Another Winning Moment For The JNF

The JNF has a history of doing stupid things. Granted they know how to plant trees. But they understand nothing about ecology. Here's an example: the JNF has the astounding chutzpah of taking credit for both the dredging (ruining) of the Hula Valley, as well as their subsequent pathetic attempts at partial rehabilitation (when the foolishness of their decision became apparent years later.) They have no interest in preserving Israel's ecosystems. They'd rather plant 100 pistachio forests and name it after Sol Greenberg.

Their position vis-a-vis the the Negev is right out of Ben-Gurion's play book. "Kill the desert before it kills us." Of course they can't say it outright or they'll alienate the tree-worshipers of Sde Boker who like to believe that Ben-Gurion was the John Muir of the Negev. These days, the primary JNF project is the deliberate destruction of Israel's last frontier. All in the name of environmentalism. You can say goodbye to the remaining leopards. The wolves and hyenas will be the next indigenous species of fauna that will disappear.

So they are incompetent at doing what they should be doing. Protecting and enhancing Israel's ecology. Unfortunately, environmental incompetence and irresponsibility are the least of their faults. The JNF is a left wing organization. Read their statement on "working with the Bedouin community." The typical liberal obsession with taming the natives. Another winning moment for the JNF. Several years ago the JNF wanted to plant a papal forest in honor of the previous pope's visit. For all I know somewhere out there in the Galilee is the Pope John Paul II Pistachio Wilderness.

That was just the appetizer. Now we hear that the JNF wants to plant 3000 trees for the butchers of the PLO, or the "PA" as the left likes to call that organization of Jew-killing barbarians. This is an all-time low from a supposedly non-political organization. This is where your coins are going. Thirty years ago even the most die-hard leftist would've called you crazy if you painted this picture.

First the leftists give the PLO legitimacy by accepting the lie of a "palestinian (myths don't get capitalized ) people". Then the judenrats in government gave them autonomy followed by the autonomy of having guns to shoot at Jewish heads. And now the JNF is giving them forests and gardens. Green infrastructure, if you will, to change the facts on the ground.

Jews are nursed on nonsense and nostalgic myths. For the older generations, the JNF conjures up images of the fledgling state and the excitement of their youthful activism. Some Jews may find this latest JNF project (if indeed it goes through) a bit perplexing. Many leftists will applaud this insanity. This is merely an extension of a secular and vapid Zionism. When the benighted leftist no longer believe in his own claim to the land, he plants forests for the enemy.

The Yasser Arafat Forest. How's that for nauseating irony? Do you still feel like putting a shekel in the little blue pushka?

Off The Beaten Path: Israel's Wild Places

A stroll at this late hour reminded me why I love the desert. The mystery and serenity of the desert night is like nothing else in nature. I spotted my first striped hyena tonight. I don't even know if it saw me. It was just wandering about on the periphery of town for awhile, until it finally headed out into the desert night and was gone. An incredible sighting. I still have it's distinctive black and white pattern in my mind's eye. That classical hump standing out against the desert night. Somewhere out there, the wild things with fur and teeth still roam about.

Fortunately, Israel still has some wild places left that haven't been raped beyond recognition by the land plowers. Places where Bedouins haven't set up their filthy illegal shanty towns. Thank G-d. We need such places to reflect and think, to get lost, and to try to find ourselves. To test ourselves against the elements and become men, or else die trying. Places where the risk of falling off a cliff (due to wind or personal carelessness) collapsing from dehydration, or stepping on a viper, is very real. Hidden haunts where we can go to sleep under the stars and reflect on the natural beauty of the Holy Land.

Edward Abbey, the great American writer and "voice of the American wilderness" had a love affair with the deserts of the American West. Abbey noted that the desert's hidden charms are lost on most people, who are turned off by the nasty things one finds there. Crawling, creeping, and slithering things like snakes, spiders, and scorpions. (Sometimes bigger isn't better. In the case of scorpions though, the old cliche is true.) That's why deserts are easier to protect. Most people don't want to live there. And if they come to visit it's usually from the air-conditioned confines of an SUV or charter bus, that graciously leaves as fast as it arrived. I recommend his classic work, Desert Solitaire, which is a masterpiece of nature writing.

I believe it was Abbey who defined wilderness as 'any ecosystem that has at least one animal species that can eat you'. I agree. Hiking and camping isn't the same without the concern, (unlikely as it may be) that something with teeth and powerful jaws might clamp down on your neck or skull while you slumber. Here's to the striped hyena and the few remaining leopards that still haunt this country's wild deserts. Live long and prosper. And if you should stumble upon some Bedouin encampment, feel free to treat yourself to a little snack.

A Wild Jew's Search For The Wild (Audio)

A brief explanation on why I chose to live in the Negev.