Israel apartheid billboard removed
A PRO-PALESTINIAN billboard in Melbourne that seemed to accuse Israel of apartheid has been removed.
A PRO-PALESTINIAN billboard in Melbourne that seemed to accuse Israel of apartheid has been removed.
Under the headline “Apartheid: Wrong in South Africa. Wrong in Palestine”, the poster – which was on the corner of Melbourne’s City Road and Queensbridge Street – featured quotes from Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Mandela’s quote is: “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians,” while Tutu says, “Gaza is going to test who believes in the worth of human beings.”
The billboard also included the slogan, “Free Palestine”.
Reacting to the poster, the presidents of the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Zionist Council of Victoria, Danny Lamm and Sam Tatarka, said: “Comparisons with the situation of Palestinians under either Israeli or Palestinian rule with the situation of blacks in apartheid South Africa are demonstrably false.”
They added, “It is an insult to the millions of black South Africans who were truly oppressed, and weakens the crime that was apartheid by applying it to a situation where Israel has, for decades, actively attempted to bring self-determination for Palestinians, despite the best efforts of Hamas and other terrorists.”
The sentiment was echoed by Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Nina Bassat, who said: “Those responsible for that billboard either know nothing about apartheid and even less about Israel, or have scant regard for truth and reality.
“The billboard makes a travesty of all the suffering under apartheid and a travesty of the freedom in Israel, where any citizen, of whatever background or religion, can become a member of the Knesset, study at the most prestigious university, eat in any cafe, ride on any bus and be a part of the civil society. It is also a travesty to promote freedom and justice on the basis of lies.”
ZEDDY LAWRENCE
The billboard on City Road in Melbourne.
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