Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Arabs Torch Valuable Desert Forest
Arutz Sheva ^ | May 20, '05

Posted on 05/21/2005 1:19:43 PM PDT by IAF ThunderPilot

Arabs resumed using arson as a weapon against Israel Friday morning and destroyed more than 10,000 pine trees in Israel's largest planted forest.

Shortly after noon, firefighters overcame the fire at the Yatir Forest but still were trying to prevent it from rekindling the trees as afternoon winds become stronger. The forest is on the edge of the Negev and Judean deserts, about seven miles (12 kilometers) northwest of Arad and 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of Be'er Sheva.

"This is the largest and worst arson in the forest," said Abu Abukyan, Yatir Forest superintendent. He said there were no signs of who set the fires. Police chased in vain after several suspects who fled to nearby Arab villages southwest of Hevron.

Forest workers for the Jewish National Fund speculated that the reasons for the arson could be anger by Arabs at the building of the nearby security fence, the refusal of soldiers to allow unauthorized Arabs from entering the Be'er Sheva area or part of terrorists' fight against Israel.

Arson was a frequent Arab tactic in the early 1990s when thousands of acres of trees were destroyed throughout the country. "Arabs stopped setting fires when they began to get a bad reputation in European countries," according to Zev Shapira, security officer and rescue team leader at the nearby community of Bet Yatir.

The first blaze began at 7:30 Friday morning, and by noon the fires had burned about 50 acres (200 dunams). Hebron Hills Regional Council fire chief Asa Medad said the arsonists were setting the fires as workers and volunteers were extinguishing them. "We put out one fire, and another one started further away," he explained.

"Most of the trees were planted 30 years ago," according to Shapira. "If the winds had whipped up, we would not have succeeded. The dry brush and dead branches on the ground were fuel for the fire. The trees themselves didn't burn, but the intense heat of the ground will kill most of them."

Shapira said that volunteers and Jewish National Fund workers carried water tanks on their backs and watered around the burnt areas in an effort to prevent afternoon winds from whipping up the blaze again. Volunteers came from nearby southern Hevron Hills communities, including students from the Yatir Pre-Military Army Academy (mechina).

Fire trucks from the nearby communities and from Be'er Sheva helped put out the fire.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Israel; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: ecoterror; environment; israel
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last
And people wonder why Israel looks green from space while the rest of the Arab world looks white and brown.
1 posted on 05/21/2005 1:19:43 PM PDT by IAF ThunderPilot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Convert from ECUSA; Laffalot; SJackson; Alouette; SirLurkedalot; yonif; anotherview; dervish; ...
Ping!


FRmail me to be on/off this Israel Defense Forces and Israel ping list. Here you will find news, stories, facts and fascinating publications about the IDF and Israel.



2 posted on 05/21/2005 1:20:37 PM PDT by IAF ThunderPilot (The basic point of the Israel Defense Forces: -Israel cannot afford to lose a single war.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

it "REALLY" is time to play cowboys and arabs


3 posted on 05/21/2005 1:23:45 PM PDT by sure_fine (*not one to over kill the thought process*)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

start in Saudi and go east


4 posted on 05/21/2005 1:24:19 PM PDT by sure_fine (*not one to over kill the thought process*)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

Palis are animals. Build the wall high and let 'em butcher each other in their own "state".


5 posted on 05/21/2005 1:24:48 PM PDT by Jacquerie (Democrats soil the institutions they control)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

You'd think the msm and radical conservation groups would be absolutely livid about this.


6 posted on 05/21/2005 1:25:12 PM PDT by thombo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot
Guess where Israel ends and Gaza begins. And it was like this well before 1967.


7 posted on 05/21/2005 1:27:30 PM PDT by Starrgaizr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: everyone

One of those stories that truly speaks for itself.

Think about it the next time you see a wailing, fist-shaking mother whose terrorist son has been killed ...


8 posted on 05/21/2005 1:32:44 PM PDT by California Patriot
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

more charitable acts from the 'religion of peace'


9 posted on 05/21/2005 1:33:46 PM PDT by NoClones
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Starrgaizr; IAF ThunderPilot
Can you spot the old border between Israel and the West Bank? There's a penninsula of growth heading towards Jerusalem from the coast. If you look carefully, you can see the entire "green line" -- aptly named.


10 posted on 05/21/2005 1:37:14 PM PDT by Starrgaizr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot
Ah, it took a while for me to find this again, but here is my all time favorite. Check this out - maps from space: you can see the entire west bank and the Israel/Egypt border delineated by the planting done in Israel and the destruction of trees and other vegetation dating from the Turks and never fixed in Arab lands.


11 posted on 05/21/2005 1:50:25 PM PDT by Starrgaizr
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

The Arabs had no interest in the land that is now Israel
as long as it was barren desert. As soon as the Jews came
along and through sheer hard work transformed the area into
a desirable place ---WHOA! Suddenly it's holy ground to the
Mooslims! These people contribute nothing to the human race.


12 posted on 05/21/2005 2:36:18 PM PDT by beethovenfan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NoClones

BLOODY SAVAGES!!


13 posted on 05/21/2005 2:36:26 PM PDT by elcid1970
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

Too bad the winds didn't shift to follow the crazy islamics and burn them. That would have been ironic justice.


14 posted on 05/21/2005 2:41:09 PM PDT by lilylangtree (Veni, Vidi, Vici)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thombo
You'd think the msm and radical conservation groups would be absolutely livid about this.

The difference is that this is a desert forest (not a 'rain forest') planted only 30 years ago. No one is interested in logging there. No one makes any money by harvesting these trees, so there's no reason for the watermelon environmentalists to pretend to give a crap about their destruction.

Plus, it's Muslim terrorists. They can do no wrong.

15 posted on 05/21/2005 3:58:43 PM PDT by GenXFreedomFighter (We smirked our way back for a second term!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

You know what I going get so yell at seem Arabs what they did burning off that Forest they are Trailor Trash of the worst kind


16 posted on 05/21/2005 5:08:20 PM PDT by SevenofNine (Not everybody in, it for truth, justice, and the American way,"=Det Lennie Briscoe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot
Is this forest in permanent Israeli territory or in planned arab territory?
If the former, why weren't soldiers there to kill the SOB arsonists?
17 posted on 05/21/2005 5:26:48 PM PDT by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen, ignorance and stupidity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Starrgaizr
I assume you meant "Sinai".
The Gaza boundary is harder to discern (since the Israelis had some influence there).
18 posted on 05/21/2005 5:30:04 PM PDT by Publius6961 (The most abundant things in the universe are hydrogen, ignorance and stupidity.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: IAF ThunderPilot

I guess trees are infidels.


19 posted on 05/21/2005 5:30:19 PM PDT by COBOL2Java (If this isn't the End Times it certainly is a reasonable facsimile...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Comment #20 Removed by Moderator


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-34 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson