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CENTER
FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE
Proposed
Red-Dead Canal
Seen as Peace Initiative
By
RAPHAEL ROTHSTEIN
THEY’RE
not calling it a canal this time around, but a long, water-filled
trench by any other name is certainly a “canal.”
They’re saying it will be a “Peace Conduit.”
Maybe it’s because of the ill-fated Mediterranean-Dead Sea
Canal project of almost 20 years ago.
Once highly touted, that scheme is barely remembered now,
unsung and unwept.
So
they’ve got a new name – conduit – with its unfortunate
suggestion of industrial waste and sewage.
The route is planned to stretch through the Arava valley,
from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.
The
concept has been around for a while. Originally it was based on the
geographical fact that the Dead Sea lies 1,200 feet below sea level.
The difference in height in regard to the Red Sea would allow
for a waterfall to generate hydro energy for desalination and
electricity, much like the effect of the world’s great waterfalls
and dams.
The
current scheme takes into account the power project, but emphasizes
the environmental benefit, namely, replenishing the Dead Sea, which
is dying from a rapidly declining water level.
Saving
the Dead Sea would restore the ecological balance and help tourism
development in the region.
Always
the optimist, Israel Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told a recent
conference of the Center For Middle East Peace and Economic
Cooperation that the proposed canal would alleviate the serious
water shortage affecting Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian areas
and would be a step toward peace in Israel’s neighborhood.
Jordan,
which shares the Dead Sea with Israel, approved the plan and is
involved commercially and diplomatically.
Thus Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority would
receive sorely needed fresh water.
According
to well-informed sources, some serious German investors are already
lined up for the multimillion-dollar program.
Elaborating
his vision of the projected canal, Peres said it would lead to a
“transformation” alleviating the region’s water shortage – a
solid advance towards peace.
Asked
if such a grand scheme could go forth in the current atmosphere of
violence, Peres said it must for the sake of the future.
“Terrorism,” he said, “is an intervention from the
past.”
He
cited the Suez Canal and its far-reaching benefits over a century
ago and recalled that the Verdi opera, Aida, “which was
commissioned for the Suez’s opening, stands as a lasting legacy of
beauty from that great unifying project.”
“Water
knows nothing of politics – it flows for all,” Peres added.
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