The international Israel advocacy organization StandWithUs has teamed up with Bridge Houston to counter an anti-Israel billboard that has been erected in Texas.
The new ad encourages the public to “Tell Congress Not to Support Palestinian Groups Like Hamas Because They Don’t Want Peace” and directly opposes the anti-Israel that calls for an end to military aid to the Jewish state.
In July, 2009, the two organizations partnered in responding to a series of “Pray For Gaza” ads that were placed after Operation Cast Lead.
The StandWithUs/Bridge Houston billboards depicted Israeli and Arab children with their arms intertwined and stated, “Save Gaza From Hamas. Teach PEACE Not Hate.”
“Unfortunately, nothing has changed. Anti-Israel groups continue their campaign to try and undermine American support for Israel by spreading lies and misconceptions about the Jewish state,” said CEO of StandWithUs, Roz Rothstein.”They continue to disregard important obstacles to peace, such as Hamas. It’s impossible to make peace with a group that teaches its children to hate Jews and that Israel does not exist.”
“Blaming Israel alone for the lack of peace ignores Palestinian extremism,” she said.
Ira Bleiweiss, founder and director of the Bridge Houston, a group similarly dedicated to countering anti-Israel propaganda, added that, “Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 to advance peace and got more than 9,000 rockets launched at its southern communities by Palestinian groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”
“I can’t imagine living with only 15 seconds to get to a bomb shelter,” Bleiweiss said. “Congress should be made aware that funding a group like Hamas will never lead to peace.”
“Groups that misrepresent the struggle for peace in the Middle East, by inaccurately casting blame on Israel, should be placed on notice that organizations such as StandWithUs and Bridge Houston will always respond to one-sided misinformation,” the two community leaders said in a joint statement.
StandWithUs, an international, non-profit Israel educational organization has countered anti-Israel billboards in dozens of locations throughout the United States including, Washington DC, San Francisco, the New York subway system and New York Metro-North, Chicago, Denver, Albuquerque, Portland, and Sacramento.
