A little while back it was reported that Bet Shemesh razed a memorial forest for the Japanese hero Chiune Sugihara who saved many Jews during World War II while putting himself at risk. He wrote as many entry visas as he could to help Jews escape the horrors of Germany and Europe, against all orders he had received to stop.
Israel had planted a memorial forest in Sugihara's memory and as a memorial to him and his efforts. The forest was adjacent to the city of Bet Shemesh. Sure enough, in the zeal to build more housing, the City of Bet Shemesh approved plans to remove the Sugihara forest to build a residential neighborhood in its place.
Homes for people are important, and growth of the city is important, but there is no shortage of land. It is a travesty to rip up a memorial like that - a memorial for someone who had done so much to save Jewish lives! They could have planned the neighborhood on a different plot of land.
What's done is done, but the Sugihara family, and the Japanese in general, were seething mad when it was discovered what had happened to the forest.
The new Mayor of Bet Shemesh Aliza Bloch just cleaned up that mess by dedicating a new forest, and planting its first trees, to memorialize Sugihara and his work.
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