Israel Wildfires: the environmental cost of colonial greed, occupation and genocide
This week, Israel has been battling significant wildfires near Jerusalem, burning through European-native pine forests planted in swathes by the racist Jewish National Fund (JNF) to bury the memory of hundreds of Palestinian villages. The fire, which began on Wednesday, April 30, rapidly spread due to dry conditions and strong winds, prompting the evacuation of several communities and the closure of the main highways that connect Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Since 1948, the JNF, while enjoying of charity status in over fifty countries, has been responsible for planting over 250 million non-indigenous trees on Palestinian land, as part of a wider plan to ethnically cleanse and displace the Palestinians. At least 530 villages in what is now Israel were destroyed between 1947 and 1948 by Zionist militias. Where they once stood, national parks and forests were created with the added benefit of making Jewish settlers from Europe feel more at home, surrounded by European-native flora.
Aleppo Pine, Pinus Halepensis, usually found growing on sparse hilltops, has been densely planted to mimic European forests by the JNF. These trees are highly flammable due to their resinous needles and cones, which open in response to heat, dispersing seeds that can quickly regenerate. These are the very trees that are now fuelling wildfires to the West of Jerusalem — ironically put there by Israel itself.
The greenwashing and colonialism of Palestine are of enormous environmental concern. Since 1967, it has been reported that approximately 800,000 olive trees have been burned and uprooted by the Israeli Occupation Forces or settlers, destroying the Palestinian agricultural lands, entire communities, the primary source of income and their way of life. With the ever-growing settler violence in the West Bank over the past 17 months, Palestinian communities continue to be displaced.
Since October 7, over 50 rural Palestinian communities have been forced to abandon their homes amid intensifying attacks, threats, and harassment by Israeli settlers — almost always with the backing of the army and police.
In response to the recent wildfires, Israel declared a state of national emergency and received international assistance. Assistance, they appeal to burning forests while they starve and burn Palestinian children and deny them any assistance.
Jerusalem Post: “Ecologists advise against replanting pine trees in areas affected by the fire, as they are considered invasive and exacerbate fire risks. Instead, experts recommend allowing natural regeneration and focusing on removing invasive species to promote a more diverse and resilient ecosystem.”
The full recovery of the affected forests is expected to take several decades. While efforts focus on restoring native biodiversity to prevent future wildfires, Israel continues its unhinged campaign of destruction in Gaza and the displacement of farmer communities on the West Bank. We are still to fully comprehend the environmental impact of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Israel is responsible for the ongoing destruction of Palestinian indigenous natural landscape and is now responsible for the destruction of the very ‘national’ parks they have been hell-bent on planting to cover up the bloody massacres of Palestinian lives.
We cannot wait for our governments and institutions to wake up to the brutality of the Israeli regime and its genocidal path – it is for us to act. The first thing you can do is to become a member of SPSC and get involved in the Stop the JNF campaign.
SPSC Stop the JNF Officer
2 May 2025
#Freepalestine
Great article. Another sign of the contradictions which the Zionist state is built on and which hopefully will help lead to its downfall
I feel grateful after hearing to this kind of news. The people of Palestine felt relieved because the wildfires did not spread to their homelands.