Blog

October 24, 2009

Rising Beyond Differences in the Middle East

Bill McKibben

Aerial view of people arranged to spell "SOS" on a sandy beach in three sequential images, showing a distress signal formation from different angles.
Aerial view of people arranged to spell "SOS" on a sandy beach in three sequential images, showing a distress signal formation from different angles.

This is a very special shot, for which we owe great thanks to our friends at Friends of the Earth Middle East. The 3? That’s on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea. The 5? Down the beach, in Palestine. The 0? It’s on the Israeli coast. The Dead Sea is dwindling, and we need to take action to keep this remarkable corner of the world livable. If there’s any image that illustrates the ability of people to come together across political boundaries, this should be it.