A cikin shekaru ashirin na farko na kafuwar ƙasar, Isra'ilawa suna cike da fargaba mai zurfi game da gano gaskiyar abin da ya faru a Nakba na 1948, da kuma yiwuwar 'yan gudun hijira na Falasɗinu su koma garuruwansu da ƙauyukansu a abin da ya zama Isra'ila, wanda suka kira abu mai ban tsoro. Facing the Forests, ɗaya daga cikin manyan ayyukan farko na marubucin littafi A. B. Yehushua, an buga shi a 1963. Ya fara da lalata wani ƙauyen Falasɗinu a 1948 da kuma dasa dajin JNF a kan kufansa.

In the first two decades of the state Israelis had a deep anxiety about the discovery of the truth about the 1948 Nakba and the ‘nightmarish’ prospect of Palestinian refugees returning to their towns and villages in what had become Israel. Facing the Forests, one of novelist A. B. Yehushua’s first major works, was published in 1963. It opens with the destruction of a Palestinian village in 1948 and the planting of a JNF forest on its ruins.

Romanti ya ba da labarin wani ɗalibin Isra'ila wanda ya ke "damuwa sosai" da tarihin mayaƙan Crusade na Latin. Ɗalibin, yana neman hutu da kaɗaici, ya sami aiki a matsayin mai kula da daji. Lokacin da ya isa gidan tsaro a dajin JNF, sai ya tarar da wani mutumin Balarabe wanda aka yanke harshensa, da kuma 'yarsa. Ba da daɗewa ba bayan isowarsa, ɗalibin ya fara fama da mafarkai masu ban tsoro, kuma yana ci gaba da tsammanin wata bala'i. Yayin da lokacin bazara ke ci gaba, ɗalibin ya fara sha'awar 'yar mutumin. Tashin hankali tsakanin su biyun ya ƙaru, kuma kwatsam sai mutumin ya cinna wa dajin wuta, dajin gaba ɗaya ya ƙone. A wayewar gari ɗalibin "ya juya idanunsa zuwa ga tuddai masu hayaƙin wuta, ya yi kwaɗayi. A cikin hayaƙi da hazo, ƙauyen da ya lalace ya bayyana a gabansa; an sake haifar da shi, a zayyanarsa ta asali kamar zane na zahiri, kamar duk abubuwan da suka wuce kuma aka binne". Yayin da ɗalibin ya kasa ganin gaskiyar da binciken sa game da Crusade na Latin ya tona, wutar ce ta bayyana ta. Labarin ya ƙare da lalacewar dajin da sake bayyanar ƙauyen Balarabe (Yehoshua 1975: 385).

The novel recounts the story of an Israeli student who is ‘obsessed’ with the history of the Latin Crusaders. The student, looking for a break and solitude, finds a job as a forest ranger. When he arrives at the watch house in the JNF forest he finds an Arab man whose tongue had been cut out and the man’s daughter. Shortly after his arrival the student begins to suffer from nightmares and he is constantly anticipating a catastrophe. As the summer continues the student begins to desire the man’s daughter. The tension between the two escalates and suddenly the man sets fire to the forest and the whole forest burns down. At dawn the student ‘turns his gaze to the fire-smoking hills, frowns. There out of the smoke and haze, the ruined village appears before his eyes; born anew, in its basic outlines as an abstract drawing, as all things past and buried’. While the student fails to see the truths unearthed by his research on the Latin Crusades, the fire reveals it. The novel ends with the destruction of the forest and the re-emergence of the Arab village (Yehoshua 1975: 385).

Gandunan JNF, kamar Dajin Ƙasa na Carmel, sun zama alamar farfaɗowar ƙasa ta Zionist a Isra'ila da cikin adabin Ibrananci na Isra'ila, suna wakiltar nasarar aikin Zionist na Turai wajen "kafa tushe" a cikin tsohuwar ƙasar kakanni da shimfidar wuri mai tsarki. Ana yawan sanya wa yara sunayen bishiyoyi, kuma adabin yara na Ibrananci yakan kwatanta ƙananan bishiyoyi da yara (Zerubavel 1996). Sunaye kamar Ilan (bishiya), Oren (bishiyar Pine), Tomer da Tamar (na namiji da na mace ga dabinon), Amir (saman bishiya), ko Elon ko Allon (bishiyar oak) sun zama ruwan dare a Isra'ila. Dazukan itacen oak na asali da ake kira "Palestine Oak" (بلوط فلسطين) sun rufe yankuna da dama na tarihin Falasɗinu, musamman a Galilee ta sama, Dutsen Carmel, Dutsen Tabor (Larabci: Jabal al-Tur) da sauran yankunan tuddai. Wasu al'adun Musulmai na Falasɗinawa a Galilee ma sun danganta tsarki ga tsoffin bishiyoyin oak. Tsohuwar bishiyar itacen oak ta Falasɗinu da ganyenta an ɗauke su a matsayin alamar ƙarfi da juriya ba kawai a Falasɗinu ba, har ma a ƙasashe da dama a duniya. Al'adun Turai na kafin Kiristanci da na tsakiyar zamani na girmama bishiyoyin itacen oak na Falasɗinu sun shahara sosai.

