Utilizing tax return data gathered through Access to Information requests, this article probes the Canadian charitable sector for evidence of financial complicity in the aiding and abetting of Israeli war criminality and genocide. The evidence suggests that of the overall charitable donations heading from Canada to Israel, a significant percentage is bankrolling Israeli intermediaries directly involved in illegal settlement and military-related activities, in contravention of Canadian and international legal frameworks. Troublingly, an exhaustive probe of the potential Canadian charitable sector complicity was not possible, due to substantial deficiencies in reporting requirements. The overall lack of regulatory enforcement surrounding donations heading to Israel—in the light of credible unresolved accusations of anti-Muslim bias levied against the Canadian charitable regulator, specifically as it pertains to over-enforcement—raises troubling questions surrounding complicity in Israeli war criminality/genocide.
Israel’s genocidal siege of Gaza, since 7 October 2023, has put international complicity in Zionist expansion under a heightened degree of civil-society-derived pressure and scrutiny. Notably, the 19 July 2024 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) concerning the patent illegality of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem, and Gaza (ICJ 2024) was promptly followed up by a near-unanimous General Assembly vote at the United Nations, on 18 September 2024, confirming support for the advisory opinion (UN 2024b). The General Assembly vote was then followed up on 18 October 2024 by the publication of a Position Paper of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. The intention of the Position Paper was to guide member states as to their responsibilities in implementing the ICJ’s ruling, towards mitigating the potential of state complicity in Israel’s illegal occupation. Notably, as it pertains to this investigation, paragraph 31 of the Position Paper made specific note of the potential for non-profit-sector-derived financial complicity, warning that:
With respect to non-profit or non-governmental organizations, States must carefully review any organization that is financially or politically supporting the unlawful occupation. States shall not give support to these organizations, for example through allowing the organization to have tax-exempt status or providing tax deductibility for donations to the organization and must ensure that financial contributions to support the unlawful occupation, including settlements and settlers, cease. (UN 2024d)
In Canada, from where I write, efforts at highlighting non-profit-sector complicity in the aiding and abetting of Israeli war crimes and genocide have gained traction within civil society. In mid-2024, a call for an immediate investigation into Canadian charities providing funds to Israeli settlements and the Israeli military gathered over 12,000 signatures and was raised in the Canadian parliament (House of Commons 2024). A National Day of Action against charitable sector complicity in Israeli war crimes and genocide, the first of its kind, targeted Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offices across the country (BDS Movement 2024). The Canadian arts sector worked to boycott participation in competitions accepting prize money from charities and financial institutions complicit in war crimes and genocide, specifically the high-profile “Giller Prize”, Canada’s most prestigious literary award (Maimann 2024). An “Indigo Kills Kids” campaign (Indigo Kills Kids 2024)—targeting Zionist billionaires Gerald Schwartz and Heather Reisman, and the actions of their Heseg Foundation, which incentivizes “lone soldier” immigration to Israel (the colloquial name given to those who voluntarily immigrate to Israel without their biological families, then undertake mandatory military service) via offers of scholarships in exchange for service in the Israeli military (see Canadians for a Just Peace in the Middle East or CJPME 2023)—inspired actions at Indigo chain bookstores across Canada (Raveendran 2024). And, notably, the CRA revoked the charitable statuses of two Canadian charities complicit in Israeli war crimes: the Ne’eman Foundation Canada and the Jewish National Fund of Canada (CRA 2024e, 2024f)—the latter had been a focal point for decades-long activist campaigns, specifically for its greenwashing activities in occupied Palestine (see Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 1991). (more...)
Related:
Canada to Israel Charity Pipeline
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