Toronto ‘charity’ high school promotes Israeli military service

Under the guise of “charity”, a Canadian high school has been preparing minors to serve in the Israeli occupation forces (IOF).

Toronto High School Bnei Akiva (or Chaim) is under intensive examination following the severe injury of one of its former pupils, Ben Brown, while serving in the IOF.

Brown was reportedly struck by shrapnel from a missile supposedly launched by the Lebanese Resistance movement Hezbollah on a military installation in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

Canadian authorities are being urged to revoke the school’s nonprofit status and probe its executives for breaking Canada’s Foreign Enlistment Act, which criminalizes Canadians’ recruitment into foreign militaries.

“Any person who, within Canada, recruits or otherwise induces any person or body of persons to enlist or to accept any commission or engagement in the armed forces of any foreign state or other armed forces operating in that state is guilty of an offense,” the Act stipulates.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is asked to examine if Bnei Akiva Schools violated Canadian restrictions.

The Bnei Akiva High School is linked with the World Bnei Akiva organization, which is renowned for promoting military duty in “Israel”. The school glorifies the IOF, holding fundraising events for injured troops and even featuring Israeli soldiers and the Israeli military’s choir in its programs.

The organization has a school in occupied territories that trains non-Israelis for military duty. This link raises additional concerns regarding the extent to which the institution actively pushes recruitment in the Israeli military, the study stated.

Brown’s school features a plaque recognizing students who joined the IOF and its website lists grads who served in the regime’s armed services.

According to testimonials on the high school’s website, the institution makes substantial efforts to encourage students to join the Israeli military.

The Canadian Jewish News recently aired a podcast featuring excerpts from a three-year-old conversation with Brown’s older brother, Zach Brown, a former member of the IOF where he boasts about being a “top sharpshooter”.

The schools receive significant public funding as “charity”, including $3.5 million in federal grants in 2021 and 2022 despite Canadian charity statutes citing that aiding foreign armies is not considered charity.

There are also worries that the school’s financial methods may violate the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) requirements.

“CRA rules state clearly that paying private school tuition is not tax deductible except any portion covering ‘religious’ studies,” according to the article.

Trudeau government will stop arming ‘Israel’

Back in March, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly revealed that the administration of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would cease delivering arms to the Israeli occupation.

Speaking to the Toronto Star, Joly divulged that the shift is important and not just symbolic.

The administration will stop future military transfers to “Israel” although a motion voted on by the House of Commons calling for such action is non-binding.

In November last year, a month into the war on Gaza, the International Center of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) informed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and three other government officials of its intent to prosecute them for complicity in Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

“The notice was issued to … Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, Minister of National Revenue Marie-Claude Bibeau, and Minister of Justice (Attorney General) Arif Virani,” the statement said.

The notice was issued as a warning to Canadian government officials, including Trudeau, that they could be individually held liable and prosecuted before the International Criminal Court (ICC) if evidence is found of their complicity in Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israeli-led genocide on Gaza.

In January, Trudeau stated that Canada does not endorse the argument presented by South Africa at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which posits that “Israel” is responsible for committing acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip. 

On day 309 of the genocide in Gaza, the death toll has risen to 39,790 Palestinians killed and 92,002 injured by the Israeli occupation amid the IOF’s brutal onslaught, according to the daily report published by the Health Ministry in Gaza on Saturday.

This comes after a horrific Israeli massacre in Gaza City on Saturday at dawn, which claimed the lives of more than 100 Palestinians seeking shelter in a school.