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| view of the Dead Sea and Jordan beyond |
The Dead Sea was not misnamed.
Not only is the water devoid of life, its banks are as well, and any
human floating in those salty arms does not last long. If one has recently shaved, has a small cut,
sensitive genitals, or is unfortunate enough to get splashed in the eye (as I
was), that person will quickly find themselves rushing through the muddy
quicksand toward fresh water to rinse off the sting of death.
The sea entices
any weary desert traveler with a turquoise façade that proffers little
refreshment (the water is terribly warm) and lacks even life enough to lap and
plead with the shore for a romance. Yet the Dead Sea is a successful siren.
People come from the world over to sit in her miraculous bath, to smear her mud
on their bodies, to marvel at the thought of how many humans have passed there
before, the fact that it is the lowest dry land point on earth (at almost 1,400
feet below sea level) and how utterly unique it feels to be bounced
along by fingers so insisting they refuse to let your buttocks sink low enough
to do the breast stroke.
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| eggplant festival in Battir |
But let me back up a little bit. On our way into the private
beach, which was adorned with real live grass, Israeli flags, camels, yes,
camels, palm frond umbrellas, bars and dub-step (which, for you
older folks, is a type of music that sound like someone took a normal song, put
it in a taffy kneader and
upped the base) the guys guarding the gate (Palestinian) almost didn't allow
the Palestinian man who was with us to enter. So here's the deal:
tourists have to pay to access Dead Sea beaches and the only Palestinians
allowed on the private beaches are tour guides.
They
eventually, begrudgingly, allowed the man in, afraid they would get in
trouble for it. Although approx. 2/3 of the western shore of the Dead Sea are
within the West Bank (and the other 1/3 is in Israel and the Eastern shore is
Jordan), the land along the sea became classified as Area "C" (under
full Israeli military and administrative control) during the Oslo Accords. This
allotment "dispossessed Palestinians of extensive portions of the
Dead Sea land, effectively depriving them of the possibility of benefiting from
[its] natural resources," according to a report by Palestinian
rights organization al-Haq. I know there are Palestinian
beaches, but I don’t really know more about the break down of the situation.
(Some 72% of
the West Bank, is officially Area C, and another 25% is Area B which is under
Palestinian Authority but Israeli military, leaving a mere 3% for Area A, under
full Palestinian control, according to a very recent
article in the Hurriyet daily. Bethlehem is Area A.)
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| fresh pomegranate juice is in season |
Let me back up a little further. We had to go to Jericho to
get tickets to enter the beach. Jericho
is both the “oldest city on earth” (evidence from settlements dating back
11,000 years have been found there, and whether or not it is the oldest, it is certainly one of
them). Specifically, we went to a place where the signs were in English and
there were a gazillion tour busses and a large store full of the same sorts of
souvenir items that are sold in Bethlehem and the Old City of al-Quds
(Jerusalem). And then a huge department of creams, soaps, moisturizers,
salts and other body products that use Dead Sea minerals with the company name
AHAVA ('love' in Hebrew) splattered everywhere.
To quote an article by Alternet from a year
ago:
"The multinational corporation Ahava Dead Sea
Laboratories... is notorious for illegally exploiting Palestinian land and
natural resources to make its [cosmetic] products. With names like Natural Dead
Sea Body Mud, these products are packaged as being "Made in Israel"
and shipped to be sold in cosmetics stores all over the world. But these
products are not made in Israel. They are made in the occupied West Bank in
Palestine... Though Ahava products are made with Palestinian resources on Palestinian
land, neither the Palestinian economy nor the Palestinians profit from any of
these sales.... Exploiting the natural resources of an occupied territory is
expressly prohibited under international law."
(Since the West Bank was captured by Israeli forces in the
1967 war, it is subject to the Geneva Convention, which prohibits the above
stated exploitation of natural resources. That is also why settlements are illegal.)
Boycotts of Ahava have been waged,
and there has been a significant amount of international awareness risen about
the situation, which I knew about in the lower right left part of my brain, but
it's really something else to be in that store where everything is in $
and € and outrageously expensive, and the bottles have
these chic pictures of desert mountains and the sea, spouting things like “100%
natural.” (Read more and more.)
So anyhow, we floated among the throngs of people from
various regions and languages, mesmerized by the feeling of being buoyed along
with no effort. Then we slathered mud over our entire bodies,
scrubbing with some sand, feeling like kids left alone with too much paint. And
then we washed it off and did it all over again.
Something about the Jordan Valley has worked its way into
me. It is always significantly hotter than everywhere else, but the stark
beauty of that open basin cradled by mountains makes me want to keep returning.
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| foreground: D'hesha refugee camp, background: illegal settlement |
Stay tuned for the upcoming posts: "the words we
choose: language, politics & perspective," and "things that are
thrown & other musings: stones & teargas in Aida."