The JNF’s forests, such as the Carmel National Park, became an icon of Zionist national revival in Israel and in Israeli Hebrew literature, symbolising the success of the European Zionist project in ‘striking roots’ in the ancient homeland and sacred landscape. Children were often named after trees and children’s Hebrew literature described young trees as children (Zerubavel 1996). Names such as Ilan (tree), Oren (pine tree) Tomer and Tamar (male and female for palm tree), Amir (tree top), or Elon or Allon (oak tree) are very common in Israel. Natural woodlands of ‘Palestine Oak’ ( (بلوط فلسطين covered many areas of historic Palestine, especially in upper Galilee, Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor (Arabic: Jabal al-Tur) and other hilly regions. Some local Palestinian Muslim traditions in Galilee have even attributed holiness to ancient oak trees. The ancient Palestine Oak tree and its leaves have been seen as a symbol of strength and endurance not only in Palestine but in many countries across the world. European pre-Christian and medieval Christian traditions of veneration of Palestine Oak trees are well known.

Ganyen itacen oak su ma sun kasance wani muhimmin ɓangare na kayan sarki na sojojin Jamus na gargajiya, kuma suna nuna matsayi a sojojin Amurka. A tsohuwar Falasdin, wannan itace tana da nata bautar a cikin tatsuniyoyin gida, wanda ya samo asali daga al'adun addinin yankin; tana da alaƙa da rayuwa kuma ana zaton ta yi girma tun farkon duniya (Niesiolowski-Spano 2011: 132–137).

The leaves of the oak were also traditionally an important part of German army regalia and symbolise ranks in the US army. In ancient Palestine, this tree had its own cult in local mythology, derived from local religious traditions; it is associated with life and is supposed to have grown since the beginning of the world (Niesiolowski-Spano 2011: 132–137).

Amma bautar dazuzzukan JNF (irin na Turai) a Isra'ila ta zama jigon wani tunanin gama-gari na sakulare na Zionist da aka ƙirƙira. Masanin tarihi kuma ɗan jarida Ba'isra'ile Amos Elon, wanda aka haifa a Vienna da sunan Amos Sternbach kuma ya yi hijira zuwa Falasdinu a 1933, ya canza sunansa zuwa Amos Oak. A irin wannan salo, Janar Yigal Allon, kwamandan Palmah a 1948, an haife shi da sunan Yigal Paicovitch, sai ya canza shi zuwa Allon, mai ma'ana da Ibrananci, wato itacen oak. Kamar yadda muka gani a sama, wannan al'adar 'tsoffin dazuzzuka' da bautar itatuwa ta samo asali ne daga ra'ayoyin kishin ƙasa na soyayya na Tsakiyar Turai. A shekarar 2004 Amos Elon ya koma Italiya, yana mai bayyana takaicinsa game da abubuwan da suka faru a Isra'ila tun 1967. A cikin littafinsa The Israelis:

But the worship of the JNF (European-style) forests in Israel has also become central to an invented Zionist secular collective memory. Israeli historian and journalist Amos Elon, who was born in Vienna as Amos Sternbach and immigrated to Palestine in 1933, changed his name to Amos Oak. In similar vein, General Yigal Allon, commander of the Palmah in 1948, was born Yigal Paicovitch and changed his name to the Hebrewsounding Allon (oak tree). As we have seen above, this tradition of the ‘ancient woods’ and wood worship was derived from central European notions of romantic nationalism. In 2004 Amos Elon moved to Italy, citing disillusionment with developments in Israel since 1967. In The Israelis:

Founders and Sons, Elon ya rubuta: ‘[F]ew things are as evocatively symbolic of the Zionist dream and rationale as a “Jewish National Fund Forest”’ (Elon 1983: 200). Dazuzzukan Isra'ila irin na Turai da manufofin sake dasa itatuwa suna samun goyon bayan Yammacin duniya. Dasa dazuzzukan irin na Turai a cikin ‘ƙasa mai tsarki’ da ‘yanayin ƙasa mai tsarki’ yana tabbatar da ƙimar ɗabi'a da ba a iya musantawa ga aikin Isra'ila (kuma, ta hanyar tsawaitawa, na Yammacin duniya) a Gabas. Haka kuma, an danganta shuke-shuken dazuzzuka, ta fuskar abu da ta alama, da Holocaust na Turai, kuma an dasa itatuwa dubbai don tunawa da al'ummomin da suka ɓace da kuma waɗanda suka mutu daban-daban (Elon 1983: 200). Ga Falasdinawa, duk da haka, babu abubuwa da yawa da suka fi bayyana mummunar rawar da JNF ta taka tun bayan Nakba (Jamjoum 2010).

Founders and Sons, Elon writes: ‘[F]ew things are as evocatively symbolic of the Zionist dream and rationale as a “Jewish National Fund Forest”’ (Elon 1983: 200). Israel’s European-style forests and reforestation policies enjoy Western support. Planting a European-style forest in the ‘sacred soil’ and ‘sacred landscape’ confirms the undeniable ethical value of Israel’s (and by extension the West’s) project in the East. Afforestation is also linked, materially and symbolically, to the European Holocaust, and thousands of trees have been planted in memory of the lost communities and individual victims (Elon 1983: 200). For Palestinians, however, few things better encapsulate the notorious role of the JNF since the Nakba (Jamjoum 2010).