Israeli Activists Urge Pope To Help Clean Up Jordan River

from being a young lad its been my dream to get a baptism. in the river Jordan. it dos not have to be in the same spot as john the baptist was. but it would be good to be as close as possible! we are now in the year 2013 have they been any improvement made to the Jordan ?

The photos that appear at the beginning of this video are photos of Yardenit located on the southern bank of the Jordan River.Every year hundreds of thousands of Pilgrims come to Yardenit either to be be baptised or to renew their baptismal vows. At this site the water is flowing and is in pristine condition and the quality of the water is on a par with the water in the Sea of Galilee.The management of Yardenit has made certain that the water is safe for total immersion. Each week the local Water Authority of the Jordan Valley comes and performs extensive tests on the quality of the water and the results are sent both to the National Water Authority and also to the National Ministry of Health
Yardenit applauds all environmentalists wanting a cleaner planet but we abhor generalizations. It is irresponsible, incorrect and maligning to say that the whole southern part of the Jordan is polluted and Yardenit will fight to save her reputation and name.
No expert can give an exact location of where Jesus was baptised and the whole river is a site of baptism.

Generally speaking, the Yardenit at the northernmost point of the Southern Jordan is clean and safe (as seen in the picture in this post). This is fine except most Christians do not recognize it as the true baptism site.

If you follow the river 200 meters downstream, you will encounter two enormous pipes feeding hundreds and hundreds of cubic meters of wastewater from Tiberias into the river. I’ve seen it (and smelled it) myself and, trust me, you wouldn’t want to touch that water.

From that point and onward, pretty much everyone feels that its okay to dump their wastewater into the river (the privelege of living downstream) – kibbutzim, factories, agricultural facilities.

Another major hot spot is where the Herod River (or stream) enters the Jordan – mixing in all of it’s polluted water too.

By the time you get to Qasar El Yehud and Bethany at the Jordan – which is where the Pope visited this week. The water is barely moving and it is almost entirely wastewater. There are signs all over the Israeli side of the river saying that entry into the water is prohibited. But it’s quite sad really, because this is the site that most believe Jesus was baptized. Now? Just a really gross polluted river.

I’m happy to answer any questions by email as well: [email protected]

Yeah, it would be terrible to come out of the water baptised, and with an e-coli infection. Tragic.

Israel and Jordan need to clean up their act.

Hannah — is there any way for tourists to know where the water is most polluted? What are Zalul’s recommendations?

Are there any numbers available for how polluted the Jordan is at various point along its length?

I would imagine that the baptism spot (at Yardenit) would be relatively unpolluted, as it is only a few meters below the point where the river leaves the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee).

Whereas as it flows south, more and more sewage and agricultural run-offs flow into it.

Thanks for the post! We encourage everyone to sign our petition to the Pope at http://www.savethejordan.org.

– Hannah and the Zalul Team