Canada decides to revoke Jewish National Fund’s charitable status

JVL Introduction

Great new from Canada: the Jewish National Fund of Canada has had its charitable status revoked.

This mailing from Independent Jewish Voices Canada explains the background to the campaign “to denounce the narrative of environmental responsibility and sustainability weaponized by the JNF to justify the dispossession and forced removal of Palestinians from their land.”

It is a call to us, too, to up the campaign against the charitable status accorded to JNF UK, and to JNF agencies across the world.

RK

Yesterday [26th July 2024] we received news, through reporting from the National Post, that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had issued notice to the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Canada that their charitable status would be revoked.

Although the JNF has the intention of appealing the decision, this is a huge victory and a crowning moment for all the efforts that so many of us contributed to make this happen. If able, please make a donation to ensure that IJV can continue holding the CRA’s feet to the fire.

For decades, Palestinians, IJV members and allies have mounted a campaign to denounce the narrative of environmental responsibility and sustainability weaponized by the JNF to justify the dispossession and forced removal of Palestinians from their land. From the inception of the Zionist settler-colonial project, the JNF has played a central role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, facilitating and covering up the destruction of entire Palestinian communities.

JNF Canada’s Israeli counterpart, Jewish National Fund–Keren Kayemeth LelIsrael (JNF-KKL), has been one of the main engines of the colonization of Palestinian land and owns 13% of the land in Israel, while having significant influence over a further 80%. Through its policy of leasing land exclusively to Jews, JNF-KKL has played a central role in Israel’s apartheid regime.

One of the most notable examples of JNF’s greenwashing and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their historical homeland is the infamous Canada Park, stretching over seven square kilometers. The area on which the park is now situated was captured and illegally occupied by Israel in the aftermath of the 1967 war. Under the orders of general Yitzhak Rabin, over ten thousand Palestinians were expelled from their land and their villages were demolished. In 1972, Bernard Bloomfield of Montréal and president of JNF Canada spearheaded a campaign, with the help of Canadian politicians, notably prime minister Diefenbaker, to establish what would become Canada Park. The campaign raised over fifteen million dollars.

This example is merely one of the egregious Israeli land grabs, actively supported by JNF Canada with their Israeli counterparts in the JNF-KKL and financed by tax-exempt charitable donations.

Palestinians, members of IJV and our allies have conducted several campaigns to denounce JNF Canada’s complicity in Israeli apartheid, colonization and violence against the Palestinian people. Thanks to those efforts the CRA audited the JNF, forcing them to promise to stop funding projects that were directly linked to the Israeli military. JNF Canada funded several projects for the Israeli military, air and naval bases and even issued a check directly to Israel’s Ministry of Defense.

Despite all their promises to the CRA, CBC investigative reporter Evan Dyer reported that the JNF Canada continued to fund projects directly benefiting the Israeli military in violation of the CRA guidelines for a charitable organization. This reporting relied on the research provided by IJV’s Stop the JNF campaign!

None of this would have been possible without the amazing work of the members and the staff of IJV Canada. We continue to apply the pressure to make sure that the CRA follows through on revoking JNF Canada’s charitable status. Make a donation today to help IJV continue this important campaign.

Recently, in its ruling on July 19th, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in favor of what Palestinians have been saying for decades: the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza – including Canada Park and other JNF Canada projects – are illegal under international law. The ICJ also ruled that to honour their obligations under international law, all states must take concrete steps to ensure that they sever all ties that would make them complicit in Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid.

Dear supporter, revoking the JNF Canada’s charitable status is the first step, but certainly not the last. Over 200 Israeli charities transfer about a quarter of a billion dollars to Israel each year. One of those charities is Mizrachi Canada, which has been using the same loophole as JNF Canada to ensure the funneling of tax exempt donations towards illegal Israeli endeavors and violence against Palestinians. IJV will continue to work hard to ensure that no more Canadian charitable donations are used to fund Israeli crimes.

In solidarity,
Niall

Niall Clapham Ricardo (He/Him)
Special Projects and Francophone Outreach Coordinator