Israel’s “Green Judaization” Plan in Occupied Jerusalem: Colonising Through Trees and Gardens

For decades, the Judaization of Jerusalem has primarily been associated with land grabs, settlement expansion, and the erasure of the city’s indigenous identity. But an overlooked arm of this silent war is “settler afforestation”—a method that resurfaced in media discussion following the massive April 2025 fires in occupied Jerusalem. These wildfires, intensified by non-native vegetation planted by Zionist entities, scorched over 100 sites in Jerusalem’s hills—forcing Israel to evacuate settlers and request international assistance.

This article sheds light on the forgotten weaponisation of forestry in occupied Jerusalem. It traces how Israel, through its “green” projects, has used forests to claim Palestinian land, erase Arab villages, and reshape the city’s spiritual and visual narrative—culminating in the establishment of Torah gardens encircling East Jerusalem.

From Colonial Roots to Millions of Foreign Trees

Jewish settlement in Jerusalem began early. Parallel to Palestinian urban growth outside the Old City, wealthy Jewish elites established enclaves like Yemin Moshe in 1850 (on Wadi al-Inab), funded by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1854. This was followed by Mea Shearim, Makor Haim, and others—eventually reaching seven colonies by 1892, despite Ottoman restrictions.

By 1917, there were around 16 Jewish settlements, mostly in western Jerusalem, funded largely by Zionist elites and foreign consulates.

Alongside this urban colonisation, Zionist groups launched a greening strategy. The Jewish National Fund (JNF), founded in 1901, spearheaded this tree-based settlement model. According to its own data, the JNF has planted over 260 million trees in occupied Palestine, covering around 250,000 acres (1.1 million dunams). These forests are mostly non-native monocultures of pine, cypress, almond, oak, and cedar.

Though exact figures for East and West Jerusalem remain vague, vast portions of western Jerusalem—including the historic Jaffa–Jerusalem road—have been extensively afforested. These forests camouflage demolished Arab villages and serve both political and military agendas.

Trees and Torah: Biblical Justifications for Occupation

Zionist afforestation is more than an ecological project—it’s a spiritual-political act tied to Biblical prophecy. Settler ideology has invoked scriptures listing trees like pine, oak, willow, and cedar as part of the “promised land.” Religious festivals celebrating trees date back to 1887, where every Jewish child planted a sapling as a national-religious rite.

Settlers often plant cypress or pine for a newborn girl, and cedar for a boy—symbolising the bond between trees and Zionist identity. Yet ecological convenience—not spiritual meaning—drove species selection. Eucalyptus and pine, barely mentioned in Jewish scripture, dominate these forests due to their fast growth and European familiarity.

Agriculture as a Colonial Tool

The British introduced 250 plant species from 20 countries, including India, Australia, and Egypt. The British Mandate planted 20 million trees, while providing another 15 million to Jewish settlements—laying the groundwork for the JNF’s future dominance.

JNF engineers, mostly from Eastern Europe, sought to recreate the forests of their homelands—installing alien pine plantations that mimic Northern European forests. These foreign trees are now used to mask erased Palestinian villages and project a settler presence onto unfamiliar land.

Memorial Forests and Zionist Mythmaking

The forests themselves became a tool of narrative engineering. JNF named forests after:

• • Early Zionist settlers

• • Israeli military commanders

• • Foreign donors who supported colonisation

Roughly one-third of JNF forests in Jerusalem serve a memorial function, such as the so-called “Forest of the Saints”—planted atop destroyed Palestinian homes.

“Torah Gardens” and the Seizure of East Jerusalem

The “Torah gardens” emerged post-1967 following Israel’s military seizure of East Jerusalem. Over the past two decades, they’ve rapidly expanded. These gardens are part of Zionist structural plans aimed at embedding Biblical mythology into the geography of occupied Palestinian land.

These so-called “parks”:

• • Encircle Al-Aqsa Mosque

• • Threaten the Islamic Cemetery of Al-Rahma

• • In some cases, form a ring around the Old City

• • Serve to displace Palestinian presence

Since 2005, Israel has poured massive budgets into these gardens, branding them as part of Jerusalem’s “tourism revival.” Agencies behind them include:

• • Elad settler organisation

• • Israel Nature and Parks Authority

• • Jerusalem Municipality

• • Jerusalem Development Corporation

Total area: 2,700 dunams, including:

Recent Developments: Colonisation by Parks

Since 7 October 2023, Jerusalem Municipality has opened nine new settler parks, including:

• • A 1,000-dunam forest in Beit Hanina and Hizma (Feb 2024)

• • New parks in Jabal al-Mukabbir, Malha, and French Hill settlement

• • The latest, opened on 14 May 2025, marks the ninth since the Gaza war began

“Desert Blooming” or Land Seizure?

In a 1951 Knesset speech, PM David Ben-Gurion launched a campaign to “bloom the desert” by planting trees across 5 million dunams—about 25% of Israel’s land area.

• • Lifta, Ein Karem, Suba, Qabu, Allar

• • Ajjur (now JNF’s “British Park”)

• • Lubya (now “South Africa Park”)

When wildfires strike, burnt pine forests reveal Palestinian stone terraces, village ruins, and forgotten fields—the buried memory of a homeland deliberately erased by “green colonialism.”