Anti-annexation group projects message at Foreign Office, Board and JNF

A Jewish group opposed to Israel’s annexation plans projected their message literally on Wednesday night, when they took their protest to the heart of Whitehall.

Na’amod, a movement of British Jews against occupation, projected their anti-annexation message onto the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

The message, projected in large letters across the central London landmark, read: “British Jews demand freedom and equality for Palestinians.”

On Twitter, the group said they were “sending a message to the UK government from British Jews,” adding: “There is no justice without freedom and equality for all Palestinians and Israelis. Annexation and occupation are a moral crisis, one that demands consequences.”

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Na’amod’s eye-catching protest coincided with British Jewish leader Sir Mick Davis’s scathing critique of Israeli leaders’ pre-occupation with annexing Palestinian territory during a devastating second wave of coronavirus infections.

The projections are the latest salvo from Na’amod, which has said the threat of annexation represents “a day of reckoning” for the Jewish community.

In May activists posted a video saying annexation “would cement a system of apartheid in the West Bank in which Jews continue to enjoy all the benefits of Israeli citizenship whilst Palestinians are denied the most basic civil and political rights”.

Na’amod has been one of many voices critical of the Board of Deputies for not speaking out against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan, accusing the leaders of the representative body of being “apologists for annexation”.

A spokesperson for JNF UK criticised the group, saying:

“Na’amod claims that it is progressive, but evidently it is anything but. Rather than praising us for supporting all of Israel’s citizens, it complains about the location of our projects, despite the fact that they are situated within the Green Line — parts of Israel that only Hamas, Hizballah and other extremists would consider to be ‘occupied’.”

They added that” we have not had a single enquiry or complaint from the public as a result of last night’s disingenuous stunt by this fringe group.”