Dear Jean KKL-JNF,
Will your wonderful 240 million trees be used by Palestinians to hide behind when attacking your Jewish Brothers?
How can you assure your donors that KKL-JNF will not support the enemies of Israel.
The Israel government does not represent the best interests of Israel at the present moment and rather than go along with their insanity to create a Palestinian State whose 0bjectove is the elimination of Israel, please plant the trees in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria!
Thank you for your concerns. I appreciate very much how passionately you feel about this.
Please be advised that KKL-JNF was mandated by the Israeli government as the national forest service for the land of Israel. This project was carried out under that mandate. No JNF-US donors paid for this project. JNF is proud of the 240 million trees we have planted across the land of Israel.
Regards,
Jenn Lonschein
Assistant Marketing Manager
Jewish National Fund
From: Robin Ticker [mailto:faigerayzel@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 4:08 PM
To: info@kkl.org.il; Marketing & Communications; Customer Service; JNF Travel & Tours; _Planned Giving
Subject: Please send me back my $300 contribution to JNF made after the Lebanese War and refund past donations as well.
bs"d
Dear Keren Kayemet LeYisroel and JNF, amv"sh
Contact info for KKL is http://www.jnf.org/includes/contact-us.html
After the latest War in Lebanon I gave $300 to my friend who was going to Israel and asked her to please spend it on a worthwhile cause. She chose JNF to replace trees that were destroyed in the North after the North was attacked by Hizbollah.
It has come to my attention that JNF and KKL have taken Land paid by Jews and entrusted to them by Jewish donors for the purpose of Keren Kayamet LEYISROEL and instead have allowed this Land it to be entrusted to Palestinians in Arab villages. I refer you and all my fellow donors to Arieh King of the Israel Land Fund who has done extensive research regarding this matter.
Now the latest breaking news reported in Haaretz www.haaretz.co.il and Arutz 7 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/134694#replies is that KKL is proud to donate 3,000 trees for the Palestinians while the government of Israel is freezing all construction in Judea and Samaria. Netanyahu is acquiescing to Obama and American Pressure to establish a Palestinian State and KKL is seeing to it that Palestiniain communities are beautified with tree planting.
The Palestinians are not interested in trees. Look at the oasis that was once Gush Katif. Now it is desolate and a launching pad for Kassam Rockets against the South.
I want my money back. I also want all my money back from the past 30 years when I proudly donated many trees to JNF in memory of lost friends and relatives or in honor of a Simcha. I was proud of my Jewish Homeland. I understand now, that KKL did not use the money for that purpose. Again please contact Arieh King who has publicized this fraud. He can provide you and donors with facts..
You deceived us, all your donors into believing we are contributing to Jews and to Israel. Instead, you betrayed our trust and instead used land and property bought by Jews for Jews and gave it to Palestinians. Why call yourself Keren Kayamet LeYisroel? Why call yourself Jewish National Fund?
In addition to demanding a full refund of all monies donated to JNF we will recommend that from now on. money is much better spent donating to organizations that plant trees in YESHA in Jewish communities rather than to JNF..
Anyone reading this letter and wishes to join me in a class action suit against JNF and KKL please contact me.
Sincerely, Robin Ticker
A very disappointed contributor.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Last update - 05:19 29/11/2009
A new Palestinian city takes root - with JNF trees
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."
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."
JNF BETRAYS ITS JEWISH MANDATE
Arieh King, founder and head of the Israel Land Fund, has been battling with the JNF for years. He has documented the egregious abuse of the organization's mandate to collect money from Jewish people in order to buy and preserve land in the Land of Israel. King has documented proof of JNF land purchase and give-away to Arabs that has been going on with the knowledge and approval of the Israel Land Authority.
King asserts that during the years 2004-2009, more than 200 new apartments were built on JNF land in the area north of the Atarot airport, in Jerusalem. When one drives near that area today, a very visible sign reading AREA A – NO ISRAELIS (Jews) ALLOWED, can be seen, even though one is in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem. (Israel has been divided into areas A,B and C. A is solely Arab. B is under Israeli control, but open to Arab administration, and C is solely under Israeli control.) King also accuses the JNF of failure to protect Jewish land in Gush Etzion where three years ago, no effort was made to keep hundreds of acres inside the separation wall. Arabs are now using this land. In the Shoafat/JNF forest, near Pisgat Ze'ev, Jerusalem, Arabs have built 300 apartments between 1991-2009, with building continuing today.
King has written to the heads of JNF, pleading with them to stop JNF assistance in planting 3000 trees in the area of a new Arab city, RUWABI, scheduled to be built north of Ramallah. Instead, we read that "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."
The reports on the project mention such names as Hirui Amara, who heads a JNF greenhouse at the Golani Junction, and Suhil Zaydan, one of the JNF's forestry managers. At the recent Zionist Congress an Israeli Arab was nominated to the KKL (Keren Kayemet L'Yisrael or JNF) General Assembly. Why is JNF, or KKL, hiring and working with Arabs when so many Jews are jobless? Wouldn't some of the expelled farmers from Gush Katif be people who would be expert in working with the land, and keeping it in Jewish hands?
Maaleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel, a member of the JNF board, describes the situation as something that has gone "haywire." He continues, "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 PA, or the Americans."
Diaspora Jews are urged to call JNF headquarters in NYC – 212-879-9300 to voice their indignation about the disgraceful betrayal of the JNF mandate. Ask for CEO Russell Robinson, or VP of Israel Relations Isaac Blachor. Tell them you will no longer contribute to JNF because of their scandalous behavior. Write letters to your local papers about the situation. Spread the information.
Those who are interested in getting more information about the issue are invited to contact Arieh King at kingshir@bezeqint.net or office@israellandfund.com. Tel: 972-2-622-3195. He will be happy to answer your questions and present you with the proof of his investigations into JNF abuses.
IZZY KAPLAN
416 824 2858 CELL
416 256 2858 OFFICE
Check out my new blog http://israelonisrael.blogspot.com
