Cityscape

Anti-Israel Billboard in Detroit: Anti-Semitic?

October 23, 2015, 3:42 PM

This new billboard on 8 Mile Road near Southfield in Detroit stirs controversy. 

WXYZ's Camille Amiri asks:

Is it meant to be anti-Semitic or something else entirely?

The billboard references an incident that occurred in 1948 in the Arab village of Deir Yassin on the west side of Jerusalem when Zionist paramilitary groups attacked and killed more than 100 villagers. The attack was condemned in the Arab world and by some Jewish organizations. 

“This particular ad was not placed in a predominantly Arab-American neighborhood, it is also not a predominantly Jewish neighborhood,”  Heidi Budaj from the Anti-Defamation League said, according to the WXYZ report. “These ads that were seen across the country are general ads whose goal is to drive a wedge between the American people and the state of Israel.”

“This particular sign goes a step further and raises an old anti-Semitic canard of dual loyalty, implying that Jews are not loyal to the country in which they live," she added. "Make no mistake that while many of the Jewish people in the United States support the state of Israel as a Jewish state, we are loyal Americans.”

The station didn't get a response after contacting the New York group responsible for the ad.


Read more:  WXYZ


Leave a Comment:

Photo Of The Day