Website targets US critics of Israel
Imagine the outrage that would be expressed if there was a website that maintained a public list of Jews, publishing their photos and personal information simply because they were active supporters of Israel. Well, you would have to imagine it because it doesn’t exist. But you don’t have to imagine a website that shows the photos and personal information of Arab Americans who support Palestinian rights and is filled with vicious accusations of them being “anti-Semitic” and even “anti-American.”
The website is called Canary Mission and it is hosted by one of America’s most influential online platforms, GoDaddy. Who manages Canary Mission is a mystery because GoDaddy allows the operators of the site to hide their identities. GoDaddy has justified its refusal to take the website down by saying it would not challenge “free speech.”
Canary Mission defines itself as a site that “documents people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses.” Notice how it falsely conflates criticism of Israel with “hatred of the USA.” It is amazing how people who criticize the Israeli government’s policies can be dismissed as “anti-Semitic” and then “anti-American” at a time when criticizing US government policy has become such a popular pastime in America itself.
The anonymous writers at Canary Mission reason:
“We pursue our mission by presenting the words and deeds of individuals and organizations that engage in anti-Semitism, racism and bigotry on the far right, far left and among the array of organizations that comprise the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.”
It is funny how GoDaddy defends this kind of vicious personal assault as a form of “free speech,” and yet the very premise of the Canary Mission website is to turn the issue of free speech on its head in order to use it to disparage individuals who are expressing their right to free speech to call out the racist and apartheid policies of a foreign government, Israel.
For example, next month, the national organization of the activist civil rights group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) will host its ninth annual conference at the University of Minnesota. Canary Mission’s personal attacks are being used as “evidence” to bully the university into blocking the conference, or at least distancing itself from and condemning the event. There are extremists in every movement. I don’t agree with all the policies of the BDS movement or the rhetoric of some members of the SJP, but both of these are legitimate and moral and have a role in exposing the corruption of a foreign government.
As far as I am concerned, there is no moral boundary on the right of individuals to challenge the hate-driven policies of a government, especially one like Israel’s, which embraces apartheid and has adopted more than 65 laws that tear apart the civil rights of some of its citizens simply because they are not Jewish.