From the National Post:
OTTAWA – Conservative MP Stockwell Day wants Ottawa to investigate a Mississauga, Ont., charity he alleges has been operating as a front for a Palestinian terrorist organization. Mr. Day called on federal officials to study the charitable status of the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy, which he said operates as a front for Hamas. Hamas has been listed as a terrorist group by the federal government.
And more from the Canadian Jewish News:
The Islamic terrorist group Hamas has resumed fundraising in Canada through a front organization that offers charitable tax receipts to donors, an activist group stated earlier this week.
The International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy, IRFAN-Canada, has taken over for the defunct Jerusalem Fund for Human Services as Hamas’ fundraising arm in Canada, according to the Canadian Coalition for Democracies (CCD).
However, a spokesman for the organization denied the allegations. “We have nothing to do with the Jerusalem Fund,” said Rasem Abdel-Majid, IRFAN-Canada’s general manager. “This is an international relief [agency]. We have no connections to anybody.”
Abdel-Majid also rejected suggestions the group supports Hamas. “That’s not true,” he said. “I want [CCD] to come out with proof of that.”
CCD called on the federal government to freeze IRFAN’s funds, prosecute the people behind it and explain how an organization with clear links to the Jerusalem Fund could have obtained the right to issue tax receipts for donations that ultimately benefit the banned terrorist organization Hamas.
“It really makes you wonder what the CRA [Canadian Revenue Agency] is doing when they grant charitable status to a group whose linkages to a banned organization in Canada is so transparent,” said Alastair Gordon, director of communications for CCD.
Naresh Raghubeer, CCD’s executive director, said only “gross incompetence” could explain how federal authorities permitted the Jerusalem Fund to re-emerge and do business in Canada under the IRFAN brand. He said IRFAN-Canada uses the same address and fax number as the Jerusalem Fund.
A search of the Internet by The CJN quickly uncovered the link. A website catering to Muslim students and another geared to Muslim entrepreneurs provided contact information for the Jerusalem Fund. The fund’s mailing address in Mississauga and its fax number were identical to the ones advertised on IRFAN’s website.