A Jewish charity group is taking Canada Revenue Agency to court for revoking its charitable status following allegations that some donated funds supported military infrastructure in Israel.The Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been operating in Canada for almost a century, and first received charitable status in 1967. JNF Canada said the CRA was “wrong and unjustified” in its actions.“JNF Canada remains deeply concerned with the CRA’s decision to revoke its charitable status and its failure to provide a fair due process, thereby undermining a basic fundamental right for all Canadians,” said a letter from the Jewish group to its supporters.In a media statement, JNF Canada president Nathan Disenhouse stated, “Our position is that it is unjust for CRA to revoke a charity because a charitable object that it accepted almost 60 years ago is now no longer considered to be a valid charitable object…It is simply unjust to close a charity supported by over 100,000 Canadians based on reversing a decision the CRA made in 1967.”The Jewish National Fund funds several charitable projects in Israel, including programs for special needs children and seniors, and rebuilding and reforestation in areas that terrorist attacks have ravaged.The group intends to argue that the CRA erred in its findings, that the procedures were unfair because they did not allow the group to “test the facts” before the case went to the Federal Court of Appeal, and that the audit findings were influenced by bias.The CRA did not respond to a request for comment from the National Post, but did tell True North the following:“The CRA is committed to administering acts for which it is responsible fairly and impartially. The CRA assesses all concerns about registered charities against a clear regulatory and risk framework designed to prevent bias in our decision-making process.”The CRA also said it doesn’t comment on ongoing court cases “to respect the confidentiality provisions of the Acts it administers.”In 2017, Independent Jewish Voices Canada filed an official complaint to CRA about the JNF which was endorsed by Rabbi David Mivasair of Vancouver; Bill Skidmore, instructor in Human Rights at Carleton University in Ottawa; Lorraine Guay, a retired nurse and trade union activist from Montreal; and Dr. Ismail Zayid, retired professor of pathology at Dalhousie University in Halifax.In its 85-page complaint, the group alleged that JNF Canada had partnered with the IDF and Israeli Ministry of Defense on more than a dozen projects. Such support often funds infrastructure on Israeli military bases, which is aimed to increase the fitness levels of soldiers, boost the soldiers' morale, and facilitate soldier intake and training.JNF Canada has also funded security roads along Israel's hostile borders with Lebanon and Gaza, which in the words of JNF Canada, are designed to "enhance military activity" in these border regions.In a 2019 article for The Times of Israel, Corey Balsam, an employee of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, cited actions in the West Bank among reasons the JNF should lose charitable status.“The problem with the JNF is perhaps epitomized by JNF Canada’s flagship project, Canada Park, the subject of a CBC documentary, which was built on the ruins and lands of three Palestinian villages depopulated and demolished in 1967. As with 87 other Palestinian villages that once stood before 1948, JNF parks and forests serve to conceal their remains and erase any remnant of Palestinian life.”Zayid was expelled with his family from the village of Beit Nuba, which is now covered with trees in JNF’s Canada Park.
A Jewish charity group is taking Canada Revenue Agency to court for revoking its charitable status following allegations that some donated funds supported military infrastructure in Israel.The Jewish National Fund (JNF) has been operating in Canada for almost a century, and first received charitable status in 1967. JNF Canada said the CRA was “wrong and unjustified” in its actions.“JNF Canada remains deeply concerned with the CRA’s decision to revoke its charitable status and its failure to provide a fair due process, thereby undermining a basic fundamental right for all Canadians,” said a letter from the Jewish group to its supporters.In a media statement, JNF Canada president Nathan Disenhouse stated, “Our position is that it is unjust for CRA to revoke a charity because a charitable object that it accepted almost 60 years ago is now no longer considered to be a valid charitable object…It is simply unjust to close a charity supported by over 100,000 Canadians based on reversing a decision the CRA made in 1967.”The Jewish National Fund funds several charitable projects in Israel, including programs for special needs children and seniors, and rebuilding and reforestation in areas that terrorist attacks have ravaged.The group intends to argue that the CRA erred in its findings, that the procedures were unfair because they did not allow the group to “test the facts” before the case went to the Federal Court of Appeal, and that the audit findings were influenced by bias.The CRA did not respond to a request for comment from the National Post, but did tell True North the following:“The CRA is committed to administering acts for which it is responsible fairly and impartially. The CRA assesses all concerns about registered charities against a clear regulatory and risk framework designed to prevent bias in our decision-making process.”The CRA also said it doesn’t comment on ongoing court cases “to respect the confidentiality provisions of the Acts it administers.”In 2017, Independent Jewish Voices Canada filed an official complaint to CRA about the JNF which was endorsed by Rabbi David Mivasair of Vancouver; Bill Skidmore, instructor in Human Rights at Carleton University in Ottawa; Lorraine Guay, a retired nurse and trade union activist from Montreal; and Dr. Ismail Zayid, retired professor of pathology at Dalhousie University in Halifax.In its 85-page complaint, the group alleged that JNF Canada had partnered with the IDF and Israeli Ministry of Defense on more than a dozen projects. Such support often funds infrastructure on Israeli military bases, which is aimed to increase the fitness levels of soldiers, boost the soldiers' morale, and facilitate soldier intake and training.JNF Canada has also funded security roads along Israel's hostile borders with Lebanon and Gaza, which in the words of JNF Canada, are designed to "enhance military activity" in these border regions.In a 2019 article for The Times of Israel, Corey Balsam, an employee of Independent Jewish Voices Canada, cited actions in the West Bank among reasons the JNF should lose charitable status.“The problem with the JNF is perhaps epitomized by JNF Canada’s flagship project, Canada Park, the subject of a CBC documentary, which was built on the ruins and lands of three Palestinian villages depopulated and demolished in 1967. As with 87 other Palestinian villages that once stood before 1948, JNF parks and forests serve to conceal their remains and erase any remnant of Palestinian life.”Zayid was expelled with his family from the village of Beit Nuba, which is now covered with trees in JNF’s Canada Park.
