StandWithUS is an international organization that plans to run pro-Israel advertisements in Vancouver SkyTrain stations.
A group called the Palestine Awareness Coalition began running ads in late August in TransLink stations and on buses. According to the group’s website the posters detail the “Israel’s steady absorption of Palestinian territory from 1946 to the present day”.
Based on a post from their website, the StandWithUS campaign was designed to “counter the misinformation of anti-Israel posters currently at these sites and on buses in Vancouver”, says Straight.com.
“Jewish loss of land from Biblical times to the present by juxtaposing a map of the ancient Jewish kingdom circa 1000 BCE, a map of the land designated as the Jewish homeland by the League of Nations in 1920, and a map of the much smaller Israel of today”.was the description given by StandWithUs.
“In reality, it is the Jewish state that has steadily gotten smaller,” states the organization’s website.
The ads are expected to run from October 14 to November 14, 2013.
Although for the fervent Zionist and pro-Israeli on the bus routes the adverts might seem logical, they have drawn incredulity and criticism from internet commentators.
The 3,000 year time-frame that the campaign is working with has been the focus of many jokes made by rational keyboard warriors...
"Well if we're going that far back, I can't wait for us Italians to put up our Roman Empire 'Loss Of Land'....GIVE US BACK EUROPE!" says "Justin", an internet user that commented on one story posted about the advertisement.
Another commentor, "RUK", expressed favor of the open form of debate. "The one thing I like about this dispute is that it is being made through competing Skytrain ads. That seems peaceful and reasonable to me. It's not like running off to the press or the government demanding that one side be forbidden from talking."
John J dismissed the ads altogther: "Uh huh, the Bible is a land deed, redeemable in perpetuity. It is telling that the pro-Israel position rests on dubious, 3,000 year old information. Stand with you? No thanks. I prefer not to be the object of ridicule."
Alan Layton took a more Canada-centric approach to his response to the pro-Israel ad, noting "I have never heard a single person mention those ads. People in Vancouver don't care about that part of the world. Our problems are regional. The whole concept of Canada and the US is that you're escaping the ancient conflicts of the old world and making a fresh start. I wouldn't sweat those ads because they have little impact here."
What do you think about the StandWithUS campaign? Is the 3,000 year-old "Jewish land" argument still valid? Or is it completely irrelevant?
