Israel-Firsters Wage Intense Advertising Campaign in U.S.

By Richard H. Curtiss

Newspaper advertisements can be extraordinarily expensive in the United States. An ad in the “A” section of The New York Times, for example, costs $126,882 for one page, $63,441 for a half page, and $31,720 for a quarter page.

The Washington Post charges $22,188.60 for a full-page ad, $11,094.30 for a half page and $5,547.15 for a quarter page. There are other factors but, for comparison purposes, we will stay with the above price quotes.

As these figures indicate, Israel’s supporters in the U.S. are spending a great deal of money on a massive advertising campaign.

Here are some examples of quotes reiterated over and over again in propagandistic ads in the newspapers mentioned above and in others around the nation. An advertisement in the May 20, 2002 New York Times declares, “The American street has spoken; 2 out of 3 Americans support Israel’s war against terrorism. In recent polls by ABC news/The Washington Post and CBS News, 67% of Americans agreed that Arafat has not done enough to combat terrorism; and 59% of Americans agreed that Israel’s military action against Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians is not different from the U.S. taking military action against Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda.” The advertisement concludes: “Thank you, America, for understanding that America’s war against terror and Israel’s war against terror are one and the same. For all of the above, we say God bless America.”

The ad is paid for in Los Angeles by a group called “Olam.”

Another full-page ad in the May 7 New York Times says: “Memo to the Media: The root of Palestinian Terrorism is hate education.” One photo shows a little girl glorifying suicide bombers and the second photo is of the Passover attack in Netanya in which 28 Israelis were killed and 130 wounded. CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, sponsored the ad and urges, “Set the record straight! (Contact the media to urge an end to the cover-up of the Palestinians’ role in inciting their people to brutality and terror!)”

An ad in the June 11 Washington Post asks, “Which of these men should we fear the most?” Pictured are Yasser Arafat and the Rev. Jerry Falwell, but neither is named. The text continues: “But the crisis facing Israel has demonstrated yet again the simple truth that evangelical Christians are among the strongest supporters of Israel in the world today. A recent study by the Pew Research Center found that 62% of religious conservatives are pro-Israel, compared to only 26% of secular Democrats. There are some who want to encourage conflict between Jews and Christians for their own political purposes. But we believe it is time to work together to protect the security of Israel and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem…”

This ad was sponsored by Stand for Israel: a Project of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews in Chicago.

“Help is still needed! Donate to the Israel Emergency Campaign.”

The June 12 New York Times carried a full-page ad that read: “Nearly 200 anti-Semitic incidents occurred in one month alone—April 2002. At our collective peril, we forget the central lesson of the 20th century: Don’t ever ignore, underestimate, or rationalize hate. Governments, civic and religious leaders, the media, and individuals must never remain silent in the battle between good and evil.”

The ad went on to list each incident and where it took place. The American Jewish Committee sponsored the advertisement.

A full-page ad in the May 7 New York Times features an open letter to President George W. Bush from Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. The letter says that “a majority of Israelis favor a Palestinian state alongside Israel if the terror is stopped, whereas a majority of Palestinians including Yasser Arafat support suicide killing operations against Israel.” Wiesel continues, “Ariel Sharon, a military man who knows the ugly face of war better than anyone, is ready to make ‘painful sacrifices’ to end the conflict. In fact it was he who carried out the handing over of Yamit, displacing thousands of Israelis, in exchange for peace with Egypt. Please remember that while Israelis mourned alongside us for our nation’s tragedy on Sept. 11, Yasser Arafat was busy suppressing footage of his constituents dancing in the streets.”

The ad was paid for by the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity in New York.

In a quarter-page ad in the May 2 Washington Post, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington says, “Thank You to President Bush and Members of Congress for your support of Israel during its most perilous hour and Thank You to the Washington community for standing with Israel at the National Rally for Israel. Help is still needed! Donate to the Israel Emergency Campaign.”

An unusual one-third page ad ran in The New York Times on June 19, sponsored by the American Jewish Congress. The text recounted “more than 300 anti-Semitic incidents reported in France during April,” and continued, “That’s why, as a first step, the American Jewish Congress is suspending all of our tour programs to France. That is our way of letting the French government know that we Americans want them to crack down on hate crimes. To start taking responsibility for what’s going on inside their borders. And stop the inflammatory remarks by officials such as the French ambassador who called Israel a ‘sh-tty little country’.…Then we’ll pack our bags for Paris and say, shalom.”

From May 19 through June 2 The Washington Post carried four quarter-page ads on four different days. The final text says that “498 Jews were murdered, thousands more were injured. The horrifying violent terrorist acts come without warning, without stopping. You can help—Donate to the Israel Emergency Campaign. Make out the checks to ‘The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Rockville, MD.’”

In a quarter-page ad in the June 2 New York Times, the American Jewish Committee charged: “In Pakistan, nearly one million students in religious schools, funded largely by Saudis, learn to demonize the United States and pursue ‘holy war’ against Americans. The educational systems in Syria and the Palestinian Authority teach the vilest hatred of Jews.” A photo shows masked suicide bombers patting the head of a child. The caption reads, “No one is born hating…But too many are taught how!”

One Balanced Viewpoint

Of the advertisements run, only one half-page ad in the May 31 New York Times provided a more balanced viewpoint. An inter-religious call to the U.S. government, it begins, “In the name of God, seek peace and pursue it,” Psalms 34:14. The ad continues: “We therefore call on the United States to take two actions at once, and simultaneously: 1. Bring about the creation of an international force to protect both Israelis and Palestinians from violence. 2. Call a regional peace conference including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and all the Arab states, and peace-committed religious leaders and leaders of civil society in the region, to take up at once the Saudi proposals for regional peace endorsed by the Beirut Conference and the peace proposals that came close to agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority at Taba late in 2000.”

This interdenominational appeal was signed by the members of the Break the Silence/Am Kotel Social Action Committee, 15 W. Montgomery Ave., Rockville, MD 20850.

There was one remarkably positive and hard-hitting quarter-page ad in the entire one-month survey of The New York Times and The Washington Post. It was on June 23, 2002 in the Post’s “Outlook” section, sponsored by a popular Washington, DC restaurant. In toto, it said the following: “Have Zionists turned Jewish beliefs into a political party in the service of hatred and greed? Come on, let’s be honest! If you doubt it, check it out. DOUBTCOME.COM always on the web.” The ad was sponsored by Marrakesh Enterprises, 617 New York Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 393-9393.ß

The only remaining advertisements that can be described as neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian are two quarter-page ads in The Washington Post—the first on June 4 and the second on June 20—that concern “The Better World Campaign.” The ads announce that Congress should act now to approve legislation, including the third and final United Nations debt payment set aside by the 1999 Helms-Biden agreement. Both ads call for the U.S. to “honor our commitment to the United Nations.”

Unfortunately, as Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels proved, and many others right up to Ariel Sharon have demonstrated, if you tell a lie often enough you can conquer the world. That’s what we’re seeing right now in the United States, where the Israel lobbyhas all the money it needs to propagate the “big lie,” with no competition at all.

Richard H. Curtiss is the executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.