Above photo: Canada Revenue Agency national headquarters in Ottawa. Obert Madondo/Flickr.
The CRA’s ruling holds great significance for Palestine solidarity activists.
NOTE: The Jewish National Fund is also being targeted in the United States.
BREAKING: Massive crowd of pro-Palestine protesters confront the JNF conference in Dallas, the self-proclaimed “world’s largest Zionist conference” pic.twitter.com/iQ3AfbhVGP
— Party for Socialism and Liberation (@pslnational) November 16, 2024
On November 8, another blow was struck against one of Canada’s most prominent Israel-serving charities. In August, the Canada Revenue Agency notified the Jewish National Fund Canada that its charitable status was being revoked due to the organization’s contravention of Canadian charity law. This week, the JNF’s application for a judicial review of the revocation was denied. While this story is far from over, the ruling holds great significance for Palestine solidarity activists in Canada and around the world.
Founded in 1968 as the Canadian branch of the Jewish National Fund, JNF Canada is notorious for its role in greenwashing the Israeli occupation and settlement expansion in the West Bank. Touted as “the deep bond linking Diaspora Jewry to the land and people of Israel,” JNF Canada has long been a mainstay in Jewish schools and synagogues, where its once-ubiquitous donation boxes encouraged individual philanthropy to support tree-planting in Israel. But since August 2024, the JNF has been unable to provide charitable tax receipts for donations. In response, the JNF launched a campaign against the ruling and a legal appeal to overturn it.
The rejection of the request for judicial review and an injunction is unlikely to be accepted by JNF Canada as the final word. The charity has vowed to continue legal challenges against the ruling in the Federal Court of Appeal and assured its supporters it would have the funds to do so. If this fails, JNF Canada can attempt to take the case to the Supreme Court. But for Canadian activists who have long struggled to stop the JNF, this latest ruling is a significant victory, particularly as the CRA’s stipulations from August are set to come into effect imminently. While JNF Canada may continue to challenge the ruling, its failure to obtain an injunction means they must comply in the meantime.
The August ruling by the CRA gave JNF Canada until November 13 to disburse its assets and pay the CRA a revocation tax. The assets in question are considerable, ranging in the tens of millions of dollars. Under charitable law, JNF Canada can disburse these funds to charitable organizations in Canada that have not had their status revoked. With plenty of other charities in Canada that continue to support Israel’s ethnic cleansing and genocide, these funds are likely to still reach their destination.
Although the JNF previously claimed that this disbursement would leave it unable to launch legal battles against the ruling, this no longer seems the case. Indeed, JNF Canada maintained it would not be required to disburse these funds on November 13. Still, the legal battle JNF Canada is pursuing will be slow and expensive.
Despite being unable to issue tax receipts, JNF Canada is still accepting donations. The organization’s latest project involves getting donors to pay $18 to plant a tree to replace those destroyed by Hezbollah rockets, and have a letter sent to the prime minister demanding that he stand with the JNF. Their annual Negev Gala went ahead in Ottawa earlier this week, though JNF is now partnering with the Israel Magen Fund in order to provide charitable tax receipts for the event.
Even if the ruling is ultimately overturned, the reputational damage is already done. For those previously on the fence about the complicity of this charity, the revocation of its legal charitable status and loss of appeal point to JNF Canada’s unethical practices. Even some of those who previously supported JNF Canada are asking questions about why the charity’s financial records are murky and whether their donations are truly going towards planting trees. While their social media previously showcased their work in Israel and highlighted positive media coverage about the charity, it now features explainers addressing the allegations brought against it. Rather than focusing on raising money to support the occupation, JNF Canada has shifted its focus almost entirely to defending its public reputation.
With the revocation of JNF Canada’s charitable status in the spotlight, Canadian activists have already set their sights on other charities complicit in Israeli war crimes. The same day as JNF Canada lost its appeal, Independent Jewish Voices Canada released a new report naming five other Canadian charities funding Israeli occupation and violence. This list most notably includes the HESEG Foundation, a charity at the centre of Toronto’s biggest Palestine solidarity trial and the injunction against the Indigo Kills Kids website. The HESEG Foundation was co-founded by Indigo Books and Music CEO Heather Reisman.
The news of the legal victory against JNF Canada received international attention, and for good reason. With over 20 other branches worldwide, Canada is but a small contributor to the JNF’s overall budget. Canada’s crackdown on the JNF for violating charity laws raises questions about the legitimacy of the organization’s charitable status in places like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, potentially putting a spanner in its works.
Anna Lippman is a third-generation Ashkenzi Jewish settler on Turtle Island (North America). She is a PhD student in Sociology at York University. Anna’s research looks at identity, and how young people’s thoughts about themselves are influenced by the world around them. Anna organizes with several groups in Toronto including Showing Up for Racial Justice and Independent Jewish Voices.