ISRAEL: "RESTORING GREENERY

By LIOR NOVIK, JANUARY 24, 2024 22:33

‘IT WILL be green again’: Planting in the Re’im picnic area in the KKL-JNF Be’eri Forest.

(photo credit: Yossi Ifergan/KKL- JNF Photo Archive)

Part of this year's Tu Bishvat celebrations, the MPA-JNF planting week was held in a special commemorative spirit against the backdrop of fierce fighting on the Israeli border.

Ifat Ovadia-Luski, chairman of the MPA-JNF, believes that the Tu Bishvat holiday can "convey many positive messages to the nation of Israel" given the extremely difficult conditions in the Land of Israel today.

He said, "Tu Bishvat is a KKL-JNF holiday."

It symbolizes renewal, planting, and hope for the future, as well as connecting us back to our roots. As a result, we are calling on the public this year, more than ever, to plant, restore greenery, and connect with Israel's land and Earth. Vadia-Luski argues that afforestation and replanting are essential "in the healing we will need, during and after the war," amid the carnage and destruction in southern Israel.

A STRONG people’: KKL-JNF chairwoman Ifat Ovadia-Luski (5th from L) at Path of the Heroines dedication in Ofakim Park. ((Credit: Alexander Kolomoisky/KKL-JNF Photo Archive)

There was an attempt to remove us from the communities along the Gaza border region and from our roots. But we're strong people, and we're not going away. The chairman of KKL-JNF said, "We will continue to grow despite these challenging times."

At the picnic area of Kibbutz Re'im at the beginning of the week, just before Tu Bishvat, families who lost loved ones at the Supernova music festival performed a tree-planting ceremony.

According to Ovadia-Luski, the event is very emotional because it serves as a warning as well as a symbol of growth and renewal. He said, "The whole dirty area will be green with blooming trees."

CHILDREN PLANT trees in the forest. (Credit: Avi Balaban/KKL-JNF Photo Archive)

Among other projects initiated by Keren Kayemet LeYisrael, Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), Ofakim Park offers a Walk of Heroines to commemorate the heroines who fell in the iron sword. This is our way of showing our respect to this brave woman. He explained, "Those who go this route can hear the heroic story of these brave women in the war by scanning a special code with their mobile phone."

This year, in addition to the annual public Tu Bishvat planting activities, the MPA-JNF held various activities to support civilians evacuated from their homes, as well as those injured and currently hospitalized. They also hold a special Seder Tu Bishvat.

Ovadia-Luski said, "I am very proud that the existence of our organization is very important for the state and people of Israel, and this allows us to contribute in all aspects."

In order to do everything that the MPA-JNF can do, we will also be required to rehabilitate damaged areas and prepare agricultural areas afterwards.

He explained that the MPA-JNF was involved early on in the war, supporting emergency squads and assisting in the evacuation of citizens, and they set up a special operations room on the first day of the war.

Ovadia-Luski recalled, "It was the operating room of the organization that also helped our employees evacuate the danger zone."

Many members of the MPA-JNF staff sacrificed their lives to help evacuate the wounded.

Some were included in community evacuations and took people fleeing the massacre in Re'im to their homes.

KKL-JNF provides unconditional support to its employees and ensures they have all the necessary resources, including psychological assistance, through the union and the human resources department.

Vadia-Luski began preparing the MPA-JNF for the day after the war: "We have to allocate a lot of resources to forest restoration."

He stated that the destruction of forests has become a" recurring event," unfortunately.

After the Second Lebanon War, we were required to rehabilitate the forests in the north. Today, many areas are damaged, and this is the role of the MPA-JNF as the chief forester of the state of Israel. We will rehabilitate the forest, and we will invite people to be part of this.

Danny Ben-David, director of the western Negev region of the MPA-JNF, is a Southerner who fights for every tree. He rode his bike in the Lahav Forest, far from the border fence, on that Black Shabbat. Tragically, that day, many of his friends were killed, and several others were injured or kidnapped.

He recalled, "When I saw the rocket fire from Gaza, I asked all the workers not to leave their homes." Ben-David's son joined the IDF, guarding the border with his father.

Ben-David said, "In the western Negev, we have suffered from incendiary mortars and balloons for years. But we always have hope because if you have no hope, you not only lose the forest but lose the whole country." He declared with great hope,"We will fight for every tree, even if tomorrow it burns."

Because we hope and believe that we will have peace for many years after this war, we will rehabilitate the forests and renew the landscape of the western Negev.

Although Tu Bishvat is the growing season and the general public, especially children, usually participate in forest renewal and special ceremonies, this year there are restrictions on planting in some regions of the south and north of the country. Only KKL-JNF employees carry out the planting. Nursing homes, moshavim, and educational institutions hold virtual planting ceremonies and activities.

He said, "We know how to reach the public, even if we can't be in the field because of restrictions." "We have all been children, and we understand what it means," says Ben-David, who considers planting trees in the Land of Israel a great mitzvah. Therefore, the MPA-JNF spends a lot of money on education and information.

Galit Vaknin, director of the general reception department of the southern region of the MPA-JNF, is used to unsettling times in his area, but he never imagined the current state of affairs. "Man is a tree in a field. Before the holiday, Vaknin stated, "For more than 100 years, Tu Bishvat was the most prominent symbol of the MPA-JNF, and this year we will not give up."

Man is comparable to a tree in a field, and for us, planting is a symbol of a new life and a new beginning. We make every effort to make planting possible. All activities have been adjusted according to the instructions of the police and the command of the Home Front.

Vaknin recounts some of the JNF's activities related to public relations, education, and absorption, such as Ta V'sa (Plant and Go), which allowed people to take their families by car to plant trees in forests and in moshavim and kibbutzim in the south and go to Tu Bishvat Seders.

He said, "When a person plants a tree, especially with his family, he feels part of the land and the country." KKL-JNF is also trying to get into the community as much as possible.

We do Tu Bishvat Seders, who have a lot of experience and help us reach people who have difficulty getting into nature. The forest is put in the house. Growing seedlings in a nursery is one of the tasks for which we are adapted. In the country, there are three nurseries: southern, central, and northern.

In addition, we manage the happiness truck, which has the KKL-JNF logo and is full of surprises and small seeds. He stated that this truck meets with soldiers in the North and South as well as in hospitals wherever they need us. According to Vaknin, this indicates the desire of the MPA-JNF to "develop and rehabilitate, to show that this is our country and that we are here to stay."

As director of the JNF's Upper Galilee and Golan Heights regions, Eli Hafuta spoke about security issues in the region.

"We will plant in some areas of the North, but this year we will not hold mass events."

Hafuta stated that the MPA-JNF continued to carry out its routine tasks in the Golan Heights and set up public lodging projects in Safed and Mount Meron. However, he stated that he did not rule out that in the coming months, areas near the fence will remain prohibited.

Hafuta stated, "Fortunately for us, it's winter. If it's July or August, every mortar or drone that lands will cause a forest fire." At the moment, the ground is very wet and everything is green, so the missiles do not damage the forest. We will be patient.

"After the war, we will renew all the damaged areas, and the forest will flourish once again," he said briefly.

A translation by Alan Rosenbaum.

KKL-JNF assisted in the writing of this article.

News Sources: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-783603