Revoking Charitable Status of Jewish National Fund is Long Overdue
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) applauds the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) for indicating that it will revoke the charitable status of the Jewish National Fund of Canada (JNF Canada), reportedly “over support for military infrastructure in Israel.” For decades, Independent Jewish Voices Canada and other activists have brought attention to JNF Canada’s abuse of charitable funds to support projects linked to the Israeli military and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). This includes the notorious “Canada Park” which sits in the occupied West Bank on the ruins of Palestinian villages.
CJPME urges Canada to continue to investigate and punish all connections between Canadian charities and illegal Israeli activity.
“This move by the CRA to crack down on JNF Canada’s activities in Israel and the OPT is long overdue. The colonization of Palestinian land is not a charitable purpose, and neither is the JNF’s support for a military engaged in illegal occupation and genocide,” said Michael Bueckert, Vice President of CJPME. CJPME notes that this is a major win for civil society including groups like Independent Jewish Voices, whose Stop JNF campaign has highlighted the organization’s abuses for years. “The CRA must not stop here, but should continue to investigate and punish any Canadian charities that help sustain Israel’s illegal presence in occupied Palestine,” added Bueckert.
The JNF is deeply tied to Israel’s history of colonization of Palestinian territory, established in 1901 to acquire land for the purpose of settling Jews while excluding all others. In 1972, JNF Canada funded the creation of Canada Park, a recreational park located in the occupied West Bank on top of the ruins of the depopulated Palestinian villages of Yalu, Imwas and Beit Nuba, which were expelled and destroyed in 1967. In 2019, the CBC reported that JNF Canada had repeatedly violated CRA guidelines by “fund[ing] infrastructure projects on Israeli army, air and naval bases,” as well as projects in Israeli settlements in the OPT, including contributing to the “construction of at least one hilltop settler outpost that was declared illegal by the State of Israel itself.”
CJPME calls on the CRA to resist any political pressure it may experience as a result of this highly ethical decision, based on its lengthy investigation. In 2021, the CRA officially warned JNF Canada about its support for illegal projects in the OPT, but ultimately decided not to penalize the organization for its violations. CJPME urges the CRA to follow through on its intentions and uphold its guidelines, rather than giving JNF Canada another pass. Further, CJPME continues to urge Canada to investigate and audit any other charities with activities or services connected to the Israeli military and Israel’s illegal settlement economy in the OPT. •
This article first published on the CJPME website.
Why the JNF?
In 1884, Prof Herman Shapira proposed a “body that would redeem the land of Israel from foreigners in order to turn it into a national acquisition that would not be for sale but would rather be for leasehold only.” In 1901 the JNF came into being at the 5th Zionist Congress in Basle. According to the JNF Memorandum of Association its “primary objective” is to acquire land “for the purpose of settling Jews on such lands” and, in line with Shapira’s original concept, JNF can lease lands to Jews only. Thus, a core concept of the JNF ab initio is racial exclusivity and the de-Arabisation of Palestine.
In its early years, the JNF bought land from absentee landlords and then pressurised the new Jewish owners to evict the Palestinian tenants and use only Jewish labour. Yosef Weitz oversaw the process of buying land, but it proved too slow for him, and from 1937, some 10 years before the Nakba began, the word “transfer” appears in his diary.
In 1940, Weitz spelled it out: “There is no way but to transfer the Arabs from here to the neighbouring countries, to transfer all of them… not one village must be left… for this goal funds will be found.” To this day, the JNF worldwide still channels funds for dispossession of Palestinians to Israel.
In the years leading up to the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, the JNF played a central role. The Village Files were drawn up, meticulously charting topography, roads, land, water sources, with population profiling by age and political affiliations and – importantly – an index of hostility to Zionist colonisation. The Village Files became a crucial military tool for the Jewish militias’ ethnic cleansing of Palestine and the targeting of those who resisted.
The JNF, in the figure of Yosef Weitz, influenced the pre-state apparatus and strategy in other ways too. Weitz became part of Ben Gurion’s inner circle, the Consultancy, planning the Nakba. As a key member of the Transfer Committee, Weitz advanced transfer as “the cornerstone of Zionist policy.” The JNF became a key voice, not just in planning for ethnic cleansing, but in cementing a consensus among the leadership for this policy.
In the words of Salman Abu Sitta: “JNF through their great influence directed the Israeli military operations for the conquest of Palestine even before the British Mandate ended and before the state of Israel was declared.” The Hope Simpson Report of 1930 voiced strong reservations re the JNF but under Zionist pressure any British concerns were effectively buried. •
This article first published on the Stop the JNF website.
