Despite that statement, and assurances that tiny donations come via the website’s Donation button, this reporter could not get a clear denial that no major funder has enabled the group.
While James functions as “the boss,” general manager Tom is responsible for vetting all profiles. “As content manager,” says Tom, “before anything goes live, it goes through me. I am the one who hits the button, and from one computer…. Then we send out a notification on who is new to approximately 1,000 names on our mailing list and to many on more social media.”
One profile being readied for uploading during our interviews was that of Raja Abdulhaq. A preview of that profile spotlights Abdulhaq as a computer engineering grad and co-founder of the recently formed Islamic Movement for Justice. The IMJ works closely with BDS groups and rallies the African-American community in anti-police actions, such as those seen in Ferguson, Missouri. At a boisterous Times Square anti-Israel rally in July 2014, Abdulhaq shouted into the stage microphone that the U.S. was supporting Israel solely “to massacre and mass murder innocent people in Palestine.” He added that Israel was a “great monster” and “a terrorist state.”
Abdulhaq has also helped organize a protest of a New York City Council session showing solidarity with Israel, according to news reports and a Facebook event page for the demonstration listing him as host.
In an interview with this reporter, Abdulhaq quipped, “So far I’m not lucky enough to be on the Canary Mission website.” When asked about a two-state solution, he objected to “Jewish Zionists sharing any portion of Palestine,” adding that the Palestinian Authority doesn’t have the right to finalize such an agreement because the PA is “a traitor serving Israel.”
After finishing the Abdulhaq profile, not yet uploaded, Tom explained he was motivated to join Canary Mission because “I consider myself a human rights activist and because I identify as Jewish. In college, I was always standing up against racism and anti-Semitism. I saw what was happening on campus. Someone gave me an opportunity to join Canary Mission. I did. Anti-Semitism is something close to me, and there is no one else doing this type of thing. I want to make an impact, make a difference. I did not know what the impact would be when I started. But the results are quite believable.”
Tom is Jewish. But he wasn’t sure about other Canary Mission team members and couldn’t understand a question on the topic. “I think it is rude to ask,” he explained.
“This is not about being Jewish,” he explained. “This about fighting anti-Semitism.”