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IRFAN has denied knowingly funding Hamas and accused the CRA of misinterpreting its relief work. It describes itself as an international humanitarian organization. While no longer a registered charity, it continues to operate in Canada as a non-profit.

Appearing on CBC News Network on Wednesday, Mr. Trudeau said Prime Minister Stephen Harper had sent a congratulatory message to the conference organizers last year. “Every year members of all political parties go but suddenly I’m going and the Conservative government decides to play politics with it,” he said.

“It’s an opportunity to speak to 20,000 Muslim Canadians about this extraordinary society based on values of openness, of respect that we’ve managed to build here in Canada. This level of engagement, this level of optimism and hope for the future is a message that absolutely needs to come out. And people trying to quash that kind of dialogue and that kind of discourse through intolerant attacks like we’ve seen is not what has made this country great.”

The Charities Directorate wrote a 27-page letter to IRFAN in December, 2010, that spelled out the reasons why its charity status was being revoked. The letter said regulators did not have to establish any knowledge or intent to break Canada’s charity rules.

“Nevertheless, the evidence we have accumulated through our current and previous audits and upon which this letter is based show, in our view, a marked persistence in aiding groups connected to Hamas, the existence of institutional links between IRFAN-Canada and key members within the organization structure of Hamas, and an intent to contribute to the success of Hamas by enhancing its ability to engage in its cause in the manner expressly contemplated by the Hamas Charter.”

Hamas is devoted to the destruction of Israel. Public Safety Canada calls Hamas “a radical Islamist-nationalist terrorist organization” and “one of the primary groups involved in suicide bombings aimed at Israelis.”

Below, portions of the CRA report discussing IRFAN-Canada’s links to Hamas:







