Israeli Forest Honors Coretta Scott King

Israel will name a forest in northern Galilee after Coretta Scott King as the country replants thousands of trees destroyed during last year's war with Hezbollah.

"The Coretta Scott King Forest, comprised of at least 10,000 trees, will be a living memorial to King's legacy of peace and justice," Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor said Thursday at a Washington ceremony induction.

Two members of the Congressional Black Caucus said the plan, which includes a fundraising partnership with black churches in the United States, would strengthen ties between blacks and Jews fostered during the early Civil Rights Movement.

A section of that forest will be renamed for King, who died in 2006 nearly 40 years after the death of her husband, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. She would have celebrated her 80th birthday on Friday the 27th of April.

Israel already has a forest named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. in southern Galilee. The Jewish National Fund, which also is backing the new forest, began that forest in 1976 with the planting of 39 trees--one for every year of the slain civil rights leader's life.

The fund, a nonprofit organization that acts as a caretaker for the land of Israel, recently launched a $400 million campaign to rebuild and reforest northern parts of the country.

--Marranda Hose, World News Editor