[WSMDiscuss] Fw: [cja] Sign on letter; Holding the Jewish National Fund accountable

[Aplaneta]

Martin Mantxo (aplaneta.org)

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‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Thursday, August 19th, 2021 at 14:40, Gnomey <gnomey at riseup.net> wrote:

> Hello everyone
>
> Our allies at Stop the Wall, a grassroots Palestinian anti-apartheid coalition (https://www.stopthewall.org/), have asked for help sharing the letter below for sign-ons. It targets the greenwashing of the Jewish National Fund, which has policies that support apartheid (explained in detail in the letter below).
>
> The sign on letter is to demonstrate ideological support, and if a group here also wants to organize actions or do other things to support practically they are invited to get in touch. Please email manal at stopthewall.org to sign onto the letter (copied below) or find more info - they are hoping to collect as many sign ons as possible before the end of August.
>
> For context, the Gastivists have been working with allies in Palestine and Israel over the last few years, in a team of people with Palestinian, Israeli, Jewish, Arab backgrounds and more. Our position is that fighting apartheid is part of the fight for climate justice. We firmly believe that Palestinian liberation is tied up with Jewish liberation, and hope this email and the following letter will be read with that in mind. In solidarity,The Gastivists Collective
>
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> Call for Action: Hold the Jewish National Fund Accountable
>
> The struggles for environmental, social, racial, economic and political justice are intertwined. Connecting these struggles is a necessary precondition for a sustainable world.
>
> Israel’s policies of occupation and colonization are not only a violation of the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. The system of oppression and discrimination that Israel imposes on Palestinians on all the territory under its control is a complex of human rights and environmental rights violations, built on a vision of subjugation that targets the people, the land and its natural resources.
>
> It operates through different institutions that support the Israeli government, including the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
>
> The JNF wears the garb of environmentalism but has a shameful past and a dreadful present.
>
> According to[Independent Jewish Voices](https://www.ijvcanada.org/jnf-canada-forced-to-rebrand-and-distance-itself-from-jnf-kkl-in-israel/) Canada, “Since its inception 120 years ago, the Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (JNF-KKL) has been one of the main engines for the colonization of Palestinian lands. It owns 13% of the land in Israel, and has helped to entrench apartheid in the country through its policy to lease land exclusively to Jews.”
>
> The JNF[calls](https://www.kkl-jnf.org/about-kkl-jnf/kkl-jnf-id/) itself Israel’s largest green organization and the oldest green organization in the world for its afforestation projects of millions of trees to[cover up](https://mondoweiss.net/2020/07/israels-jewish-national-fund-is-uprooting-palestinians-not-planting-trees/) Palestinian towns and villages that Israel destroyed when it was created in 1948. This aims to prevent displaced Palestinians from returning back to their homes. This is never an environmentally friendly act; rather, it is displacement and colonization of someone else’s land.
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> Although it is applauded as a world-respected organization in afforestation, sustainable development and water, the JNF has been responsible for draining the ecologically sensitive Hula Lake and surrounding marshes.
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> Currently, the JNF and other government-backed right-wing settler organizations are actively engaged in[the looming expulsion](https://www.stopthewall.org/2021/05/25/palestinians-of-silwan-the-unwanted-owners-of-the-land/) of some 90 Palestinian houses from the neighborhood of Silwan, and elsewhere in Jerusalem.
>
> Despite its long-standing involvement in the continued denial of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, the dispossession of Palestinians citizens of Israel and[illegal settlement expansion](https://mondoweiss.net/2021/03/finished-with-the-bluffing-jewish-national-fund-goes-public-with-its-aid-to-settlers/) activities in the occupied West Bank, the JNF has never been held accountable.
>
> The exploitation of the climate justice struggle by the oppressive Israeli system and its institutions like the JNF only perpetuates social and environmental injustices.
>
> It is time to act. As environmental organizations that uphold principles of anti-colonial and social justice struggles, we commit to:
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> -
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> Support Initiatives by FOE Palestine and others to counter greenwashing promoted by the JNF and other Israeli institutions.
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> -
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> Oppose the fact that in many of our countries the JNF holds charitable status, through which it funds its illegal and discriminatory activities in Palestine, and will support initiatives to revoke this status whenever possible.
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> -
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> Oppose any attempts by the JNF and its allies to gain official recognition by the COP, the United Nations or other institutions.
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> - Demand that the JNF is held accountable for its violations of human rights and International Law and role in Israel’s regime of apartheid, including through legal investigation and prosecution at the national and international levels.  ------ End ------
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