I’m reading about how Israel, in the immediate aftermath of the 1948 Nakba, deliberately replaced…

I’m reading about how Israel, in the immediate aftermath of the 1948 Nakba, deliberately replaced…

bencan-t:

heritageposts:

I’m reading about how Israel, in the immediate aftermath of the 1948 Nakba, deliberately replaced olive trees and other indigenous flora with European plants. This ecological disaster, which is now proudly hailed under the banner of ‘making the desert bloom,’ was done to 'de-Arabize’ the landscape, and to cover up - often with fast-growing European pine trees -the ruins of Palestinian villages that were destroyed by Zionists forces.

And I just need everyone to read this passage from Pappé, because the symbolism of what happened to those European pine trees in the desert speaks for itself:

The three aims of keeping the country Jewish, European-looking and Green quickly fused into one. This is why forests throughout Israel today include only eleven per cent of indigenous species and why a mere ten per cent of all forests date from before 1948.1 At times, the original flora manages to return in surprising ways. Pine trees were planted not only over bulldozed houses, but also over fields and olive groves. In the new development town of Migdal Ha-Emek, for example, the JNF did its utmost to try and cover the ruins of the Palestinian village of Mujaydil, at the town's eastern entrance, with rows of pine trees, not a proper forest in this case but just a small wood. Such 'green lungs' can be found in many of Israel's development towns that cover destroyed Palestinian villages (Tirat Hacarmel over Tirat Haifa, Qiryat Shemona over Khalsa, Ashkelon over Majdal, etc.). But this particular species failed to adapt to the local soil and, despite repeated treatment, disease kept afflicting the trees. Later visits by relatives of some of Mujaydial's original villagers, revealed that some of the pine trees had literally split in two and how, in the middle of their broken trunks, olive trees had popped up in defiance of the alien flora planted over them fifty-six years ago.ALT

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, by Ilan Pappé (2006, p. 227-228.)

Many of these European trees are planted by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Unfortunately, many Jewish people (myself included) have trees planted by the JNF in our “honor,” on the occasions of our births or b'nai mitzvot. You can donate to Stop The JNF as well as donate to their efforts to plant native trees in Palestine. The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) also has a campaign for planting olive trees and grape vines in Palestine.

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