Tag Archives: translink ads

SFSC Event Video: Historical Context of the Palestinian Maps – Fact and Fiction with Dr Hani Faris

UPDATED: Watch the video of the Q&A at the event (Video by Jase Tanner)


Watch the video of the Dr. Faris’s talk (Video by Jase Tanner) Continue reading

Toronto Star: TTC rejects controversial Middle East ad campaign

Jewish group B’nai Brith praises the TTC’s decision not to run ads showing shrinking Palestinian territory

By Tess Kalinowski Transportation reporter, Toronto Star, Oct. 21, 2013

A Montreal-based group plans to appeal the TTC’s refusal to run its advertising, which depicts shrinking Palestinian territory in the Middle East.

The TTC says the ad violates its policies because it contains statements that could incite discrimination, in this case against Jewish or Israeli people.

The ad, submitted by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, is similar to a campaign that ran on Vancouver transit by the Palestine Awareness Coalition.

Although the TTC ads look different, “the centrepiece” is similar, a series of maps showing how Palestinian territories have shrunk over time, said Thomas Woodley, president of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, who would not release a copy of the ad on Monday. Continue reading

MondoWeiss: ‘Disappearing Palestine’ ads in Vancouver provoke vicious and hysterical response

Marty Roth, MondoWeiss, October 16, 2013

In October, 2013, ten ads went up in Vancouver transit stations depicting loss of Jewish land in the middle east since 1000 BCE. It turns out that in that time Jewish land had shrunk by a factor of five or so. These advertisements were responding to ads put up in transit stations and on sides of buses over a month before by the Palestine Awareness Coalition. PAC had the more modest aim of showing Palestinian loss of land only since 1946, which ended in a small continuous patch called Gaza and specks of discontinuous territory in the West Bank.

The response ads were put up by a group called StandWithUs which bills itself as “supporting Israel around the world.” The organization had previously countered pro-Palestinian advertising in Denver, Houston, Helena, Missoula and elsewhere. “A combination of anti-Israel groups pretend to be pro-Palestinian,” StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein said. “The bottom line is they don’t want an Israel. They want Israel to be gone.” Continue reading

SFSC/Palestine Awareness Coalition: Targeted For A Third Time: “Disappearing Palestine” Ad Disappears Again

Marty Roth, Palestine Awareness Coalition

VANCOUVER, October 10, 2013 – The “Disappearing Palestine” wall mural displayed at a Canada Line SkyTrain station was stolen by vandals for the third time overnight on October 9, shortly after it was replaced following two earlier thefts. The ad, part of a campaign by the Palestine Awareness Coalition, has been running since August 27.

The Skytrain ad was vandalized previously on the weekends of September 21 and October 5, when it was also stolen from the station by unknown vandals who appear to have scraped the ad from the walls.

The ad has been re-posted again. The Coalition is not aware of any suspects being identified in the repeated thefts.

“The repeat vandalism of the Skytrain poster cannot hide the realities exposed in the maps: shrinking Palestinian land and dispossessed Palestinian people,” said Marty Roth of the Palestine Awareness Coalition. “We placed these ads to educate and inform the public. Clearly, some would like to silence Palestinian history and present reality – and are not succeeding, Someone must really not want this information to reach the Canadian public,” Roth said. Continue reading

SFSC/rabble: Who’s afraid of a map? Palestine bus ads spark debate in Vancouver

By Brian Campbell, Seriously Free Speech Committee, rabble.ca, Sept. 12, 2013

Palestinians and supporters of Palestinian human rights are constantly frustrated by the near-monopoly of the Zionist perspective in the dominant media. Most people find it difficult to learn the consequences of illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and to hear the stories of Palestinians.

Avenues explored to increase international awareness of the Palestine situation have included Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, protests, conferences, teach-ins, web sites and alternative media. These efforts have contributed to the dramatic changes taking place in North American and European understanding of the occupation and the daily lives of Palestinians.

Using billboards and transit advertising space to present a public educational message about Palestine has been a recent tactic. Following the lead of other North American cities, Vancouver Palestine supporters bought advertising space on buses for maps depicting Disappearing Palestine. The Palestine Awareness Coalition (PAC), consisting of seven Vancouver solidarity organizations with a wide-range of political and activist orientations, purchased $15,000 worth of advertising space in one Skytrain station and on the sides of 15 buses for one month. Continue reading

SFSC Letter: Denouncing Vancouver Sun’s and Courier’s Attacks on Palestine Awareness Coalition Spokesperson

Letter to the Editor of the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Courier

