Written by Jemaimah
According to the Chicago Jewish Community Online (website of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago), McDonald's Corporation whose global headquarters is based just outside Chicago is a major corporate partner of the Jewish United Fund(JUF)/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. McDonald's Corporation was honoured during JUF centennial celebration in 2000 as a first tier corporate partner to the cause of Zionism.
Through its Israel Commission, the JUF "works to maintain American military, economic and diplomatic support for Israel; monitors and,when necessary, responds to counter negative media coverage of Israel".
The JUF runs its "Partnership to Israel" program with its twinned Israeli Lachish region, comprising the city of Kiryat Gat and the rural areas of Lachish and Shafir. It provides financial aid annually to help the development of Kiryat Gat and to promote further illegal settlements there. This city is built on stolen Palestinian land - the lands of the villages of Iraq al Manshiya and Al-Faluja whose residents were ethnically cleansed in 1949 in contravention of International Law.
With all these facts and evidence illustrating McDonald's Corporation unrelenting support to further consolidate the existence of these illegal settlements and causing unabated oppression of the Palestinians, VPM has substantiated its demand to support the boycott of McDonald's.
