April 6, 2003

From Command Post: Iran says bodies found in Basra are Iranian  Reuters  - Iran said the remains of as many as 200 people found near Basra were Iranian soldiers killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and demanded their immediate repatriation, a newspaper reported on Sunday." 3:44:44 PM

I have received a few emails that all say something like this: Canada has decided to close its Magen David Adom (Israel Red Cross) off and decertify this organization as a charity eligible to receive aid from Canadians. Magen David helps people regardless of their religion or ethnic background. On the other hand, the Red Crescent (the Moslem Red Cross), which only helps Muslims in the Middle East, will continue to be a recognized charity by the Canadian government. This is clearly a political decision and we need to voice our objections to it. The decision can be reversed if enough pressure is put on the Canadian government. Please sign a petition, located at this website At first I just assumed that this was another internet mail hoax.  It seemed hard to believe that CCRA (formally known as Revenue Canada) could do this. Well I checked into this story, and yes this is really happening.  Back in September the Federal Court of Appeal went so far as to uphold the decision.  The Federal Court agreed that the charity did not seem to have enough control over the funds it collected and that could be enough of a reason to revoke its charity status. I think it is important that the court DID NOT agree with the Agency's interpretation of the rule that a charity's activities must not be contrary to public policy, as it applied to activities in the Occupied Territories.  Even if it had, the court found that there was no clear public policy on this anyway.  The CCRA website tries to explain all this, but really can't seem to defend its position.  Falling back on the old "tax confidentiality" excuse. A better explanation can be found on the Magen David Adom website.  While they continue to appeal this, they are still a registered charity, giving out tax-deductible receipts to Canadians who donate.   UPDATE:  The Canadian website is here.  They seem to be giving out official receipts for income tax purposes, so I guess the issue is over. 3:21:20 PM