In recent months, multiple Jewish charities in Canada have been repeatedly targeted by anti-Israel activists, pressuring the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to remove their charitable status, and then gloating after each success. Among the targets: Jewish summer camps and schools, targeted by activists because of their ties to Israel.

Chillingly, these extremist demands are not simply the domain of the fringe, but increasingly, by seemingly legitimate commentators.

In an open letter dated May 14 and addressed to Prime Minister Mark Carney, a group of retired diplomats demanded that Ottawa “accelerate” its efforts to target these charities in Canada, in what Artur Wilczynski, a former diplomat and antisemitism educator, called “an attack on the viability of Jewish life in Canada.

Alex Neve, a former leader of Amnesty International Canada, has been regularly platformed by Canadian news media outlets on international affairs, despite parroting what can reasonably be called stridently anti-Israel views.

In a May 16 post to X (Twitter), Neve praised the letter from the diplomats, saying that he “very much appreciate(s) this timely, comprehensive letter to PM Carney,” calling their demands “thoughtful recommendations.”

Among the other demands levied by the former diplomats: calling for Ottawa to offer its “unequivocal support for, and implementation of, decisions and actions taken by the International Criminal Court…regarding allegations of war crimes and genocidal acts in the region.”

Though the authors conveniently saw fit not to include it, a recent article in The Wall Street Journal made explosive accusations against Karim Khan, lead prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), alleged that Qatar, the oil-rich Persian Gulf kingdom hosting the Hamas senior leadership, offered to “look after” Khan if he pursued charges against Israel.

That these former diplomats would not even acknowledge this scandalous accusation, let alone seek to address it meaningfully, speaks volumes about the credibility of their demands that Ottawa gullibly accept the legitimacy of the ICC and its allegations against Israel.

Another demand levied by the former diplomats – and repeated by Neve – is the call to “strengthen bilateral relations with the State of Palestine including increased support to the Palestinian Authority…”

While the Palestinian Authority (PA) is often depicted as the ‘moderate’ or ‘legitimate’ leader of the Palestinians, in contrast to terrorist groups like Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, this outlook is dangerously naive.

Just three days after their open letter, the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, openly admitted that it uses tax funds to pay the salaries of terrorists, in a longstanding practice termed ‘Pay for Slay.’ That the diplomats who signed the open letter, and Alex Neve, who praised it, would either be ignorant of this practice, or otherwise refused to admit it, calls into serious question their credibility.

While most of the signatories to the open letter have little apparent connection to Israel, among the names is Kerry Buck, a former Canadian envoy to NATO, who now serves as a senior fellow at the University of Ottawa.

The open letter from these diplomats exhibits a striking ignorance about the extremist nature of the Palestinian Authority, the lack of credibility for the International Criminal Court, and instead embraces a radical call to effectively target Jewish charities in Canada. The letter should be condemned and widely repudiated, but instead of doing so, Alex Neve, former leader of Amnesty International Canada, enthusiastically embraces it. Where is the media outrage?

Full letter below:

Click here to download your own copy

NAMES OF THE SIGNATORIES:

Jon Allen

Israel, Spain, Andorra, Holy See

Rajani Alexander

Guatemala, Belize, Chandigarh

Terence Bacon

Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Albania

Brian Baker

Denmark

Gaston Barban

Australia, South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Madagascar

John P. Bell

Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Burkina-Faso, Brazil, Malaysia

Roderick Bell

Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen (Republic of), Oman

Eric Bergbusch

Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, German Democratic Republic, Poland

Keith Bezanson

Bolivia, Peru

Donald Bobiash

Ghana, Togo, Indonesia, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Timor-Leste, Colombia

Jean-Pierre Bolduc

Ghana, Togo, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Congo (Brazzaville), Senegal, Cabo Verde, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia

Mario Bot

New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tuvalu

Yves Boulanger

Mali, Ethiopia, Djibouti, African Union

Anne-Marie Bourcier

Finland, Portugal

Alan Bowker

Guyana, Suriname, Croatia, Kosovo

Marc-André Brault

Egypt, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Mauritius, Namibia

Denis Briand

Guinea, Sierra Leone, Burkina-Faso

Kerry Buck

North Atlantic Council

Brian Buckley

Minneapolis

Alexandra Bugailiskis, CM

Syria, Cyprus, Cuba, Poland, Italy, Albania, Malta, San Marino, World Food Programme, International Fund For Agricultural Development, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Ian Burchett

Hong Kong, Macau

Perry Calderwood

Venezuela, Senegal, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Sao Tome And Principe, Pakistan, Cuba

Phil Calvert

Laos, Thailand, Cambodia

Joseph Caron

China (People’s Republic of), Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of), Mongolia, Japan, Bhutan, India, Nepal

Anne Charles

Bolivia, Peru, Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Mozambique

Hilary Childs-Adams

Germany

Caroline Chrétien

Nigeria, Fiji. Kiribati, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu

Keith Christie

Cuba, Mexico

William L. Clarke

Brazil, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia

Nicholas Coghlan

South Sudan (Republic of)

Terence Colfer

Kuwait, Qatar, Iran

Robert Collette

Philippines, Liechtenstein, Switzerland

David B. Collins

Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Pakistan, Malaysia, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, United Nations (Nairobi), Burundi, Eritrea, Rwanda, South Sudan (Republic of)

Kenneth Murray Cook

Greece, Haiti, Guatemala, Belize

William Crosbie

Afghanistan

Heather Cruden

Bangladesh, Pakistan

Allan Culham

El Salvador, Guatemala, Venezuela, Organization of American States

Glenn Davidson

Syria, Afghanistan

Adriaan De Hoog

Berlin

Ferry de Kerckhove

Pakistan, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Egypt

Robert Déry

Minneapolis

Jean-Yves Dionne

Rio de Janeiro

David Drake

Egypt

Roxanne Dubé

Zimbabwe, Angola, Botswana, Miami

André Dubois

Qatar, Algeria

Louis Dumas

Egypt

Jean-Marc Duval

Azerbaijan (Republic of), Georgia (Republic of), Turkiye (Republic of), Turkmenistan, Colombia, São Paulo

Lucie Geneviève Edwards

Comoros, Somalia, United Nations (Nairobi), Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, South Africa, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), India, Nepal, Bhutan, Ghana

Mark Entwistle

Cuba

Nicholas Etheridge

Bangladesh, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Anthony Tudor Eyton

Brazil, Bermuda

Marc Faguy

Ghana, Benin, Liberia, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe

Ian C. Ferguson

Lebanon, Nigeria

Lise Filiatrault

Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde

Patricia Fortier

Dominican Republic, Peru, Bolivia

Réjean Frenette

Burundi, Rwanda, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Congo (Brazzaville), Nigeria, Switzerland, Benin, Liechtenstein

Marie Gervais-Vidricaire

Austria, International Organizations (Vienna), Germany (Federal Republic Of)

Paul Gibbard

Venezuela, Irak, Holy See

Barbara Gibson

Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe

Pierre Giguère

Haiti, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad

Raphael Girard

North Macedonia (Republic of), Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova

Laurette Glasgow

Belgium, Luxembourg, Council of Europe, Monaco

Stanley E. Gooch

Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, India, Nepal, Mexico

Roland Goulet

Gabon, Uruguay, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Congo (Brazzaville)

John Graham

Suriname, Guyana, Venezuela, Dominican Republic

Chris Greenshields

Ramallah, Israel

Susan Gregson

Shanghai

Marius Grinius

Vietnam (Socialist Republic of), Korea (Republic of), Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of), United Nations (Geneva), United Nations Conference on Disarmament

Louis Guay

Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe

Robert Hage

Hungary, Slovenia

Sam Hanson

Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sudan

Ewan Nigel Hare

Burundi, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic of), Rwanda, Nigeria

