By: Sofia Chassomeris, News Writer

On August 10, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) revoked the charitable statuses of the Jewish National Fund of Canada and Ne’eman Foundation of Canada. Both organizations will no longer be exempt from income tax or receive subsidies as registered charities. This is because they failed to abide by the Income Tax Act. 

This action follows years of lobbying from activists such as Just Peace Advocates (JPA) for the CRA to conduct investigative audits on charities that have donated to the Israeli military. JPA claims that these organizations have been subsidizing “charity donations going to an apartheid state committing war crimes and genocide” using Canadian tax dollars. The CRA has allowed the Jewish National Fund to do so since 1967, and the Ne’eman Foundation since 2011. The Income Tax Act states that charities cannot issue tax receipts or claim tax deductions for donations that support the armed forces of another country.

In a statement to The Peak, the CRA said, “The confidentiality provisions of the Act prevent the CRA from commenting on specific cases.”

The Jewish National Fund regarded the CRA’s decision to revoke their status as “wrong and unjustified,” claiming they are focused on funding “projects to build the social infrastructure of the land of Israel.” CBC indicates that the CRA made this decision in response to “a complaint” that said the Jewish National Fund “used charitable donations to build infrastructure for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF),” including funding “infrastructure projects on Israeli army, air, and naval bases.”

Just Peace Advocates’ analysis of the Ne’eman Foundation’s tax returns shows that millions of Canadian dollars were also donated to organizations associated with the IDF between 2016–2022. JPA has criticized the CRA’s slow call to action but ultimately applauds the decision. 

The Peak interviewed Dr. Miles Howe, professor of critical criminology at Brock University in Ontario, who has written on the “phenomenon of Zionist Philanthropy” and “the synchronicity of tax-deductible gift-giving with Palestinian erasure.” In his work, he discusses how Zionism promotes and finances the elimination of “Palestinian people from the territorial boundaries of what Zionism conceives of as biblical Israel.” Zionism is a “nationalist movement” aiming to create a “Jewish national state in Palestine.”

“Don’t be intimidated by what initially appears to be a very strong movement against you.” — Dr. Miles Howe, professor of critical criminology at Brock University

Howe said living under occupation includes open-air prison conditions and Palestinians being displaced from 78% of their land. “What possible justification is there for that?” he asked.

Howe’s recent petition to parliament states that these charitable donations “may well be Canada’s most important contribution to Palestinian dispossession.” While the removal of these charities’ statuses is considered by Just Peace Advocates as a “massive shift in how Canada views the Israeli occupation,” dozens of charities continue to make significant annual contributions. The Peak also interviewed Karen Rodman, executive director of JPA, for more insight. 

“Within the movement, it’s easy to say ‘wow, we got a victory!’” Rodman added,“But we don’t usually declare victories very easily, we call them ‘partial victories.’” JPA’s open letter to the Minister of Revenue Marie-Claude Bibeau and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brings these charities to attention as they continue to “funnel a quarter billion dollars a year to projects in Israel.”

When asked about how students can get involved in pro-Palestinian activism, Howe said, “Don’t be intimidated by what initially appears to be a very strong movement against you.” He added, “There’s going to be a need for research, legal action, healing, direct action [ . . . ] and there’s going to be a need for education.” 

On September 5, the International Day of Charity, activists across Canada rallied at CRA offices to get the attention of the federal government and further protest the use of tax dollars in funding a genocide against Palestinians.