ZOA Blasts JNF

ZOA Criticizes J.N.F. For Donating 3,000 Trees To Palestinian Authority

November 30, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Morton A. Klein
Phone: 212-481-1500
www.zoa.org/sitedocuments/pressrelease_view.asp?pressreleaseID=1752

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has criticized the Jewish National Fund (JNF) following reports that the organization, established by Jews and for Jews to rebuild Jewish national life in the biblical home of the Jewish people, has donated 3,000 trees to the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) of Mahmoud Abbas for a new city near Ramallah.

Benny Kashriel, the mayor of Maaleh Adumim who also is a member of the JNF board, said today that he will raise the JNF decision with the JNF board. The JNF, a time-honored symbol of Zionism, has for decades received literally billions of dollars from Jews in the Diaspora for planting trees and building the modern Jewish State. Kashriel said the contribution to the PA is a grave step that was taken without any request for approval and without advance notice and reflects a "system that has gone haywire . The country has gone crazy when it plants trees for the PA in Judea and Samaria at the same time that it forbids Jews to build. The system does not know who it is representing - us, the Palestinian Authority or the Americans?" (Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 'JNF Donates 3,000 Trees to Palestinian Authority,' Israel National News, November 30, 2009).

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "We are deeply critical and indeed shocked by the decision of the JNF to donate thousands of trees, grown with money donated by Jews from around the world, to the PA. The PA is a terror-promoting entity controlled by Abbas' Fatah, which demonstrated only in August at its Bethlehem conference that it does not accept Israel as a Jewish state, does not support a peace agreement that closes the conflict and engages in, indoctrinates for and glorifies terrorism against Jews. At this conference, Fatah honored terrorists, including Khaled Abu-Isbah and Dalal Mughrabi, responsible for the 1978 coastal road bus hijacking, in which 37 Israelis, including 12 children, were slaughtered.

"Has it really come to this, that a venerable Zionist organization with only one purpose - the up-building of a sovereign Jewish national existence, takes money from Jews and then uses these funds to make a gift of trees to Israel's unreconstructed enemies?

"If JNF is to retain the confidence of American and world Jewry as to its dedicated purpose of building up the Jewish state of Israel, it is vital that the JNF publicly acknowledge its error and apologize for this clear misuse of funds it has raised. For the JNF to do otherwise would be to raise money from world Jewry under false pretences. It is vital that JNF never repeat this decision."

JNF Plants Trees for Arabs

11/2009

A new Palestinian city takes root - with JNF trees

By Eli Ashkenazi

Tags: Israel News

Hirui Amara excitedly held a bunch of pine seedlings and was quick to dip their soft roots in a bucket of water. Several seconds later he was next to an elderly man, and helped him plant one of the seedlings.

This was the end of an exciting day for Amara, who heads a Jewish National Fund greenhouse at Golani Junction.

Amara and five other JNF employees took part, 10 days ago, in an extraordinary project that involves the JNF assisting in planting trees in the area where a new Palestinian city, Ruwabi, is scheduled to be built north of Ramallah. The name means "City of Hills."

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As a first step, the JNF contributed 3,000 tree seedlings for planting in what is meant to be a forested area on the edges of the new city. At the same time, the forestry experts of the JNF have been advising the city planners on the matter.

Suhil Zaydan, one of the JNF's forestry managers, is serving as liaison between the organization and the city planers.

"There have been a number of meetings, both at the location where the city will be built and also at the JNF greenhouses," he says. "We have contributed with our know-how, by advising on how to prepare the ground for the planting and how public gardens should be planned, as well as the best times for planting, and what kinds of trees it is preferable to plant. We did not talk about politics and we shall not talk about it - we deal with trees and understand forestry, botany and greenhouses."

The ambitious project of building a city from scratch has drawn an estimated investment of $800 million, mostly from Palestinian and Qatari sources.

The plan is for 6,000 housing units over a 6,300 dunam area that is supposed to provide housing for nearly 40,000 people and employ some 10,000 Palestinian workers. The project is aimed at the Palestinian middle class.

Zaydan says that a new kind of planning attitude is involved.

"There is no other city like it in our area with regards to the ecological-forestry aspects of planning. Everything will be natural, and there is great attention to preserving nature, the trees, the springs, the streams, the topography and other values, such as antiquities. During the planning stage the natural resources are taken into account," he said.

Ruwabi will be located nine kilometers northwest of Ramallah. A few days ago, at what will be one of the entrances to the city, workers were busy setting up a large sign advertising the project.

Several hours before traveling to the site of the tree planting, Amara was ready at the greenhouse for the truck to arrive so that the seedlings could be loaded.

