A major Orthodox Jewish advocacy group has launched a high-profile billboard campaign in Times Square, branding the anti-Israel slogan “Free Palestine” as a call for genocide against Jews and warning that the movement poses a growing threat to American society.
Unrolled earlier this week, the digital ad created by the Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) reads: “Free Palestine = Support for Hamas = Calling for Genocide of Jews. America, Wake Up. It Never Ends With the Jews!” The 10-second spot will air repeatedly on one of Times Square’s most prominent billboards, running multiple times per hour for 30 days.
CJV, which represents more than 2,500 Orthodox rabbis involved in American public policy, said the campaign is meant to raise awareness about “the danger this movement poses to America.”
The effort comes amid a sharp rise in antisemitic violence nationwide since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel. According to the group, antisemitism in the U.S. has surged over 200% in the months since, with Jews making up the majority of reported hate-crime victims in New York City.
In just the last two months, CJV noted three alarming incidents directly tied to the slogan: a firebombing of the Pennsylvania governor’s residence, the assassination of two individuals outside a Jewish museum in Washington, D.C., and an improvised flamethrower attack against pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado. In each case, assailants reportedly shouted “Free Palestine” during the attack.
At a Capitol Hill vigil last Tuesday for the two slain Israeli embassy employees, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed the concern, stating: “The ‘Free Palestine’ call has become a violent movement that collaborates with Hamas.” He accused universities of having “co-opted First Amendment arguments to protect genocide.”
CJV Executive Vice President Rabbi Yaakov Menken was even more direct in a press release accompanying the group’s billboard campaign, stating: “Too many Jewish organizations are afraid to say what Speaker Johnson finds obvious: the cry of ‘Free Palestine’ is the call of domestic terrorists.”
“Israel is the only free country in the Middle East,” Menken added. “The one thing Israel is not free of is Jews, and that is what ‘Free Palestine’ aims to correct, in the model of Hitler’s Final Solution.”
He continued: “They have no interest in building a nation, but destroying one. They do not want to elevate Palestinian Arabs, but to eradicate Jews. This is classic antisemitism, and history proves that there is no greater danger to the continuity of a civilization.”
Rabbi Yaakov Menken concluded by urging Americans across the political spectrum to denounce what he called a “bloodthirsty” movement and confront the threat head-on. “When students on college campuses chant ‘From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free,’ America itself is at risk,” Menken warned.
“We call upon all Americans to join us in speaking clearly about who and what the ‘Free Palestine’ movement stands for — and the need to stamp it out,” he added.
Joshua Klein is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKlein.
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