Until now, Jesus’ baptism site was a closed military zone for 50 years
QASR AL-YAHUD, West Bank — This dusty bank of the Jordan River has long been a place of new beginnings. In the Old Testament, it is written that Joshua crossed over here, leading his band of weary Israelites into the promised land. Later, in the Gospels, John is said to have used the same waters to baptize Jesus.
Now, this lush oasis is to have its own rebirth as Israel, with the help of international agencies, works to clear the remnants of war from the western flank of this historic river.
For nearly 50 years, this swath of land in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, approximately 250 acres, has been uninhabitable. Declared a closed military zone by the Israeli army, it is scattered with an estimated 5,000 antitank and anti-personnel mines, as well as complicated booby traps once aimed at preventing hostile infiltrations from neighboring Jordan.
Monasteries and lands belonging to eight different Christian denominations – including some buildings that are centuries old – stand abandoned after their monks and priests fled fierce fighting and insurgencies that followed the 1967 Israeli-Arab war.
The bullet-marked walls of crumbling churches, a few personal and religious artifacts and barren courtyards are the only testaments to what was once a spiritual life.
When Pope John Paul II held a private worship at the site in 2000 – flying in by helicopter – pressure mounted for Israel to reopen the area. Seven years ago, a narrow path was forged through the minefield providing access to Christian pilgrims.
Now, more than 6,000 thousand people a year visit Qasr al-Yahud, which is managed by Israel Nature and Parks Authority and called Al-Maghtas in Arabic. Many who come undergo their own baptism and spiritual renewal, even as barbed wire and warning signs remind them of the dangers.
“This is a place of historical and religious significance,” Col. Udi Tzur, regional commander for the Israeli military, said this week. “And now we have a chance to reopen it all so that Israelis and tourists from around the world will be able to visit.”
Tzur said operational challenges, security concerns and the high cost of cleaning munitions from the area had prevented Israel from undertaking this project until earlier this year. It also required agreement from the churches, as well as notifying the Palestinian Authority and Jordanians, whose own baptism site, Bethany Beyond the Jordan, is visible on the Eastern bank of the river.
Mediation among the par- ties was undertaken by the Halo Trust, an independent, international demining nonprofit, that began clearing mines from other sites in the West Bank in 2014.
“We are a neutral organization whose aim is to clear land mines, we realized if we wanted to clear the baptism site then we needed everyone’s approval no matter the political situation,” said Ronen Shimoni, Halo’s program manager on the West Bank.
“We went to the churches, the army and the government of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordanians to build trust. It took some time, but eventually everyone came on board,” he said. “They all understood the need to clear this site of mines.”
Father Gabre, a representative of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, stood at the entrance of what was once an impressive two-story monastery with upstairs dormitories, a kitchen and large, airy chapel. Images of Jesus and a large cross still hang in the sanctuary, but half the outer walls are blown away and bullet holes mar the rest.