At the weekend, another major blow was received by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), a UK registered charity with links to Israeli state agencies. Members of Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) voted unanimously to endorse an international call against the JNF. This comes after last week’s news that Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned as the JNF’s Honorary Patron.
The JNF is accused by campaigners of using an environmental image to cover up its role in taking Palestinian lands and denying access for refugees.
The FoES decision took place at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting and land rights conference. Stan Blackley, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, confirmed on Saturday that “members at today’s AGM voted overwhelmingly to endorse the international call to stop the JNF. At today's land rights conference the activities of the JNF were brought to the attention of our members, supporters and interested members of the public. Our organisation is pleased to join the call for the revocation for the JNF's charitable status in the UK and to help raise awareness on this little known issue."
The JNF is accused by campaigners of using an environmental image to cover up its role in taking Palestinian lands and denying access for refugees.
The FoES decision took place at the organisation’s Annual General Meeting and land rights conference. Stan Blackley, Chief Executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, confirmed on Saturday that “members at today’s AGM voted overwhelmingly to endorse the international call to stop the JNF. At today's land rights conference the activities of the JNF were brought to the attention of our members, supporters and interested members of the public. Our organisation is pleased to join the call for the revocation for the JNF's charitable status in the UK and to help raise awareness on this little known issue."
Protest in front of the Jewish National Fund’s office in Jerusalem, 1/2/11
Writer and researcher on issues of land and democracy, Andy Wightman, gave the keynote speech at the FoES conference, and also seconded the motion against the JNF. Following his speech on ‘Land rights in Scotland and Palestine’, Wightman said he was “delighted that Friends of the Earth Scotland has voted to endorse the call to stop the JNF. The JNF has played a central role in the expropriation of Palestinian land and it is high time that it was exposed for the crimes it has been complicit in committing."
FoES is the second environmental organisation to publicly distance itself from the JNF, after Friends of the Earth Palestine (‘PENGON’). Abeer Al Butmah of FoE Palestine commented that:
“Israel’s colonisation of Palestine breaches our environmental rights and results in many environmental violations. Friends of the Earth is documenting and highlighting these violations in order to resist these illegal practices. The JNF in particular is an agency used to take our land, uproot our national trees and destroy our environment and make it look more ‘European’. We welcome this decision of our colleagues in Scotland to raise awareness of what is going on in our country.”
The position now adopted by Friends of the Earth Scotland further undermines the JNF’s claim to be an environmentalist charity. In a letter to the Guardian last October Samuel Hayek, chairman of JNF UK, said the “JNF’s focus has been on developing and sustaining the environment in Israel”. Academics and campaigners have dented these assertions in a newly published e-book, ‘Greenwashing Apartheid: The Jewish National Fund's Environmental Cover Up’, which lays out the case against the JNF’s claim to be an environmental organisation and argues that it is primarily an instrument of ethnic cleansing, complicit in war crimes.
One of the contributors, Eurig Scandrett of Queen Margaret University, a Friends of the Earth Scotland member and proposer of the motion against the JNF said: “The book is a contribution to making people aware of the real nature of this organization, which plants trees and establishes nature parks and pretends to be environmental, but in fact exists for more insidious purposes – to drive the Palestinians from their homes and prevent them from returning.”
Stop the JNF spokesperson, Sofiah MacLeod, welcomed the decision of Friends of the Earth Scotland and added that “the pressure against the JNF is becoming unstoppable”. She added that “public opinion is squarely behind the Palestinians, the Arab revolutions have exposed Western complicity in propping up dictatorship in the Middle East and Israel is increasingly under pressure from an international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. Over the years many organisations and individuals have spoken out about the role of the JNF in the continued colonisation of the land of Palestine and called on party leaders to support human rights against the criminality of the JNF.”
An Early Day Motion in the Westminster Parliament seeks an investigation into the activities of the JNF and claims that “there is just cause to consider revocation of the JNF's charitable status in the UK”. In 2007, the American JNF application for consultative status on a key UN committee was rejected on human rights grounds.
The Stop the JNF Campaign has workshops planned in London on 4 June 2011 and protests against JNF fundraising activities will be organised throughout the coming year.
