There are few environmental topics in the Middle East more controversial than the proposed Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal to revive the Dead Sea, which has the potential to cause lasting damage to the composition of the sea’s ecosystem.

The multinational organization Friends of the Earth Middle East (FEME), who are working to build a peace park to restore the Jordan River, have an effective rejoinder to counter the Canal proposal.

With the use of water conservation and rainwater harvesting on the part of communities in Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan, FEME seeks to restore the Jordan River–and thereby restore the main water source of the Dead Sea.

According to Gidon Bromberg, Israel’s Director of FEME, restoring the Jordan River may be the first step to achieving Middle East peace.

In an article for the new green blog Yale Environment 360, Bromberg writes,

Our group has made progress because we are a grassroots, multi-national effort with Jordanian, Israeli and Palestinian staff members working inside their own communities while simultaneously reaching out to nationalities across the river. One of our core beliefs is that the region will never achieve a lasting peace until we begin talking directly to each other. Tackling a crucial environmental challenge that affects us all is a good start.

Bromberg chronicles the efforts of FEME to unite Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli adults and youth in the mutual purpose of saving the Jordan River. Adding to the efforts have been the support of religious organizations, who recognize the import of the river to Biblical tradition. So far, the efforts are paying off.

But the next step will be much harder: To enlist the aid of the Israeli, Jordanian and Syrian governments.

::Yale Environment 360

Green Prophet has featured the Middle East water crisis in several articles:

Will Climate Change Reduce or Increase Middle East Rainfall?

Can Israel and the Palestinians Resolve Water Politics in California?

It’s Possible To Harvest More Crop Per Drop, Find Israeli Cleantech Researchers

• Israelis and Palestinians: Teaming Up for the Environment
• Controversial Red-Dead Sea Canal on Hold – But why?
• Israel to Compensate Jordan for Polluted River Water With the Sea of Galilee
• Israel-Jordan “Peace Canal”: Route to Environmental Disaster?
• Jordan River Peace Park – coming soon?