Canada

For decades, JNF Canada had received charity status from Canada’s Revenue Agency (CRA), but this August, the CRA officially revoked it.

After an audit, the CRA concluded that the JNF Canada used tax-exempt money to fund Israeli army bases, which is illegal under Canadian law. It also found the organization couldn’t prove how Canadian money was used in Israel, and did not justify why financial records were only kept in Israel, among other disqualifying concerns.

For years dogged by CRA investigators, JNF Canada had pledged to the tax revenue agency in 2021 that it “will not fund projects in the disputed territories.”

But the paper trail simply became more hidden.

Lately, Etkes tells us that it has become more difficult to document JNF Canada’s operations. Tracing how it funds parks and trails in the West Bank often requires risky trips like the one we’re on, encountering Israeli soldiers and extremist settlers. And the organization has become more careful in advertising their involvement on the ground.

JNF Canada is now taking the CRA to court over its decision to revoke its charitable status, claiming the decision was “biased” and “unjust.” But on my tour in the occupied West Bank, I found plenty of the organization’s projects that continue to advance the interests of illegal settlement expansion.