Dr. Victor Rabinovitch
President and CEO
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Gatineau, Quebec

Dear Mr. Rabinovitch,

The International Jewish anti-Zionist Network is writing to express how disturbed we are by the grantingof permission to the Jewish National Fund to hold its annual Negev fundraisingdinner at Canada’s Museum of Civilization.

It is ourunderstanding that a founding principle of the Museum is to insure thatactivities which promote intolerance will not be supported. We are thereforeconfused that you would choose to support an event being organized by theJewish National Fund (JNF). The JNF is a quasi-governmental organization whosehistoric and continued role has been to acquire land for Jewish-onlysettlements. It is one of the key mechanisms through which Israel’s agenda of ethnic segregation,transfer and expulsion of Palestinians is carried out. Two-thirds of JNF landwas forcibly taken from Palestinian refugees.

One suchexample is “CanadaPark,” maintained throughJNF-Canada contributions, and built on the site of three Palestinian villagescaptured in 1967, whose 10,000 residents were expelled, and all their homesrazed to the ground. The existence of CanadaPark and the financial support itcontinues to receive from the Jewish National Fund of Canada breaches Canada’scharitable status laws, which prohibit charities from violating Canadian publicpolicy. At the same time, Canada Park is only one part of the JNF’s practice ofexpropriation of Palestinian land in Israeland throughout the West Bank for exclusive useby Jews.

The JNF is apolitical organization, and as such should not hold charitable status in Canada. By allowingthe JNF to hold this fund-raiser, you are supporting and therefore a party to Israel’sinstitutionalized racism and ethnic cleansing.

We believethat it is not in the interest of Canadians to allow for the use of the Museum of Civilization as a stomping ground forthe JNF. Now that we have broughtthis to your attention we expect the Museum to live up to it's statedprinciples and cancel. Not to do so means that theMuseum is in violation of its own founding principles, and is complicit in thecontinuing violations of the rights of Palestinians to their land andresources.

 Respectfullyyours,

Sue Goldstein and Naomi Binder Wall,

Canadian members of the International Coordinating Committee,

International Jewish anti-Zionist Network