The Greenest Nation in the Middle East

Dr. John Ray posts at A Western Heart about environmentalism in the Middle East and which state is the "Greenest" bq. ISRAEL: THE GREENEST STATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST Or, more precisely, the ONLY Greenie country in the Middle East bq. Israelis have a tradition of nature conservation and rehabilitation going back over a hundred years. Rishon-Rishon has the details. You would think that the Green/Left would be great supporters of Israel in that case, wouldn't you. No such luck! It once again shows that the real Greenie agenda is anti-people rather than pro-nature. An excerpt from that article in Rishon-Rishon bq. Anyway, getting back to the Greens, their number one priority is saving the environment (hence the name)? Well, evidently there�s one thing that trumps the environment: killing Jews. Green movements around the world ignore Israel�s environmental achievements, in comparison with its neighbors, and champion Israel�s eco-unfriendly enemies. In fact, Israel is the only country in the region that even has a Green party! Though perhaps they�ve corrupted themselves with this practical campaign message in the Tel Aviv municipal elections: bq. The truth is that Israel has a very old environmental movement, one that precedes the founding of the state. A very important part of Zionist ideology was getting back to the land. The early Zionists practiced what the preached, leaving their city lives and desk jobs, and becoming farmers. Not only did they feel that they were rehabilitating themselves by getting back to the land, but they took on the project of rehabilitating the land itself. By the time the Zionists arrived, the land had been over-grazed, and eroded for thousands of years. The land, once covered by open forests, was now treeless, the trees all burned for firewood. (In fact, evolution was at work, the native oaks becoming scrub as the tall members of every generation were cut down.) bq. The early Zionists are justifiably famous for planting forests. It is less well known that they worked in other ways to preserve the environment. I can vouch for the fact that it has become taboo in Israel to pick wildflowers, once a common pastime. This is a result of a campaign by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (Hahevra l�haganat hateva`) � a rough equivalent to the Sierra Club in the US.