My latest: the Jew-hating Wizard of Oz

Who’s the Wizard of Oz?

Everyone remembers the Wizard of Oz. In the epic 1939 film, Dorothy – played by Judy Garland – awakens in the magical land of Oz, and finds herself facing lots of terrifying and potentially-lethal threats. Dorothy ultimately pulls back a curtain, and reveals that the powerful and frightening Wizard is just an ordinary man.

Observing the anti-Israel – and sometimes pro-Hamas – protests that have paralyzed cities across Canada, the United States and Europe since October 7, that question isn’t asked nearly enough: who is the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain? Who is the directing mind of all the thousands of protests that have targeted Western cities big and small? Who is the webmaster? Who is pushing out the talking points and messaging?

It’s happened before, although not as openly. In the 2016 US presidential campaign, it was Russia. And the 2019 and 2021 Canadian federal campaigns, it was China.

In 2024, which country now stands to benefit the most from destabilizing Israel and its allies?

Take it from this writer, who has helped to run many political campaigns over the decades: what is happening – what you are seeing on your TV and computer screens – isn’t “organic.” These troubling events aren’t just happening independently. A campaign this global, effective and well-funded?

It needs central coordination. It needs a Jew-hating Wizard of Oz.

This newspaper has revealed, for example, that anti-Israel groups have been paying for people to protest against Israel. We have shown that they are deploying carefully-crafted and segmented messages aimed at specific demographic categories – mainly Gen Z and millennials – using lawless online platforms.

We have reported that those social media platforms were used in a coordinated campaign to deny the atrocities of October 7 – with a barrage of propaganda that spiked online literally hours after Hamas swept into Israel. We have shown how sophisticated grassroots campaigns have been used to push countries like Canada and the US – in Canada, successfully, this week – into abandoning trade and diplomatic ties with Israel.

All of that doesn’t just happen spontaneously. It needs a directing mind. It needs someone to manage the global anti-Semitic campaign.

On Wednesday, NBC News released the result of an outstanding investigative report by veteran journalist Simone Weichselbaum. What Weichselbaum discovered is astonishing. A sampling:

• Tax filings in the US revealed “a vast network that includes left-leaning, billion-dollar American philanthropies – and collaboration with at least one foreign organization that Germany and Israel have banned for allegedly working with or supporting Hamas and another terrorist group.”
• Coordination of the pro-Hamas activity is “primarily through social media using apps such as Telegram, X, WhatsApp and Instagram.”
• As this newspaper revealed in the case of two B.C.-based groups that use charity rules to attract support, Weichselbaum found Israel-hating groups in America “use a progressive nonprofit group based in New York called Westchester People’s Action Coalition Foundation, or WESPAC, as their fiscal sponsor to collect and process online donations.”

Weichselbaum emphasized one of the Israel-hating campaign overseers has a Canadian connection – Samidoun, based in Vancouver. Postmedia writer Terry Glavin has previously reported that Samidoun is linked to multiple groups that would like to see Israel wiped off the face of the Earth – such as its Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and allied Palestinian Youth Movement, writes Glavin.

And, reports Weichselbaum, “Samidoun’s leadership is composed of current and former members of the terrorist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.” Which has resulted in Samidoun being banned in Germany – and listed as a terror group in Israel.

But in Canada, Samidoun operates openly, making use of its nonprofit status to assist others who are engaged in a campaign that can only be called hateful. As Weichselbaum reports, Samidoun’s leaders record videos where they call Hamas’  barbaric attack a “heroic operation.”

This is not to say, however, that a little-known Canadian based nonprofit is coordinating a massive global campaign. That is unlikely. Among other things, that is something that is beyond the limits of Samidoun’s budget and abilities.

No, this goes beyond just one group. Charlotte Kates is the “international coordinator” for Samidoun, and an American now based in Vancouver. She is very open about the global anti-Israel campaign. Says Kates: “What we see here is an alliance — an alliance of forces that is working together for a different future for the region that is free of U.S. imperialism and is free of Zionist colonialism.  And these forces of resistance, right now, are in the front lines.”

On this occasion, at least, Kates is probably telling the truth. Many groups are now actively involved in destabilizing and delegitimizing Israel and Israel’s allies – in the streets, online, and in many union, NGO and academic backrooms.

But what remains unclear, for now, is who is paying the shots. Who is writing the cheques for all the protesters and signs and the organizers and the websites? Police and intelligence agencies across Canada and the West are now working overtime to answer that question.

In the meantime, this writer – and others – plan to follow the money.

And most of us think the road will lead, ultimately, to the real Jew-hating Wizard of Oz:

Iran.