Terror law gets a test

Editorial

A Canadian court may have the last word on whether organizers of a Canadian boat expected to join the international flotilla to Gaza later this month is supporting terrorism.

In the wake of a flotilla a year ago in which provocateurs attacked Israeli soldiers attempting to redirect the ships to Israeli ports, a second convoy is expected to descend late in June with the intent of breaking Israel’s blockade, which exists to prevent continued transport of arms to the Hamas terror regime that controls Gaza.

Under Canadian law, it is illegal to provide assistance or support to a designated terror group, as Hamas has been designated by the Canadian government, among others. The legality of such a flotilla has been a source of debate as the Canadian organizers have raised funds – allegedly about $300,000 – to obtain and stock a ship to challenge the blockade as part of a larger international publicity stunt with potentially deadly consequences. At the University of British Columbia earlier this year, a protracted conflict occurred when students who support Israel attempted to prevent $700 of student fees from being donated to the flotilla. The funds were released, despite warnings that officials of the student government could be liable under anti-terrorism laws for supporting Hamas.

An online list of endorsers of the Canadian boat includes a long inventory of the usual suspects, including a raft of groups that straightfacedly include the word “peace” in their names, alongside a handful of Vancouver Jews, two former Vancouver city councilors, at least two NDP members of Parliament and a number of international career Israel-bashers.

To the organizers’ credit, the list of endorsers – predictable as they may be – reflects a successful effort to build a grassroots coalition, something Canadian Zionists have never really bothered to attempt, relying instead on high-level lobbying.

No matter how long a list of supporters a cause may have, of course, it is not above the law. This week, a suit was filed in the Ontario Superior Court by Ed Morgan, a Toronto law professor and a former head of Canadian Jewish Congress, on behalf of Cherna Rosenberg, a Canadian and Israeli citizen. Rosenberg has lived in Sderot and has been traumatized by the daily shelling from the Gaza Strip, a mile away. She is also represented by New York attorney Neal Sher, former head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Nazi prosecution office and a former special adviser on war crimes to Canada’s Ministry of Justice.

The suit accuses Canadian organizers – Alternatives International and Turtle Island Humanitarian Aid, carrying on business as Canadian Boat to Gaza – with raising funds for and providing material support to Hamas. Rosenberg’s complaint seeks damages of $1,000,000 for trauma and injuries, as well as other damages. More significantly, perhaps, the complaint seeks an injunction to prohibit the organizers from raising funds, purchasing equipment or supplies, and purchasing or renting a vessel for the purpose of delivering goods or funds to the Gaza Strip and stopping them from sending “goods, funds or any other material support, directly or indirectly, to Hamas or any of its representatives, and/or from aiding and abetting Hamas by assisting in bringing imports and exports to and from the Gaza Strip....”

The lawsuit is a necessary and welcome step to clarifying the extent of Canada’s laws preventing support for terror and we await the court’s decision.

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