Take Action

Tell JNF not to Evict Families from East Jerusalem

The Jewish National Fund in Israel (KKL-JNF) is best known for planting trees in Israel. We are proud of much of KKL-JNF’s work in growing and developing the modern State of Israel.

Unfortunately, over the last two decades KKL-JNF has also been amassing property seized from Palestinians in East Jerusalem, evicting families, and turning the property over to a settler organization with the express goal of Judaizing Palestinian neighborhoods. These evictions place facts on the ground that are roadblocks to peace.

Additional Background

Join us in urging the Jewish National Fund to issue a public statement that they will no longer engage in property transfers and evictions over the Green Line. Our money and the money of other unsuspecting American donors should not be used to support actions that violate human rights and threaten the security and moral fabric of the State of Israel.

Note: You are encouraged to edit the subject line and personalize the body of the e-mail below.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Like many other Jews, I have donated to JNF by dropping coins into blue and white tzedakah boxes, or honoring a loved one by buying a tree. I am troubled that JNF in Israel (KKL-JNF and its Himnuta subsidiary) is involved in property transfers and evictions of Palestinian families in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem.

I ask you and your partners at KKL-JNF in Israel to immediately issue a public statement that JNF will no longer pursue the eviction of families, and will stop acquiring land over the Green Line.

I also ask you, as the CEO of JNF-USA, to immediately issue a public statement that the money that American donors have entrusted with you will not be used to evict families from their homes.

After the public outcry against the eviction of the Sumarin family in Silwan, I was appalled to learn that KKL-JNF and its subsidiary continued to contest the ownership of another Silwan family's home, the Ruweidis.

Jewish law goes to great lengths to prevent any evictions, especially in cases in which those evicted will end up “abandoned on the street,” in the words of Moses Maimonides.

International law includes significant protections against displacement. For example, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the body of independent experts that monitors the implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), has declared that “instances of forced eviction are prima facie incompatible with the requirements of the Covenant and can only be justified in the most exceptional circumstances, and in accordance with the relevant principles of international law."

As a person committed to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, I also believe that the evictions of Palestinians from East Jerusalem constitute an obstacle to peace. 
 
With prayers of peace for Jerusalem.

Sincerely,

Russell Robinson

JNF-USA
42 East 69th Street
New York, NY 10021
US

Fax:(212) 570-1673

Efi Stenzler

KKL-JNF in Israel

Jerusalem,
IL

Additional Background

Behind the scenes of KKL-JNF, a subsidiary known as Himnuta has played a large role in unscrupulous land dealings on behalf of the organization. Established in the 1930s "mainly to circumvent legal restrictions" on the KKL-JNF's land dealings, Himnuta has been active over the past few decades in obtaining Palestinian land over the Green Line. Himnuta is not mentioned on KKL-JNF’s website, but its offices are located within KKL-JNF's Jerusalem headquarters. All of Himnuta’s 30,000,000 company shares are owned by the KKL-JNF, and the head of Himnuta is David Lazarus, who also serves as KKL-JNF's Chief Financial Officer.

Himnuta has received several properties from the Custodian of Absentee Properties and then waged court battles to remove the Palestinian residents from these homes. For example, in late 2011, KKL-JNF’s Himnuta planned to evict the Sumarin family from their home in Silwan and intended to turn the property over to Elad. Due to intense public pressure from Rabbis for Human Rights-North America and others, KKL-JNF postponed their eviction. KKL-JNF announced an intention to negotiate with the family; in the meantime, the court has stayed the evictions until the judge issues a final ruling on the Sumarin family's request to cancel the eviction.

Despite that small victory, KKL-JNF was back in the courts in early 2012 contesting the ownership of the Ruweidi family's home in Silwan. On May 7, 2012, the Jerusalem District Court accepted the Ruweidi family's claim that their house was not "absentee property" as the KKL-JNF had argued. RHR-NA congratulates the Ruweidi family on this victory, but we are aware that the struggle is not over, as the KKL-JNF may decide to appeal this decision again.

We do not want to fight the Jewish National Fund on every property transfer and eviction it is involved with over the Green Line. Instead, T'ruah has asked JNF-USA to publicly commit to no longer funding these types of property transfers and evictions over the Green Line; the JNF has refused to change its policy.

Our money and the money of other unsuspecting American donors should not be used to support actions that violate human rights and threaten the security and moral fabric of the State of Israel.

Take Action