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Letter to the President of Badia Research & Development Center

Mr. Mohammad Shahbaz, President
Badia Research & Development Center
Higher Council for Science & Technology
Amman, Jordan

February 1, 2006

Dear Mr. Shahbaz

Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, wishes to express our utter dismay toward your institution's association with the International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC) of which The Jewish National Fund (JNF or KKL in Hebrew) is a member that practices racism and genocidal policies http://www.hrweb.org/legal/genocide.html.

Your institution's association with IALC and hence the JNF/KKL is in violation of international law and also Arab League resolutions. See http://www.badil.org/Documents/Protection/Protect-Documents-LAS.htm.

We are particularly astonished that an institution in a country with a majority Palestinian population would even consider associating with the enemy of our people.

We strongly share the concerns of the Palestine Land Society, London and are in full support of their attached letter.

We urge you to take our concerns seriously and reconsider your participation in the IALC.

We will be sharing this letter with our many contacts around the world urging them to contact you as well.

Sincerely,

Coordinating Committee
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
PO Box 131352
Carlsbad, CA 92013, USA
Tel: 760-685-3243
Fax: 360-933-3568
E-mail: info@al-awda.org
WWW: http://al-awda.org

Attachment: Letter from the Palestine Land Society to Mr. Mohammad Shahbaz

From: Plands
To: shahbaz@hcst.gov.jo
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 1:26 PM
Subject: JNF Penetration of US and Arab Institutions

Mr. Mohammad Shahbaz
President
Badia Research & Development Centre
Higher Council for Science & Technology
Amman, Jordan

16 January 2006

Dear Mohammad Shahbaz

We wish to draw your attention to your association with the International Arid Lands Consortium (IALC) which involves cooperation with a member institution that practices racism and apartheid policies, namely Jewish National Fund (JNF or KKL in Hebrew). This practice is in violation of international law and the Arab League resolutions.

As you may be aware, IALC was established in 1989 to channel funds from the US Department of Agriculture which were used frequently to serve JNF projects in Israel. Six US universities are IALC members because of their desert research departments. Egypt and Jordan were invited to join IALC because they are the only Arab countries which signed treaties with Israel. No other Arab, Muslim, Asian or African country was invited to join, although, as IALC map clearly shows, vast deserts exist in them. JNF defines itself as the sole representative of Israel's interests in this field.

The JNF violations of international law are numerous. Please see full report at: http://www.plands.org/JNF%20Report1.pdf. In the period 1948-1950, after the conquest of Palestine, JNF confiscated 2,550 sq.km of Palestinian land by a fictitious and unlawful 'sale' agreement with David Ben Gurion. The confiscated land was the property and home of several hundred ethnically-cleansed Palestinian villages (list available). According to UN resolution 194 of 11 December 1948, subsequently affirmed annually since then by resolutions, and several other resolutions notably resolution A/RES/59/120 dated 15 December 2004:

 

Reaffirms that the Palestine refugees are entitled to their property and to the income derived therefrom, in conformity with the principles of equity and justice. [A/Res/59/120 dated 15 December 2004, para 1]...

Calls upon all the parties concerned to provide the Secretary-General with any pertinent information in their possession concerning Arab property, assets and property rights in Israel that would assist him in the implementation of the present resolution. [A/Res/59/120 dated 15 December 2004, para 4].

JNF destroyed most depopulated village houses, looted property in them, erased their traces in its maps, and set up kibbutz and moshavim through "rental" agreements. JNF "afforestation" projects extend over 82 villages that includes areas on which JNF parks are situated (list available) to conceal the remains of these villages. Many of the holy sites on these lands, particularly mosques, were destroyed or neglected. In violation of human rights and common standards of decency, many places of worship were transformed into bars, restaurants or stables (list available).

But the most noticeable violation was the practice of racist and apartheid policies against the Palestinians who are citizens of Israel. JNF forbids a Palestinian citizen of Israel from renting, living, using, buying or working on a piece of land (owned by Palestinians before confiscation) acquired by JNF after Palestine conquest in 1948. The well-known case of Ka'adan who actually purchased a house through an intermediary in a so-called "Jewish neighbourhood", and was not allowed to take possession of his house, has been published by the media.

The so called Negev development by JNF, now accelerated to accommodate the departing colonial settlers from Gaza, brought destruction to the Palestinian community in the Negev. Their land is confiscated, their houses are demolished and their crops are air-sprayed with toxics. As the appeals by the Regional Council of Unrecognized Villages in Naqab to the UN and media testify, the destruction of their society is similar to the devastation of the refugee camps in Rafah. (For more details, see the website of the Arab Association of Human Rights in Israel, www.arabhra.org).

The Treaty-based UN Committees on human rights, as well as the human rights groups, have repeatedly censured these JNF practices. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights stated on 4 December 1998:

 

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 to non-Jews. Thus, these practices constitute a breach of Israel's obligations under the Covenant. [ E/C.12/1/Add.27 dated 4 December 1998, para 11].


Further the UN Committee insisted on 5 June 2002 on enforcing a remedy to this violation as follows:

 

Please provide information on the steps undertaken by the State party to implement the Committee's recommendation that the State party review its links with institutions such as the World Zionist Organization/Jewish Agency and Jewish National Fund with a view to remedying the problems identified in paragraph 11 of the Committee's concluding observations on the State party's initial report (E.C.12/1/Add.27). [E/C.12/Q/ISR/2 dated 5 June 2002, para 6].

It is therefore extremely surprising, and objectionable, that your institution is partnering with JNF and its representative is a man who is heavily involved in these racist policies and holds a high position in IALC, thus providing a platform, through the credibility of IALC, for the pursuit of JNF practices. Joseph Hess was named Vice President of IALC. Hess, an American of German-Jewish origin, is the Vice President of Government Relations in the JNF. Although Hess's connection with arid zones is tenuous (he has Aeronautics background), his high position in JNF's "Government Relations" allows him to deflect policies in favour of Israel's and JNF's racist policies, and obtain a disproportionate share of USDA federal appropriations of $11.3 million. Meanwhile, as a consolation or camouflage, paltry sum is spent on a project conducted by Rida Al-Adamat of Badia Research and Development, Amman, Jordan.

IALC Overview describes JNF's achievements as: "...reclamation of 875,000 acres (3,675 sq km) for farming, housing and industry, preparation for 1,100 rural villages [read: colonial settlements] and creation of 450 regional parks".

Does the JNF legally own these properties?

Does it have a proof which can legally stand scrutiny?

These "1,100 rural villages" are built on the sites of ethnically-cleansed Palestinian villages. The 450 parks are in fact the sites of these villages for which we can provide a list. Moreover, the Palestinian owners of this land, even if citizens of Israel, are prohibited by JNF from treading on this land, even to visit their village sites or repair their cemetries or mosques.

Therefore, we are distressed to see that an Arab institution be an accomplice, even unwittingly, in aiding and abetting JNF evil policies against its own Arab citizens.

We therefore urge you to disassociate your institution from JNF racist and apartheid policies, cease and desist from any association with JNF.

No doubt human rights groups and interested media do not condone JNF's racist policies and will make their voice heard when this matter is publicized in the US, Europe and Arab media.

Our earnest hope, therefore, is that Badia Research & Development Centre, Higher Council for Science & Technology will take immediate action to disassociate itself from policies and practices of racism and apartheid. We look forward to your early positive response.

Palestine Land Society, London





 

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