CIJA, Oct. 7 families suing Canadian gov’t over UNRWA funding | Only Sports And Health

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Canadian relatives of victims of the October 7 Hamas terror attacks are suing the Canadian government over its decision last month to resume funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), given the controversial agency’s ” history and participation with Hamas,” listed as a terrorist group under Canadian criminal law.

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The families, alongside the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), filed notice of the suit in Federal Court on Thursday.

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The application argues that Hamas co-locates its terrorist infrastructure with UNRWA facilities and that UNRWA schools teach Palestinian children to hate and kill Jews. It also argues that UNRWA staff participated in the Oct. 7 massacre that killed 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians, some of whom were Canadian. By funding UNRWA, the litigants argue, the government is funding terror while violating its own policies on ensuring foreign aid aligns with Canadian values.

“Though there is no dispute that humanitarian aid is needed and must urgently reach the civilian population in Gaza, the application lays out the arguments of why UNRWA cannot be the agency to fulfill this responsibility and should be disqualified from funding,” read a statement issued by CIJA.

“Under Canadian Law, funding can only be advanced to organizations that respect Canadian values and international human rights standards. Additionally, given UNRWA’s well-documented links to Hamas, a terrorist organization under Canadian law, by resuming Canadian funding to UNRWA, the government is in violation of its own anti-terrorism legislation.”

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The suit notes that CIJA provided evidence to Global Affairs Canada of UNRWA’s involvement with Hamas prior to the funding being reinstated, including evidence of UNRWA employees participating in murder and kidnapping on Oct. 7, a released hostage reporting being held in the home of an UNRWA employee, and hundreds of UNRWA employees belonging to Hamas’s military wing, while hundreds more belong to other Palestinian terror groups.

Along with CIJA, the application was filed by Dikla Mizrachi, the mother of 22-year-old Ben Mizrahi from Vancouver, who was murdered by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7.; Iris Liniado, whose mother Judih Weinstein Haggai, a Canadian peace activist living in Israel, was also murdered; Ottawa-born Jacqui Vital, whose daughter Adi Vital was murdered; and Rachel Ohnona, whose son Alexandre Look was murdered at the Nova music festival attacked by Hamas terrorists the morning of Oct. 7.

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Following suit with the U.S. State Department, Canada paused its funding for UNRWA in January after Israel came forward with evidence that UN employees had participated in the Oct. 7 attacks.

The Liberal government reversed the decision in March, in time for Canada it make good on its $25-million funding pledge to UNRWA, part of a $100-million grant announced last June.

In the application, the claimants state the decision to resume funding UNRWA is “unreasonable in light of UNRWA’s history and participation with Hamas, a listed terrorist entity pursuant to Criminal Code Section 83.05,” and accuses the government’s failure to comply with a number of statutory duties.

It alleges “The impugned decision to re-instate funding to UNRWA, given UNRWA’s history… is a grotesques (sic) violation of Canadian values.”

National Post has asked the Ministry of Justice for comment on the suit.

The previous Conservative government under Stephen Harper cut off funding the agency in 2010 over its longstanding controversies involving terror groups and spreading hatred, while the U.S. cut off funding in 2018 under president Donald Trump.

The Trudeau Liberals resumed funding in 2016, while President Biden restored American funding in 2021.

National Post

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