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| March 27, 2008 By Edward C. Corrigan University of Western Ontario President Davenport has accepted an award from the Jewish National Fund despite the protest of 36 members of the University of Western Ontario faculty. Many individuals including many Jews, contend that the JNF is a racist organization that discriminates against non-Jews. For example there is a letter signed by two Jewish organizations and 34 individual Jewish signatories protesting a JNF event being held at Windsor Castle to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel. Israeli Uri Davis's book, Israel: An Apartheid State details the discriminatory policies of the JNF and many other Israeli practices that discriminate against non-Jews. Professor Davis spoke at Western in the fall of 2005. The JNF also was used to cover up the ethnic cleansing and destruction of three Palestinian villages in 1968. In the place of these villages "Canada Park" was created by the JNF and was subsidized by the Canadian tax payer. A CBC Fifth Estate program about the JNF and Canada Park, was broadcast on 21 October, 1991 entitled "A Park with no Peace.” This program interviewed eye witnesses and documented the war crimes committed by Israel and how the JNF was used to cover up those crimes. In 1995 an Israeli Arab couple, the Kadans, tried to buy an apartment on land owned by the JNF. For 10 years the JNF and the Israeli Lands Authority refused to lease this "Jewish" land to these non-Jews. They took their case to court. Eventually the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that state land could not be sold to Jews only. Unfortunately 93% of the land in Israel is governed by this racist criteria of excluding non-Jews. This Israeli Supreme Court ruling caused huge embarrassment among Jews worldwide. Many Jews asked how could Jews protest against anti-Semitism when condoning blatantly racist practices in Israel? America's Jewish Reform Movement, to which most American Jews adhere, strongly condemned the practice. The JNF's bylaws and operations were deemed to represent racial discrimination by the United Nations Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights in 1998. To quote the UN Committee: The Committee notes with grave concern that the Status Law of 1952 authorizes the World Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency and its subsidiaries including the Jewish National Fund to control most of the land in Israel, since these institutions are chartered to benefit Jews exclusively. Despite the fact that the institutions are chartered under private law, the State of Israel nevertheless has a decisive influence on their policies and thus remains responsible for their activities. A State Party cannot divest itself of its obligations under the Covenant by privatizing governmental functions. The Committee takes the view that large-scale and systematic confiscation of Palestinian land and property by the State and the transfer of that property to these agencies, constitute an institutionalized form of discrimination because these agencies by definition would deny the use of these properties by non-Jews. Thus, these practices constitute a breach of Israel's obligations under the Covenant." Former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Meron Benvenisti, wrote in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz on June 29, 2006, "it's well known that the "national institutions" - the Jewish Agency and Jewish National Fund – primarily exist to enable institutional discrimination based on ethnicity while clearing the state from accusations that it deviates from universal norms common to liberal democracies." To avoid overturning the practice held to be racist the JNF adopted policies to circumvent the law. Benvenisti wrote, "A classic example is the High Court of Justice's decision regarding the Kada'an family, which was perceived at the time as dealing for the first time with the principle of equality, confronting the Zionist principle of "redeeming the land," and presenting a victory of democracy over the apartheid inherent to the national institutions' land distribution policies. Those institutions quickly learned how to "minimize the damage" and continue with their discriminatory policy." Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz in early 2005 also forbade the Jewish National Fund from issuing tenders for Jews only. To quote Benvenisti, "And once again, a way was found to circumvent the decision through "land swaps," which only strengthened the JNF as a discriminatory institution with racist policies." The JNF refused to obey the Israeli Supreme Court ruling and continued the discriminatory practice with the Israeli state authorities refusing to enforce the ruling of their highest court. The JNF launched a campaign to reverse the court's decision. In 2007 a JNF Bill was introduced into the Knesset, to continue the discriminatory practice, which passed on the first reading by 64-16 votes. The implications are quite clear. If Israel is a "Jewish state" then it cannot be a state of all its citizens who have equal rights. In Israel 25% of the population is non-Jewish and is severely discriminated against and denied basic democratic and social rights. This bill prompted Israel's newspaper, Ha'aretz, to publish an editorial titled, "A racist Jewish state" condemning the discriminatory practices of the JNF and the Israel Lands Authority. The late and prominent member of the London Jewish community, Bernard Wolfe, who I had the privilege of knowing, decided to challenge the restrictive convent that barred Jews, Catholics and Blacks from living in the Beaches Pines resort in Grand Bend. As a result of this legal challenge, and others, restrictive covenants which barred individuals on the basis of race or religion from owning land have been declared racist and illegal in Canada. I wonder if President Davenport would accept an award from the South African apartheid state or the Klu Klux Klan that discriminated against Blacks. Would he accept an award from an organization that discriminated against Jews? I hope that he would not accept such a dubious honour. Yet he accepts an award from an organization that discriminates against Muslims and Christian Palestinians and members of all other religions except Judaism. The JNF also excludes from its lands any other race or ethnic group except those individuals whose mother was Jewish. The question must be asked why is President Davenport accepting an award from a racist organization? Edward C. Corrigan BA, M.A., LL.B UWO Alumni 1977 and 1991 Edward C. Corrigan is a lawyer certified as a Specialist in Citizenship and Immigration Law and Immigration and Refugee Protection by the Law Society of Upper Canada in London, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at corriganlaw@edcorrigan.ca or at (519) 439-4015. |