Kathryn Hewlett-Jobes

Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Bahamas, Jamaica

Robin Higham

Morocco, Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations (FAO)

John Holmes

Jordan, Iraq, Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Georgia (Republic of), Azerbaijan (Republic of), Turkiye (Republic of), Turkmenistan, Philippines

Ross Hornby

European Union

Margaret Huber

Czech Republic, Slovakia (Slovak Republic), Pakistan, Jordan, Iraq

David Hutchings

Sudan, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Rod Irwin

Trinidad And Tobago, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, Armenia, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan

Bruce Jutzi

Czech Republic, Slovakia (Slovak Republic)

Jeremy Kinsman

Azerbaijan (Republic Of), Georgia (Republic Of), Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus (Republic of), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Republic of), Tajikistan (Republic of), Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Italy, Malta, San Marino, Albania, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, European Union

Richard Kohler

Brazil

Gwyneth Kutz

El Salvador, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia

Patricia Langan-Torell

Panama

Christian Lapointe

Ecuador

Suzanne Laporte

Benin, Burkina-Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Brazil

Louise Larocque

Kosovo, Croatia

Cécile Latour

Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)

Gilbert Laurin

United Nations (New York), United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Claude Laverdure

Haiti, Burundi, Congo (Democratic Republic of), Rwanda, Congo (Brazzaville), Belgium, Luxembourg, France

Gaetan Lavertu

Colombia, Ecuador, Germany (Federal Republic of), Mexico, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development

Anne Leahy

Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Poland, Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus (Republic of), Uzbekistan, Great Lakes Region In Africa, Holy See

Louise Leger

Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras

Gabriel-Marie Frédéric Lessard

Senegal, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Soudan, Vietnam (Socialist Republic of)

Allan Lever

Saudi Arabia, Yemen (Arab Republic), Yemen (People’s Democratic Republic of), Yemen (Republic of)

Michèle Lévesque

Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde, Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Benin, Liberia, Morocco, Mauritania, African Union, Djibouti, Ethiopia

Daniel Livermore

Guatemala, El Salvador

Peter Lloyd

Trinidad and Tobago, Seattle

Julie Loranger

Spain, Cuba

Marc Lortie

Chile, Paraguay. Spain, Andorra, France, Monaco

Victor Lotto

Venezuela, Dominican Republic

Ken Macartney

Sweden

Melvyn MacDonald

Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, (Republic of), Malaysia

Michael Mace

Chile, Paraguay, Georgia (Republic of) Turkiye (Republic of), Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan (Republic of)

Kathleen Mackay

Taipei, Ramallah

Elizabeth Rice Madan

Portugal

Normand Mailhot

Cambodia

Richard Mann

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Republic of), Tajikistan (Republic of), Kuwait, Qatar

Ginette Martin

Congo (Democratic Republic of), Congo (Brazzaville)

Timothy Martin

Argentina, Paraguay, Colombia, Kandahar, Ramallah

Barry Mawhinney

Czechoslovakia, Ireland, Korea (Republic of)

Andrew McAlister

Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Tanzania, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar

Stuart McDowall

United Arab Emirates

Peter McGovern

Italy, Malta, San Marino, Food And Agriculture Organization Of The United Nations (FAO), World Food Programme, International Fund For Agricultural Development, Albania

Graeme McIntyre

Ramallah

Ian McLean

Milan, France

Donald McMaster

Niger, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia

Rob McRae

North Atlantic Council

Paul Meyer

United Nations (Geneva), United Nations Conference On Disarmament

Stephen Millar

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Republic of), Tajikistan (Republic of)

Michael Molloy

Jordan

John Morrison

Montenegro, Serbia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania

Scott Mullin

Somalia, Iran

Lilly Nicholls

Panama, Bangladesh

Olivier Nicoloff

Belgium, Luxembourg

John Noble

Greece, Switzerland, Liechtenstein

Robert Noble

Congo (Brazzaville), Sabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao tome and Principe, Detroit

