Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

Fighting anti-Semitism (archive) Photo: AFP


Canada cuts funding to anti-Israel groups


Pro-Palestinian, Christian groups among those targeted by Canadian government

Roni Rachmani Published: 01.14.10, 20:33 / Israel News




VANCOUVER � The Canadian government has recently decided to cut back or entirely withdraw the funding to organizations that encourage a boycott of Israel or Israeli products, including pro-Palestinian and Christian groups.




One such organization is the Kairos welfare agency, which lost $7 million � half of its annual budget. Kairos is a social apparatus serving 11 Catholic and Protestant groups and churches promoting the "liberation theology" within the Canadian legal and educational establishments.



Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said that the agency's budget was cut back in light of its anti-Semitic positions, adding the group preaches for recognition of such terror organizations as Hamas and Hezbollah while rejecting the Jewish people's right for a state.



Kairos denied Kenney's claims and charged that the Canadian government's decision was motivated by political considerations. It further argued that criticism of Israel should not be regarded as anti-Semitism.



Another organization whose funds were cut back was the Canadian-Arab Federation, which provides aid for immigrants from Muslim countries. The claim against the group was that it promoted hatred and extremism. The Federation claimed in response that by withdrawing funds from its budget, the Canadian government is shunning Arab immigrants.




The Palestine House Educational (PHE), which has enjoyed $750,000 a budget in the last two years, has also been targeted by Canadian authorities.



Meir Weinsten, chairman of the Canadian Jewish Defense League, said that the group's official aim is to provide language lessons, but it in fact supports Hamas and Hezbollah, both included in Canada's list of terror organizations.



Hanna Kawas, chairwoman of the Canada-Palestine Association said in response that the Canadian government's decision would only increase anti-Semitism, anti-Arab racism and Islamophobic activity.

HARPER

[Adventurer]

Why should pro-Israeli groups have their funding and Christian groups supporting boycotts lose their funding? How does that make sense?

Also, the article says Hanna Kawas is a spokeswoman. I am not so sure about that because the name Hanna means John in the Levant, i.e., short for Youhanna, i.e., he is probably a Christian male.

[Kuros]

Well, here's the ever powerful influence of the Israel lobby in Washington again . . . wait, this is Canada?

[Sergio Stefanuto]

[blade]

[mises]

[Reggie]

Canada will still spend money to send soldiers to Afghanistan to win Darwin Awards.

[Kimbop]

Want the real story? Want facts?

http://ezralevant.com/2010/01/kaiross-continuing-coverup.html

http://ezralevant.com/2009/12/if-kairos-arent-a-bunch-of-ant.html

Oh, but that would require some actual reading and in-depth research.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Adventurer]

[Adventurer]

[Based on what I read on this Catholic website, I found no evidence that the cutting off of funds to KAIROS is justified. It supports a boycott, but it has a right to that position. If it doesn't, then all groups that support Israel should also have their funds cut or any group that has foreign policy views. The minister allegedly used the words " militant stand towards the Jewish homeland". Here, he doesn't seem to mention the Palestinians, as it is their homeland as well. Obviously, the Harper Government is going against the previous positions of Canadian governments and international law. At least, here, it seems Kenney is saying that he didn't say KAIROS is anti-Semitic.

http://www.newcatholictimes.com/index.php?module=articles&func=display&ptid=1&aid=1472


Jason Kenney: a mean federal minister and Canadian bishops troubling silence

Author: The Editorial Group
Posted by: Editor on January 04, 2010 1:00:00 AM

Print This
Send to a friend

Much ink has been spilled over the recent Conservative defunding of KAIROS the ecumenical church group (see Gruending article in this issue).The Toronto Star' s editorial of December 30 aptly summed up the brouhaha.



Kenney's double-speak



Two weeks ago today, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney delivered a speech in Jerusalem at the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism. Initially, the speech went unnoticed and unreported back home. But after it was posted on the Web, his words began ricocheting around Canada.
In various reports and commentaries in the Canadian media, Kenney has been accused of falsely labelling KAIROS, a social justice group with ties to a wide range of Canadian churches, as anti-Semitic and of boasting that was the reason the government cut off its funding.
In a letter to the Star last week, Kenney denied both charges. "I did not accuse KAIROS of being anti-Semitic," he wrote. Rather, he said in his speech that KAIROS took a "leadership role" in the boycott campaign against Israel.
As for why KAIROS's funding was cut off, Kenney wrote: "While I disagree with the nature of KAIROS's militant stance toward the Jewish homeland, that is not the reason their request for taxpayer funding was denied." Rather, the decision was made because KAIROS did not meet Ottawa's "current priorities" regarding foreign aid programs.
Let's stack this denial up against the speech itself.
It is true that Kenney did not explicitly call KAIROS anti-Semitic in his speech. But the speech was delivered at a conference on anti-Semitism, and in it Kenney lamented the growth of anti-Semitism in Canada. As a result, he declared: "We have articulated and implemented a zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism."


What follows in the speech is a catalogue of groups that have been cut off by the government, including the Canadian Arab Federation, the Canadian Islamic Congress, and KAIROS. "We have defunded organizations, most recently like KAIROS, who are taking a leadership role in the boycott," said Kenney. "And we're receiving a lot of criticism for these decisions . . . But we believe that we've done these things for the rights reasons, and we stand by these decisions."

So was KAIROS cut off due to its "leadership role" in the boycott or to Ottawa's new priorities for foreign aid?

[thomas pars]

**** Israel.

[Fox]