Several weeks ago ads from the Transit Ad Coalition first appeared in Vancouver showing four historic maps of Israel/Palestine. Since that time there have been a variety of critical responses emanating from various Zionist organizations and from some journalists across the country. However, nothing compares to the outrageous and libelous comments printed in Thursday’s Vancouver Sun and the scandalous lack of research displayed in Allen Garr’s column in Friday’s Courier. Continue reading

Vancouver Sun: Disappearing Palestine transit ads defended

Vancouver Sun Letters to the Editor, Sept. 7, 2013

Re: Amid chaos and conflict, Rosh Hashanah brings hope for a sweet year, Editorial, Sept. 5

Enough with the attacks on the Israel/Palestine transit ads. This latest tirade, which appeared as an editorial in today’s Vancouver Sun, was simply too much. Yes, it’s Rosh Hashanah, but the thought that Jews in synagogues across the country are in a state of panic over a small number of factual ads on Vancouver’s buses and SkyTrain stations is ridiculous.

The timing of the ad was completely out of the Transit Ad Coalition’s power, so trying to criticize the sponsors of the ad for their insensitivity about a Jewish holiday is a non-starter. Furthermore, attacking a member of the Transit Ad Coalition by slamming what are putatively her personal politics is outrageous. It smacks of McCarthyism. Continue reading

Jewish Independent: Please don’t censor

Jewish Independent Editorial, Sept. 6, 2013

Fifteen buses and one transit station in Vancouver will be sporting geopolitical propaganda for the next few months. Paid for by the Palestine Awareness Coalition, the ad campaign features four maps – each showing a shrinking “Palestine” succumbing to an encroaching Israel – with the headline “Disappearing Palestine.” There is much deception in the ads, no historical context, a conflating of peoplehood with nationhood, etc., etc. But is deception/misinformation in advertising enough of a reason to ban said advertising?

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, Pacific Region, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver were among those calling for TransLink to reject the ad campaign, as “these advertisements distort history, are malicious and essentially question the legitimacy of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.” A legal opinion procured by CIJA-PR and Federation concludes that TransLink is permitted “to have a policy that provides for a safe and welcoming transit system and to exclude advertisements that objectively and reasonably interfere with that goal.” TransLink, however, contends (also based on a legal opinion) that it must run the ad because its advertising policy “cannot violate freedom of expression under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” “except in accordance with Section 1 of the Charter, which makes all Charter rights subject to ‘such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.’” Continue reading

Vancouver Courier: TransLink ads spark controversy

Allan Garr, Vancouver Courier, Sept 5, 2013

While much of the world is watching the tragedy unfold in Syria and waiting for the United States to make its “no boots on the ground” move against the Assad regime, we have our own little Middle East related drama going on right here in Vancouver. That is all thanks to a decision by TransLink to run ads on buses and rapid transit stations entitled “Disappearing Palestine.”

If you haven’t seen the ads, it is no wonder. The $15,000 dollar purchase gave the Vancouver-based groups calling themselves the Palestine Awareness Coalition a modest presence: The material appears on 15 of TransLink’s 1,600 buses and at two transit stations, one downtown and one at Oakridge (which incidentally is about as close as you can get to the heart of Vancouver’s Jewish community.)

It is composed of four maps of what is now the state of Israel and shows a shift it claims has taken place since 1946 in terms of Palestinian presence when the territory was known as Palestine. The only text states that five million Palestinians are classified by the UN as refugees. Continue reading

Vancouver Sun: Rosh Hashannah greeted with rising hate against Jews

Vancouver Sun Editorial, Sept. 4, 2013

SFSC Note: This editorial has been removed from the Vancouver Sun website.

At sundown Wednesday, Jews began to celebrate the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, although celebrate might not be quite the right word. The Jewish new year marks the beginning of a 10-day period of introspection, reflection and contemplation known as the Days of Awe which ends with the fast of Yom Kippur. While it is not a sad time, solemnity is the flavour of the festival. Rosh Hashanah and the days that follow are about atonement, asking forgiveness for transgressions against God and fellow human beings and seeking spiritual renewal.

Other than the weekly Sabbath, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are considered the holiest days on the Jewish calendar and a majority of Jews, even those who rarely set foot in a synagogue and are otherwise unaffiliated, feel the need to come home to their faith and join their community in prayer.

This year, it might be more difficult than usual to concentrate on the holiday’s themes of sovereignty of God, remembrance of the Covenant at Sinai and redemption. European Jewry is facing increasing anti-Semitism; one recent survey found more than 150 million citizens of the European Union hold anti-Semitic views. The situation has become so dire that some observers are warning Jews to leave Europe now. Others are urging restraint, noting that the litmus test the EU uses for anti-Semitism is a demonic view of Israel. Continue reading