Marin group helps convince Israel to uproot land mines,
"plant peace"
When the Knesset unanimously passed a land mine removal bill last week, the emotional tug came from a 12-year-old Israeli boy whose leg was blown off in a 2010 accident.
But much of the behind-the-scene work came from a San Rafael–based nonprofit called Roots for Peace.
Heidi Kühn
“The Holy Land is not holy when there are land mines in the ground,” said Heidi Kühn, the founder and CEO of Roots of Peace, which began a worldwide effort 14 years ago to remove land mine fields and replant the areas with vineyards, orchards or crops.
“It took the voice of a young boy to remind the world that once [land mines] are removed, fertile grounds become available for planting peace in both Israel and the West Bank.”
By a 43-0 vote March 14, the Knesset created the National Authority for Landmine Clearance, which will draw up a multiyear plan for the removal of land mine fields, located mostly along 1949-1967 borders from Eilat to the Golan. Kühn, a San Rafael resident who isn’t Jewish, said an estimated 1 million land mines exist in Israel and the West Bank.
In February 2010, Tel Aviv sixth-grader Daniel Yuval, now 12, stepped on one when he accompanied his family to the Golan Heights to enjoy a rare snowfall. After losing his leg, Daniel immediately took up the cause of helping rid Israel of land mines.
Shortly after, Roots of Peace was contacted by someone else working toward that goal, Jerry White, an American who helped launch Mine-Free Israel. A leader in the campaign to ban land mines worldwide, White was a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize who lost his leg to a land mine explosion when he was hiking as a tourist in the Golan some 27 years ago.
“Israel can clear its minefields in less than 10 years,” White proclaimed last week. He said the Jewish state, which until now has entrusted its mine clearance activities to the Israel Defense Forces, can follow the example of Jordan, “which has already cleaned up its border with Israel and is expected to be mine-free by July of this year.”
After being contacted by White, Roots of Peace sprang into action. First, Kühn went to Israel to meet with Daniel and “was deeply motivated by his story.” Daniel, who now serves as an international youth ambassador for Roots of Peace, delivered an emotional speech four months ago at a United Nations meeting in Geneva regarding the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty; Israel is among the 20 percent of countries that have not signed the treaty, he noted.
In addition, Roots of Peace coordinated a delegation that met with senators and State Department officials in Washington, D.C., and with U.N. and Israeli diplomats in New York. Daniel was part of the delegation, as was Matan Vilnai (now Israel’s minister for home front defense) and a demining company from Tel Aviv.
In Geneva, Daniel Yuval addresses a November 2010 United Nations
meeting about the Mine Ban Treaty. photo/©2011 genevalunch.com
In recent months, Kühn worked with Daniel as he lobbied Knesset members, who passed the bill at all three legislative readings. Efforts to clear land mines have been under way for decades in Israel, but public sentiment surrounding Daniel highlighted the issue.
“During the day, we had meeting after meeting with members of the Knesset, the U.S. Department of State, [several Israeli agencies] and the Jewish National Fund—anyone at a high level who would listen to the plight of a young boy as he called the world to action,” Kühn noted.
“Last month, I personally stayed with Daniel at his family home in Tel Aviv,” she added. “No mother should ever have to tuck her child into bed after taking off [his] leg … this is a sight which will remain etched in my mind forever.”
Roots of Peace, which has a 10-person staff and a host of supporters and activists working on its behalf, is joining with the leadership of Israel and the U.S. State Department to create a plan to demine, replant and rebuild some 50,000 acres in the West Bank and Jordan River Valley. Work is expected to begin in six months. Also in the offing is a land mine awareness and education campaign for Israelis and Palestinians.
The Israeli government is committing about $7.5 million to the clearing project. Roots for Peace—which also has demining programs in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Croatia, Angola and elsewhere—has launched a campaign to raise $2.5 million for additional costs (visit http://www.rootsofpeace.org for more information).
The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported that as many as 400,000 mines are buried along Israel’s border with Jordan. Hundreds of minefields also are located in the Golan Heights, in case of war with Syria.
Dhyan Or, the Israel director of Roots of Peace, noted that while no minefield can be defined as 100 percent cleared, the current international mine action standards mandate that a minefield be considered cleared with 99.7 percent certainty.
“Israel has truly offered the olive branch of peace to allow demining in both Israel and the West Bank,” Kühn wrote in an email. “The Middle East should look at this historic legislation as an example of what humankind may do when seeds are nurtured and planted in both the soil and soul.”
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