Billboards with a series of maps that purport to show Israel’s continued and systematic expropriation of ‘Palestinian land’ have gone up at suburban New York train stations, including heavily Jewish populated Westchester County, the JTA reported.
The ads depict a succession of shrinking Palestinian territories in four maps and are accompanied by a statement that reads: “4.7 million Palestinians are classified as refugees by the United Nations.” The ad claims to cover “Palestinian loss of land” from 1946 to 2010.
The billboards were posted under the aegis of The Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine and funded by Henry Clifford, its chairman. The group describes itself on its website as “a diverse, community-based group dedicated to organizing activities and educational events that advance the cause of peace and justice for both Palestinians and Israelis.” The group was also an endorser of the “Occupy AIPAC” weekend long “policy summit.” Among its other initiatives is the “Be on Our Side: End U.S. military aid to Israel” campaign.
Clifford told FoxNews.com that he paid $25,000 to display the billboards at 50 Metro-North stations for 30 days. The billboards have reportedly been spotted in Scarsdale, White Plains, Mount Kisco, Tarrytown, and Chappaqua.
The Anti-Defamation League called the ads “deliberately misleading and biased.”
“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is extremely complex and cannot be summarized in a series of four maps,” Ron Meier, ADL New York’s regional director, said in a statement. “This ad campaign completely ignores the facts, including the history of land ownership prior to 1948, Israel’s repeated efforts to exchange land for peace, and the commitment of successive Israeli governments to achieving a two-state solution with the Palestinians.”
“There’s always room for discussion of different sides of every story, but there’s no room for discussion on fact,” Clifford told FoxNews.com. “Anyone who challenges these maps and the content of these ads, it’s they’re obligation to show that they’re historically wrong. The ball is in their court.”
Last month, the Coalition to Stop 30 Billion to Israel erected over 20 billboards across Los Angeles in a campaign to halt US military aid to Israel. But the billboards were removed shortly after due to pressure from the pro-Israel organization StandWithUs and U.S. Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.).
JTA contributed to this report.