Although the commercial day celebrating romance passes without notice in the State of Israel, the past ten days have seen 50 million flowers exported to Europe for sale on February 14 – St.Valentine’s Day.
Twenty airplanes filled with1,800 tons of flowers were flown to Europe in recent days. Each morning the flowers were picked and loaded onto airplanes at the Agrexco Agricultural Export Company terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in the afternoon and evening, landing at airports in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg later in the evening. The flowers were then immediately sent on trucks to European flower exchanges.
Demand for flowers peaks in the days immediately preceding Christian holidays, with prices rising accordingly. Particularly high proceeds of over 80 million shekels are expected this year, due to the high shekel-euro exchange rate.
Despite the secularization of St. Valentines Day, many Jews continue to associate the day with anti-Jewish violence perpetrated in the name of Christianity. On Friday, February 13th, 1349 the town council of Strasbourg, France gave in to a mob that arrested the Jews of Strasbourg. The next day, St. Valentine’s Day, the Jews were burnt on a wooden platform in their cemetery.
Twenty airplanes filled with1,800 tons of flowers were flown to Europe in recent days. Each morning the flowers were picked and loaded onto airplanes at the Agrexco Agricultural Export Company terminal at Ben Gurion Airport in the afternoon and evening, landing at airports in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg later in the evening. The flowers were then immediately sent on trucks to European flower exchanges.
Demand for flowers peaks in the days immediately preceding Christian holidays, with prices rising accordingly. Particularly high proceeds of over 80 million shekels are expected this year, due to the high shekel-euro exchange rate.
Despite the secularization of St. Valentines Day, many Jews continue to associate the day with anti-Jewish violence perpetrated in the name of Christianity. On Friday, February 13th, 1349 the town council of Strasbourg, France gave in to a mob that arrested the Jews of Strasbourg. The next day, St. Valentine’s Day, the Jews were burnt on a wooden platform in their cemetery.