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The High Court is playing with fire
By Israel Harel

At the Fifth Zionist Congress, held in Basel in 1901, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) was founded. Its aim: to redeem lands in the Land of Israel for Jewish settlement. These lands, according to Benjamin Zeev -(Theodor) Herzl, were to be the "eternal property of the Jewish people." And as though he had foreseen what was to happen 106 years later, he stipulated: "The Jewish people will be not only the founder [of the JNF], but also its owner in perpetuity. In that way, use [of the lands] for aims other than the founder?s will be prevented."

Next Monday, the High Court of Justice will deliberate on a petition against the JNF by Adalah - the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). Their demand: to revoke the provision in the JNF's charter whereby it is not allowed to hand lands over to anyone who is not Jewish, on the grounds that this provision discriminates racially.

It is a pity that the High Court did not immediately reject this petition, which is asking the Supreme Court of the Jewish state to issue a ruling in principle that the Jewish people does not have a right to possess lands of its own in its own nation-state. The High Court knows, after all, that the real purpose of the petition is to further erode the legitimacy of a Jewish nation-state in the Land of Israel. Fact: In the proposed constitution that it published recently, Adalah rejected Israel's existence as a Jewish state.

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If the High Court, as it should, rules in the spirit of Yaakov Hazan, the leader of Mapam (a precursor of today's Meretz) - that "JNF lands, which were purchased with the Jewish people's money, are sacrosanct for Jewish settlement, just as waqf lands are sacrosanct for the needs of the Muslim community" - the Arab sector and post-Zionist Jews will accuse the High Court of discrimination and even racism. If, on the other hand, the High Court rules that the JNF regulations are discriminatory - as the attorney general also argues - it will elicit the ire of most of the Jewish public and once again prove that on issues that go to the root of the state's soul, it, because of its makeup, reflects only a small segment of the Jewish public.

About two months ago, the Knesset voted on a bill that would anchor the JNF's right to lease lands only to Jews. Sixty-four MKs voted in favor and only 16, mainly Arabs, voted against. If the High Court refuses to change its spots this time as well, it will - because of the same ideological and emotional forces that led to the bill's submission - arouse the wrath of the Knesset, and of the vast majority of the Jewish public, against itself even more than before.

Even former Supreme Court president Justice Aharon Barak, the premier activist, wrote that "a Jewish state is a state for which settling Jews in its fields and villages is the foremost duty." But how will it be able to achieve this foremost concern if the High Court of the Jewish state determines that lands that were acquired in order to "settle Jews in its fields and villages must also be sold for Arab settlement? This settlement has as its aim - and recently, explicitly so - thwarting Jewish settlement for nationalist reasons, as even the leftmost fringe of Zionism, like Hazan and Barak, understood.

For more than 100 years, Jews have been donating money to redeem lands so that they would be the Jewish people's property in perpetuity. The High Court does not have the authority to ignore their intentions and force them to give their property, decades after they donated money for this purpose, for the opposite aim, which is contrary to their conscience and belief. Moreover, a great many of these donors have passed away, so it is not possible to obtain their agreement for this incomprehensible move.
In statements issued in advance of the High Court's deliberations, Professor Yisrael Robert Aumann and former army chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon said, inter alia, that had they known that the lands that were purchased with the money from their donations and the money they raised on the JNF?s behalf were not exclusively for Jewish settlement, they would have neither donated nor raised funds - because this in effect defrauds those from whom they solicited the funds.

Undermining the JNF is the last step before undermining the Law of Return. If the High Court rules in favor of Adalah, it will sow consternation and doubt - even if it wraps its remarks in verbiage about rights and equality - with respect to the very right to have a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. The day is not far off when Adalah will also petition against the Law of Return. And the logic that guides the High Court in the matter of the JNF will also, inevitably, guide it with respect to the Law of Return.

