The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) notified the Jewish National Fund (JNF) on July 25th that it plans to revoke the group’s charitable status over its use of donations to build military infrastructure in Israel.
"Canadian charities are not allowed to fund foreign militaries," Mark Blumberg, an attorney specializing in Canadian charity law, told the National Post. "Clearly, there were previously some compliance issues," he added.
"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," the JNF said in a statement, adding that it will challenge the decision in the courts.
The Zionist organization also accused the CRA of "antisemitism."
"As a Zionist-inspired organization, JNF Canada has many vociferous antisemitic detractors who we believe have influenced the decision-making process in this matter," JNF Canada national president Nathan Disenhouse and CEO Lance Davis told media.
Founded in 1901, by 2007 the Jerusalem-based JNF owned 13 percent of the occupied Palestinian territories and has been considered the single-largest landowner in Israel. Furthermore, its charter explicitly prohibits the sale or lease of land to non-Jews.
"Under the guise of ‘environmentalism,’ the JNF has forested over the ruins of Palestinian villages in an attempt to ‘greenwash’ non-Jewish dispossession."
"This includes ‘Canada Park’ which was built over top 3 destroyed Palestinian villages who more than 9,000 residents were expelled from their homes," Canada's Green Party says in a petition to revoke the charitable status of the JNF.
"Because of its charitable status, JNF provides tax credits for donations, meaning that up to 25 percent of their budget comes from our taxes," the statement adds.
The CRA decision comes several months after Ottawa announced plans to ban new arms exports to Israel. Nevertheless, officials clarified that export permits approved before January 8 would remain in effect.
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