"No, it's not the Florida Everglades; it's a private initiative launched by a group of Israeli environmental activists who came up with an idea to construct artificial swamps near Palestinian villages that are specially designed for sewage treatment.

Construction of the first project started last week in the Palestinian village of Um a-Rihan, not far from Umm el-Fahm. The project is being funded by the Japanese government and overseen by Israeli engineer Arnon Goren and former Tel Aviv city council member Hadas Shachnai.