Was poet Natan Alterman mistaken when he wrote that "no nation would retreat when its life is being undermined"? The High Court of Justice has the answer.
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  1.   All very nice, but we now have a state 10:02  |  Slibovitz 20/09/07
  2.   israel harel is absolutely right 10:08  |  benzion 20/09/07
  3.   You are 100% mistaken Mr. Israel Harel 10:20  |  Khalil Abo Mohammad 20/09/07
  4.   For want of a crystal ball, the JNF was established 10:25  |  Natallie Durson 20/09/07
  5.   the court is NOT the nation 11:31  |  Joe Jew 20/09/07
  6.   maybe the hareidim are right. 11:33  |  Another Jew 20/09/07
  7.   Moral right 11:51  |  Minister 20/09/07
  8.   so fire the supreme court 11:59  |  burning jew 20/09/07
  9.   Enough of the "shtetl Jew" mentality 12:55  |  Danny 20/09/07
  10.   Playing with a Stacked Deck 12:59  |  Hadas 20/09/07
  11.   New Israel Fund 13:00  |  Yisrael 20/09/07
  12.   Dear Khalil. who was the majority in1848? 14:00  |  Joe Jew 20/09/07
  13.   From a Rabbi to a minister 14:07  |  Rabbi 20/09/07
  14.   #9 danny and absolute equality? where ? 14:19  |  victor hardman 20/09/07
  15.   Cut out the middle man 14:51  |  Yoav Naor 20/09/07
  16.   Moral right again, Rabbi 15:01  |  Minister 20/09/07
  17.   NO "palestinians" in Palestine until about 1916 15:31  |  mike 20/09/07
  18.   From Middle to RIGHT - I MOVE 15:39  |  mike 20/09/07
  19.   Minister #7- that`s less than half of the truth 15:52  |  Polybios 20/09/07
  20.   Diversity requires specialization. 15:53  |  AV 20/09/07
  21.   Dont forget Amish villages and Haredi municipalities: theyre nice 15:56  |  AV 20/09/07
  22.   Mr. Harel supports enshrining second-class citizenship 16:21  |  Jozef 20/09/07
  23.   Minister of Glasgow 16:22  |  Catherine 20/09/07
  24.   If this were Poland in 1944 16:24  |  Chick 20/09/07
  25.   The absence of Jewish Israel = antihuman Islamist Hamas-stan 16:26  |  Joe 20/09/07
  26.   Moral rights are not LEGAL rights, not RIGHTS at all 16:43  |  mike 20/09/07
  27.   the high court is not playing with fire 16:45  |  mohamed ali 20/09/07
  28.   To the Minister of the Mosque of Glasgo 16:53  |  mike 20/09/07
  29.   Jews can be quite amazing people 17:05  |  Mark B. 20/09/07
  30.   secular democracy or a jewish state 17:15  |  rickibobbi 20/09/07
  31.   Israeli racism 17:17  |  Olek 20/09/07
  32.   you are 100% mistaken mr. khalil 17:45  |  vladimir 20/09/07
  33.   the other side 17:46  |  Minister 20/09/07
  34.   Islamists are the greediest of all humans 17:49  |  Catherine 20/09/07
  35.   #17 Your British papers 17:54  |  Rebekah S 20/09/07
  36.   Disturbing racism 17:57  |  Rick 20/09/07
  37.   @22, jozef why not permit jews to use waqf land? 17:58  |  vladimir 20/09/07
  38.   What is this nonsense 18:11  |  Israeli guy 20/09/07
  39.   Oops! 18:17  |  Minister 20/09/07
  40.   Israel must remain the "Racist Entity"That it is. 18:28  |  Labhras 20/09/07
  41.   Rick, check your facts 18:34  |  Fluffy 20/09/07
  42.   Glasgow Minister 18:35  |  Polybios 20/09/07
  43.   High Court Playing With Fire 18:46  |  David Latner 20/09/07
  44.   High Court 18:51  |  David Latner 20/09/07
  45.   Moral Right 18:58  |  dlatner 20/09/07
  46.   Racist pure and simple 19:05  |  Man 20/09/07
  47.   Balance of credit 19:18  |  Minister 20/09/07
  48.   #29 Mark B. 19:37  |  Judith 20/09/07
  49.   Now we`re getting close to the real point, Minister 20:08  |  Polybios 20/09/07
  50.   Not Racist: Stupid Leftists Don`t Even Know What Racism Is. 20:37  |  Ariel 20/09/07
  51.   Palestinians, U.N. build on Jewish-owned land 20:41  |  Joseph E . Post 1 20/09/07
  52.   Palestinians, U.N. build on Jewish-owned land 20:41  |  Joseph E . post 2 20/09/07
  53.   do to others as you want done to you 21:03  |  Billy Jack 20/09/07
  54.   Judith 21:03  |  Euro 20/09/07
  55.   Protecting the Rights of the Majority 21:15  |  Tipton 20/09/07
  56.   The Jewish nation-state welcomes Muslims but rejects Islamism 21:19  |  Hal 20/09/07
  57.   The US is a democracy - and has Native-American-only tribal land 21:21  |  AV 20/09/07
  58.   Jews are the aborigines of Judea, especially Jerusalem 21:25  |  AV 20/09/07
  59.   Minister is a wolf in sheep`s clothing 21:32  |  Catherine 20/09/07
  60.   #40 lab arse and the usual misguided anti semitic comments 21:36  |  victor hardman 20/09/07
  61.   High court facing loss of legitimacy 21:37  |  Moshe 20/09/07
  62.   #34 Catherine re greedy Illegal Settlers 21:46  |  Labhras 20/09/07
  63.   #35 Rebekah S 21:50  |  Labhras 20/09/07
  64.   #43 David Latner 21:57  |  Labhras 20/09/07
  65.   To #37: Vladimir: Dubious analogy 21:58  |  Jozef 20/09/07
  66.   `Leftist millionaires` influencing JNF? 22:09  |  Joseph E . 20/09/07
  67.   AV--57 22:11  |  steve 20/09/07
  68.   AV 58 22:13  |  steve 20/09/07
  69.   re: Slibovitz 22:32  |  Efox 20/09/07
  70.   #59 Victor Hardman-dates 22:50  |  Labhras 20/09/07
  71.   most people don`t know what is racist 23:05  |  Waggow 20/09/07
  72.   JNF High Court 23:16  |  Adil 20/09/07
  73.   # 54 Euro 23:16  |  judith 20/09/07
  74.   JNF lands 23:19  |  Cardozo 20/09/07
  75.   JNF 23:25  |  Jerry 20/09/07
  76.   legal theft 23:33  |  yakub 20/09/07
  77.   Mohd Ali fire 23:44  |  Bob 20/09/07
  78.   if they say yes then high court must be impeached immediately 00:06  |  ralph 21/09/07
  79.   Israel has ALREADY given a fair amount of Arab-Muslim-only land 00:21  |  AV 21/09/07
  80.   The ancestors of Jews and Samaritans are aboriginal Canaanites 00:36  |  AV 21/09/07
  81.   The land was purchased - with donated funds 01:36  |  Dr david I . Gross