The nature of Israel

by Sharon Skolnick

When a Jewish person chooses to move to Israel, that returning is called "to make aliyah," "to ascend." Coming into Jerusalem by bus is a literal ascent: The Holy City is perched on a hill, its surrounding cliffs covered in apartment buildings. One long-time resident sadly points out that the air is often thick with smog; through an inversion, industrial pollution from the coastal Tel Aviv area finds its way up to Jerusalem, where it hovers in an unholy way. As Israel staggers under the weight of litter, polluted waterways and smog, could the new Labor government of Ehud Barak foster a dawning awareness of the delicate state of the physical eretz Yisroel: the environment?

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) has been calling attention to environmental problems in Israel since 1953. The goal of SPNI's Jerusalem branch is to heighten awareness of Jerusalem's unique environmental issues, weaving networks and coalitions to protect and restore the clear mountain air, the historic treasures, the green parks, the physical nature of an extraordinarily metaphysical place.

Toward a Sustainable Jerusalem
A coalition of 25 environmental groups in different parts of the city, "Sustainable Jerusalem" was started by SPNI and the Forum of the Future of Jerusalem (FFJ). Sustainable Jerusalem stages public events featuring pro-environment ideas and supports smaller group efforts in opposing undesirable planning projects such as a 29 story building in the Street of the Prophets or a 40,000-person amphitheater in a residential neighborhood. Incorporating the input of residents, the group has formulated a planning vision, the "Charter for a Sustainable Jerusalem."

Projects of the Society for the Preservation of Nature in Israel include: The Jerusalem forest. As Jerusalem expands, the outer edge becomes vulnerable to development. The "green crown" of trees planted around Jerusalem just after statehood in 1948 has already had 600,000 trees - 75 percent of the total - cut to make way for urban development.

To prevent this precious municipal forest from further encroachment and to ensure that the remaining trees will endure, Guardians of the Forest has joined the SPNI in lobbying the Knesset for statutory protection. They march as a delegation at local public events, encouraging Jerusalemites to go out into their forest and enjoy what is left.

Ein Kerem village. A village-within-a-city, Ein Kerem is protected by surrounding hills from the discord of Jerusalem's busy urban life. The village, said to be the birthplace of John the Baptist, holds a monastery and the legendary Miriam's Well. But the well's waters are polluted with storm drainage, and busloads of tourists leave litter.

Residents, visitors and pilgrims who travel Ein Kerem's winding, lushly-foliaged alleyways and glance up at the green hillsides with their slender cypress trees may lose the sense of scale, ancient history and magic serenity altogether to development if plans for highrise apartment buildings that would cover the slopes are implemented.

The SPNI advocates an alternative: Save the verdant hills and open views that contribute to the magnificence of the site; increase the density of existing residential areas so young families seeking housing can join the cultural mix in the city proper, and foster Ein Kerem as "a center for pastoral eco-tourism."

Public transport. While mass transit projects have been put on the back burner in Israel, millions of shekels were poured into completing a freeway called Menachim Begin Boulevard. Meanwhile, the ubiquitous autobusim remain noisy and polluting, and the 65% of Jerusalemites who rely on public transportation must breathe noxious bus fumes. The SPNI encourages planning for greater use of (cleaner) buses, rail and bicycles. Solid waste and sewage. That the streets of Jerusalem are badly littered upsets many residents, according to a recent survey cited by SPNI. Also a problem are garbage dumps at Abu Dis and other areas that create an ecological hazard, including illegal dumpsites. If waste from these dumping grounds filters down into the aquifers, the purity of Jerusalem's subterranean water reserves is at risk. More enlightened planning could not only solve the disposal problem, says the Society, but would cause a blossoming of local industry to recycle paper and plastics, aluminum and glass.

Driving themselves into the sea
Environmental activist Michael Schwartz, an American-Israeli and Jerusalem resident, says, "It's hard to get anything done in Israel!" He is concerned that the profit-driven mentality of local developers lacks environmental awareness - and their being in league with the government doesn't help matters. The few members of the Knesset with an ecological bent have so far wielded little power. Such proposals as "a trans-Israel highway" (further chopping up Palestine-designated areas and keeping extended families apart by constructing a dangerous highway-river of cars) are political hot potatoes, and they could be devastating to the fragile ecosystem as well.

Another idea on the drawing board in Israel, a country with an ever-expanding population, is the construction of permanent islands off the coast of the Plain of Sharon north of Tel Aviv. Apartment buildings and stores would then be built on these piling-perched platforms. Israeli environmentalists protest that the impact of these proposed "islands" on undersea plant and animal life would be irreparably harmful.

Sharon Skolnick is Art Director of the Earth Island Journal.

What you can do:
For further information or to offer support or donations, contact: Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, Jerusalem Branch, 13 Hamalka St., Jerusalem 95101, Israel. Tel: 972-2-625-7682; fax: 972-2-623-4155.