Written by: Marthad Umucyaba

A web of spying and doxing is being laid upon the pro-Palestine community in Canada.

Former leader of the Canadian chapter of an FBI-recognized terrorist organisation (Jewish Defence League) Meir Weinstein and far-right vigilante organisation ShomRim has converged to spy on the pro-Palestine community. Their latest target is Tara, a woman who they doxed by revealing her LinkedIn information, phone number, and address. They have even threatened to engage in illegal revenge porn against her and dox her in front of the whole pro-Palestine community. Zionist Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman has engaged in separate doxing towards the pro-Palestine community, and is even connected to ShomRim as well.

The far-right, pro-colonial forces that embody the inherent nature of Canada are now engaging in targeted offensives against the pro-Palestine community. They have started at vulnerable targets such as Tara, in order to send chills down the spines of the less committed, and perhaps less principled. When that fails, due to strong leadership, they will simply arbitrarily detain and concoct pretexts for other forms of pro-colonial repression and violence.

The Case of Tara

The Canada Files reached out to Tara after learning of her doxing by Meir Weinstein and his associates. According to Tara, as a single mother, she began to advocate for Palestine after seeing the horrors involved in Israel’s genocidal bombing campaign and siege. She then converted to Islam. Afterwards, she found herself in an online ‘flame war’ with Meir Weinstein, Joe Warmington, and a doctor from Texas named Gary Branfman after she posted a video denouncing Meir Weinstein’s slander about Tara's previously posted protest safety videos, and his generally violent, “every Jew with a .22” terror-linked history.

The most controversial events happened shortly after the illegal settlement sales controversies and exposes on the actions of the Zionist community during those protests.

Meir Weinstein had posted Tara’s full name, his followers posted her phone number, private email, and he thanked another account that posted LinkedIn details online, while openly suggesting to his audience that she was a viable target for personal harassment. Unfortunately, the extent of the doxing did not end there.

Tara had tried to clean up her history online and delete all compromising information concerning her pre-Muslim past. She told The Canada Files that she used facial recognition tools to remove every compromising post that could have been found online. However, due to the resources available to Israel Now, an associate of Meir Weinstein, Gary Branfman, who subscribes to the Jewish Defence League on his YouTube page, has explicitly threatened to engage in illegal revenge porn against her in an email:

ShomRim, Melissa Lantsman, and Israel Now

ShomRim, a self-described “neighbourhood watch”, is an international vigilante Zionist organisation with chapters in the US, UK, and Canada. The ShomRim Toronto branch's activities extend throughout the York Region and Toronto. ShomRim Toronto includes shameless avowed white supremacists, members of the far-right terrorist organisation formerly known as the Jewish Defence League, rebranded in Canada as Israel Now, and Israeli Defence Forces veterans.

Israel Now was co-founded, according to Tara, by Gary Branfman and Meir Weinstein. Meir Weinstein was the leader of the Canadian Chapter of the terrorist Jewish Defence League until 2021, when he left and rebranded the new organisation as Israel Now. Conservative MP Melissa Lantsman openly endorses ShomRim, endorsed it when it was launched, and is regularly caught taking photos with the terrorist associated organisation.

ShomRim gained infamy when the police were compelled to arrest multiple members during the illegal settlement sales protests, including IDF Veteran Meir Gerichter for kicking a protester in the pelvis, and Kevin Haas for stalking protesters with a knife. Tara said Kevin Haas was repeatedly threatening to kill protesters and shouted “white power”, but the police refused to make note of this publicly or lay hate crime(s) charges.

Melissa Lantsman has also already doxed other pro-Palestine protesters in her own capacity, accusing one of wearing a fake suicide vest along with Joe Warmington, and has been caught associating herself with Zionist biker Greg Nisan, who was infamous for wielding a knife and a club as a counter protester against a pro-Palestine protest in 2021.

The Zionist-Police alliance

ShomRim, due to the IDF and JDL associated membership, and the malicious role that it serves in the community including as hired “counter-protesters”, according to Tara - as was the case in the Thornhill illegal settlement sales protests - has security capabilities beyond what should be possible or even acceptable for a supposed “Neighbourhood Watch”. Meir Weinstein, for example, as the leader of a partner organisation to ShomRim, IsraelNow, was able to get a pro-Palestine activist arrested for hate crimes at his request.

ShomRim Toronto even has Ford Explorers modelled and painted like York Regional Police vehicles and other police vehicles in the GTA. There are also chapters throughout the US, along with associated ShomRim Societies for the police members and volunteer police organisations that have already shown the negative consequences of this vigilantism being openly supported by the state. Tara suspects that ShomRim resources, in coordination with the police and Canadian politicians, were involved in uncovering photos and details that she had herself deleted.

The basis for her suspicions includes a case involving RazaAli Awaan Bahadur, who was arrested for inciting hate and failing to comply with a probation order. Tara described the circumstances of his arrest as unique, because Meir Weinstein was made aware of the arrest before the press release, and sent a premature tweet announcing Bahadur’s arrest a day earlier.

Tara believes that ShomRim’s Toronto branch has connections with every police service in the region.

Canadian Far Right’s Reconnaissance in Force: The crackdown has begun

Tara’s case is a cautionary tale for the Pro-Palestine community, which will have a variety of people with different backgrounds, different values, and different political perspectives. The Zionist camp is now explicitly mobilising their resources to engage in various forms of legally questionable and outright illegal acts of political repression. They are also supported by the Canadian state and have allies in the political establishment such as Melissa Lantsman. Zionists are also part of repressive Canadian state machinery such as the police forces.

They are not above using violence, and their hate crimes are being covered up by the police forces. What can be seen by this case is an example of a repressive, colonial, and capitalist government using the most radical, far-right, and pro-colonial elements of the society to engage in a “reconnaissance in force”. Israel Now, for example, even describes the detailed propaganda page of their website as the “campaigns and intelligence reports” page.

The message is now clear. The Zionists have declared war, and the pro-Palestine community is the enemy. This should be a very chilling warning for those who’ve seen, either directly or indirectly, how Zionists like to wage war.

Editor’s note: The Canada Files is the country's only news outlet focused on Canadian foreign policy. We've provided critical investigations & hard-hitting analysis on Canadian foreign policy since 2019, and need your support.

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Marthad Shingiro Umucyaba (formerly referred to as Christian Shingiro) is a Rwandan-born naturalized Canadian expat. He is known for his participation in Communist/anti-imperialist national and international politics and is the radio show host of The Socially Radical Guitarist.

He is also a freelance web developer in Hong Kong, China, striving to provide “Socially Radical Web Design at a socially reasonable price”.

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