​​​​​​​HAMILTON, Canada

A recent investigative documentary by the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s “The Fifth Estate” revealed how charities in Canada collect millions of dollars to not only support illegal Israeli settler activities but also fund the Israeli military.

The documentary, "Funding the Occupation," which aired Friday, began by showing Khader Nawajah and his wife, Fatima, who were severely injured by illegal Israeli settlers outside their home in a village in the occupied West Bank.

Nawajah told a CBC reporter that illegal Israeli settlers attacked him and his wife at night with big stones, which he said he "wouldn't be able to lift or carry with one hand."

The Palestinian Authority's Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission described this year's olive harvest as "the most dangerous in decades," saying farmers face daily assaults with no protection.

According to the commission, attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and the army have uprooted, broken or damaged 48,728 trees, including 37,237 olive trees. Settlers have carried out 7,154 attacks against Palestinians and their property across the West Bank during the two years of the most recent onslaught by Israel, killing 33 Palestinians and displacing 33 Bedouin communities.

The olive harvest is known as an annual ritual that once symbolized unity and celebration, but has now been turned into a tense struggle for survival for Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, leaving the enclave largely uninhabitable.

The investigation reported that Canada sanctioned at least 17 individuals and seven entities for committing "extremist settler violence against civilians" in the occupied West Bank since May 2024.

But despite the restrictions by the government of Canada, the documentary revealed that millions of Canadian donations continue to subsidize organizations, including the Israeli army, that support the ongoing illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Miles Howe, an academic researcher who studies pro-Israeli charities in Canada, told the CBC investigation that Canada is "financing war criminality through our charitable system."

According to Howe's research on Mizrachi Canada, its tax filings from 2022 and 2023 revealed that "more than $4 million went to dozens of groups supporting settlement activity in the West Bank."

Shane Martinez, a Toronto lawyer, also told the CBC that "the Association for Israeli soldiers received $1.2 million" in 2023 and noted that "Friends of the IDF, another organization that's its sole purpose is to support Israeli soldiers, received another $35,000. These are active duty soldiers. These are people that are currently serving in the Israeli military."

"Canadians, by and large, are not aware that their money is going over and is being used to subsidize the Israeli army. If they knew what was happening, I think most people would be outraged," he added.

The documentary stressed that the Canadian Zionist Cultural Association (CZCA), Mizrachi Canada, Jewish National Fund Canada and the Canada Revenue Authority either refused to comment or did not respond to the CBC's request for comment on the findings.

"Funding the Occupation" is now available on the US social media platform, YouTube.