Charity Commission Ask for Evidence on Issues Relating to JNF UK

Charity Commission Ask PSC to Submit Evidence on Issues Relating to JNF UK

Over 4000 of you wrote to the Charity Commission and Attorney General, asking them to investigate the charitable status of JNF UK, due to their support for the Israeli military and complicity in the ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people. While the Attorney General hasn’t responded – the Charity Commission has.

While they didn’t commit to an investigation, they’ve asked us to submit evidence relating to the issues we outlined.  

PSC has responded, outlining the JNF UKs support for the Israeli military. We’ve stated:

“JNF UK lists a remittance to Israel titled ‘Tzuk Eitan Gaza war effort’ in its 2014 and 2015 annual accounts. Tzuk Eitan is Israel’s name for its 51-day aerial bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza in 2014, which killed over 2,100 Palestinians. The United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict found credible allegations that Israel had committed war crimes through its indiscriminate targeting of civilians.

In its Statement of Strategic Intent, the Commission states that it aims to ensure the public can make informed decisions when donating to a charity. It is therefore vital the Charity Commission find where this money went, to ensure public choice is informed.”

We’ve also outlined evidence of the JNF UKs complicity in the ongoing dispossession of Palestinians.

“As stated in its 2016 Annual Accounts (section 13: restricted funds) JNF UK has provided funds for the OR Movement, an Israeli organisation which supports Jewish settlement of the Negev and Galilee. The OR movement supported the construction of the Jewish town of Hiran, which aims to replace the Palestinian Bedouin village of Umm-al-Hiran, which has been subject to forcible evacuation. JNF-KKL’s own website states that “[F]riends of JNF UK have supported…. The Hiran Forest”, part of the attempt to replace the Palestinian village.  Such demolitions are against international law. The United Nations have stated on numerous occasions that Bedouin Palestinians must be allowed to remain on their land”

The full letter can be read here: