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STANDWITHUS LAUNCHES PRO-ISRAEL ADS IN CHICAGO TRAIN STATIONS
JUNE 20- JULY 20 TO COUNTER ANTI-ISRAEL POSTERS
(CHICAGO, IL)--StandWithUs has launched an ad campaign in Chicago Transit Authority [CTA] train stations that urges Americans to support Israel, the only liberal democracy in the Middle East and a country that shares America's deepest values and ideals. The ads will run from June 20th to July 20th and are being placed to counter recent anti-Israel posters at CTA stations that call for ending U.S. military aid to Israel.
The StandWithUs posters will be at six El stations in Chicago's Loop: Adams/Wabash; Clark/Division; Harrison Street; LaSalle/Van Buren; Madison/Dearborn and Washington/Wells.
Americans strongly support Israel, but small radical groups that oppose Israel's very existence are trying to undermine that support and instill hostility for the Jewish State.
The CTA ad is just their latest effort to manipulate public opinion, according to StandWithUs.
"Their ad is manipulative. It claims to stand for 'peace and justice' and shows a happy Israeli and a Palestinian woman. The image and words are appealing, but the message is counter-factual. Its call for ending U.S. military aid suggests that it is Israel's fault there isn't peace. These groups, like their ad, intentionally hide the real obstacles to peace: Palestinian rejectionism and terrorism, Hamas' mission to kill Jews and "obliterate" Israel, and decades of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish hate education. If they truly stood for 'peace and justice,' they would place ads urging Palestinians to return to the negotiating table and to teach peaceful coexistence to their people," explains StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein.
The StandWithUs ad reminds Chicago commuters why Americans admire and identify with Israel. "It is breathtaking what Israelis have achieved in just 63 years. They built a thriving state, a culture of creativity and innovation, and a progressive, multicultural democracy where the rights of women and all minorities are staunchly protected. Israeli Arabs, who make up 20% of the population, have the same rights and opportunities as other Israeli citizens. They have political parties, have served in Israel's Parliament since the state was reestablished, and Arab-Israeli citizens have even won Israeli beauty pageants. In poll after poll, Israeli Arabs say they want to live in Israel, not under Hamas or Palestinian Authority governments. And Israel has constantly sought peace with its neighbors. This is what the anti-Israel activists want Americans to forget, and it is the reason that Americans do-and should--have such positive feelings about Israel," said Peggy Shapiro, StandWithUs Chicago Community Coordinator.
StandWithUs will not let hostile anti-Israel campaigns go unchallenged. When anti-Israel groups initiated other ad campaigns, StandWithUs also responded quickly. In 2007 and 2009, they rented billboards in Albuquerque and Houston to display anti-Israel messages. StandWithUs immediately rented space to counter them with ads that read, "Teach Peace, Not Hate." When ads appeared in Washington, DC metro stations in 2007 that accused Israel of causing the suffering of Palestinian children, StandWithUs promptly responded with ads in the same venues that urged Palestinians to stop the dangerous indoctrination of their children with hatred and glorification of terrorists. In December, 2010, StandWithUs allied with other local groups and successfully persuaded Seattle's Metro to cancel inflammatory anti-Israel bus ads. In January, 2011, when similar ads appeared in San Francisco BART stations, StandWithUs again responded promptly with ads that called upon the Palestinian leadership to "say yes to peace" and to stop inciting hatred and violence. The ad directed viewers to a new website, www.sayyestopeace.org .
"Hopefully, the small coterie of anti-Israel activists will stop using billboards and metro ads to spread their hostile messages now that they realize that their campaigns will be countered with calls for Palestinians to finally end their propaganda war against Israel and to return to the negotiating table to build a future of peaceful coexistence for themselves and their children," concluded Rothstein.