"This is not a regular day of work," he said. "Today there is a sense that something special is happening. This is a project that grants hope to young people for a better future. I am proud that I am party to this thing."

Like a proud father who nurtured his children, he walked through the rows of seedlings.

"These are seedlings of high quality from every respect - thickness, shape, health, development of its roots," he said.

The seedlings originate from locations throughout the country where seeds were collected and were planted at the greenhouse under conditions favorable to their species.

A bumpy ride along a dirt path comes to an end at the foothills of the settlement of Ateret, at the edge of what will be Ruwabi. Dozens of people are there to plant, ranging in age from youth to people in their 60s, waiting for the truck with the seedlings.

Everyone brought tools from home. One person has a metal hoe with a serial number dating back to Ottoman times.

"This is a very old hoe which belonged to my grandfather," he tells the JNF people, who are amazed by the fact.

Michael Weinberg of the JNF acknowledges that there is a great deal of "professional pride in the project. We are helping in any way we can."

Kneeling to touch the earth, he is optimistic: "There are excellent conditions here."

State Land to Arabs

'State lands being commandeered by Arabs'

HaShomer HaHadash, established in order to prevent Arab takeover of Jewish lands, convenes in north. 'State decided it doesn't care about racketeering in Negev or about land expropriation in Galilee,' complains organization's founder

Sharon Roffe-Ofir

Published: 08.21.09, 00:24 / Israel News

Hundreds of volunteers from the HaShomer HaHadash organization met Thursday to express their grievances over supposed public land expropriation at the hands of the Arabs in the north.

"The State of Israel has a national mission to protect the 4 million dunams (about 988,500 acres) that are being stolen from under their noses," said one of the organization's members, Brig. Gen. (res.) Ram Shmueli.

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Arabs claim land reform is racist / Sharon Roffe-Ofir

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During a conference that took place next to the statue of legendary valley land protector, Alexander Zaid, near Tivon, the organization's members asked that national priorities be adjusted.

Yoel Zilberman, 24, from the town of Tzippori, established the organization two years ago along with his friends. Since, the group has blossomed to 300 members, who keep watch every night over Galilee and Negev lands over which nearby Arab residents attempt, and sometimes succeed, to overtake.

The organization provides support for any farmer who encounters a problem. They believe that by 2012, their ranks will number 2,000 members. "We have given ourselves and objective to bring back courage and strength," said one of the members, Erez Eshel. "It shouldn't be that a farmer is afraid to work his land. It starts with bullying on farm lands and ends with bullying on the Tel Aviv promenade. Therefore, what goes on here needs to worry not just a handful of people, but the entire country."

"We believe that the country decided it doesn't care if protection money is collected in the Negev or if land in the Galilee is commandeered every day and farmers looking to protect their land are beaten up," said Zilberman. "The State, unfortunately, cares only about Azrieli Towers. We won't let this happen. The time has come for the country to wake up and understand that this is the cancer of the country, and if it isn't taken care of, we won't have any state left to live in."

'Choose good over comfortable'

Both MK Yisrael Hasson and Minister Moshe Ya'alon were invited to the event, entitled "Who will save my home," Thursday evening. However, because he was summoned for a talk with the prime minister, the latter could not attend.

Nazareth Illit Mayor Shimon Gapso spoke at the event and explained why he believes this is not just a problem for farmers, but for everyone: "The State of Israel's plan was that 45% of the Galilee will be Jewish by 2010. In reality, we are less than 40%, and if the State doesn't make sure to bring Jews here en masse, we will lose the Galilee."

Brig. Gen (res.) Ram Shmueli, who served on nearby Ramat David air force base, spoke after Gapso. He told those present how the State is losing the Negev: "This country was not conquered by the soldier's sword, but the farmer's plough. There is no Right or Left here. Our future is in holding on to State lands. It is a deposit no government has the right to get rid of. We must understand what our national objectives are in order to be here for another 60 years, and another 60 years after that.

Zilberman concluded the meeting, saying: "This generation has been lost to Survivor and Big Brother. I promise there will be a reawakening of people who choose good over comfortable in order to protect this country."

JNF putting up signs for Arabs

JNF to erect signs in parks, citing destroyed Palestinian villages

By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: JNF, Israel, Zochrot

During the War of Independence in 1948, some 500 Palestinian villages in the young State of Israel were destroyed. Many residents fled their homes out of fear of the Israel Defense Forces and other Jewish elements active in the area; others were actively expelled from their villages. Today, only a few of these destroyed villages are publicly mentioned in connection with their original locations.

New communities have been built on some sites; the ruins of others have been covered over by parks and nature reserves.

