stopthejnf

The Stop the JNF Campaign is calling for activists for Palestinian rights to take action between March 30 (Land Day) and April 18 (Tax Day) to amplify efforts targeting the Jewish National Fund for its role in the ongoing displacement of Palestinians from their land. The JNF enjoys tax-exempt status as a charitable organization in … Stop The JNF Days of Action 2016

Beginning on the day that marks the New Year for Trees, Tuesday, February 3 is the Jewish holiday of Tu B’shvat, which honors the sacred miracle of trees. In many Jewish traditions, trees are celebrated as one of the most central symbols of life, and in Jewish law, there are strict prohibitions against destroying trees.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, leaders of the religious Zionist movement began a custom of planting trees in Jewish colonies in Palestine as part of a celebration of Tu B’shvat. In 1901, this tradition was then adopted by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) for its “Plant a Tree in Israel” Campaign. Since then, the JNF has shamelessly exploited Tu B’shvat as an opportunity to raise international funds and support for its tree plantings, which function to greenwash Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

In light of the People’s Climate Mobilization (PCM) in New York City during the weekend of September 21, said to have been the largest climate justice march in history with over 400,000 attendees, it is important to recognize the shifting landscape of the environmental movement. From a movement that has been largely white and middle class, there is an emerging movement that recognizes the importance of centering the leadership and issues of people of color and poor people most impacted by the climate crisis. Equally imperative, the framing of environmental issues should always include anti-colonial struggles and indigenous rights and sovereignty, as concerns over the environment can never be separated from indigenous struggles for land, resources and decolonization, as was laid out very clearly by indigenous organizers and activists of the PCM.

In the PCM’s effort to cast a wide net and include a broad range of people and groups concerned about climate change, it also brought in some organizations that do not belong in movements advancing an agenda of environmental and social justice. The PCM put out a statement explaining that it “will bring together a spectrum of people with a broad range of perspectives.” Yet the net was cast so wide that it attracted Zionist organizations to participate in the climate justice rally, including the Green Zionist Alliance (GZA), a classic greenwashing organization, whose stated purpose is “to educate and mobilize people around the world for Israel’s environment [and] to protect Israel’s environment,” which includes “planting millions of trees” in Israel.