Protestors across Texas spent October pushing for the Dallas Hilton Anatole to cancel its agreement to host the Jewish National Fund’s annual Global Conference for Israel from Nov. 14-17. In a press release, a statewide coalition of anti-war and pro-Palestine groups called for an “anti-genocide protest” to begin outside the hotel 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 16, if the hotel goes forward with hosting the conference.
The coalition includes 12 state and national-level organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace’s Dallas and national chapters, Students for Justice in Palestine’s UTD and national chapter, CodePink, DFW Anti-War Committee, Palestinian Youth Movement, Veterans for Peace and the Party for Socialism and Liberation Willian Josef, an organizer with DFW’s branch of JVP, said in the press release that JVP has exhaustively reached out to hotel leadership via email, phone and in-person requests to express their concern about the conference, which he said enables “ecocide and ethnic cleansing.” Josef said the Hilton Anatole’s management has rebuffed all their requests so far.
On Oct. 21, JVP DFW posted an Instagram video of members visiting the Hilton Anatole in person to “make clear that the [hotel] is inviting … an organization complicit in genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing in violation of international law.” The video shows the protesters being removed from hotel grounds by security. On Nov. 1, coalition members organized a flier drop inside the hotel, covering portions of the first floor with anti-war fliers.
“The JNF has lied to our people, pretending that their blue boxes in many of our synagogues merely raise funds to plant trees in the Holy Land — ignoring the fact that these trees are planted on stolen land, often to cover up the ruins of displaced Palestinian villages,” Josef said.
In a Nov. 8 Instagram post, the coalition’s leaders said they “have sent almost 1,300 emails to [hotel] management” and organized a boycott of the Hilton Anatole. As of publication, the boycott has 30 vendor signatories and 25 additional interested vendors who will refuse to work with the hotel if the conference is not canceled; current boycotting vendors include photographers, wedding planners, caterers and bridal, make-up and art shops.
JNF’s website says the conference aims to promote “solidarity, inspiration, tactical and practical solutions to standing up against Jew-hatred,” and that attendees will “learn how to be a voice for Israel [and] stand together loud and proud in support of the Jewish homeland.” The conference will include speakers. a college summit, a high school summit and the JNF-USA Israel Expo, adding up to 54 total sessions across four days.
Speakers scheduled for the JNF conference have received criticism from the protest organizers for anti-Palestinian and anti-protest comments they have made in the past, including referring to Palestinians as “inhuman animals.” The organizers included “Palestinians” in brackets when quoting the comparison to animals, the original message does not specify who the message is targeted at and uses “they” in response to the Hamas attacks.
“For over 100 years, the JNF has funded the displacement of our people,” the UTD SJP chapter said in a Nov. 9 Instagram post, “Their mission is clear, ‘Not one village, not one tribe will be left.’ Today they hide behind green washing and charity, but their hands are stained with Palestinian blood.”
In the Nov. 9 post, UTD SJP said it opposes the “illegal land sales” which JNF facilitates in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. Gaber Rona, professor of international human rights at Cardoza Law School and former Human Rights First legal director, said in The Lawfare that “buying and selling real estate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories violates international law … and may constitute a war crime under the Rome Statute.” On July 19, the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion at the behest of the General Committee of the United Nations which criticized the “prolonged occupation” and “settlement policy” Israel was utilizing in the occupied Palestinian territory, and in a non-binding opinion, the court concluded that Israel’s actions in the region violated international law. JNF’s website says they are s “the single largest provider of Zionist programs in the U.S.,” and that since 1901, they have developed over 250,000 acres of land, planted over 260 million trees, crated more than 2,000 parks and built infrastructure for over 1,000 communities.
According to Human Rights Watch, JNF was founded in 1901 “with the aim of acquiring land in Israel for the settlement of Jews” and currently owns 13% of the land in Israel. JNF has special public authority status under Israeli law and operates under a mandate which prohibits it from selling any land to “non-Jews.” JNF is considered a charitable non-profit organization in Israel and the U.S., but had its charitable status in Canada revoked in August 2024. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported that the Canada Revenue Agency believed that JNF’s mission was “inconsistent with Canadian laws governing charitable activity,” which JNF responded to in a statement sayingit was surprised the CRA made its decision without consulting JNF about paths towards maintaining compliance with Canadian law. Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin said in a Nov. 8 Instagram post that the coalition should work on removing JNF’s tax-exempt status in the U.S., and in the meantime protesters should demonstrate against JNF’s global conference.
The planned November protest is not the first demonstration organized against JNF during its conferences. The December 2023 conference held in Denver included what CBS News described as reports of both protesters and attendees feeling unsafe.
“We can’t let the [JNF Global Conference] happen,” Benjamin said in her Instagram post. “Let’s contact the Hilton and tell them to not host the JNF. We don’t want them in Dallas. Say no to the JNF. Say no to genocide and ecocide.”