Canada revokes charitable status of JNF, Ne'eman Foundation over links to Israeli settlements

Canada has revoked the tax-exempt status of two major pro-Israel organisations, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced on Sunday.

The announcement, published in the Canada Gazette, revokes the subsidies from the Jewish National Fund Canada and the Ne'eman Foundation.

While no official reason was given for the revocations, pro-Palestine groups have speculated that the move follows allegations that the two organisations were working with illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

In January, Toronto-based advocacy group Just Peace Advocates submitted a request to the CRA calling for an audit of the Ne'eman Foundation, which it indicated had funded organisations involved with the Israeli military and illegal West Bank settlements. The request was signed by pro-Palestine activists Rabbi David Mivasair and Khaled Mouammar.

According to Just Peace Advocates, the Ne'eman Foundation Canada "assisted the undercover assassination unit, Duvdevan, and lone soldiers including Michael Levin Base (Base for Lone Soldiers) and Brothers for Life, as well as donating to Reservists on Duty".

The group also provided funds to Se’u Tziona Nes v’degel which fundraises for the extremist Nachla settler movement headed by Daniella Weiss — a prominent settler leader sanctioned by Canada in June. Weiss, 78, advocates for Jewish settlements in the entirety of Palestine, including Gaza.

The Jewish National Fund, a Zionist organisation founded in 1902, was established with the purpose of acquiring land in Palestine for the exclusive settlement of Jews.

Among its other activities, in 1972 the JNF funded the establishment of 'Canada Park' over a the site of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages of Yalu, Imwas and Beit Nuba. The national park, which includes a man-made forest, stretches over 7,000 dunums. According to Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, fast-growing non-native species of trees were preferred for the forestation of the park as a means of covering up the ruins of the destroyed Palestinian villages and cementing expulsion of their residents.

The moves against the two Jewish groups follow sanctions in June against settler activist Weiss and top settler group Amana.

As many as 700,000 Israeli settlers - 10 percent of Israel’s nearly 7 million population - currently live in illegal settlements and outposts built on private lands in the occupied West Bank.

Since 7 October, there has been a spike in settler attacks on Palestinians, which have forced hundreds of Palestinians to flee their homes in the West Bank.

At least 618 Palestinians have been killed there by the Israeli army or settlers since October, according to an AFP count based on official Palestinian data.