, a long-way from the situation today.
Another high-tide period occurred during Roman times, but in the Byzantine period which followed, the Dead Sea fell to its lowest level ever, with the southern basin being completely absent of water, as indicated on the Byzantine Madaba map. As such, recent shrinkage is not about the reduction so much as the speed of the reduction, and the wider context which is exacerbating this.
The second cause, the impact of industry on the water level, carries more weight. Many firms are based on the Dead Sea’s shores and involved in extracting water to get at the rich minerals within the sea for the production of cosmetics and for scientific purposes. Yet the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument Strategy and National Indicative Programme Paper for 2007-2010 actually stated that Jordan should focus on “niche sectors, such as Dead Sea cosmetics”, virtually promoting the industrial exploitation of the Dead Sea.
One such firm, Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, in receipt of 300,000 Euros of EU funding from the Seventh European Commission Framework Programme, has already attracted much criticism. Ahava is a cosmetics firm, extracting minerals and performing analysis for the EU as part of a $6.7 million research project, though many consider it to be in breach of international law, as the International Court of Justice ruled that the place in which Ahava is located is an illegal Israeli settlement.
The third cause, related to the general political situation, is what the EU would do far better to focus on. Another plan for water is a waste of time and money: the EU should instead focus on opening up trade and increasing political stability in the region. A beautiful country, Jordan could profit immensely from using its rich historical heritage better, by focusing more on tourism, and having the infrastructure in place for more people to come to and enjoy the waters of the Dead Sea.
Political stability is essential for tourism to flourish, so the EU should focus on the wider situation, ensuring dialogue and negotiated change in the surrounding countries. Water infrastructure projects are worthless if another war is only going to destroy them.
Instead of funding the things which cause the problems, and producing yet more plans, the EU should get involved in firm action to preserve and strengthen peace, and to see to the prosperity of all the people in the region. The fact that, according to the European Environment Agency, Europe itself has problems with increasing pollution and exploitation of its own water resources hardly inspires confidence that Brussels can sort out the shrinking level of the Dead Sea.
