June 05, 2006

Not seeing the wood for the trees

Get this bit of weirdness at the World Zionist Congress. The World Zionist Congress (WZC) is the policy making body of the World Zionist Organisation (WZO). Well, the Green Zionist Alliance have issued a demand to the WZO to stop felling trees. Look:
Proposed Resolution 3/12
Submitted by the Green Zionist Alliance


JNF – Organisational Reform

Whereas The WZO aims to operate according to "the vision of the prophets, as an exemplary society, working towards peace and giving to tikun olam…" as the issues were integrated in the Jerusalem Program of 2004, and

Whereas The Jewish law of not destroying, the ban on destruction without reason, based on the prohibition to felling fruit trees in time of war, and Rabbis such as Rabbi Yair Haim Bachrach, from the 20th century, answered found that the "felling of a tree is only permitted for necessary needs and not needlessly" and

Whereas The JNF has planted more than 240 million trees since 1928, and

Whereas The WZO, the Jewish Agency and the JNF use daily thousands of tons of paper, including the printing of this document and thousands of other copies of resolutions of this congress, and

Whereas The use of one ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic metres of filling, 4000 kilowatts of electricity and 7,000 gallons of water,

Accordingly, in order to achieve our treaty, be it resolved that:

1. The WZO ensure that all paper used during the congress, the ZGC, meetings of the Presidium of the ZGC, and Executive meetings, be made up of at least 50% recycled paper immediately with the aim of reaching 80% recycled paper within two years.

2. The WZO is to ensure that all paper in use in its offices and in its other activities will be of at least 50% recycled paper, immediately with an aim of reaching 80% recycled paper within two years.

3. The Congress calls upon JAFI and JNF to adopt in their offices and the rest of their activities, paper which is at least 50% recycled, immediately, with the aim of reaching 80% recycled paper within two years.
Perhaps they don't know about all the trees felled by Israel in the occupied territories. Maybe if they did know they would recommend that the World Zionist Organisation use those rather than let them go to waste.

Hat-tip: Roland Rance. Grudging hat-tip, Roland gave me the headline too.

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