The Committee for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Forest in Israel has announced that its first forest in honor of the slain civil sights leader has been completed. The forest, consisting of 10,000 frees in the Galilee, was planted in time for King’s birthday. He would have been 49 years old today.
The first trees were planted last February in a ceremony in which 16 members of a Washington interfaith and interracial group took part. In that ceremony, the Rev. Robert Pruitt of the Metropalitan A.M.E. Church of Washington, led in the civil rights anthers, “We Shall Overcome,” and a letter of greetings from the American Consul General in Israel, Michael H. Newlin, was read by Leonore Siegelman, vice-chairman of the committee.
Honorary sponsors of the forest committee include all Black and Jewish members of both Houses of Congress. Max M. Kampelman of Washington is the committee’s chairman. A second forest is to be planted in King’s honor, the committee said.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
