Land Reclamation in the Middle East

by Harry Valentine

Holland and Japan are noted for reclaiming land from the ocean, using landfill as a means to increase useful land area. In Japan, the new international airport in Tokyo Bay is an example of the use to which land reclamation can be put. Entire business districts in the Tokyo district are built on land reclaimed from the sea, as are several high-density residential districts. During the apartheid years in South Africa, land was reclaimed from the sea in the Table Bay area of Cape Town and the Foreshore business district is now located there.

Land reclaimed from the sea may be a means to reduce tensions in the Middle East. Israel needs land for new business districts and high density residential areas, as does its neighbor, Palestine. Both need land to produce food. Technological advances in water desalination, underground watering of agricultural crops, hydroponic hothouse food production could go far in ensuring a secure future food supply for both Israel and Palestine. Israel could desalinate water from the Mediterranean, using modern porous membrane technology, while Palestine and Jordan could do likewise by pumping salt water from the Red Sea.

Israel needs land and one option would be to reclaim land from the Mediterranean, just west of Israel's coastline. In an environment of private foreign aid, the evangelical Christian movement in America can join with America's Jewish population in raising funds and providing assistance to enable Israel to reclaim land from the Mediterranean. Ships loaded with boulders could travel from far and wide and deposit the boulders at designated locations off Israel's coastline. A bridge could connect the Israeli mainland to a large offshore Israeli island, reclaimed from the sea. A ferry could compliment the bridge.

Reclaiming land from the sea would enable Israel's population to increase, while preserving the religious sites which are regarded as sacred to followers of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim persuasions. Technological precedents pioneered in Japan could be applied to an Israeli land reclamation undertaking, so as to enable high density apartment housing complexes and business districts to be built on the reclaimed lands. By seeking to create space on the west side, tensions between Israel and Palestine could ease, as there would be less need for Israel to build settlements on disputed lands. International support would more than likely be forthcoming, as a  land reclamation initiative could be seen as a constructive step in developing long-term peace between Israel and its neighbors.

The American Evangelical Christian movement has good reason to support land reclamation off Israel's Mediterranean coast. Members of the movement have a fervor to want to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They also have an interest in preserving the authenticity and sanctity of the religious sites in the Holy Land. They're also aware that the citizens in Israel need a place to live and that building housing settlements on the eastern regions results in disputes with Israel's neighbors. The Evangelical Christian movement stands for peace and brotherhood and will therefore have a vested interest in peaceful relations along Israel's eastern borders. They're also aware that reclaimed land could provide more housing and more hotel accommodations, enabling more of their flock to be accommodated close to Israel's holy sites at the time when the Messiah arrives. This is an even more important reason for the Evangelical Christian movement to support an Israeli land reclamation project, than merely to promote peace between Israel and its neighbors. They may even choose to use the name, Project Messiah , for their fund raising initiative for the undertaking. Various other Christian denominations may join with and support the Evangelical Christians in encouraging a land reclamation project to go ahead off Israel's coast. They would inevitably be joined in their support of such an undertaking by members of the Jewish persuasion, who also want to visit the Holy Land, though for different reasons. There is some theological disagreement between the two persuasions on the identity of the Messiah.

Whereas Japan, Holland and Cape Town had to use their domestic resources to finance their land reclamation initiatives, a land reclamation undertaking off Israel's West Coast could attract international support and international backing. The reclaimed land would not be disputed land. It could attract business, especially multi-national corporations which may want to locate offices there. People working for these corporations would have the choice of living in housing accommodations on the reclaimed land or on the mainland, the latter having to commute over an interconnecting bridge or ferry. New Israeli territories built on land reclaimed from the sea could be major step toward promoting peace as well as greater religious devotion. More pilgrims could then come to visit the Holy Land and they would find added hotel accommodation in facilities built on the reclaimed land. Israeli transport companies may have to consider operating double-decker buses in the future, so as to transport more pilgrims to the religious sites, while reducing the traffic congestion such an influx of visitors would cause.

September 29, 2001