Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund
The Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael - Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) was founded at the Fifth Zionist Congress in 1901 to purchase land for the Jewish people in Palestine.[1]
In 1961, the KKL-JNF and the Israeli government signed a covenant which provided in part:
- Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael shall continue to operate, as an independent agency of the World Zionist Organization, among the Jewish public in Israel and the Diaspora, raising funds for the redemption of land from desolation and conducting informational and Zionist-Israel educational activities; and the Government shall extend assistance to Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael in informational and propaganda activities in Israel and abroad.[2]
"Over the past 107 years", it claims to have "evolved into a global environmental leader by planting 240 million trees, building over 200 reservoirs and dams, developing over 250,000 acres of land, creating more than 1,000 parks, providing the infrastructure for over 1,000 communities, bringing life to the Negev Desert and educating students around the word about Israel and the environment." [3]
It has been described by the Israeli historian Ilan Pappe as "a colonialist agency of ethnic cleansing" [4]
Affiliations
The KKL-JNF has a number of national affiliates around the world including:
People
- Ambassador Ronald S Lauder - Former President of the Jewish National Fund is now (in 2008) President of the World Jewish Congress. Lauder is also Chairman of the International Public Committee of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and Chairman of the Jewish Heritage Council. He was formerly Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Served as U.S. Ambassador to Austria and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy. He is also described as an international businessman. [5]
In 2008, Lauder is listed as a supported of the Herzliya Conference in Israel. [6]
Contact
- Website: http://www.kkl.org.il
Related Articles
- A Report by Palestine Land Society, Jewish National Fund's Violation of International and Domestic Law, August 2005
- Uri Avnery, Dunam After Dunam, ZNet, 7 February, 2005. (Accessed 27 March, 2009)
- Maureen Meehan, The Jewish National Fund and World Zionist Organization: The Hidden Faces of Israeli Racism, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July/August 1999, pages 14, 20.
- 'Challenging the discriminatory land policies of the Jewish National Fund', Adalah website
Notes
- ↑ First Decade: 1901-1910, KKL-JNF, accessed 9 August 2012.
- ↑ KKL-JNF - Israeli Government Covenant, KKL-JNF, accessed 9 August 2012.
- ↑ 'About JNF', JNF website, accessed 27 March, 2009.
- ↑ ILAN PAPPE and JUSTIN PODUR ZNet, 20 February 2005 Mechanisms of denial Last accessed 16 June, 2007.
- ↑ The Annual Herzliya Conference Series: on the Balance of Israel's National Security (2008), Conference Conclusions, accessed 12 August, 2008.
- ↑ The Annual Herzliya Conference Series: on the Balance of Israel's National Security (20Harvey Bratt08) Conference Conclusions, accessed 12 August, 2008.
