<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[ei: Canada&#8217;s double&nbsp;standards]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p><span class="text14">Yves Engler, <em>The Electronic Intifada,</em> 13 January 2011</p>
<p><span class="content"> </span></span></p>
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<td><span class="text11">The Canadian tax system subsidizes Israel&#8217;s illegal settlements. (<a href="http://www.activestills.org/">ActiveStills</a>)</span></td>
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<p><span class="text14"><span class="content"><br />
Canada&#8217;s tax system currently subsidizes Israeli settlements that Ottawa  deems illegal, however, the Conservative government says there&#8217;s  nothing that can be done about it.</p>
<p>In June of last year, Guelph activist Dan Maitland emailed Foreign  Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon concerning Canada Park, a Jewish  National Fund of Canada initiative built on land Israel occupied after  the June 1967 War. Three Palestinian villages (Beit Nuba, Imwas and  Yalu) were demolished to make way for the park.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago Maitland received a reply from Keith Ashfield, Minister  of National Revenue, who refused to discuss the particulars of the case  but provided &#8220;general information about registered charities and the  occupied territories.&#8221; Ashfield wrote that &#8220;the fact that charitable  activities take place in the occupied territories is not a barrier to  acquiring or maintaining charitable status.&#8221;</p>
<p>This means Canadian organizations can openly fundraise for settlements  Ottawa (officially) deems illegal under international law and get the  government to pay up to a third of the cost through tax credits for  donations. To justify the government&#8217;s position, Ashfield cited a  September 2002 Federal Court of Appeal case (<em>Canadian Magen David Adom for Israel v. Minister of National Revenue</em>), which reversed the Canadian Revenue Agency&#8217;s previous position.</p>
<p>The exact amount is not known but it&#8217;s safe to assume that millions of  Canadian dollars make their way to Israeli settlements every year. In  1997, when it was more of a legal grey area, tax lawyer David Drache  claimed that &#8220;there are hundreds of [Canadian] organizations &#8230;  supporting organizations directly or indirectly beyond the Green Line,&#8221;  referring to the internationally-recognized armistice line between  Israel and the occupied West Bank.</p>
<p>In the late 1990s, Israel&#8217;s largest settler group, Yesha, raised more  than $700,000 a year in Canada. When former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel  Sharon visited in the mid-1990s, the Canadian Arab Federation&#8217;s Jehad  Aliweiwi said he &#8220;left with more than $1 million in tax-deductible  funds, with no secret as to the destination.&#8221; Through the 1990s the  Press Foundation was probably the largest known source of funds for  settlements, raising as much as $5 million annually for settlers in the  occupied West Bank town of Hebron and in the occupied Golan Heights,  which was captured from Syria in 1967.</p>
<p>Illegal settlements are not the only questionable activities in Israel  that Canadians subsidize through their tax system. A mid-1990s survey  found more than 300 registered Canadian charities with ties to Israel, a  relatively wealthy country. Every year Canadians send a few hundred  million dollars worth of tax-deductible donations to Israeli  universities, parks, immigration initiatives and, more controversially,  &#8220;charities&#8221; that aid the Israeli army in one way or another.</p>
<p>One example is Aid to Disabled Veterans of Israel or Beit Halochem  (Canada), which brings soldiers singled out as heroes by the Israeli  military on trips to Canada. Many Canadians, including the Charles R.  Bronfman Foundation, support the Libi Fund &#8212; &#8220;The Fund For  Strengthening Israel&#8217;s Defense.&#8221; In early 2008, Major Gil Chemke, a  member of the Israel&#8217;s elite search and rescue team, toured the country  on behalf of the Canadian Magen David Adom for Israel (CMDAI), which  operates in the occupied West Bank. Established to assist wounded  soldiers and the population during disasters, CMDAI has raised millions  of dollars. Chemke drummed up financial contributions for CMDAI by  showing &#8220;behind-the-scenes video footage of a rescue operation in  Lebanon for a female air crew member whose helicopter was shot down by  Hizballah&#8221; during Israel&#8217;s 2006 invasion of Lebanon.</p>
<p>Established in 1971, the Association for the Soldiers of Israel in  Canada (ASI) provides financial and moral support to active duty  soldiers. In 2009, ASI (Canada) &#8212; which provides tax receipts through  the Canadian Zionist Cultural Association &#8212; and El Al airlines granted a  50 percent discount on flights to Israel from Canada for families of  &#8220;lone soldiers&#8221; who join the Israeli military.</p>
<p>While it&#8217;s legal &#8212; and government will foot part of the bill &#8212; to  finance charities linked to a foreign army responsible for numerous war  crimes and settlements that contravene international law, Ottawa has  made it illegal for Canadians to aid a hospital operated by the elected  Hamas government.</p>
<p>Ottawa&#8217;s post-11 September 2001 terrorist list makes it illegal to  financially assist Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of  Palestine, the al-Aqsa Martyrs&#8217; Brigade, the Abu Nidal Organization, the  Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, the  Palestine Liberation Front, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and groups  associated with these organizations. Only one Israeli group, the  marginal Kahane Chai, is on the list.</p>
<p>On 25 December, Hamas criticized Canada for re-listing it a &#8220;terrorist&#8221;  entity. &#8220;The decision is a clear bias to Israel,&#8221; Hamas spokesman Fawzi  Barhoum told Xinhua. &#8220;This encourages Israel to commit more crimes  against the Palestinian people.&#8221;</p>
<p>Ottawa makes it difficult for Canadians to support many Palestinian  groups all the while subsidizing expansionist and militaristic Israeli  institutions. Canadians of good conscience should protest and demand  change.</p>
<p><em>Yves Engler&#8217;s most recent book is </em>Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid.</span></p>
<p><strong>Latest articles on EI:</strong></span></p>
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<p><a href="http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11731.shtml">ei: Canada&#8217;s double standards</a>.</p>
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