5. The Anti-List

5. The Anti-List

In the finale of There Is a List, we explore what it means to flip the lens on surveillance. After months of investigating blacklists that target pro-Palestine voices, we meet the activists behind Reverse Canary Mission, a grassroots initiative documenting Zionist supporters, and examine the ethics of “the anti-list.” We also hear from Dr. Yipeng Ge [https://www.instagram.com/yipeng.ge/?hl=en], a public health physician whose talk on Gaza was cancelled by Canada’s federal health agency. He shares the slides that were deemed “too controversial” and the concrete steps he believes Canadians can take to end their country’s complicity in genocide.

4. The Charity Loophole

In Canada, charities are supposed to do good: feed people, educate, heal. But what happens when tax-subsidized dollars help fund groups that silence journalists and defend apartheid? In this episode, we investigate HonestReporting Canada (HRC), a media watchdog with charitable status that’s been accused of doxxing reporters and shaping pro-Israel narratives in Canadian newsrooms. We trace where their millions come from and whose really footing the bill. With help from journalist Samira Moheyddin [https://www.youtube.com/@SamiraMohyeddin] and researcher Miles Howe [https://mondoweiss.net/author/miles-howe/], we uncover how Canada’s charity system has become a backdoor for Zionist philanthropy – one that allows wealthy donors and private foundations to move money through tax breaks and loopholes, sometimes all the way to Israel. Edit Oct. 22, 2025: HRC has updated its donation page to say it cannot issue tax receipts, a change from how it used to present itself. HRC never held a charitable status and relied on a separate but connected group, HR Canada Charitable Organization, which does, raising questions about how the two operate. Clarification, Dec. 12, 2025: Sourcing added to further credit Davide Mastracci and The Maple for their investigations into HRC at the 10:40, 17:46 and 20:23 marks. Although we did originally credit The Maple’s work at the end of the episode and in the following episode, we apologize to our listeners and to The Maple for not making the attribution clearer. You can read more of The Maple’s work on HRC here [https://www.readthemaple.com/meet-the-billionaire-funded-pro-israel-group-influencing-media/] and here [https://www.readthemaple.com/here-are-honestreporting-canadas-billionaire-and-millionaire-funders/].

3. The Targeting

Since October 7, Israel has killed more than 270 journalists in Gaza, the highest toll ever recorded in a single conflict. With international media barred from entry, these journalists have been our only eyes and ears on the ground. Episode three uncovers how Canadian journalists reporting on Palestine are being silenced through smear campaigns and institutional failures. We hear from Iman Kassam [https://therover.ca/why-i-left-ctv-news-the-fight-for-press-freedom-in-canada/], a former CTV Montreal reporter, whose video story on Indigenous solidarity was erased after pressure from a pro-Israel media watchdog, and Samira Mohyeddin [https://www.youtube.com/@SamiraMohyeddin], a former CBC producer repeatedly targeted by the same group for her reporting. The Target reveals how organizations like HonestReporting Canada weaponize claims of media bias to intimidate journalists and reshape coverage of Israel and Palestine under the quiet complicity of Canadian newsrooms.

2. The Funders and the Frame

Canary Mission has no public staff, no official headquarters, and yet it has the power to upend lives. How?  In this episode, we trace the money. From a convicted felon and billionaire philanthropists to charitable foundations in California, New York, and Israel, we uncover the funding networks behind the blacklist.  We also hear how definitions of antisemitism have been weaponized to shield Israel from criticism, chilling academic freedom in Canada. And lawyer Dimitri Lascaris [https://dimitrilascaris.org/about/] walks us through why holding Canary Mission accountable in court is so difficult, and what legal avenues might still exist.

1. The List

What happens when speaking out for Palestine lands you on an anonymous online blacklist? Host Zahra Khozema speaks to Canadians targeted by Canary Mission – a blacklist that doxxes students, academics, and activists across North America, most of whom are women and people of colour. We hear from a Palestinian-Canadian woman whose life and career were derailed after she was profiled almost a decade ago. From death threats to lost job opportunities, her story reveals the lasting consequences of being targeted. We also meet newer victims, like a student who participated in the University of Toronto encampments and a professor denied U.S. entry after being listed. Together, their experiences raise questions about the surveillance of students and activists and the groups working to silence pro-Palestinian voices in Canada.