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Revealed: Jeremy Corbyn proposed motion praising anti-Zionists' attack on the Jewish National Fund
The future Labour leader's motion accused the JNF of fundraising for 'ethnic cleansing, occupation and apartheid'
February 11, 2019 12:21
The future Labour leader's motion accused the JNF of fundraising for 'ethnic cleansing, occupation and apartheid'
February 11, 2019 12:21Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell were prominent supporters of a campaign launched by an extreme anti-Zionist organisation against one of the oldest Jewish charities, the JC has learned.
The Labour leader proposed an Early Day Motion (EDM) in March 2011 which welcomed the launch of the Stop The Jewish National Fund campaign – which accused the JNF of being a global fundraiser for “ethnic cleansing, occupation and apartheid.”
The EDM, which was signed by Mr McDonnell, said that the campaign to Stop the JNF had been launched by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) – a network of anti-Zionists who argue Zionism is racism – alongside the Palestinian Boycott National Committee and Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
The Stop The JNF Campaign accuses the Jewish charity of supporting “the creation of an exclusive and discriminatory Jewish state” and states that its ultimate mission is “to expose and challenge the very premise of the State of Israel; it is not possible to build the basis for a democratic and pluralistic state through colonization and dispossession”.
The JNF is a not-for-profit organisation that works to support Israel through infrastructure and environmental projects.
According to JNF UK, the projects include relieving poverty, bringing hi-tech industries to remote desert towns and promoting community development to transform the cultural life of the Negev.
Mr Corbyn’s EDM – which was also backed by Sir Gerald Kaufman, the late Labour MP who repeatedly attacked Israel - said:
“That this House welcomes the Stop the Jewish National Fund (JNF) Campaign launched on 30 March 2011 by the Palestinian Boycott National Committee, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and others to inform the public about the JNF - Karen Kayemet L'Yisrael, its ongoing illegal expropriation of Palestinian land, concealing of destroyed Palestinian villages beneath parks and forests, and prevention of refugees from returning to their homes; notes that the JNF's constitution is explicitly discriminatory by stating that land and property will never be rented, leased or sold to non-Jews; further notes that the UN rejected the JNF USA's application for consultative status with the Economic and Social Council on the ground that it violates the principles of the UN Charter on Human Rights; regrets that the Prime Minister is a JNF honorary patron; and believes that there is just cause to consider revocation of the JNF's charitable status in the UK.”
Last August, the JC revealed how Mr McDonnell had praised the founding of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN) in an EDM in 2008, saying it had given a voice to Jews who condemned Israel’s “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinians.
One of IJAN’s most prominent members was the late Holocaust survivor Hajo Meyer, who gave a speech at an event attended by Mr Corbyn in which he repeatedly compared Israeli activities in Gaza to the mass killing of Jews by the Nazis.
He also once said he was "100 per cent convinced" believed 9/11 was fake and "people from Israel who worked in the towers had been warned not to come to work in the morning".
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