Israel, Palestinian Reforestration, and You

The Jewish National Fund is always going to be controversial. Their stated goal is to acquire and hold land for Jewish development in Palestine. Their first land purchase in Ottoman Palestine in 1903 predates by more than four decades the successful establishment of Jewish Israel after the Second World War. The JNF has been instrumental in the continuing political and economic operation of the Jewish state.

Free shipping, and $5 to the JNF. Mr. Linden is their American Spokesman.

Politics and history notwithstanding, I’m quite interested in the JNF’s active tree-planting operations. Many of the reforestation projects have come under some fire due to the incorporation of some non-native species. Additional claims of logistical military strategic plantings of these areas have been levied. Taking the politics completely out of this analysis is next to impossible, but I don’t much care WHY the JNF is planting trees where they are. I want to look at the ecological and economic effects of the program over time.

Bedouin overgrazing has been an issue in these arid lands for some time. Additional population additions to the area over time have compounded the strain on the resources of an already stressed area. Many of the JNF’s tree-planting programs have turned around once barren wastelands into sustainable forest locations. Cypress is heavily planted in Israel by the JNF.

The reforestation of pines carries an economic benefit for the JNF and the people of Israel over time. Turning non-productive lands into productive ones is always a sound economic model. Say what you want about the politic or intention of the issue at hand, the landowner is the landowner. I’ve seen many landowners do much worse with productive lands…

It has been estimated that the JNF, all holdings calculated, owns up to 13% of land in Palestine. So the West Bank issues still on the table for discussion are nothing new here. Sometimes forgotten or unknown are the years of capitalization and holdings growth that took place in the decades leading up to WWII. Much of the paperwork was already in place for that transaction.

Hal gets down and dirty with reforestation.

The JNF has been active in reservoir building, parkland establishment, and something in the neighborhood of 240 million trees have been planted, and over a quarter-million acres of land have been developed. They build roads. They build infrastructure. This is an essential piece to understand the current- and long-standing conflicts over the interests at work in any peace negotiations to even be conceivable. The overthrow of Israeli law could lead to massive disputes over property rights. And a hell of a lot more fighting.

Recent political turmoil for the JNF focused on the leasing operations to non-Jewish leaseholders, such as the Bedouins mentioned above. In Israel, like in the US, internal domestic debates over policy and practice eat up a lot of legislative time. Thus much continued discussion for another time.