[Peace] Jewish Voice for Peace: Tell the JNF: we won't fund dispossession

[Robert Naiman]

As we say in Jobs with Justice: "I'll be there."

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Michael Deheeger, JVP <info at jewishvoiceforpeace.org>
Date: Fri, Oct 23, 2015 at 8:47 AM
Subject: BDS Begins at Home
To: naiman at justforeignpolicy.org


<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=J5wVYU8nRJ3UXI9298wkrIbXJZtu%2Bq9z>

<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=z1pVg%2B%2BIilk70O1F7r5VjYbXJZtu%2Bq9z>Tell
the JNF: we won't fund dispossession

[image: Take Action!]
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=YLNc0jv3byJ05O8V7tWLUobXJZtu%2Bq9z>

Dear Robert-

This weekend, the Jewish National Fund will be in my hometown of Chicago
for their annual conference.

While racist Israeli mobs march through the streets of Jerusalem chanting
“Death to Arabs,” and Palestinians are being subjected to ever-increasing
levels of collective punishment, the JNF will be celebrating how much money
they send to Israel and toasting the segregation they enforce on the huge
swathes of Israeli land they own.


*The oppression of Palestinians worsens every day. Yet the JNF will be
gathering this weekend to double down on their support for discrimination,
land theft, and occupation. *

That’s why I’ll be in at the JNF conference in Chicago. Along with JVP
members from across the country and our allies in the Palestinian
liberation movement, we’ll be protesting, and making it clear that the JNF
doesn’t speak for all Jews.

But we don’t just want to raise our voices -- we want to raise your voice
too. We’ve started an open letter for Jews and our allies to publicly
pledge not just to stop funding the JNF, but to actively expose the
organization for what it is: a root cause of the escalated violence we’re
all seeing.

*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=3j0ejTtAsg%2FQUuNNi017UYbXJZtu%2Bq9z>*
*Add your name to our open letter -- we won’t fund dispossession. We’ll be
displaying the letter loud and proud at the JNF convention.
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=aoXtWXRaddF%2F6IK1LitCnobXJZtu%2Bq9z>*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Z49qlVNhx22J%2FFla12gnN4bXJZtu%2Bq9z>

Growing up at my synagogue, I was taught the importance of Tzedakah
(charity), and lots of us grew up putting change in JNF’s blue tzedakah
boxes. But the JNF isn’t just another neutral charity -- and the donations
they receive from thousands of Jews around the world are being used to
perpetuate hatred and persecution in Israel and Palestine.

The JNF controls 13% of all the land in Israel. [1] *That's the equivalent
of Texas, California, and New York states combined.* And across that huge
swath of land, the JNF prevents non-Jewish Israelis from renting it or
using it. *There’s a word for that: segregation.* And the JNF admits it. In
2004, in response to a lawsuit, the JNF admitted that they “don’t have a
duty to practice equality.” [2]

*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2FfOy8Rcyz98SRgtbsJWksYbXJZtu%2Bq9z>**
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=rJM8vDCRE99K8URcIHsL%2FYbXJZtu%2Bq9z>**
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=qzcqmyPMsSdw%2BPoem23u2YbXJZtu%2Bq9z>*
*It doesn’t have to be like this. Sign our open letter, and make it clear
that the JNF they can’t count on the uncritical support of Americans any
longer.
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DDG0uRNOJFzudQsM1hynfIbXJZtu%2Bq9z>*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2FAM5Cc%2Bp2WEGlRuHj9DakIbXJZtu%2Bq9z>


*We’ll be taking the fight directly to the JNF, but that’s not where this
battle ends, because the JNF isn’t the only entity propping up Israeli
apartheid. *

Defenders of Israel’s racist policies want us to think that the current
turmoil is the fault of the Palestinian people. But the fact of the matter
is clear: NGOs like the JNF, Israel’s defenders in Congress, and
Netanyahu’s extremist policies have created the conditions that lead to
violence and instability.

*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=bSgCghwvkIoWA8CpMxUoaobXJZtu%2Bq9z>*
*It’s time to chart a new course. Send a message to the JNF -- we won’t
fund dispossession.
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=t7blVCq1hPDw5Gmi4sgNr4bXJZtu%2Bq9z>*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=AkkKVu3CYv6k7MATMgDCtYbXJZtu%2Bq9z>

This is an example of how we can all participate in the BDS movement from
right where we are. Exerting non-violent economic and social pressure is a
time-honored, extremely effective way of achieving political change. And we
need to direct it at these major organizations that perpetuate injustice in
Israel and Palestine. BDS begins at home -- by withholding money from the
JNF -- and our campaign begins with you adding your name.

Thank you for all that you do,

Michael Deheeger
Chicago Organizer

[1, 2] *Statement submitted by Habitat International Coalition and Adalah
to the 62nd Session of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, April 2006.*
<http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=GwQFgeYjQm6FuqMxqsOe4obXJZtu%2Bq9z>

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