Over the coming months the AJDS is developing our approach to this campaign. In this meantime this page should be considered a skeleton of what we hope it will be. Please join our supporter mailing list to keep up to date on progress.
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Where we stand
As Jews, we can at any time go to, and settle in Israel with support of the State. This is not the case for Palestinians, who have increasingly had their freedoms and rights encroached upon and diminished. We therefore believe that it is our responsibility to speak out about the systemic injustices and brutal policies of occupation and militarisation in Israel. The AJDS has a strong record of speaking out against the wars in Israel and towards a just and peaceful solution for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Fighting for equal human rights for both Israeli Jews and Palestinians has been a core principle of the AJDS since its inception. Through a shared belief in global and unconditional social justice, members of the AJDS can unite behind the following campaigns, statements and actions, despite holding a range of opinions regarding what’s best for the future of the Middle East, the relationship between diaspora Jewry and Israel, and the growing Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions movement. While we don’t have an official position for a solution, we believe that the policies of occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza violate the human rights of Palestinians, undermine the fragile state of democracy in Israel, and promote despair and violence. This policy ultimately damages the possibility for long lasting justice, peace and safety for both Israeli Jews and Palestinians.
The AJDS also runs specific campaigns to stop trading with illegal settlements as well as to raise awareness around the activities of the Jewish National Fund.
In November the AJDS co-hosted acclaimed Israeli journalist Gideon Levy.
Levy spoke on ‘The Israelis and the Occupation: A Story of Denial’
AJDS MINI DOCUMENTARY ON ‘BATTLE OF BEERSHEBA’ AND BALFOUR COMMEMORATIONS
We need to talk about 1917. 1947. 1948. And we need to talk about today, as the already displaced communities of Naqab Bedouin Palestinians are displaced yet again by the demolition of their homes for forest projects of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).
10 Reasons Why Settlements are Bad
1. Settlements violate the international laws that govern war and occupation, as well as international human rights law.
2. The construction of Israeli-only roads to facilitate travel between the settlements and Israel has meant that Palestinians are often unable to easily access their villages, jobs, schools, and basic services
3. Settlements take resources from Palestinians, including, but not limited to, land for living, development, and the cultivation of crops.
4. The Israeli Government funds settlers and settlements at a much higher rate than other Israeli citizens, thus drawing significant amounts of money away from vital social services and towards the settlement project.
5. Settlements are often built on top of aquifers: they are deliberately designed to take water from Palestinians.
6. The development of settlements, and their accompanying roads and infrastructure, has serious effects on the environment in the West Bank.
7. The existence of settlements means that violent settlers live close to civilian Palestinians, often attacking them, stealing livestock, crops, water, and destroying olive trees.
8. Settlements create violent situations.
9. The law is applied differently to different people
10. The existence of settlements affects women in particular, gendered ways.
This AJDS campaign centres on questions about the Jewish National Fund and its role in taking land from Palestinians and Bedouins in Israel.
The Jewish National Fund is a central and unquestioned feature of the Jewish community. Donation boxes from the JNF are present in nearly all Jewish shops, schools, synagogues and other institutions.
Amongst the campaigns allegations are claims that the JNF is institutionally discriminatory, is active in the displacement of Bedouins from their homes in the Negev, funds infrastructure for illegal settlement construction and plants trees in an environmentally destructive manner.
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Don’t Buy Settlement Products
Because settlements are seen as an obstruction to peace, many Jews around the world have committed themselves to not buying from settlements.
What’s Behind the JNF?
Follow the link to find our more about what is behind the Jewish National Fund.
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