Canada Park

Totally-disputed|date=March 2008

Canada Park is a recreational area west of Jerusalem adjacent to Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut. It was founded by the Jewish National Fund in 1973, Canada Park is now a picnic area and tourist destination. The land on which Canada Park now stands formerly contained the Palestinian villages of Imwas, Beit Nuba and Yalo, demolished by Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War.

Prior Palestinian use of the land

The land on which Canada Park now stands formerly contained the Palestinian villages of Imwas, Beit Nuba and Yalo, demolished by Israel after the 1967 Six-Day War by order of then commander Yitzhak Rabin due to the corridor's strategic location and control of the route to Jerusalem. Israel said the residents aided the Siege of Jerusalem and the Egyptian commandos in their attack on Lod days before. The residents of the three villages were offered compensation but were not allowed to return. [Oren, Michael (2002). Six Days of War, pp. 307. ISBN 0-19-515174-7.] [Segev, Tom (2006). 1967: Israel, the War and the Year That Transformed the Middle East, Metropolitan Books, pp. 306-309.] [Segev, Samuel (1967). A Red Sheet: the Six Day War, pp. 82.] [ [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?itemNo=464050 Ha'aretz.com: Aviv Lavie, Right of Remembrance] ] [ [http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Archive/Editorials/2005/Editorials+27-Jul-2005.htm Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Summary of Editorials from the Hebrew Press, 27 Jul 2005] ] [ [http://www.vcn.bc.ca/outlook/library/articles/israel/p05canada_park.htm Outlook: Canada Park: Canadian Complicity in a War Crime, by Dr. Ismail Zayid] ] The former residents of the villages fled to refugee camps in the West Bank and Jordan, where most of them remain today according to the Palestinian Authority. [ [http://www.idrc.ca/fr/ev-111708-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html Canadian International Development Research Center: Planning in support of negotiations: the refugee issue by Khalil Nijem] ]

Founding of Canada Park

In 1973, Bernard Bloomfield of Montreal - then President of the Jewish National Fund of Canada - spearheaded a campaign among the Canadian Jewish community to raise $15 million to establish Canada Park as a picnic area accessible to Israelis from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Jewish National Fund of Canada remains responsible for the upkeep of the park today through charitable donations

Description

Canada Park covers an area of 1275 dunums² (1,275,000 metres², 13,723.98 feet²) [Citation| last =Brynen| first =Rex | last2 =El-Rifai| first2 =Roula
year =2007| title =Palestinian Refugees Challenges of Repatriation and Development: challenges of repatriation and development| publication-place =Canada| publisher =International Development Research Centre| page =128| isbn =1552502317] west of Jerusalem adjacent to the city of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut. The Park has been landscaped with wooded areas and walking trails. The trees in the Garden mainly consist of olive, carob, pomegranate, pine and almond trees. The area is also home to a range wildlife from lizards and turtles to gray ravens and blue jays. [Citation | last =Coussin
first =Orna | title =Splendor on the grass | publication-place =Israel | publisher =Haaretz | url =http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=%20420153&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y | accessdate =07/19/2008] Historical remains in the park date from antiquity through to the crusader period including a Roman bathhouse, a Hasmonean cemetery and Castellum Arnaldi a crusader fortress. [Citation| last =Winter| first =Dave| year =2000| title =Israel Handbook: With the Palestinian Authority Areas| publication-place =Canada| publisher =Footprint Handbooks| page =519| isbn =1900949482]

References

See also

*List of villages depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war

External links

* [http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-2500957394773313398 Documentary on JNF's Illegal Canada Park]