Sunday, May 26: The 2019 KKL Italy Mission to Israel spent a week touring the Negev, Arava, Dead-Sea and Eilat regions. We joined the participants on the last day of their trip as they planted trees in Tzora-President’s Forest.Members of the 2019 KKL Italy Mission to Israel spent a week exploring the desert areas of Israel and discovered that not all is dry. The mission is an annual event that brings KKL Italy supporters to Israel to see the impact of their activism on the ground.
During their weeklong trip, the
KKL Italy mission embarked on an extensive tour of
Arava,
Negev, and Dead Sea regions, led by their knowledgeable KKL-JNF tour guide
Na’ama Campagnano. Among the places they visited were the city of Eilat, Kibbutz Ketura, Kibbutz Lotan, Kibbutz Yotvata, the Timna Valley, and the town of Mitzpe Ramon that overlooks the expansive Ramon Crater.
The group spent the last leg of its visit in the Jerusalem region. Their final stop with Campagnano was at Mitzpe Harel on the Burma Road, where she explained how during Israel’s War of Independence, a route was forged through the hills for convoys of supplies to reach the Jews of besieged Jerusalem.
“The curious name comes from the 700-kilometer road built by the British army between Burma and China in 1945 to evade the Japanese army,” Campagnano explained.
Hours before boarding their flight back to Rome, the 32 delegation members took part in a traditional KKL-JNF
tree planting ceremony in
Tzora-Presidents Forest.
“Planting the tree today was by far the highlight of this totally climax-filled trip to Israel”, said
Maritzio Cecchini, a cardiologist from Pisa.
“This was my first trip to Israel and it has been amazing. I always loved Israel and now this visit confirmed to me that everything I felt about the Jewish nation is true. It is easy to be great when everything is going well, but Israel leads the way under conditions that are unimaginable to other developed nations. The successes that are evident everywhere are incredible, as are the myriads of difficulties that the nation faces.”
Ceccini’s wife Francesca Bosetti, a radiologist, chimed in, “Viva Israel! We will spread the seeds of Israel in Italy and bring even more Italians to this country.”
The group’s final day in the country began at the KKL-JNF nursery in Eshtaol, where Ahuva Daniel, the nursery’s deputy director, gave a detailed explanation on the tree growing process from seed to sapling, developed by KKL-JNF.
“Unlike Italy, the conditions for growing a forest in Israel are harsh,” Daniel explained. “We have less water, too much sun, and earth that is less hospitable to young saplings. However, as you can see by the thick forest growth all around, we have developed methods which help us overcome the difficulties.” Daniel led the group through the nursery, stopping at the various stations where she explained the different stages of the growing process. Once the saplings are grown, she explained, they are used for KKL-JNF forest development and renewal, and are given free of charge to various institutions, schools, and public parks.
Some of the ecologically well-informed participants expressed concern when seeing pine saplings growing amongst the other plants. The pine, which KKL-JNF had planted in large numbers before biodiversity became common knowledge, is highly susceptible to fire and disease. Daniel explained that while the organization has drastically reduced the number of pines in its forests, a small percentage are still cultivated alongside broad-leafed trees because they grow quickly and provide good shade.
“The density of pine growth and the positioning of the trees is carefully monitored,” she added.
The group then headed to the nearby Tzora Forest to take part in a tree planting ceremony. KKL-JNF Forester Eran Zawadi was on hand to greet the group.
He spoke about KKL-JNF’s role in the development of Israel.
“KKL-JNF has been working this land for over 115 years,” he said, “Our emblem [colored brown, green, and blue] says it all. The brown symbolizes land reclamation and community development. The green is afforestation. In less than a century, KKL-JNF planted over 250 million trees around Israel, which have changed the entire face of the country. And the blue stands for harvesting water for purification, which is then used for agriculture.”
Each participant received an oak, carob or terebinth sapling. Together with Zawadi, they recited the planter’s prayer, and then headed out to the prepared planting area to plant their trees.
While planting her sapling, Emanuele Mariani, who hails from the Abruzzi region of Italy, said that her connection with KKL-JNF began several years ago, when she decided to create a memorial park for the 308 victims of the deadly 2009 L’Aquila earthquake.
“We met representatives from KKL-JNF and they offered to help us create the site in the land surrounding the Abbey of San Giovanni Battista di Lucoli. With their assistance and expertise, we planted 80 fruit trees of ancient strains that are native in the Abruzzi district. These special trees have developed into a living memorial for those who were lost. The site is similar to the memorials created by KKL-JNF in Israel.”
Emanuele’s husband Fabrizio Soldati, who was planting another sapling with their daughter Valentina, pointed to the plant and said, “This is the 9th tree our family is planting in the Tzora Forest, as this is the third consecutive year we taking part in a KKL Italy mission to Israel. For us, tree planting is not just a ceremony, we feel we are helping build and strengthen the State of Israel. When we go back home we will spread the word and make sure that many more Italians will arrive to plant trees here.”
KKL Italy’s Martina Mieli, who regularly accompanies KKL Italy missions to Israel, explained that the tour participants were all firm supporters of Israel and KKL-JNF. “I love accompanying these groups because it gives me an opportunity to show the real Israel as opposed to what they see in the press in Italy.”
Shlomo Ben-Haim, KKL-JNF’s Tourism and Missions Director, took leave of the group during lunch at the restaurant adjacent to Mitzpe Harel. He thanked everyone involved in making the trip possible, and said that he was looking forward to seeing everyone again for the 2020 Italy Mission.
“Next year we are hoping to double the number of participants and fill two busses. I thank you all for your support, and bid you farewell with the blessing leshana haba’a beYurushalayim - next year in Jerusalem.”