Anti-annexation fundraiser

A FUNDRAISER backed by a ‘collective’ of young British Jews has raised over £6,500 for three Israeli organisations that are campaigning against the Israeli government’s proposed annexation of portions of the West Bank.

The ‘Joint Fund Against Annexation’, which was created on June 10, had raised £6,500 from 316 individual donations as of Monday.

Money raised will be distributed via the New Israel Fund, an NGO that supports civil society and human rights organisations in Israel and the West Bank, to Peace Now, Standing Together and Zazim.

All three organisations are mobilising against any proposed annexations in the West Bank. #NoToAnnexation, which is running the fundraiser, is a collective of some 60 young British Jews from across the denominational spectrum that formed in April.

The group said that it was campaigning to “raise awareness of the implications of annexation in the Jewish community, particularly among young people, and raises funds for Israeli organisations opposing annexation.”

Toby Kunin, a representative for Noam, the youth movement of Masorti Judaism, to the Board of Deputies said that debates around annexation and the appointment of pro-annexation Tzipi Hotovely as Israeli ambassador to London represented a “turning point” in the Jewish “community’s relationship with Israel.”

Board of Deputies President Marie van der Zyl said that the Board was “here to facilitate this debate from all sides.”