Posted on 06/30/2009 2:28:55 AM PDT by forkinsocket
The Dead Sea will be eliminated next week from a contest to choose the seven natural wonders of the world, because of a Palestinian boycott over the participation of an Israeli settler council.
The New 7 Wonders of Nature is a global Internet contest under the slogan: "If we want to save anything, we first need to truly appreciate it." In 2007 it chose the new seven man-made wonders of the world.
Its rules state that if a nominee site is located in more than one country, all countries in which it is located must form an Official Supporting Committee (OSC) by July 7.
Israel and Jordan have both done so for the Dead Sea, which they share, but the Palestinian Authority has decided against.
For the Dead Sea, a win would highlight the environmental threat to a unique lake which has shrunk dramatically in the past 30 years due to human exploitation of the Jordan River feed waters and Dead Sea mineral extraction.
"We will not be forming a committee," Palestinian Tourism Minister Khouloud Douaibes told Reuters, because the Israeli committee "has been consulting with settler councilmen on occupied land and this contravenes international law".
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
One of the last things palestinians need is a tourism industry. They're doing fine on aid, thank you.
Not to mention graft and extortion.
Give us the Dead Sea Scrolls! We will march into the museum, rip them into confetti and throw them around in celebration of our victory over the Jews! Then we’ll fire shots into the air, killing the night watchmen in the floor above.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.