The Zochrot (Remembering) organization, which supports promoting the Palestinians' right of return to the destroyed communities, has for several years been trying to heighten awareness of this issue, and last week celebrated a breakthrough: Senior Jewish National Fund-Keren Kayemeth L'Israel (JNF) officials notified the organization that in parks

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hat have a sign explaining the history of the area, the Palestinian villages that were once located there would also be mentioned.

Thus some 31 villages whose ruins are now located within the confines of parks where there are signs, will be saved from the brink of oblivion. Among the villages to be mentioned: Amuka, in the Biriya Forest; Reihaniyeh in the Ramat Menashe Park; Jimzu in the Ben Shemen Forest; Saraa in the Tzora Forest; and Ajur in Park Britain. They will be added to 12 other villages that are already mentioned on JNF signs.

Zochrot staff describe the JNF decision as "a revolutionary and interesting change." The organization's director, Eitan Bronstein, told Haaretz: "I think that today there is more openness to the subject and it is starting to be less threatening. The sky will not fall if we tell people that we kicked out Arabs and destroyed villages."

Most of the villages in question were destroyed during the War of Independence, when military forces blew up homes while occasionally leaving mosques, churches and cemeteries standing. In other cases, the houses were transferred to the state's possession. On some of the sites new communities were built, others were integrated into projects involving nature preservation, and some were destroyed many years after the war in 1948.

Zochrot relates that JNF parks contain the ruins of 86 villages. In the past, the organization petitioned the High Court of Justice against JNF and the Civil Administration, demanding public mention of the fact that in Park Canada near Latrun most of which lies within the West Bank the ruins of the villages of Yalu and Emmaus, destroyed in 1967 after the Six-Day War, can be found. In the wake of the petition, the JNF agreed in 2005 to post two signs indicating the location of the villages.

However, two weeks later one of the signs was pulled out and the other was sprayed with graffiti and later pulled out as well.

The JNF's latest move is not related to the earlier petition. According to the agreement between the two organizations, Zochrot will transfer to the JNF the data it has on all the destroyed villages in the country, for the review of its rangers. It was also agreed that the organization would transfer to the JNF the proposed wording for the texts to be printed on the new signs.

The JNF did not confirm the agreement, but did state that there had been a meeting last week on the subject.

It is expected that implementation of the decision will take a long time, in view of the usual pace of sign postings, alterations and replacements in the various parks.

JNF Gives Away Land

Two weeks ago, I correctly reported hundreds of acres of lands in Jerusalem owned by the Jewish National Fund and purchased using Jewish donor funds for the stated purpose of Jewish settlement have been used for the illegal construction of dozens of Arab apartment buildings and a United Nations school for Arabs.

The JNF has seemingly done little to boot the UN and Arab squatters from its land, while the Israeli government, which manages the areas, did not halt the illegal Arab construction. The Jewish-owned lands recently were blocked off from Jewish sections of Jerusalem and isolated to Arab neighborhoods by Israel's security fence.

Mr. Robinson states above we can "rest assured" JNF doesn't give away land to Arabs. Certainly the JNF hasn't legally forfeited its right to the lands, so it is accurate, albeit misleading, to state it didn't technically give the land away. In practice, the JNF has done just that. The JNF's inaction during years of illegal construction on its properties has ensured the Jerusalem areas in question will likely remain Arab. There are now entire developed Arab communities and U.N. facilities for Arabs built upon the JNF-owned lands in Jerusalem purchased by Jews, for Jews.

Robinson discusses the security fence as if Israel arbitrarily blockaded the JNF-lands to Arab sections of Jerusalem. The fence was built in 2003 and 2004. I documented the illegal Arab construction occurred the past twenty years, long before the security fence was even a proposed idea. Some of the Arab building occurred the past five years, with at least one project still under construction. It was because the Arabs were not stopped from establishing de facto towns on JNF-owned land that the security fence route blocked off the Jewish-owned lands to Arab sections. I doubt the Israeli government's fence would have isolated the land had the JNF used the properties for its intended purpose -- Jewish settlement.

Robinson states the JNF is apolitical. Mr. Robinson, allowing Arabs to illegally construct communities on lands in Israel's eternal capital purchased with donor funds for the stated purpose of Jewish settlement is about the most political statement your organization can possibly make. The trend is not limited to Jerusalem. Arabs are reportedly building without permits on JNF-owned property in the Galilee and in areas outside Bethlehem.

Robinson then goes off into a distracting tangent outlining all the good JNF has done over the years. And it certainly has done plenty of good. But Mr. Robinson, I challenge you to actually address the issue at hand: Why have Arabs been allowed to illegally construct on JNF-owned property purchased with Jewish donors funds and what is the JNF doing about it?

Sincerely

Aaron Klein

Jerusalem Bureau Chief

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