Pro-Israel organizations warn radical anti-Israel network threatens public safety, national security, and democratic institutions globally.
Major Jewish advocacy organizations across Canada are urging the federal government to officially designate Palestine Action as a terrorist organization following the release of what critics describe as extremist operational material promoting sabotage, vandalism, and coordinated attacks against Israeli-linked targets.
According to JTA, the demand intensified after Palestine Action published a global “target map” identifying hundreds of locations connected to Elbit Systems, a major Israeli defense technology company. The map reportedly includes private residences, corporate offices, and facilities across Canada, the United States, and Europe.
Accompanying the map was what the organization called an “underground manual,” allegedly containing detailed guidance on forming covert activist “cells” capable of carrying out acts of sabotage and destruction against designated targets.
The manual reportedly includes instructions for damaging infrastructure, breaking into facilities, blocking industrial systems, evading police detection, and destroying forensic evidence after operations.
Richard Robertson, Director of Research and Advocacy at B’nai Brith Canada, condemned the publication as a dangerous escalation toward organized extremist activity.
“The manual offers operational guidance for terroristic anarchy. By promoting this manual and identifying specific targets, Palestine Action is inciting its followers to commit criminal acts in furtherance of its radical ideology,” Robertson stated.
He further warned that the methods employed by the organization resemble tactics commonly associated with underground terrorist networks, particularly through the use of secret operational cells and coordinated target lists.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) also called for immediate government action, stressing that extremist anti-Israel rhetoric and violent activism pose direct risks to Canadian national security and economic interests.
“Already banned in the UK as a terrorist group, we cannot allow extremists to threaten Canadian jobs or national security,” CIJA stated publicly while urging Ottawa to formally add Palestine Action to Canada’s list of prohibited terrorist entities.
The campaign against the organization follows actions already taken in the United Kingdom, where Palestine Action-UK was designated a terrorist organization last year after activists infiltrated a Royal Air Force base and vandalized military aircraft in protest against British cooperation with Israel.
Although London’s High Court later ruled that the designation unlawfully interfered with freedom of expression, the ban remains active while the British government pursues an appeal.
British courts also recently convicted four Palestine Action members for criminal damage related to a 2024 break-in at an Israeli defense facility.
The organization has previously drawn international attention for radical anti-Israel acts including vandalizing a portrait of Lord Balfour at Trinity College Cambridge and stealing busts of Israel’s first President Chaim Weizmann from Manchester University.
Meanwhile, the broader regional security situation remains tense. The IDF announced Wednesday that an Israeli soldier was severely injured and three others lightly wounded following an explosive drone strike in southern Lebanon. The injured soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment, and their families were informed.
Canadian Jewish organizations argue that the growing international spread of extremist anti-Israel activism demonstrates the urgent need for governments to confront such networks before violence escalates further.
