Jewish National Fund revoked by Canada Revenue Agency

 

In a win for those against apartheid and genocide, the Canada Revenue Agency is reportedly revoking the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund of Canada. Author Gabor Maté, Rabbi David Mivasair, Wesam Ahmad from Al Haq,  Professor Miles Howe and lawyer Shane Martinez will discuss this move that is likely to spur significant controversy at an online press conference today at 12 EST (Friday, July 26).

According to a statement JNF Canada released Thursday, the CRA has announced it will revoke the century-old organization’s charitable status. The reason reportedly given is its “support for military infrastructure in Israel” despite CRA charity guidelines stating clearly that “supporting the armed forces of another country is not” charitable.

In 2017 Rabbi Mivasair and three others filed a detailed complaint to the CRA and Minister of National Revenue over the JNF, which has had many Prime Ministers speak at its events. After an audit, the CRA required JNF Canada to adopt a series of measures it failed to comply with.

“While the Canada Revenue Agency has been too slow in applying its rules towards the Jewish National Fund of Canada, the CRA should be applauded for finally taking action against this powerful organization”, said Karen Rodman of Just Peace Advocates.

The Jewish National Fund of Canada is one of many Israel-focused charities that have violated CRA rules. Over the past 18 months detailed complaints have been submitted to the CRA asking it to investigate a dozen other Israel-focused charities.

In recent weeks there’s been significant campaigning on Israel-focused charities. At the start of last month Gabor Maté, Yann Martel, Linda McQuaig, Roger Waters, Monia Mazigh, Desmond Cole, Libby Davies and others signed “Stop Subsidizing Genocide”. The public letter  points out that “200+ registered Canadian charities funnel a quarter billion dollars a year to projects in Israel. Many of these groups finance projects that support the Israeli military, racist organizations and West Bank settlements in contravention of Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) rules.”

In another challenge to Canada’s most significant contribution to Palestinian dispossession, NDP revenue critic Niki Ashton hosted a June 13  press conference at the parliamentary press gallery calling “on the Liberal government to investigate Canadian charities that allegedly funneled taxpayer money in support of Israeli military operations and illegal settlements in Palestine.” She also sponsored a parliamentary petition on the subject and sent a letter to Revenue Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau demanding the government investigate charities funding Israeli military operations in Gaza and illegal Israeli settlements.

Last Friday Le Devoir and La Tribune reported on a press conference held outside Minister Bibeau’s riding office in Sherbrooke calling on her to take action on the matter. The revenue minister was also asked about the subject at a press conference on Tuesday.

Zionist mayor in Canada gets permission to build his militia

 

Israel supporters have become a leading fascist force in Canada. As this author has detailed repeatedly in recent months, they’ve pushed to restrict civil liberties, dismantle democratic organizations and increase policing to suppress the movement against Israel’s holocaust in Gaza.

One of the most anti-Palestinian voices in the Liberal caucus Marco Mendicino recently called for “protective zones” around MP offices. According to the former public safety minister’s plan, anyone who harasses or intimidates people within 50 to 100 metres of constituency offices would be subject to harsher criminal penalties. Far from any parliamentarian’s office, Mendicino promoted banning anti-genocide rallies on a Toronto highway overpass during the winter.

The mayor of one of the wealthiest municipalities in Québec has been another of the most vocal prominent Zionist fascists in recent months. Hampstead mayor Jeremy Levi has repeatedly called for arresting and deporting peaceful protesters and in a troubling escalation was recently granted the power to build a sort of municipal militia.

On X, Levi recently retweeted a post noting, “stop this nonsense and deport”. It showed people engaged in the democratic process under the statement “Pro Hamas supporters taking over the streets in Downtown Toronto. They are calling for an intifada which means indiscriminate terrorism.”

In another post, the mayor of the inner Montreal suburb called to imprison a man photographed at a Montreal mall with a shirt that seemed to celebrate the October 7 operation. “This is a blatant glorification of hate and violence, and this man must face charges immediately!”, wrote the mayor of the most Jewish municipality in the country.  (more...)

Zionist mayor in Canada gets permission to build his militia

Big win for Palestine: JNF charity status revoked

 

Score a significant victory against apartheid, genocide and Canada’s most significant contribution to Palestinian dispossession. The powerful Jewish National Fund of Canada has reportedly had its charitable status revoked.

Under pressure from Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and others the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) instigated an audit of the JNF in 2018. JNF Canada was eventually forced to differentiate itself from its parent organization in Israel and to stop “co-mingling” its funds with that organization. JNF Canada was also instructed to stop assisting projects in the illegally occupied West Bank and initiatives supporting the Israeli military. But, apparently it failed to fulfill the Revenue Agency’s requests and now the CRA has rescinded its ability to grant donors tax credits.

Revoking JNF Canada’s charitable status has been long in the making and has come at some cost for many individuals. Born in a West Bank village demolished to make way for the JNF’s Canada Park, Ismail Zayid has been complaining to the CRA about its charitable status for four decades. For years Lebanese Canadian Ron Saba has been “writing to various Canadian government departments and officials, corporations, and media to” denounce what he calls the “racist JNF tax fraud”. During the Liberal Party convention in 2006 Saba was widely smeared for drawing attention to leadership candidate Bob Rae’s ties to the JNF. Saba put in multiple Access to Information requests regarding the JNF, demonstrating government spying of its critics and long-standing knowledge of the organization’s dubious practices. Under the headline “Event you may want to monitor,” Foreign Affairs spokesperson Caitlin Workman sent the CRA a communication about a 2011 IJV event in Ottawa stating: “author of the Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, Yves Engler, will give a talk on Canada and the Jewish National Fund.” At the Green Party convention in 2016 Corey Levine pushed a resolution to revoke the JNF’s charitable status because it practices “institutional discrimination against non-Jewish citizens of Israel.” The effort brought the issue into the mainstream though she, IJV and the entire Green Party were smeared as “hard core Jew haters” for even considering the resolution.  (more...)

Big win for Palestine: JNF charity status revoked

Israeli Settlers Are the World’s Worst Neighbors w/ Mohammed el-Kurd

 

Useful Idiots rise up

DC Police Deploy Pepper Spray Against Netanyahu Protests As Congress Kisses the Ring

 

Israel is participating at the Olympics in Paris while Russia is banned, despite killing at least 80% fewer civilians in Ukraine than the Israeli state has killed in Gaza. 

Even the United States has prosecuted its own for War Crimes. Impunity for Israel. Enforcement of international law for everyone else. 

No clearer was this hypocrisy demonstrated than on Wednesday, July 24th, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a man with a pending ICC arrest warrant for crimes against humanity, addressed Congress in order to shore up support for his political survival and request more weapons for his “war” against Hamas. 

Join us tonight on State of Play as we dissect this Historic speech and discuss the protests that took place outside.

Sports Media Complicity in Genocide

 

Derek is joined by Leyla Hamed, a sports journalist and Editor in Chief at the The Athletic FC. As one of the very few pro-Palestinian advocates in sports media, I can’t think of many folks better than Leyla to talk about media complicity in this ongoing genocide and the role that sports media should be taking in putting pressure on sporting organizations like the IOC and FIFA to enact its policies when considering banning Israel from membership in those organizations and participation in international sporting events.

‘This war criminal should not have come to US’ | Protesters speak on Netanyahu’s visit

 

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was met with applause inside the hallowed halls of Congress, outside the public's sentiment was headlined with banners of war crimes and charges of genocide…

Journalist Manila Chan was on scene in Washington DC.