Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund ( Hebrew קרן קימת לישראל, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael literally: Eternal Fund for Israel) (abbreviated JNF or KKL ) in Jerusalem sees itself as part of the Zionist movement, which is supposed to enable Jewish people to live in Israel. He supports environmental projects in Israel and is active in forestry across the country .
history
The Jewish National Fund was founded in Basel in 1901 by Johann Kremenezky on behalf and on the initiative of Theodor Herzl as a pioneer of a Jewish state. Until 1948 he was mainly engaged in the acquisition of land for Jewish settlers in the British Mandate Palestine , supported by financial help from the Jewish communities worldwide.
Since the founding of the State of Israel, the Jewish National Fund has been involved in the cultivation of the country, including a. by planting 260 million trees, as of 2006. Since an agreement with the Israeli government in 1961, the organization has been responsible for afforestation and forestry. One of these projects is the forest of the German federal states , which the prime ministers of the federal states launched together with the JNF in 1991. In 2016 around 500,000 trees grew, mainly acacias, carob trees, pines and olive trees north of Beer Sheba in the Negev desert.
For ten years, the focus of his activities has been on the management and increase of the country's scarce water resources.
Association activity in Germany
The German branch of the JNF was founded as a registered association in 1953 in Düsseldorf . The headquarters of the non-profit organization is in Düsseldorf - there are additional offices in Berlin , Frankfurt am Main and Munich .
Around 16,000 donors in Germany regularly support the Jewish National Fund with its projects to green Israel. In events, lectures, exhibitions and planting trips, the Jewish National Fund provides information about the need for reforestation in Israel. Once a year, the Golden Olive Branch is awarded as the highest honor for special services to Israel .
The most important projects are the re-greening of the Negev desert and the construction of long-term vital water reservoirs .
The actions and projects of the JNF are intended to show solidarity with Israel.
The fund has a special connection with Germany through the Forest of the German Lands project near Be'er Scheva . Thanks to the many donations from Germany, 420,000 trees have already been planted in the “forest of the German states” in Israel.
The JNF also initiated the Forest of Nations , in which trees are symbolically planted on behalf of heads of state and government as a sign of solidarity . In June 2013, the former ambassador of South Africa to Israel, Ismail Coovadia, protested against the use of his name for the reforestation of the area above the destroyed Bedouin village of al-Araqib. He feels that the JNF's use of his name is a violation of his moral integrity and dignity.
support
The JNF is financed through private donations and bequests.
criticism
In recent years, various criticisms of the JNF have been voiced, including the policy of Keren Kajemeth LeIsrael (Financial Fund for Israel) and the geopolitics pursued by the JNF , in this context u. a. also at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the JNF's collaboration with the right-wing extremist settler organization Elad in the expulsion of a Palestinian family from East Jerusalem .
Environmental protection and cooperation
There are a number of projects where the JNF and Bedouin work closely together. The aim of these JNF projects is to improve the quality of life of the Bedouin population of the Negev. For example, a water reservoir was built in the Bedouin town of Rahat and the “Gerar River Park” and the associated promenade were laid out. In order to raise awareness of the environment, the JNF-KKL has launched the “Clean up Campaign”, which draws attention to the problem of human pollution. The JNF has also created plantings that serve to counteract soil erosion and devastation caused by overgrazing and to improve soil quality. This also benefits the Bedouins and their herds.
literature
- Susan Nathan: The Other Side of Israel: My Journey Across the Jewish-Arab Divide. HarperCollins, 2005, ISBN 0007195109 (biographical report on the background to the activities of the Jewish National Fund in Israel)
- They gave me thorns. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2005, ISBN 3-7857-2225-7
Headquarters in Germany
- Jewish National Fund eV, Kaiserstraße 28, D-40479 Düsseldorf
Web links
- Jewish National Fund eV
- Background information on the JNF-KKL
- JNF-KKL on the Israel National Trail
- Israel Congress of the JNF-KKL
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b NATIONAL REPORT OF ISRAEL, Years 2003-2005, TO THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION (UNCCD). (No longer available online.) July 2006, archived from the original on May 26, 2011 ; Retrieved March 13, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ KRISTINA BELLACH: Trees for Israel. Weser-Kurier, February 3, 2016, accessed on March 14, 2020 .
- ↑ Fatima Asmal, Not in my name, rages SA diplomat Mail & Guardian, June 14, 2013
- ↑ "Slumstories" video about the destruction of the Bedouin village of al-Araqib. In: Amnesty International Switzerland. March 10, 2011, accessed March 11, 2011 .
- ↑ Zafrir Rinat: "JNF using trees to thwart Bedouin growth in Negev". In: Haaretz . December 8, 2008, accessed January 7, 2011 .
- ^ Nir Hasson: Jewish National Fund Working to Evict Palestinian Family From East Jerusalem. In: Haaretz , January 2, 2018; Bradley Burston: Netanyahu's Israel Is Teaching the World How to Fight Occupation. In: Haaretz , January 3, 2018.
- ↑ http://www.kkl.org.il/kkl/english/main_subject/environmental_quality/international%20cleanup%20day%202010%20in%20israel.x
