On a sunburnt stretch of desert near the Jordan River, a weather-beaten Romanian Orthodox church waits for its first visitor in 50 years.
The gated entrance has long since fallen apart, its marble column leaning toward the morning sun. The path to the church -- if it ever was a path -- is a thick quilt of shrubs and thistles.
Despite being long abandoned, the church retains much of its historic beauty. A colorful mural of a scene from the Bible, half-visible above the entrance to the church, has dulled over time but is still magnificent. The church door stands open as if ready to welcome the faithful.
Israel's religious divisions run deep, survey shows
The land on which the church sits is near one of the holiest Christian sites in the world -- the place where Christians believe Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River.
There are several other churches at the site, but no one has come near them in decades because they are surrounded by nearly 5,000 landmines.
Barbed-wire fences keep visitors far away, with signs warning "DANGER MINES!" in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. When the Six-Day War ended in an uneasy ceasefire in 1967, the Israeli and Jordanian armies laid mines across the area.
The Jordan River at this point is only a few feet wide -- an easy crossing point for an army. The two countries signed a peace agreement in 1994, but the mines were never removed.
Making a holy site safe again
From the safety of the dirt road, a row of anti-tank mines is visible, resting on top of the dry, cracked soil. Nearby, anti-personnel mines sit above the ground, scattered across an empty field. Unexploded ordnance could still be anywhere, and the churches could be booby-trapped.
All that is about to change
The HALO Trust, the world's largest humanitarian landmine removal organization, has now received permission from the Israelis, Palestinians, and the seven Christian denominations with churches at the site to begin removal of the mines.
"If we didn't do it, these mines would be here forever," says HALO Trust CEO James Cowan. "We can make that difference. We can make that go away."
HALO is not aware of anyone having been injured or killed by the mines in the area because it is a restricted military zone.
"Country of prophecies and prophets"
Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine, remembers visiting the site as a teenager before the war made it inaccessible. He smiles as he speaks of visiting again.
"It is a very special place. It is very much connected to the sacred history that began on Mount Sinai and the Prophet Moses and culminated here with the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and his crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem," the Patriarch says.
The gated entrance has long since fallen apart, its marble column leaning toward the morning sun. The path to the church -- if it ever was a path -- is a thick quilt of shrubs and thistles.
Despite being long abandoned, the church retains much of its historic beauty. A colorful mural of a scene from the Bible, half-visible above the entrance to the church, has dulled over time but is still magnificent. The church door stands open as if ready to welcome the faithful.
Israel's religious divisions run deep, survey shows
The land on which the church sits is near one of the holiest Christian sites in the world -- the place where Christians believe Jesus Christ was baptized in the Jordan River.
There are several other churches at the site, but no one has come near them in decades because they are surrounded by nearly 5,000 landmines.
Barbed-wire fences keep visitors far away, with signs warning "DANGER MINES!" in Arabic, English, and Hebrew. When the Six-Day War ended in an uneasy ceasefire in 1967, the Israeli and Jordanian armies laid mines across the area.
The Jordan River at this point is only a few feet wide -- an easy crossing point for an army. The two countries signed a peace agreement in 1994, but the mines were never removed.
Making a holy site safe again
From the safety of the dirt road, a row of anti-tank mines is visible, resting on top of the dry, cracked soil. Nearby, anti-personnel mines sit above the ground, scattered across an empty field. Unexploded ordnance could still be anywhere, and the churches could be booby-trapped.
All that is about to change
The HALO Trust, the world's largest humanitarian landmine removal organization, has now received permission from the Israelis, Palestinians, and the seven Christian denominations with churches at the site to begin removal of the mines.
"If we didn't do it, these mines would be here forever," says HALO Trust CEO James Cowan. "We can make that difference. We can make that go away."
HALO is not aware of anyone having been injured or killed by the mines in the area because it is a restricted military zone.
"Country of prophecies and prophets"
Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem and all Palestine, remembers visiting the site as a teenager before the war made it inaccessible. He smiles as he speaks of visiting again.
"It is a very special place. It is very much connected to the sacred history that began on Mount Sinai and the Prophet Moses and culminated here with the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and his crucifixion and resurrection in Jerusalem," the Patriarch says.
No comments:
Post a Comment