Anti-Israel Groups Exposed - Washington, D.C.

Anti-Israel ads in Washington

Subway system in US capital to host 20 poster ads filled with anti-Israel rhetoric

Yaakov Lappin

Commuters travelling on Washington DC's subway will be inundated with posters placed by an anti-Israel organization, the Canadian Jewish News (CJN) reported.

The 'US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation' placed 20 poster ads showing "an imposing tank pointing its main firing turret at a child with a schoolbag walking along a dirt road," the CJN said.

"'Imagine if this were your child's path to school. Palestinians don't have to imagine,' the poster states, before continuing to call for an end to US aid for 'Israel's brutal military occupation paid for by US taxpayers like you,'" the report added.

It said that "CBS Outdoor, the New York-based firm that places in-station advertising for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), at first refused to consider the poster, but eventually relented to pressure from WMATA and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)."

The report quoted CBS Outdoor's Vice Executive, Jodi Senese, who is Jewish, as saying: "I'm very proud (of being a Jew). I thought the image was inflammatory, but I also believe in our First Amendment rights. As Jews (in America), we thrive on that right as well."

ACLU's Legal Director in Washington, Arthur Spitzer, who is also Jewish, "told the Washington Jewish Week it wasn't 'a case about Judaism or Israel¿ but about establishing someone's right to freedom of speech, which I agree with regardless of whether I agree with their particular political position,'" the report added.

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Date: 5/1/2007 11:02:37 AM

U.S. CAMPAIGN TO END THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION

1101 Pennsylvania Ave. SE

Suite 204

Washington, DC

20003

Phone :202-318-1613

URL :http://www.endtheoccupation.org/

• Anti-Israel coalition
• Advocates the termination of U.S. support for Israel
  

The U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (a.k.a. End the Occupation) is a coalition of groups working together "to change those U.S. policies that both sustain Israel's 39-year occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, and deny equal rights for all. The Campaign holds annual conferences to bring its coalition members together. As of June 2000, some 214 local and national organizations had signed on to the Campaign. Among these were: Americans for Justice in Palestine; Global Exchange; the International Solidarity Movement; Middle East Children's Alliance; Palestine Right to Return Coalition (Al-Awda); American Muslims for Jerusalem; the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; the Institute for Policy Studies; Pax Christi USA; Students for Justice in Palestine; SUSTAIN; the American Friends Service Committee; the 8th Day Center for Justice; the International Socialist Organization; BostonToPalestine; Grassroots International; the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom; Women Against Military Madness; Jews Against the Occupation; MADRE; the National Lawyers Guild; Michael Lerner's Tikkun Community; Friends of Sabeel; If Americans Knew; Christian Peacemaker Teams; Peace Action; Jews Against the Occupation; MADRE; Palestine Media Watch; and United for Peace and Justice.

In November 2002 the Campaign published an article titled "Seeing Clearly Through a Veil of Blood," in which the author wrote that Israel owed Yasser Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) a debt of gratitude for their supposedly invaluable "support for a two-state solution. The article further stated that much anti-Jewish hatred "is fueled by the injustice of Israel's occupation of Palestine."

In July 2003, at its Second U.S. Campaign Organizers Conference, End the Occupation hosted Nihad Awad, the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), who has publicly declared his support for the Hamas terrorist organization.

The Campaign opposes Israel's construction of a security fence; it supports all divestment efforts intended to impose financial hardship on Israel; and it has endorsed the "Declaration Regarding Caterpillar Violations of Human Rights," a document that impugns the U.S.-based Caterpillar Corporation for selling its machinery to the Israeli army, which in turn uses that equipment to demolish Palestinian terrorists' homes and bases of operation.

The Campaign is currently working on a "Palestine Human Rights Litigation Project," whose focus is on a pair of class-action lawsuits against former Israeli military officials in U.S. federal district courts. Filed on behalf of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians, these suits allege that the officials are guilty of war crimes; crimes against humanity; cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and extrajudicial killings.

The Campaign's "Legislative Project" urges Members of Congress to adopt a pro-Palestinian position regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Campaign also works closely with Palestine Media Watch to minimize media references to Palestinian terrorism and corruption, while promoting images of Palestinians as victims of Israeli oppression.

Advisory Board members of the Campaign include Dr. Joel Beinin, Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University, and Phyllis Bennis of the Institute for Policy Studies.

The Campaign is a member organization of the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition, which is led by Leslie Cagan, a longtime committed socialist who aligns her politics with those of Fidel Castro's Communist Cuba.

On its website in 2006, the Campaign displayed a statement complaining that Hezbollah(a.k.a. Hizballah) had been "cast misleadingly in much media coverage" of the latter's then-recent war against Israel. "Much more than a militia," says the Campaign, "the Hizballah movement is also a political party that is a powerful actor in Lebanese politics and a provider of important social services. Not a creature of Iranian and Syrian sponsorship, Hizballah arose to battle Israels occupation of south Lebanon from 1982-2000 and, more broadly, to advocate for Lebanon ïs historically disenfranchised Shiïi Muslim community. While it has many political opponents in Lebanon, Hizballah is very much of Lebanon.www.DiscoverTheNetwork.org

Date: 5/1/2007 11:02:37 AM