San Antonio for Justice in Palestine
The Palestine Advocacy Project included San Antonio in a major advertising campaign that targets seven major U.S. cities throughout March.
The ads, which will be placed in public transit systems and on billboards, are meant to highlight Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes, ongoing settlement construction in the West Bank and violence against children, according to a press release.
The Alamo City was chosen because it has an ongoing relationship with San Antonio for Justice in Palestine, an advocacy group.
The billboards are located on the South Side Loop 1604, west of Somerset Road, and on East Side Loop 410, north of FM 2346. There's also a billboard in Kirby.
The campaign comes on the heels of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington D.C. President Barack Obama did not meet with Netanyahu, who blasted ongoing nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran in a speech.
Jason Chase Lubitz, a Palestine Advocacy Project board member, said the billboards are meant to show Americans what the Israeli occupation is like for Palestinians.
"American tax dollars help the Israeli government maintain a brutal military occupation of Palestinian territory, which has denied Palestinians their basic rights for decades," he said in a press release. "These ads show what Israel's occupation and apartheid really look like, and it is important for Americans to see that.
The Palestine Advocacy Project is also running ads in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington D.C. The group ran a similar ad campaign last year in Boston, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles, which was met with backlash. According to the Palestine Advocacy Project, in Boston last year, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority removed the ads before the contract terminated and billboards in Los Angeles were taken down after threats and vandalism.