FoES is the second environmental organisation to publicly distance itself from the JNF, after Friends of the Earth Palestine (‘PENGON’). Abeer Al Butmah of FoE Palestine commented that:
“Israel’s colonisation of Palestine breaches our environmental rights and results in many environmental violations. Friends of the Earth is documenting and highlighting these violations in order to resist these illegal practices. The JNF in particular is an agency used to take our land, uproot our national trees and destroy our environment and make it look more ‘European’. We welcome this decision of our colleagues in Scotland to raise awareness of what is going on in our country.”
The position now adopted by Friends of the Earth Scotland further undermines the JNF’s claim to be an environmentalist charity. In a letter to the Guardian last October Samuel Hayek, chairman of JNF UK, said the “JNF’s focus has been on developing and sustaining the environment in Israel”. Academics and campaigners have dented these assertions in a newly published e-book, ‘Greenwashing Apartheid: The Jewish National Fund's Environmental Cover Up’, which lays out the case against the JNF’s claim to be an environmental organisation and argues that it is primarily an instrument of ethnic cleansing, complicit in war crimes.
One of the contributors, Eurig Scandrett of Queen Margaret University, a Friends of the Earth Scotland member and proposer of the motion against the JNF said: “The book is a contribution to making people aware of the real nature of this organization, which plants trees and establishes nature parks and pretends to be environmental, but in fact exists for more insidious purposes – to drive the Palestinians from their homes and prevent them from returning.”
Stop the JNF spokesperson, Sofiah MacLeod, welcomed the decision of Friends of the Earth Scotland and added that “the pressure against the JNF is becoming unstoppable”. She added that “public opinion is squarely behind the Palestinians, the Arab revolutions have exposed Western complicity in propping up dictatorship in the Middle East and Israel is increasingly under pressure from an international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions. Over the years many organisations and individuals have spoken out about the role of the JNF in the continued colonisation of the land of Palestine and called on party leaders to support human rights against the criminality of the JNF.”
An Early Day Motion in the Westminster Parliament seeks an investigation into the activities of the JNF and claims that “there is just cause to consider revocation of the JNF's charitable status in the UK”. In 2007, the American JNF application for consultative status on a key UN committee was rejected on human rights grounds.
The Stop the JNF Campaign has workshops planned in London on 4 June 2011 and protests against JNF fundraising activities will be organised throughout the coming year.
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Environmentalism is orthogonal to human rights, etc.
31.05.2011 13:42
"......which lays out the case against the JNF’s claim to be an environmental organisation and argues that it is primarily an instrument of ethnic cleansing, complicit in war crimes....
......... to making people aware of the real nature of this organization, which plants trees and establishes nature parks and pretends to be environmental, but in fact exists for more insidious purposes – to drive the Palestinians from their homes and prevent them from returning.”
No, it IS environmental and that IS the purpose. It simply doesn't give a damn about how badly the Palestinians are hurt in the process. This is something that those of us who are "environmentalists" have to face, the extent to which we balance our concern for the environment (what's best purely in those terms) with our other concerns like human rights and justice.
It's why there are some (the "ecosocialists" for example) who call the "deep greens" fascist. But note that even the ecosocialists don't argue that the "deep greens" aren't "environmental", don't argue that their environmentalism is just a false cover for their fascism. They'd limit their objection to saying "deep green" is a bad/dangerous way to be environmental. You should be doing the same thing here. There is a BIG difference between constructing nature preserves and replanting forest IN SPITE of the fact that this displaces Palestinians and saying that this is just a pretense, don't really want nature preserves or forest; just want to dispalce the Palestinians.
By all means, if you like, call the JNF environmentalism a bad sort of environmentalism because of how it affects the Palestinians. But don't lable it "non-environmental" or "pretend environmental". If I proposed elimination of you humans on the British Isles so that it could instead be a preserve of European wild nature you could perhaps properly call me evil, unacceptable. But you'd be wrong to consider my "modest proposal" false environmentalism. Nature is NOT concerned with human rights.
MDN
the point is that environmentalism isn't why it is done
31.05.2011 15:55
In other words, a hidden agenda.
