From: Ron [ac.nortoedivnull@etinamuh]
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2013 1:15 PM
To: ac.ratsehtnull@selrahccamt; ac.ratsehtnull@deotrettel
Cc: Subject: Re: Your Star article on Harper’s JNF Fundraiser
Tonda MacCharles
Ottawa Bureau Reporter
Toronto Star
Dear Ms. MacCharles,
Re: Your article concerning Harper’s JNF Fundraiser, published on Tuesday September 17, 2013
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/09/17/bird_interpretive_centre_in_israel_to_be_named_after_stephen_harper.html
I was somewhat shocked by your article, which to most readers would appear as an advertisement for PM Harper’s upcoming JNF Fundraiser. There are several important pieces of information which you and The Star have a moral and ethical obligation to present to readers who might otherwise be prompted by your article to donate to the JNF. Indeed one such piece is a Toronto Star feature article concerning the JNF’s complicity in ethnic cleansing (see below).
From a legal perspective, The Star’s readers have a right to know that the Attorney General of Israel ruled in 2005 that the JNF’s bylaws and operations represent racial discrimination in the provision of housing. I trust you and The Star are aware that racial discrimination in the provision of housing is illegal in Canada. The following articles describe the ruling:
http://forward.com/articles/2854/in-watershed-israel-deems-land-use-rules-of-zioni/
http://forward.com/articles/3112/zionist-groups-facing-legal-problems/
Indeed the US State Department discussed the racist nature of the JNF in its 2012 country report on Israel (emphasis added):
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/204575.pdf
More closer to The Star’s own back yard, you should make mention of the Toronto Star October 16, 1991 feature article by Bob Hepburn concerning the JNF’s complicity in ethnic cleansing. As shown below, the article was titled “Wiped off the Map – Park funded by Canadian Jews hides ruins of Arab villages”:
I hope you will agree that The Star should publish a followup article adding the above information so that readers will be better informed and therefore refrain from donating to the Racist JNF, despite PM Harper’s shamefull [sic] lobbying on its behalf.
I look forward to a response to this letter.
Sincerely,
Ron Saba
Canadian Citizen
Montreal