Press Releases

Land Day 2012: The JNF is NOT Charitable, but a Racist, Zionist Organization
Land Day 2012: The JNF is NOT Charitable, but a Racist, Zionist Organization

30 March 2012. In commemoration of Land Day, BADIL, in cooperation with Lajee Center, Phoenix Charitable Society, Injaz, Al Rowwad Center and local activists and women from Bethlehem, organized a march and tree planting activity in lands adjacent to Cremisan Monastery and Al-walajeh village. All the lands in that area are threatened by the Greater Jerusalem Program under implementation by the Israeli government to annex as much Palestinian land bordering Jerusalem Municipality and the construction of the Apartheid Wall.

Hundreds of youth, activists, women, children and internationals participated in the march and planting of olive trees, which were donated by the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) of the East Jerusalem YMCA. The initiative, which falls under the Stop the JNF Campaign, calls for preserving Palestinian lands from confiscation by the Israeli Authorities. The focus of the campaign is to shed light on the racist practices of the para-statal Zionist organization, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) which “purchases” Palestinian lands and only allocates them to Jewish immigrants.

In the Gaza Strip, BADIL in cooperation with its partner organizations organized a similar initiative in commemoration of Land Day. In addition to the traditional activity of tree planting in endangered and confiscated areas, the children of various refugee camps released balloons decorated with the Palestinian flag and the names of the martyrs of previous Land Day commemorations. Paper planes with the names of their villages depopulated and razed in 1948 during the Nakba were also released. The activities symbolize Palestinians’ steadfast commitment to their lands confiscated by the Israeli military.