"Ican'tbelieve that Israelis ensure that Christians in Israel haveChristmastrees! This is really cool!" We were speaking to Nathan, astudent atthe Jerusalem University College on Mt. Zion, whom we met atKKL-JNF'straditional Christmas tree distribution at their regionaloffices atGivat Yeshayahu, on Wednesday, 10th December. "Mybrother-in-law, wholives in Centerpoint, Iowa, is also here with hischildren. It's hisfirst visit to Israel and I invited him to come withme to pick up aChristmas tree. His kids are having a great time, theair here is sofresh and it's just a beautiful day. I'm studying thehistory andgeography of the Holy Land at the Jerusalem UniversityCollege, the onlyProtestant institution of its kind. I'm on a two-yearprogram and let metell you, this is really amazing!"

"Everyyear justbefore Christmas, KKL-JNF distributes trees to churches,monasteries,embassies and the foreign press in Israel. EliBen-Sheetrit, KKL-JNFforester in charge of the lower Judean coastalplain, told us about theproject and how it worked: "The first thing wehad to do was to choosewhich tree would make the most beautifulChristmas tree. We decided onthe Arizona cedar and as you can see, noone is disappointed by ourchoice." -more