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Ex-Canary

Ex-Canary features individuals who were formerly investigated and featured on Canary Mission but have since rejected the latent anti-Semitism on the far-right, far-left, and among anti-Israel organizations and activists.

These individuals have displayed the intellectual honesty to acknowledge the problem of anti-Semitism within anti-Israel organizations such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. They have shown moral courage to recognize their earlier mistakes – despite social pressure from their peers. We commend these individuals for their strength of character in embracing tolerance and coexistence.

Due to a fear of harassment, Ex-Canaries' identities may be removed.

For inquiries about becoming an Ex-Canary, please visit the Contact Us page.

I am wrong for speaking ill against Jews. I am 100% wrong for thinking it was OK to be anti-sematic and I regret it completely. I now know much more and will speak against any Semitism I hear or see.

Since before joining SJP I had already made anti-Israel social media posts but SJP offered me the echo chamber that prevented me from thinking critically about the conflict.

I have come to renounce SJP because my experiences in the Holy Land have opened my eyes to several key points. Jewish people are not “colonists”, rather, the Jewish people are historically indigenous to Israel... Israel [is] being unfairly held to a higher standard

I am incredibly sorry to each and every person of the Jewish community; whether this has reached you personally or not, I am sorry for increasing and being involved in a rhetoric that you have to fight every single day. I am incredibly sorry for comparing an entire community to such a horrific figure in our history. To compare the victims of the oppressor to the oppressor himself, is horrifying to do and I am incredibly sorry I let myself do that.

I at least expected SJP to be neutral, to have both sides share stories and understand each other

As a former member of SJP, I now understand how my actions were Anti-Semitic and wrong. I am truly sorry for the pain that I have caused. I now see that I was ill informed and I hope that those who have been hurt and affected by my actions can forgive me. I hate myself for not looking for the other story. I spoke with no knowledge or understanding and in turn have caused others pain.

I️ apologize for even, considering [SJP] a path to peace. It has a racist, anti-semitic agenda and it is nothing that belongs on a college campus.

I was threatened, indirectly, by many members of [JVP] who claimed that they had a host of candidates who they were ready to run against me and would portray me as a racist who was uncaring of the struggles faced by many Palestinians did I not comply

Many of them told other pro-Palestine students not to trust me because I’m a Jew

Canary Mission has followed one true cause and that is exposure. Exposure not only to the world, but to the individual. There was no bigger wake up call to my hateful and racist comments then the one I was brought to by this site.

I removed myself from the college’s SJP group because what they were doing was wrong

Groups like SJP and BDS are hate groups and I no longer support them. I do not participate too much politically anymore but I’ll call out anti-Semitism when I see it.

The root cause of all this hate is from stereotypes and not enough information about the groups We are all equal...Being shown on Canary Mission definitely opened me up and I hope it does the same for everyone else.

My friendship with the people from JVP started to grow more toxic throughout this summer because I started to find them very hypocritical.

SJP does not belong on college campuses around the world. I have had Jewish friends from elementary school all the way to my professional life as coworkers and supervisors and I cannot imagine them fitting the image SJP tries to portray of the Jewish community

I now wonder what makes people with no connection to that part of the world so heavily opinionated and radical... BDS is hypocritical, misdirected, and anti-Semitic at its core.

The prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would also do business trades with the Jews and would encourage donating charity to our neighbors, even if they were Jewish, as his companions explained this (may Allaah be pleased with them all)... I am against boycotting Israel.

Everything I said was horrendous and it is haunting to me. Spreading hate is a huge red line for me and I do not want to be reminded of it ever again...

BDS doesn't work and is just an angry attempt to hurt the Israeli economy because of jealousy and hatred similar to the boycotts in historic europe.

I am truly sorry for what I said in the past. That was my fault... The sole reason of these hateful comments was not having enough information...

SJP is EXTREMELY bias to the point where its damaging and no difference of opinion can be expressed.

I could no longer deny that my anti-Semitic hate speech perpetuated horrific acts

I never understood the gravity of what Hamas has done to Gaza and how it’s put the lives of everyone in that space in jeopardy.

SJP had villainized...any individual who considered [Israel] as a sanctuary.

I also was not aware of the extent that SJP went to in order to spread their beliefs

I was extremely afraid for my education and social life if I dared question what [SJP] thought.

My first experiences with conspiracy culture started in 2012 with...Alex Jones’ Infowars. I fell for these claims hook, line and sinker and ignorantly started parroting these claims on social media and a blog I started around 2014.

BDS has no place on college campuses and SJP cannot continue to function with the sole purpose of attacking Israel on campus.

Why I'm no longer anti-Zionist...Please listen and have an open mind.

While I can’t undo my actions, I do offer my sincere apology along with a call to action to everyone to not engage in racist and spread of hatred with words and posts.

Anti-zionism is really anti-Semitism in disguise. It's probably the newest form of anti-Semitism, to be honest. I recently learned that it is anti-Semitic to deny the right of the Jewish people to have a homeland. I renounce my anti-zionist views completely and am sorry for the feelings I have hurt.

I truly recognize my mistake. For those who deny that anti-Zionism rhetoric is anti-Semitism, what is their response to the fact that attacks against Jews are on the rise across the world?

I now look back and regret endorsing the divestment resolution. I apologize for my role in advocating for a lane of activism that closes the door on dialogue

Moving forward, I will make sure to seek both sides of the story and befriend more diverse groups of people so I can learn different points of views.

