Article of interest on Jewish National Fund's role in ethnic cleansing in Israel.

Ed Corrigan

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/activists-plaster-jnf-building-with-photos-of-razed-bedouin-homes-1.310756

Activists plaster JNF building with photos of razed Bedouin homes

The photos were posted "to protest the JNF's complicity in the crime of pushing the Arab and Bedouin residents of the Negev from their lands," according to a statement.

By Jack Khoury

Activists protesting demolitions in the Bedouin village of Al-Arakib covered the walls of the Jewish National Fund building in Tel Aviv with photographs documenting the destruction.

The photos were posted "to protest the JNF's complicity in the crime of pushing the Arab and Bedouin residents of the Negev from their lands," according to a statement.

As part of the effort to "Judaize" the Negev, the government leased much of the unrecognized village's lands to the JNF, for forestation purposes, said the activists.

In 2005, the JNF inaugurated the "Ambassadors' Forest" on the village's lands.

"We demand the JNF stop taking part in land grabs and pushing the Bedouins from their land," the statement read.

Dr. Awad Abu Farih, the spokesman for the local committee, told Haaretz he welcomed the protest.

"The JNF entered the picture as the operational wing of Israel Land Administration. This is a dangerous move for us - as long as there was a dispute with the ILA some agreement could be reached, but the JNF is a single-nation organization and leasing the land to it means it's not meant for Arabs."

The JNF was not available for comment by press time.