It is important not only to stop this bill, but also to pressure the JNF to stop its discriminatory and racist practice. Although this bill is just coming to the Knesset now, the practice it seeks to encode in law has been carried out since the creation of the state of Israel. Whether officially on the books or not, this practice reflects on Israel as a country and Zionism as a movement.
It is past time for Israel to be counted among the family of responsible nations; regarding both the Arab nations of its region, as well as by the lawmakers of Israel's own Knesset.
For the JNF to purchase land for Jews was a worthy cause before Israel was created when Jews were an endangered minority. Now that Israel exists as a state, however, there is no need to protect Jewish land rights there, especially in a discriminatory way. All land in Israel should belong to all citizens. The JNF would be better served by getting out of the land business entirely and using its considerable resources for environmental reclamation, preservation of Jewish heritage sites and alleviation of Jewish poverty around the world.
When I was a kid in Habonim I was proud to work hard to raise money for JNF, now I'm old enough to see how it works, the least I can do is sign a petition like this.
I visited Israel in 1999, and at the time so admired the democracy and equal treatment I thought was extended Arabs and Christians. Please, don't backtrack but improve in this, dear friends!
