As devastating wildfires rage across central Israel, including the area known today as Canada Park, international aid is beginning to arrive.
Planes, firefighters, and resources are being mobilized to help contain what some are calling the country’s most severe fire season yet.
But underneath the smoke lies a buried history — one that, if acknowledged, could help shape a more just and inclusive future for everyone who calls this land home.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
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The land remembers
Canada Park is a vast green space just outside Jerusalem, built with help from overseas donors — especially in Canada — after the 1967 war.
But few visitors realize that the peaceful picnic grounds and pine forests cover the ruins of three Palestinian villages: Imwas, Yalu, and Beit Nuba.
Their inhabitants were expelled, their homes razed, and their existence nearly erased from public memory.
For decades, Israeli and international groups — including historians, human rights advocates, and descendants of those displaced — have called for these villages to be acknowledged, their history taught, and their memory restored.
Until now, these calls have largely gone unanswered.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
A fire that burns through silence
But history has a way of resurfacing.
The wildfire that swept through Canada Park has reignited questions not just about climate, but about conscience.
What if this disaster could be more than a tragedy?
What if it could become a turning point — an opportunity to build something better?
International aid is coming — and rightly so. Civilian lives, homes, and ecosystems are in danger.
But aid doesn’t have to come without values. It can arrive hand-in-hand with a call for truth-telling, restoration, and reconciliation.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Healing the land, and the past
Here’s what that could look like:
-
Replanting with remembrance: Instead of rebuilding pine monocultures, restoration efforts could include signs, paths, or community spaces that commemorate the destroyed villages — a shared act of ecological and historical truth.
-
Joint rebuilding initiatives: Environmental organizations, both Israeli and Palestinian, could collaborate on fire prevention, reforestation, and education — building cooperation where there was once division.
-
Support for civil society memory projects: Groups like Zochrot and descendants of the displaced could be funded to create permanent markers or digital tours that preserve the memory of Imwas and others.
This kind of “memory-aware aid” doesn’t punish the present — it enriches it by connecting it honestly to the past.
A brighter future needs more than hope — it needs accountability
There’s just one more thing: calls for healing, memory, and shared responsibility are inspiring — but hope without accountability is just a photo op.
There is good reason to be sceptical. Israeli governments — across the political spectrum — have a long history of denying or downplaying Palestinian historical claims, even when faced with overwhelming evidence.
Promises to recognize past injustices, allow commemorations, or include Palestinian voices in national narratives have often been watered down, delayed, or outright abandoned.
This is not cynicism. It’s pattern recognition.
So how can this moment be different?
Building pressure, Not Just Planting Trees
If international aid and solidarity are to lead anywhere meaningful, they must come with public conditions, transparent expectations, and consequences for bad faith:
-
Public agreements, not quiet understandings
Any commitments — to memorialize destroyed villages, include Palestinian environmental voices, or support joint rebuilding — must be made openly. Let the world hear them. If promises are broken, the renegades can be named and shamed.
-
Support civil society, not just states
Trusting governments to do the right thing alone is a dead end. Instead, aid can be routed through or alongside Israeli and Palestinian organizations already working for justice — from memory initiatives to reforestation efforts grounded in truth.
-
Diaspora and donor leverage
International donors, including diaspora Jewish communities, wield enormous soft power. Many helped fund Canada Park decades ago. They can now use their influence to demand transparency, history, and inclusion — and withhold future support if these are ignored.
-
Symbolic action that can’t be erased
Even if plaques are removed or narratives suppressed, the record — digital, global, moral — will remain. Acting publicly and truthfully creates a trail of accountability that no government can fully erase.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Helping during a crisis shouldn’t mean abandoning truth.
And demanding truth shouldn’t mean abandoning people in danger.
The fire in Canada Park is a tragedy — but it’s also a moment when a better future could be sparked: not just greener, but fairer, more honest, and more shared.
If that future is to take root, we’ll need more than water and trees — we’ll need pressure, memory, and a refusal to forget.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
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Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
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And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
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Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
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Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
Out of the ashes: can Israel’s wildfires spark a brighter future?
As devastating wildfires rage across central Israel, including the area known today as Canada Park, international aid is beginning to arrive.
Planes, firefighters, and resources are being mobilized to help contain what some are calling the country’s most severe fire season yet.
But underneath the smoke lies a buried history — one that, if acknowledged, could help shape a more just and inclusive future for everyone who calls this land home.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
The land remembers
Canada Park is a vast green space just outside Jerusalem, built with help from overseas donors — especially in Canada — after the 1967 war.
But few visitors realize that the peaceful picnic grounds and pine forests cover the ruins of three Palestinian villages: Imwas, Yalu, and Beit Nuba.
Their inhabitants were expelled, their homes razed, and their existence nearly erased from public memory.
For decades, Israeli and international groups — including historians, human rights advocates, and descendants of those displaced — have called for these villages to be acknowledged, their history taught, and their memory restored.
Until now, these calls have largely gone unanswered.
Buy Cruel Britannia in print here. Buy the Cruel Britannia ebook here. Or just click on the image!
A fire that burns through silence
But history has a way of resurfacing.
The wildfire that swept through Canada Park has reignited questions not just about climate, but about conscience.
What if this disaster could be more than a tragedy?
What if it could become a turning point — an opportunity to build something better?
International aid is coming — and rightly so. Civilian lives, homes, and ecosystems are in danger.
But aid doesn’t have to come without values. It can arrive hand-in-hand with a call for truth-telling, restoration, and reconciliation.
Get my free guide: “10 Political Lies You Were Sold This Decade” — just subscribe to our email list here:
👉 https://voxpoliticalonline.com
Healing the land, and the past
Here’s what that could look like:
Replanting with remembrance: Instead of rebuilding pine monocultures, restoration efforts could include signs, paths, or community spaces that commemorate the destroyed villages — a shared act of ecological and historical truth.
Joint rebuilding initiatives: Environmental organizations, both Israeli and Palestinian, could collaborate on fire prevention, reforestation, and education — building cooperation where there was once division.
Support for civil society memory projects: Groups like Zochrot and descendants of the displaced could be funded to create permanent markers or digital tours that preserve the memory of Imwas and others.
This kind of “memory-aware aid” doesn’t punish the present — it enriches it by connecting it honestly to the past.
A brighter future needs more than hope — it needs accountability
There’s just one more thing: calls for healing, memory, and shared responsibility are inspiring — but hope without accountability is just a photo op.
There is good reason to be sceptical. Israeli governments — across the political spectrum — have a long history of denying or downplaying Palestinian historical claims, even when faced with overwhelming evidence.
Promises to recognize past injustices, allow commemorations, or include Palestinian voices in national narratives have often been watered down, delayed, or outright abandoned.
This is not cynicism. It’s pattern recognition.
So how can this moment be different?
Building pressure, Not Just Planting Trees
If international aid and solidarity are to lead anywhere meaningful, they must come with public conditions, transparent expectations, and consequences for bad faith:
Public agreements, not quiet understandings
Any commitments — to memorialize destroyed villages, include Palestinian environmental voices, or support joint rebuilding — must be made openly. Let the world hear them. If promises are broken, the renegades can be named and shamed.
Support civil society, not just states
Trusting governments to do the right thing alone is a dead end. Instead, aid can be routed through or alongside Israeli and Palestinian organizations already working for justice — from memory initiatives to reforestation efforts grounded in truth.
Diaspora and donor leverage
International donors, including diaspora Jewish communities, wield enormous soft power. Many helped fund Canada Park decades ago. They can now use their influence to demand transparency, history, and inclusion — and withhold future support if these are ignored.
Symbolic action that can’t be erased
Even if plaques are removed or narratives suppressed, the record — digital, global, moral — will remain. Acting publicly and truthfully creates a trail of accountability that no government can fully erase.
Help fund great articles! We’re aiming for £50 to cover research and reporting time this week.
Can you chip in £3 today?
👉 https://ko-fi.com/voxpolitical
Helping during a crisis shouldn’t mean abandoning truth.
And demanding truth shouldn’t mean abandoning people in danger.
The fire in Canada Park is a tragedy — but it’s also a moment when a better future could be sparked: not just greener, but fairer, more honest, and more shared.
If that future is to take root, we’ll need more than water and trees — we’ll need pressure, memory, and a refusal to forget.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Be among the first to know what’s going on! Here are the ways to manage it:
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (bottom right of the home page). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
5) Follow Vox Political writer Mike Sivier on BlueSky
6) Join the MeWe page at https://mewe.com/p-front/voxpolitical
7) Feel free to comment!
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
Cruel Britannia is available
in either print or eBook format here:
The Livingstone Presumption is available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
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