Heather Reisman funding armed forces committing a holocaust is the real crime.
Recently the prosecution withdrew charges against three individuals accused of posting social justice messages on an Indigo bookstore in Toronto 17 months ago. Seven out of the “Indigo 11” have now seen their charges dropped despite the police raiding their homes early in the morning.
They were accused of postering photos of Indigo’s high-profile CEO Heather Reisman with the statement “Funding Genocide”.
On Thursday two other individuals plead guilty for the crime of postering in opposition to genocide. They will be seeking absolute discharges, which the court granted two other posterers who entered guilty pleas.
The Indigo 11 case exposes the police’s deference to Zionism and the wealthy. Reisman spoke directly to the Toronto police chief twice soon after posters were put on a downtown Indigo. It’s outrageous the police organized early morning police raids and charged individuals with hate crimes for opposing genocide.
The political stunt was a response to Reisman and her billionaire husband donating nearly $200 million over the past twenty years to a charity they established to assist non-Israelis who join that country’s military. In 2005 Reisman and her husband established the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers “to recognize and honor the contribution of Lone Soldiers to Israel.” Heseg Foundation provides scholarships and other forms of support to Torontonians, New Yorkers and other non-Israelis (Lone Soldiers) who join the IDF. At the first Heseg Foundation Grants Awards Ceremony in 2005 Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said that “Encouraging and supporting young individuals from abroad” to become lone soldiers “directly supports the morale of the IDF”.
Recently HESEG has funded scholarships for members of the Duvdevan, an undercover commando unit known for disguising itself and blending in with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories to carry out operations. The Duvdevan scholarships are partly based on “excellence during army service”, which in the context of Israeli occupation likely means kidnapping or killing Palestinians.
Through HESEG Reisman may be violating Canada’s Foreign Enlistment Act by “inducing” Canadians to join the Israeli military. HESEG’s operations certainly violate Canada Revenue Agency rules for registered charities. CRA rules state that “increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of Canada’s armed forces is charitable, but supporting the armed forces of another country is not.”
As much as 90% of Reisman and husband Gerry Schwartz’s donations for lone soldiers participating in occupation and genocide may be subsidized by all Canadians. A recent Canadian Jewish News email from Schwartz Legacy Planning describes how “individuals with $300K+ of income” can “Redirect your tax dollars today to the charities of your choice.” The tax firm’s sponsorship explains, “The Canadian Flow Through Share Program is a proven and trusted government program. Over the past 20 years, it has received contributions exceeding $20 Billion. This program allows you to combine paying your taxes and make donations so you can direct your tax dollars and donate them to charities of your choice: You can reduce the cost of your actual cash gift by 90%: Give $10,000 at a cost to you of $500.”
In an article discussing the impact of this outrageous tax avoidance strategy on the environment and indigenous rights the Narwhal published “A little-known tax loophole is funding billions in new mining exploration”. Their March 24 story explains, “Essentially, it’s a tax strategy that provides an incentive for wealthy donors to donate shares of mining exploration companies instead of cash to a charity. It sounds complicated, but the gist is simple. Wealthy Canadians purchase shares of a mining exploration company — then gift those shares to a charity on the same day and reap big tax benefits.”
While violating Canada Revenue Agency rules concerning supporting foreign militaries, Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz may also be getting the public to cover 90 cents of every dollar they donate to assist Israel’s occupation force violating all manner of international law.
The true criminals should be prosecuted and the police need to apologize to those whose lives were disrupted for the ‘crime’ of protesting Canada’s support of genocide.
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