Amidst what experts have called an unprecedented weaponization of Canadian charity law against Jewish organizations – with concomitant coverage in the Canadian news media casting aspersions on such charities – a recent Canadian Press article covered claims made by a University of Toronto professor that Muslim charities funneling money overseas are unfairly targeted.
The August 16 article by Jim Bronskill, “Anti-terrorism measures hindering Muslim charities’ humanitarian efforts: study,” focused on a recent study which alleged that anti-terrorism financing laws in Canada are harming humanitarian funding by Muslim charities.
The study in question was made by Anver Emon, a University of Toronto expert in Islamic law, who authored a similar study in 2021. Among the groups highlighted as case studies in that earlier report was the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (IRFAN-Canada), an entity that was listed as a terrorist group in 2014.
Bronskill wrote that, according to the recent study, “Muslim charities are especially vulnerable because they are committed to providing humanitarian aid to hard-hit regions that Canada also deems high-risk for terrorist financing.”
Four Charities With Alleged Links to Palestinian Terror Groups — Unmentioned by Canadian Press
However, at no time did he offer readers any insight into serious questions regarding the activities of a number of Islamic and other “humanitarian” charities in Canada. In 2024, investigative journalist Warren Kinsella identified four charities, the Canadian Palestinian Foundation, Hands for Charity, International Development and Relief Foundation (IDRF) and Medical Aid for Palestine, which he posited “have been funding – or have possible links to – Palestinian extremist or terror groups.”
These are serious allegations, but which received no mention in Bronskill’s reporting, nor did he offer any insight into serious questions relating to the behaviour of other Islamic charities within Canada. Domestically, the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) – a registered Canadian charity – hosted its annual convention in downtown Toronto, featuring a litany of radical and extremist speakers. Canada Revenue Agency auditors alleged in a 2021 report that some leaders and workers from the Muslim Association of Canada were part of an apparent support network for Hamas, an allegation the charity strongly denies.
ISGAP Report: Muslim Brotherhood Networks Embedded in Canadian Charities and Academia — Media Silence
Just days after the Canadian Press article was published, the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) published a report arguing that Muslim Brotherhood networks are widely enmeshed into Canadian academia and beyond. It specifically noted that a number of Islamic charities in Canada play an active role in promoting radical Islam in the country.
The August 16 article in the Canadian Press is similar to a great deal of other coverage elsewhere in the Canadian news media; when an organization or other entity makes allegations that fall into a particular worldview, it receives uncritical if not overtly sympathetic news coverage.
Meanwhile, when a new study alleges that the growing tentacles of radical Islam are increasingly infiltrating much of Canadian civil society, such as the recent ISGAP report, it is widely – if not universally – ignored in the Canadian news media.
It may well be that some Muslim charities seek to send humanitarian aid to countries beset by terrorism. But it is also a reasonable suspicion that such funding could – either by design or error – end up in the hands of violent Islamic terrorists, a possibility that was almost completely overlooked by Jim Bronskill in his Canadian Press article. Accordingly, HonestReporting Canada filed a complaint directly with this CP reporter to convey our concerns.