Sabine Nölke

Netherlands, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Adrian Norfolk

Qatar, Chad, Eritrea, Sudan

Brian Northgrave

Uruguay

Brian Oak

Ecuador, Atlanta

Pamela O’Donnell

Ecuador, Tanzania, Zambia, Comoros, Seychelles

Robert Orr

Comoros, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia

Louise Ouimet Burkina-Faso, Mali

Henry G. Pardy

Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador

Michel Perrault

Algeria, Korea (Republic of), Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic

Arthur Perron

Laos, Thailand, Vietnam (Republic of), Myanmar, South Africa, Lesotho, Mauritus, Namibia, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Korea (Republic of)

David Plunkett

European Union

Louis Poisson

Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe, Congo (Brazzaville), Equatorial Guinea

Donica Pottie

Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Jordan

Douglas Scott Proudfoot

Ramallah, South Sudan (Republic of)

Barbara Richardson

Bangladesh, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Czech Republic

Guillermo Rishchynski

Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, United Nations (New York)

Gilles Rivard

Haiti, United Nations (New York)

Colin Robertson

Los Angeles

Andrew Robinson

Jordan, Ukraine

Dominique Rossetti

Sudan, Chad, Eritrea

Guy Saint-Jacques

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, China (People’s Republic of)

Virginie Saint-Louis

Mali

Jean-Guy Joseph Bernard Saint-Martin

Burundi, Congo (Republic of), Rwanda, Congo (Brazzaville), Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, Burkina-Faso, Mali, Morocco

Haig Sarafian

Lebannon, Libya

Jules Savaria

Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Burkina-Faso

John Schram

Sierra Leone, Ghana, Togo, Sudan, Liberia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Botswana

Sandelle Scrimshaw

Ghana, Benin, Liberia, Togo, Montserrat, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent And The Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, South Africa, Mauritius, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), France

Chris Shapardanov

Finland

Gerald Skinner

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Republic of), Tajikistan (Republic of), Iceland

Margaret Skok

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan (Republic of), Tajikistan (Republic of)

Scott Slessor Afghanistan, Chandigarh

John Sloan

Armenia, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan

Donald W. Smith

Croatia, Holy See

Nancy Smyth

Ireland

Judith St George

Malaysia. Ho Chi Minh

Joseph Stanford

Israel, Cyprus

Mario Ste-Marie

Taipei

Hugh Stephens

Taipei

Allan Stewart

Venezuela, Atlanta

Jeanette Stovel

Brunei (Darussalam), Finland

Peter Sutherland

Saudi Arabia, Yemen (Republic Of), India, Nepal, Philippines

Carmen Sylvain

Morocco, Mauritania, Colombia

Richard Têtu

Iceland

Lillian Thomsen

Saint Petersburg

Christopher Thomson

United Arab Emirates

Douglas Valentine

Colombia, Yemen (Arab Republic), Yemen (People’s Democratic Republic of), Saudi Arabia

Gordon Venner

Iran

Caterina Ventura

Brunei (Darussalam)

Louis Verret

Mali, Niger

David Viveash

Libya, Ramallah

Alexandra Volkoff

Sweden

Otch Von Finckenstein

Ecuador

James Wall

Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Somalia, Kenya, United Nations (Nairobi) Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea, Uganda, Netherlands, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Roman Waschuk

North Macedonia (Republic of), Serbia, Montenegro, Ukraine

Michael Welsh

Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Montserrat, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands

Christopher Westdal

Bangladesh, Myanmar, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), United Nations Conference On Disarmament, Ukraine, United Nations (Geneva), United Nations Conference On Disarmament, Russian Federation, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Ireland

Timothy Williams

Boston, Tunisia

Gardiner Wilson

Brunei (Darussalam)

David J.S. Winfield

Guatemala

F. Ian Wood

Bahrain, Kuwait. Qatar. United Arab Emirates, Oman

David Wright

Spain, Andorra, North Atlantic Council

James Wright

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Robert G. Wright

Japan, China (People’s Republic of), Mongolia