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Truthlytics - Beyond The Headlines

Canary Mission: Could You Be A Target?

Demonstrators in Jakarta rally for Palestine with impactful signs and expressions of solidarity.

A Brief History

The Canary Mission, a U.S. based website, was established in 2014 as a way to counteract the growing Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement. The BDS movement encourages the end of international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinian’s as well as to pressure Israel to comply with international law. The Canary Mission labels the BDS movement as antisemitic, they claim that they were motivated to start the Canary Mission to combat antisemitism on college campuses.

In 10 years of operation, no person has claimed responsibility for maintaining it. The Canary Mission has shown that they are combating antisemitism by perpetuating bias against individuals advocating for Palestine, whether or not they are students.

University of Toronto

They may have began by deeming students as antisemites, but they now include professionals such as doctors, lawyers, teachers even organizations. The Canary Mission began by targeting Americans, but the site has branched out to go after Canadians, as well.

A 12 point report is available which includes recommendations for the university, focusing on the University of Toronto’s encampment. Recommendations include that the U of T must enforce a “no mask” rule on campus, it must not enter into any form of negotiation with students or faculty advocating for the BDS movement and must review its academic courses and professor publications to look for sources of antisemitism and anti-Zionist antisemitism in its curricula.

The report includes profiles on individual students, professors and what’s being labeled as outside aggressors of the encampment.

Thousands of Profiles

The Canary Mission has thousands of profiles. These include pictures, full names, locations, links and screenshots of social media posts, public speeches and interviews with journalists. It also provides academic and employer details for the people it profiles, calling on its following to “ensure today’s radicals are not tomorrow’s employees.”

How does an individual wind up on the site? It’s as simple as recommending them in the Contact Us portion by submitting their name and social media links, photos or video. No criteria is provided for individuals wishing to submit information. It’s unclear if providing these tips are the only way someone is added to the site.

The site states Individuals who believe that they should be removed from the website may contact them and may be removed. However, no details are provided on what criteria is needed in order for a person to be removed.

Truthlytics reached out to Canary Mission for comment and received no response.

a group of people holding signs in a park

Photo by Nikolas Gannon via Unsplash

Voices of Featured Profiles

Sabrina Maines, an anti-Zionist whom the Canary Mission highlighted on their website, said, “How I came to know I was on [the Canary Mission] is peculiar in itself. I came to know by word of mouth. My biggest question is who referred me to the site and why.”

She goes on to tell Truthlytics, “Allah rewarded me with this honor. I disturbed the Zionists. They feel threatened by my resistance. It is merely fuel and confirmation that I will never stop resisting Israel and its genocide, apartheid and illegal occupation.”

Retired teacher, Kate Daher, was not surprised to find herself on the Canary Mission’s list. “Well, I could ask what took them so long. Years ago, the precursor to this site was called “Camera.” I know many anti-Zionist professors who insisted that they be added alongside those others fighting against the occupation of Palestinian lands. So it’s an honor to be included on the anti-Zionist wall of fame with other anti-racist activists fighting for justice for Palestinians. I’ve learned by checking the site that our numbers are growing.”

When asked if she had any feelings about the fact that the list exists she stated, “Most people don’t take them seriously, nor should we. The struggle is larger and more important than these sorts of sites will ever be. If their goal is to intimidate, they aren’t having much impact. They are mistaken if they think they can stop a movement as strong and vibrant as ours.” Adding “Palestine will win. The Israeli colonial project will end. And we will all celebrate as they are doing today in Ireland because the Israeli embassy left Dublin.”

Jewish Voices

Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) is the largest Jewish anti-zionist organization in the world. JVP dedicates an entire page on their website to Canary Mission. Stating, “We reject the notion, propagated by Canary Mission and similar organizations, that there is anything shameful, hateful, or anti-Semitic about organizing for Palestinian rights on campus. Antisemitism and criticism of Israel are not the same, and Canary Mission targets students and faculty because they criticize Israel – not because they have expressed anti-Jewish bias. We especially emphasize that labeling support for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement as “pro-terrorist” is a false assertion. And we commend the brave and principled students and faculty who continue to organize in the face of intimidation and repression.”

Legalities

Much of what Canary Mission publishes is protected by the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment on free speech, three lawyers told Reuters in a previously published article.

“It generally isn’t illegal to publish information about someone without consent when the information is accurate and was acquired lawfully from the public domain, said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The legal standard for defamation is high, with the burden on claimants to prove the site made false statements about them, added Dylan Saba, an attorney at Palestine Legal, which represents pro-Palestinian activists. He could recall only a handful of cases where students succeeded in getting Canary Mission profiles changed or removed by threatening defamation suits.”

While not illegal, these types of websites can be dangerous. Featuring photos and information such as organization affiliations, location, and social media links, meets the definition of doxxing. Meaning the publishing of identifying information on the internet typically with malicious intent. This can endanger the life and livelihood of the individuals it targets for the perceived crime of being anti-Zionist by an unknown administrator unwilling to identify themselves. Ironic, considering the what the site is about.

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