Since the beginning of the 19th century, the Middle East witnessed crucial geopolitical changes that transformed the region for a century to come. It slipped away from the fists of the Ottoman Empire, only to fall in the hands of British-French colonialism. Earning its independence years later, it was reconstructed, mapped, and divided into small statelets which currently form the new, contemporary, Middle East.
Infertile Crescent describes the reality of what was once called the cradle of civilization, once called “Fertile” , the crescent is burning in turmoil. Jordan seems to be the only country that remains relatively stable, receiving refugees instead. As the Syrian crisis enters its 7th year, Jordan reaches a staggering second place in water scarcity, which brings into light the controversial Red-Dead sea conveyance project between Jordan, Israel and Palestine.
A 180 km pipeline carrying water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is to operate in 2020: A project which is said to provide much needed water and save the shrinking Dead Sea. Ecological concerns of disruption in the Dead Sea’s natural eco-system echoes voices of a new era, where a vast regional economic project is openly implemented with Israel, creating a moderate Arab axis.
This project aims to explore the route of the salvation pipeline by tracing the places it will cross. Among ancient legends of the Dead Sea, where farmers dance around sink holes of thistle and oases of potash, along the valley of peace and a desert yearning the Sea. An old wives tale, on the construction of a pipeline, where a geologist and a village idiot agree: The next war is a water war.
