Jewish environmentalists have elevated a minor symbolic mystical ritual of holding a Tu B’Shvat Seder into an annual and provocative communal celebration. This week is Tu B’Shvat – the Jewish Earth Day that is traditionally marked by planting trees and eating their fruits in the dead of winter to symbolize that lifeforce will again rise to bear fruits in what appears dormant.

In spite of Israel's depleted economy, the price of bread has recently been hiked up. In response, several NGO's are packing trucks with baskets of bread to distribute among hungry families up north and in neighborhoods throughout the country, as families can't afford to purchase bread or flour. Meanwhile, down south in the Negev desert Israeli authorities are destroying fields of wheat with toxic chemicals.

In the Negev, when it comes to building Jewish settlements and demolishing Bedouin ones, a few "making the desert bloom" references can go a long way. And when it comes to Arabs, when the Israeli government "thinks Green," it is often in the militaristic sense more than the "greening the desert" sense.

Not long ago, the Baltimore Jewish Times published an advertisement for the Jewish National Fund promoting its Blueprint Negev campaign to “make the desert bloom.” Blueprint Negev aims to bring 500,000 new Jewish residents to settle the Negev in a mere ten-year framework. The JNF advertisement makes mention of the 170,000 Bedouin living in sub-standard conditions in the Negev, and claims that the ‘Blueprint’ will benefit them economically. This is cosmetic.