River Jordan

 

 

The Unesco declared the Jordianian location known as Al-Maghtas a World Heritage Site in 2015.

 

 

On the West Bank, the corresponding place is under the governance of the Israeli Parks Authority.

 

This part of the West Bank is Area C, meaning that, according to the Oslo agreement, it should have been "gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction". In reality this area is under Israeli control.

 

"Area C, 99% of which is excluded from Palestinian use, contains most of the West Bank’s natural resources and open spaces" (Wikipedia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The classification of 27 % of the West Bank as a "Nature Reserve" is one of the many administrative means of annexing land which should be under P.A. control.

 

The left bank of the Jordan was overrun by Israel during the Six Day War.

 

At approximately this time, mines and bunkers were positioned, militarising the frontier zone.

 

 In 2020 armoured vehicles are still clearing the no-man’s land of its mines.

 

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For a long time, the only hold-out where life could be found in this desolate no-man's land, was at the Orthodox monastery.

 

"The churches and compounds of eight denominations built around the 1930s in the area were abandoned five decades ago and remain out of bounds.

Israeli Army engineers are believed to have booby-trapped the windows and doors of the sanctuaries and monks’ cells, mostly belonging to the Eastern Orthodox churches, because they were being used as cover for Palestinian fighters infiltrating from Jordan to attack Israelis."

New York Times

 

 

As a frontier zone, little effort was made to render the river banks attractive. The was part of the political struggle around power and control of the West Bank.

 

At one time, the site was flooded with sewage and another position was designated as the place where Jesus was baptised by John...

Further info

 

 

Clean-ups began around 2010 and a recent Jordanian-Israeli rapprochement means that the spot can become the tourist attraction it was always meant to be.

 

Tourists are bussed in to an elegant new facility.

This is in stark contrast to the Palestinian Authority's very basic archeological site a few kilometers away in Jericho, locus of the world's oldest town.

 

St John the Baptist's Church, as seen from the West Bank.

 

Flags wave at each other, and a line of floaters marks the border in the middle of the river.

 

 

 

The water now runs clean, under the watchful eyes of a white-clad Jordanian soldier on the Eastern side and of the Israeli soldiers on the West.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The security cameras supply backup, 

should the watching soldiers be distracted.

 

 

My Lutheran travelling companions were unimpressed by the whole setup, both remarking that they could hardly imagine Jesus having ever been "here".