(JTA) — B’nai Brith Canada has called on the country’s tax authority to revoke the registration of a pro-Palestinian charity after alleging that it is promoting a book containing anti-Semitic content.
A cross-Canada book tour by Palestinian Anglican cleric Naim Ateek, to promote his new book “A Palestinian Theology of Justice,” is being promoted by the Canadian-registered charity Necef Sabeel Canada, operating as “Friends of Sabeel Canada.” Ateek is the founder of Sabeel.
B’nai Brith said in a statement that the book contains “blatant anti-Semitic falsehoods.” They include the discredited notion that the Talmud condones the murder of non-Jews.
According to the statement, a B’nai Brith representative attended a presentation by Ateek at the Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg on Wednesday, where Ateek repeated anti-Semitic canards before a large audience and encouraged attendees to boycott the State of Israel.
“Taxpayer dollars should not and cannot be used to subsidize anti-Semitism,” said Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive Officer of B’nai Brith Canada, in the statement. “Promoting anti-Semitic material is an abuse of the moral authority that comes with having a charitable license.”
Ateek is scheduled to travel this week to Canada’s British Columbia, where he is scheduled to visit St. John’s, Halifax, Hamilton, Waterloo and Toronto in the coming week. St. Michael’s College in Toronto has already cancelled his lecture there. B’nai Brith is contacting the remaining venues to encourage them to cancel.
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