It's like when the WWF was formed by hunters concerned they were running out of interesting animals to kill (choosing the panda as their logo because it was the only animal they could find that their patron Prince Philip hadn't blasted to death!)
anon
No, YOU missed the point (and your example shows that)
31.05.2011 17:38
Yes of course, the reason that they want lots of wild habitat with healthy populations of wildlife is so that they will be able to hunt that wildlife. You jump from that "why" they care about the environment to a (strange) conclusion thart they DON'T really want a large healthy population of wildlife. But they clearly do.
Don't misunderstand me (I don't hunt, our own land is "posted"). But take a closer look at what you are saying. Yes, there are SOME* "deep greens" who think that ANY human reason for wanting a restored environment is bad. But would you care to argue that people who support environmental restoration because they want to be able to walk in a healthy woods and view the birds and other animals are "fake environmentals" --- because they aren't disinterested?
It is reasonably clear that the JNF folks and those who donate money to those projects really do want to see forests restored in Isreal, places where native wildlife can live, etc. They do not want these things BECAUSE it displaces Palestinians. They just don't give a d*mn about that. Perhaps their disregard of the human rights of the Palestinians makes them bad/unacceptable environmentals in your eyes. But it shouldn't make you see them as false ENVIRONMENTALS.
BTW --- this isn't a problem just with environmentalism. Far too many of us are too uncomfortable when our values are in conflict. We EXPECT all our ducks to line up neatly in a row. Well grow up baby, ain't going to be like that, and if your ideology implies that it will, better look for a diffrent (more realistic) ideology. Personally I have BOTH environmental and human welfare concerns. I do not expect these to never be in conflict. I resolve that conflict by deciding in each case what is most important. I don't pretend the conflict doesn't exist (if in conflict, then one or the other must be false).
* The mathematical sense of "some"? I actually know of one person who has published articles arguing that way. There may be more.
MDN
no.
01.06.2011 11:33
once an area has been classified as an environmental zone - of any kind - it is cleared of its indigenous population, re-zoned and then sold for profit by the JNF to Jews only.
the only people likely to support this despicable program are those that benefit from it - unless those zionists here wish to propagate the notion that indigenous Palestinians are irresponsible land owners and 'need' to be replaced?
the issues about forests and green spaces is marginal at best, bogus at worst.
Geep Dreen
Clarify, "Deep Green"
01.06.2011 15:28
I believe you are correct in that not EVERY project of the JNF is related to restoring forests and creating Nature preserves. That they do SOME land purchases that allow human occupation along the lines you describe.
But THAT wasn't the charge being made against the JNF. The charge was that their activities replanting forests and creating Nature preserves was "false". That they weren't REALLY doing those things, or that those things just a minor cover for their other activities.
A little history and process? (how the JNF collects funds, etc.)
By and large they specify when soliciting and that's tradiitonal going way back before the establishment of the state of Israel. In other words, there might be a "tree planting campaign" or a "nature preserve" campaign ---- so much for every tree you want to have planted, etc. You could of course send the JNF an unspecified donation to use as the organization desires.
Again, I am NOT objecting to people calling the JNF "bad" (for its other activities). Take me for example. I should properly be considered a "deep green" (our own land is "managed" (left alone) for habitat). But BESIDES my environmental activites I might be taking an active role promoting other sorts of causes and on this one or that one you might be on the other side of the fence. By all means then consider me bad/evil/enemy but I'd rightly object to you deciding that because of my position/acitivties on these other (unrelated to the environment) issues I was a false environmentalist!
This is a GENERAL problem for those of us who do not wear ideological blinders that assure us that people line up on the right or wrong side of all issues -- leading us to the silly conclusion that if they are enemies on one issue then their position on some other issue where they SEEM to be on the same side as us must be false. That is infantile. In the real world it is a difficulty we need to cope with that our allies on one issue might be our enemies on another. REALITY.
MDN
Stop the JNF golf tournament at Bonnyton 21st June!
06.06.2011 11:03
To drive it home FoE should support this protest at the JNF's big fund raiser of the year in Scotland.
These are from last years
Edward Devon
e-mail:
devloid@hotmail.com