Canary Mission

Canary Mission
The logo of Canary Mission, depicting a canary inside of a circle
Type of site
Database of student activists, professors and organizations the site considers to be anti-Israel or antisemitic
Available inEnglish
URLhttps://canarymission.org/
CommercialNo
Launched2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Current statusActive

Canary Mission is a website established in 2014 that compiles dossiers on student activists, professors, and organizations, focusing primarily on those at North American universities, which it considers be anti-Israel or antisemitic,[1][2][3] and has said that it will send the names of listed students to prospective employers.[4] Canary Mission listings have been used by the Israeli government and border security officials to interrogate and deny entry to pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) American citizens,[5][6] and by potential employers.[7]

Individuals listed by Canary have said it is a blacklist designed to intimidate students, faculty members, and community activists engaged in Palestine solidarity work.[8] Some pro-Israel activists consider the site's tactics to be overly aggressive, while others applaud its efforts against pro-Palestinian activists.[6] The operators of the website have maintained their anonymity,[9] justifying their secrecy by saying that "many of our detractors just want to know who we are so they can physically harm us."[10] Canary has received criticism for regularly profiling Jewish supporters of Palestinian causes such as Jewish Voice for Peace.

  1. ^ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (2 August 2018). "A New Wave Of Hardline Anti-BDS Tactics Are Targeting Students, And No One Knows Who's Behind It". Forward.
  2. ^ "Pro-Israel donor Adam Milstein denies report that he funds Canary Mission". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  3. ^ Gresh, Alain (September 2018). "The truths that won't be heard". Le Monde Diplomatique. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  4. ^ Maira, S. (2018). Boycott!: The Academy and Justice for Palestine. American Studies Now: Critical Histories of the Present. University of California Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-520-29488-2. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  5. ^ Thrall, Nathan (14 August 2018). "BDS: how a controversial non-violent movement has transformed the Israeli-Palestinian debate". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  6. ^ a b Nathan-Kazis, Josh (2 August 2018). "Canary Mission's Threat Grows, From U.S. Campuses To The Israeli Border". Forward. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  7. ^ Nathan-Kazis, Josh; Zaltzman, Lior (3 October 2017). "Shadowy Blacklist Of Student Activists Wins Endorsement Of Mainstream Pro-Israel Group". The Forward. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Teaching Palestine | AAUP". www.aaup.org. 31 October 2016.
  9. ^ Nathan-Kazis, Josh (27 February 2018). "Twitter Account Blacklisting pro-Palestinian Activists, anti-Semites Deactivated". Haaretz. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference EdwinBlack was invoked but never defined (see the help page).