By Siiri Bigalke for The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD)
On March 6th, 2014, about 100 people attended an environmental conference about the Kidron Valley at the Jerusalem International YMCA. ICSD Director Rabbi Yonatan Neril spoke on a panel organized by Amin Khalef, formerly of the Yad b’Yad school, and Ezadeen about environmental values and religion as well as ICSD’s involvement in local interfaith efforts. One of the most significant environmental challenges of Jerusalem today is that untreated sewage waste flows into the Kidron Valley and on to the Dead Sea. Rabbi Neril joined participants from East Jerusalem to discuss a range of environmental initiatives taking place within the Arab community, including environmental education in schools; composting; rain-water harvesting; and community gardens – all launched to improve the environmental integrity of these communities along the Kidron Basin. The Dead Sea Drainage Authority works in tandem with these communities, attempting to improve rehabilitation efforts through tourism, education, and trail development initiatives. Among the presenters was the Mini Active environmental initiative of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center, which empowers Arab women in East Jerusalem to promote local environmental improvements. The ultimate goal of these collaborative efforts is to develop, the “Creek as a Bridge – connecting social, cultural, and spatial entities, solving the sewage problem, improving the residents’ quality of life, renewing the connection between Jerusalem, the Creek, and the Desert (kidronbasin.org).”
Thomas Friedman recently took an environmental tour of Israel and the West Bank with ICSD partners Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME). He wrote a New York Times column reflecting on his experience and particularly on this phenomenon: ”Who knew that when you flush the toilet in your hotel in the eastern half of Jerusalem the wastewater likely ends up in the Dead Sea — untreated? It flows from Jerusalem’s sewers into the Kidron Stream. If you can stand the stench, you can watch it all rush by about a mile east and downhill from Jerusalem. Germany offered to pay for a treatment plant, but for the past 20 years Israel and the Palestinian Authority have not been able to agree on how to split the treated water — which originates in both Jewish and Arab drains, so nothing has happened. As a result, Mother Nature alone does her best to filter it as it flows down to the Jordan Valley.” (NY Times, February 8, 2014). ICSD staff and interns were pleased to participate in this important conference and applaud its organizers and supporters for bringing the community together to address these important issues.
To continue the conversations from the Kidron Valley Conference, ICSD’s Eco Israel Tours will be including a tour of the Kidron in its open-enrollment tours in and around Jerusalem – a new opportunity we are rolling out in April. Check out this page for more information about these tours!
