It’s been called the “river of life,” but for almost 50 years, the spot in the River Jordan where Jesus Christ was baptized has been a place of death. Churches stand abandoned, surrounded by signs that warn visitors, “Danger! Mines!” But the landmines that were left behind after the 1967 war – and are still active – will soon be removed thanks to a spirit of unity among Christian churches, Israelis, Palestinians and a former British soldier who served in Afghanistan.
Israel captured this territory on the West Bank during the Six-Day War, making the Jordan River the border between Israel and Jordan. Tensions continued, so to secure the territory, Israel placed an estimated 4,000 mines on the territory and booby-trapped the seven churches that stand on the spot.
For decades, Christians could not visit the holy site, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, without fear of being blown to pieces.
Then, signs of hope emerged. In 1994, Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty. A small patch of the area was cleared before Pope John Paul II visited in 2000, and more landmines were removed in 2011.
Now, an international charity wants to remove all the landmines left behind by the war and reopen the area for tourism and Christian pilgrimage.
The HALO Trust, a British-based charity, is scheduled to remove all the mines from the 136 square acres of the area, known as Qasr el-Yahud (“The Castle of the Jews”).
Each of the seven churches, operated by the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches, could become a place of devotion again after all the landmines – hidden or open – will be taken out of the area. “Eventually, you will be able to walk freely from each church down to the river,” said Ronen Shimoni, who is leading HALO’s operations in the West Bank.
In 2015, with only a small part of the area safe, some 430,000 tourists visited the holy site. The Israel Ministry of Tourism hopes HALO’s efforts will attract even more people, many of them Christians seeking to be baptized in the river’s historic waters.
The Jordan River plays a vital role in sacred history and is mentioned in the Bible nearly 200 times. God parted the River Jordan like the Red Sea, so Joshua could lead the ancient Israelites into the promised land (Joshua 3). The prophets Elijah and Elisha also parted its waters when Elijah was taken alive into Heaven by a fiery chariot (II Kings 2).
Meanwhile the Palestinians – who believe Jesus was baptized at another site, nearby al-Maghtas in Jordan – want the landmines removed.
Getting the Israelis and Palestinians to agree on anything is virtually a miracle in itself. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, called the agreement to move forward a “great sign of reconciliation” between nations and religions.
In the meantime, HALO is trying to raise $4 million in private donations to make this vision a reality.
The project is just a fraction of HALO’s actions. The charity, once supported by Princess Diana, will remove an estimated one million mines from 35 square miles of the West Bank. According to the United Nations, approximately 20,000 people a year are killed by mines, 80 percent of them civilians. Many of them are children.
The Chief Executive of the Halo Trust, Major General James Cowan, said he became dedicated to clearing dangerous ordinance from forgotten battlefields after he saw people injured by mines while he served as a soldier in Afghanistan.
But with the doors he has opened in one of the holiest sites in the world, it’s just possible he was inspired by an even Higher Power.
— The Horn editorial team
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