JNF GUILTY IN JEWISH LAND LOSS TO ARABS

1623 Third Avenue, Suite 205, New York, NY 10128
Tel: 212-828-2424; Fax: 212-828-1717;
E-mail http://us.f538.mail.yahoo.com/ym/
Compose?To=afsi@rcn.com
Website; http://www.afsi.org/
Contact: Barry Freedman, Executive Director

JNF GUILTY IN JEWISH LAND LOSS TO ARABS

By: Helen Freedman


In October of 2006, I put out a report entitled, “Generous Jews Deceived by Jewish National Fund/JNF.” The response from JNF was largely an angry or silent one. There was no word from Mort Zuckerman or Ron Lauder regarding my questions and statements regarding the JNF giveaway or sale of Jewish land to Arabs. Avinoam Binder, Chief Israel Representative for Keren Kayemeth L’Israel, or KKL, the Israeli branch of JNF, asked me to take him off my email list. Dr. Anita Jacobs, a uniquely dedicated woman, supplied me with information about the good deeds accomplished by JNF. I have no doubt that JNF is doing many good things throughout Israel, as it has been mandated to do. However, the egregious mismanagement of Jewish land matters cries out for attention.

The purpose of this update, four months later, is to share with you the report I received from Aryeh King, my source for JNF information, especially in Jerusalem, where he lives. Aryeh quotes from the JNF website: “Since the first land purchase in Erez Israel in the early 1900’s for and on behalf of the Jewish People, KKL-JNF has served as the Jewish People’s trustee of the land, initiating and charting development work to enable Jewish settlement from the border in the north to the edge of the desert and Arava in the south.” This statement becomes a travesty when matched against the information King has gathered. Again and again, King tells us that, “I am sad to write to you that JNF is NOT guarding and watching the lands that were purchased a hundred years ago with Jewish money, with the express purpose of redeeming the holy land of Eretz Yisrael.” Instead, in violation of its trust, JNF is giving or losing Jewish municipal properties to Arabs.

The situation in the north – in the Galilee – is described by King as out of control. Arabs are building illegally on JNF land, and JNF blames this on the fact that the Israel Land Authority/ILA is not guarding the land. This is disingenuous because 40% of the ILA Directors are connected to JNF. We also learn that the JNF turned over many buildings in the Galilee to the Jewish Agency a few years ago. It is reported that the Jewish Agency now owes millions of shekels in back taxes which it failed to pay to the districts and the municipalities. In order to erase these debts, the Agency is offering the properties given to them by the JNF, which had remained undeveloped all these years.

King then goes on to describe the situation in Jerusalem. As reported previously, in northern Jerusalem, in the area of the Atarot Airport, the JNF owns more than thousands of dunams of land. King reports that there are hundreds of buildings that Arabs have built in this area, on JNF land, and nothing is being done to stop these violations. He appraises the land belonging to JNF in Atarot as being worth $35,000,000. This is Jewish money that was collected for the preservation of the State of the Jews in Israel. Why are JNF donors not made aware of this blatant giveaway of the land for which they worked so hard to raise money? And why is this abomination allowed to take place, without any outcry or interference?

Another agonizingly painful piece of information has to do with the JNF land on the WRONG side of the “security fence” snaking through Jerusalem. There are hundreds or thousands of dunams of JNF land that will be on the Arab side of the wall and will therefore be totally lost to the Jews. We haven’t heard any protests from JNF to the Israeli government about this disaster. With all their connections with the ILA and Jewish Agency, one would think they would have some input in the decision making about the placement of the wall.

The tree planting program sponsored by JNF is paid for by Jews. Yet, Muslim Arabs are busy burning the forests, even if they personally benefit from them. They know that Jews will donate money to re-plant the forests, and this re-planting is NOT restricted to Jewish areas, but benefits everyone in the country.

We’ve also learned that gangs of Bedouin thieves are brazenly stealing cattle and equipment from Jewish farmers in the Negev. In the case of Shai Dromi, a farmer who resorted to sleeping in his sheep pen in order to apprehend the criminals, he was forced to defend himself by shooting at the feet of some of the invading Arabs. Dromi is now sitting in prison. Are the JNF developers of the Negev aware of this growing problem, and if so, what are they doing about it? The Arutz Sheva report of Feb. 7 that tells the Dromi story in detail, includes the following: “There is a struggle for the Negev that nobody will admit is underway. The Bedouin see themselves as the indigenous inhabitants of the land, and are often supported by human rights groups.”

Aryeh King concludes that the JNF is doing almost nothing about the redemption of the Holy Land. He declares that JNF is NOT the address to which to give if one is interested in preserving Jewish land. He suggests that those wishing to donate to truly Zionist organizations dedicated to purchasing land in Israel for Jews, and guarding and protecting that land, should write to him at: kingshir@bezeqint.net.il.