The Jordan River starts its life as snow at 2,800m on Mount Hermon and flows to the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth, taking in religious symbolism, a history of conflict and ever-growing competition for its dwindling waters along the way.
Until the 1950s, the river spread across the Hula Valley floor in a wide lake, in which Mona Ben-Dor remembers swimming as a child from shores lush with vegetation. But the site, key for migratory birds, was drained for agriculture and to combat malaria.
Historian Muki Tzur says the agricultural project was disappointing and the area suffered ecologically: “Today we have to be more modest in our dreams… the Jordan does not belong to us only; it’s part of the dreams of many people."
The Jordan, its Hebrew name Yarden comes from the word “to descend”, has plunged to 200m below sea level by the time it reaches the Sea of Galilee, the site of many biblical stories. But the lake’s water level has plummeted from overuse and drought.
Israel has created a designated site for Christian baptisms – although the reputed site where Jesus was baptized is further downstream. Steps, railings, souvenir shops, white smocks and plenty of clean river water are all on hand at Yardenit.
But 1km downstream, the Jordan is reduced to a trickle through a pipe flowing out of the Alumot Dam, which holds back clean water for the baptisms. Saltwater and sewage are pumped back into what remains of the river.
The river then becomes the border – once a frontline - between Israel and Jordan, technically at war from 1948 to 1994. At a site now called “Peace Island”, the river powered a hydroelectric plant from the 1930s to the 1948 Israeli-Arab war.
The remains of bridges built by the Romans, Ottomans and British mark what was a crossing point for centuries. Carriages remain from the Haifa-Damascus train, which ran until 1948. Graffiti in a nearby station asks “When will the train get here?"
Nearby, Jordanian Issa Halabi and Israeli Nirit Bagron live just a mile apart, on opposite sides of the river. She grew up “in the bomb shelter”; his father died during fighting after the 1967 Six Day War. Now both fear for the river’s future.
In the village of Auja, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian farmers are facing water shortages. Khaled Mokarker had to abandon this year’s aubergine crop. He says his family receives water for drinking and washing only one day a week.
Homes in Israeli settlements have enough water, but farmers say their large date plantations don't. The World Bank says Israelis get four times more water than Palestinians, blaming Israeli curbs and Palestinian mismanagement. Israel disputes the figures.
The Jordan finally flows into the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. It still marks the West Bank-Jordan border, so the site is usually inaccessible. The river’s reduced flow means the Dead Sea itself is shrinking. Images: Alon Farago/Phil Pegum