Peace Island

Peace Island is an Israeli Jordanian park at the confluence of the Jordan River and Yarmouk River, on the border between Israel and Jordan.

In the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace the two countries agreed to use this area as a tourist promotion for peace, while Israeli farmers continue to grow the fruit on the trees while paying Jordan for the land.

A special tourist gate was established, and Israelis wishing to visit the island were permitted to enter Jordan for a short time, usually no more than an hour. Pinhas Rutenberg's Naharayim hydroelectric power station can be seen from here.

Peace Island massacre

On March 13, 1997, the Feurst school from Beit Shemesh was on a class trip to the Jordan Valley, and visited the "Island of Peace", an area established a year earlier, in the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace as a joint Israeli and Jordanian tourist attraction, under Jordanian rule. A Jordanian soldier opened fire at the schoolchildren, killing seven 11-year-old girls and badly wounding others. King Hussein of Jordan came to Beit Shemesh to extend his condolences and ask forgiveness in the name of his country, a step which was seen as both touching and courageous. [ [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9703/16/israel.hussein/index.html "With condolence visit to Israel, King Hussein spurs talks"] , "CNN", March 16, 1997. Accessed July 22, 2007. "King Hussein of Jordan knelt in mourning Sunday with the families of seven Israeli schoolgirls gunned down last week by a Jordanian soldier, saying they were all 'members of one family.'"] This unusual act was perceived by most of the Israeli public as a grand gesture, and enlivened hope that true peace may someday be achieved in the region.

References

External links

* [http://www.cuponofesh.co.il/zimcity.php?zid=82 Area in images (explanations in Hebrew)]
* [http://www.irgun.org.il/index.asp?PageCode=146 Images of the schoolgirls killed in the massacre (explanation in Hebrew)]