Hate speech can cause a lot of trauma and abuse towards those minorities and when you realize the effect your words has on others I believe is a huge stepping stone towards true freedom of acceptance and tolerance and love towards others.

I cannot take back the horrible things that I tweeted. What I can do is make clear that they do not represent who I am today... I can hope that someone reading my story, who may harbor the kind of prejudice that I used to, will see that hatred towards others is a choice we make, and like me, decide to make better choices.

I have grown as an ignorant child who spoke on anything he has heard or seen, to a now matured adult who has done extensive research on the history of Israel and the Jewish people and truly understand the struggle that has been faced over history.

I quickly fell into the cycle of perpetuating anti-Semitism online under the guise of “activism.”

The journey to educating ourselves and unlearning isn’t easy but we must do so to truly protect our Jewish neighbors locally and abroad against antisemitism.

I thought I was being neutral, maybe even thoughtful, by staying silent or going along with what everyone else was saying. But what I was really doing was being complicit.

I did and continue to strongly condemn the violence that the terrorist group Hamas wreaked in Israel on October 7th, and it is shocking to me that SAA (or any other student organization) has been able to justify the brutal massacre that occurred that day.

I will never forget how isolated I felt and how horrible I must have made my friend feel. That was when I first knew I had been deceived and no longer the victim, but rather the villain.

I have learned important lessons from this experience about the need to remain vigilant in upholding my opposition to hatreds of all forms, and to do due diligence about my affiliations.

I regret the involvement of the identity-based affinity organization I was a member of in contributing to such harm. I have since maintained my efforts to make up for the harm caused to my friends and peers.

Why did I let myself fall into such a misguided, selfish perception of what Israel stands for?

My words can have severe real-life implications for innocent people, and this was never my intention.

I am staying on as a leader of my student organization to ensure the position is held by someone who is an ally of the Jewish community as I actively work towards promoting Jewish safety and inclusion on and off campus through strategic partnerships.

I was encouraged to join a group that had a hidden agenda and ulterior motives.

I strongly condemn the violence that occurred on October seventh and I regret that SAS has justified the brutal massacre that occurred that day.

I implore readers to examine their circles and ask themselves if they have been unknowing condoning narrow-minded or antisemitic ways of thinking.

I realized SJP wanted to hurt/de-humanize Israel more than care for the people they want justice for.

I grew up in a Palestinian household and was taught hatred. I was taught to hate the other side no matter what peace deals or compromises were being made. Was told since the day I was born to resist and only one Palestinian/Arab nation should exist.

I decided to walk away from SJP because I realized how deeply hurt and scared many Jews felt because of the actions of the organization.

I had unknowingly become entangled in a dangerous web of hatred, ignorance, and racism.

I believe I was brainwashed growing up around people who were ignorant and uneducated about the history of the Jewish people. Which triggered me to participate in an anti-Israel protest out of anger and ignorance in which I regret until this day.

Today opened my eyes to so much more than the hate that groups like SJP indoctrinated me with...

Hatred is a taught behavior, and I did not allow myself to search for the truth or develop my own opinions. I blindly listened to others. This is the biggest regret of my life.

Words like mine only put Jews and Palestinians alike in danger.

I began to do my own research outside of social media as it was my responsibility to go out and seek more knowledge on both sides.

I did not know that the ignorance of my comments basically implied hate and anti-Semitism.

I later realized the group I was involved with during my undergraduate studies... was no longer a group that provided support to Palestinians, rather one that aimed to target the Jewish population on campus.

After doing much more research about the history of anti-Semitism, I realized that it is often "jokes" such as these that lead to the type of hate and abuse that many Jews experience...

When I was approached by an older student I looked up to to participate in an SJP demonstration, I didn’t think critically enough to see how my actions could help perpetuate hate against the Jewish community. That’s on me.

Just as bigotry can become learned, it can be unlearned if you are able to admit that you were wrong. I have looked inwards, educated myself, had tough conversations with my friends, and worked to better myself on these issues.

Growing up around a dominantly Arab/Muslim community, most of us are mutually taught something. That something is that we were taught to dislike the Jewish community.

Although I had no ill intention or hate towards Israel or Jewish people, SJP was a group that could easily influence people to have these malicious ideas.

I repeat my apologies for any misunderstanding that happened and my condemnation of HAMAS for its actions on October 7th.

I realize that the way I approached certain subjects and the language I repeated could have caused real pain and echoed a negative rhetoric whether I intended for it to be that way or not.

I continue to be critical of SJP and BDS's whitewashing of Hamas, and support Israel's role in maintaining Jewish sovereignty and self-determination.

Looking back, I see now that my actions were naive, uninformed, and ultimately harmful.

I now realize that, by attending the protest, I was also sending a message that the terrible October 7th attack in Israel by Hamas was justified.

It was only until I grew up and left the Middle East when I got to see the other side of the story and change my views, and now I realise that I was wrong and why I was wrong.

The Black Hebrew Israelite camps shaped my biblical opinion to hate and follow falsehood...It caused me to have a negative , unfair and unjust opinions and feelings towards the Jewish people.

...what made me change my mind about supporting the group was a deeper understanding that disagreeing on Israel’s right to exist isn’t a normal, everyday disagreement, but rather cuts at the core of my fundamental values.