I have long admired the musical talents of Pete Seeger and his efforts on behalf of environmental causes (News Briefs, March 4). It is therefore quite shocking to read that he expressed regrets about participating in an event that supported the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies because he listened to false reports that allege that JNF, a supporter of the Arava Institute, has taken Palestinian lands for development. If he heard these reports from either Adalah-NY or the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition, the other organizations mentioned in your story, then those organizations have to be taken to task for spreading these lies about JNF. JNF remains a strong supporter of the Arava Institute, located in Kibbutz Ketura in the Southern Arava Region in Israel, which is one of the regions’ leading environmental research and teaching institutes.
Vice President for Israel Relations
Jewish National Fund
