I’ve signed a petition, organized by Richard Silverstein of Tikkun Olam and Dan Fleshler of Realisticdove , to protest the bill in the Israeli Knesset that would deny Arabs a right to lease land owned by the Jewish National Fund, the entity that 100 years ago began purchasing land in Palestine for Zionists. Flesher writes, "Let’s not forget that American
Jews were also victimized by ‘private’ discriminatory practices that
were the fashion of their time.
Hotels in the Catskills and elsewhere used to post signs that
proclaimed, ‘No Jews or dog allowed.’"
Here’s the petition:
We the undersigned express our profound disapproval and
sorrow at the Israeli Knesset’s recent passage, on first reading, of
the Jewish National Fund bill. The bill would prohibit Israel’s Arab
citizens from leasing land owned by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and
managed by the Israeli Land Authority (which administers 93% of
Israel’s land). The Israel High Court had earlier ruled that the ILA
cannot discriminate against Arabs in leasing such land. This new
legislation is an attempt to circumvent that ruling.We applaud the High Court for putting an end to a discriminatory
practice that should never have existed within a democratic state. We
also applaud the Israeli MK’s, Jewish and Arab that voted against the
amendment. If Israel is to be truly democratic, all its citizens must
have the right to lease land held in trust by the government of Israel.
Israel must not settle for anything less.We call upon to the Knesset to defeat the amendment when it comes up
for its next reading and to embrace values of equality and tolerance
for all its citizens.
