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class="header"> <b><small><small><small><a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israeli-fury-unofficial-ads-london-underground"
id="reader-domain" class="domain"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israeli-fury-unofficial-ads-london-underground">https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/asa-winstanley/israeli-fury-unofficial-ads-london-underground</a></a></small></small></small></b>
<h1 id="reader-title">Israeli fury at unofficial ads on London
Underground</h1>
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<p>2/22/16<br>
</p>
<p>Activists from <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/london-palestine-action">London
Palestine Action</a> put up these posters criticizing
Israel’s <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/apartheid">apartheid</a>
policies against Palestinians all over London’s
underground train network early Sunday morning.</p>
<p>Speaking to The Electronic Intifada, an activist from
the group, who did not want to be named, they said that
they posted 150 copies around at least four different
lines on the network. The activist provided these
photos.</p>
<p>These posters are “subvertisements,” political messages
designed to look like sanctioned advertising. They were
fitted on top of paid ads, the activist said.</p>
<p>The action was timed to coincide with the launch of
this year’s <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/israeli-apartheid-week">Israeli
Apartheid Week</a> in the UK Monday.</p>
<p>In a statement sent to The Electronic Intifada, the
activists said: “Israel and its supporters are used to
having the mainstream media repeat their talking points.
Our action’s aim is to shine a spotlight on the support
that Israel receives from the UK government and arms
industry and UK companies like G4S as well as the one
sided reporting which is endemic in the BBC.”</p>
<p>The UK Zionist Federation <a
href="https://twitter.com/ZionistFed/status/701764356288225280">on
Monday called</a> for authorities to “apprehend the
original culprits.”</p>
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<p>Photos of the posters began appearing on social media
Sunday evening.</p>
<p>Transport authorities confirmed to the <em>Jewish
Chronicle</em> that many of the unofficial ads were
still up Monday morning. A spokesperson <a
href="https://twitter.com/MarcusDysch/status/701735202226356225">told
the paper Monday</a> that the posters were being
removed.</p>
<p>This means they would have been seen during this
morning’s rush hour by some of the millions of commuters
that use the tube network every day.</p>
<h2>Israeli fury</h2>
<p>Israeli politicians reacted with near hysteria Monday.
</p>
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Inciteful posters removed
from the <a
href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/London?src=hash">#London</a>
underground trains: <a
href="https://t.co/GuFe7lLoXq"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://t.co/GuFe7lLoXq">https://t.co/GuFe7lLoXq</a></a>
<a href="https://t.co/Hn4TnQK0kl">pic.twitter.com/Hn4TnQK0kl</a></p>
— Israel Foreign Min. (@IsraelMFA) <a
href="https://twitter.com/IsraelMFA/status/701784093076361220">February
22, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<p>Israel’s foreign ministry <a
href="http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/PressRoom/2016/Pages/Inciteful-posters-removed-from-London-underground-22-Feb-2016.aspx">called
the subvertisements</a> “inciteful” and said Prime
Minister <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/benjamin-netanyahu">Benjamin
Netanyahu</a> had instructed their director-general to
“demand” the posters’ “immediate removal” during a visit
to London for talks with the UK foreign office.
</p>
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<blockquote data-width="550" class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a
href="https://twitter.com/yairlapid">@yairlapid</a>
called ads in London Underground anti-Semitic,
said he talked to Boris Johnson, who had them
removed. <a href="https://t.co/66ou3gKByZ">pic.twitter.com/66ou3gKByZ</a></p>
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) <a
href="https://twitter.com/LahavHarkov/status/701742764170592257">February
22, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<p>Two Israeli opposition leaders also condemned the ads.
<a href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/yair-lapid">Yair
Lapid</a> claimed the ads were “anti-Semitic” and <a
href="https://twitter.com/LahavHarkov/status/701742764170592257">implied
that</a> he had persuaded the mayor of London, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/boris-johnson">Boris
Johnson</a>, to remove them.
</p>
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<blockquote data-width="550" class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a
href="https://twitter.com/Tzipi_Livni">@Tzipi_Livni</a>
on London Underground signs: BDS is against the
existence of Israel. We are all together in battle
against it.</p>
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) <a
href="https://twitter.com/LahavHarkov/status/701754283478351875">February
22, 2016</a></blockquote>
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<p>Former foreign minister <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/tzipi-livni">Tzipi
Livni</a> (who <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/hilary-aked/war-crimes-suspect-shaul-mofaz-evades-arrest-uk-parliament">in
2009 evaded</a> a UK arrest warrant for war crimes)
denied that Israel <a
href="https://twitter.com/LahavHarkov/status/701754847696187392">practices
apartheid</a> and said the posters showed that the
boycott, divestment and sanctions movement “is against
the existence of Israel.”</p>
<p>A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in London <a
href="https://twitter.com/yiftahc/status/701746959598669824">claimed</a>
that the ads were a “grim” act of “vandalism.”</p>
<h2>Full statement</h2>
<p>London Palestine Action activists issued this full
statement detailing references for all the facts stated
on the posters:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>London Tube Subvertisment</strong>: The
campaign was done by activists from London Palestine
Action (LPA) for the launch of the Israeli Apartheid
Week 2016. Approximately 150 posters were neatly
placed on top of adverts already located in the tube
carriages. The reasoning behind the action was not
only to promote the start of the Israeli Apartheid
Week but also to counterattack Western media’s silence
over the situation in Palestine. As public bodies,
local councils and student unions are threatened <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/israel-boycott-local-councils-public-bodies-and-student-unions-to-be-banned-from-shunning-israeli-a6874006.html">to
be banned by law</a> from boycotting “unethical”
companies, Israeli Apartheid Week and similar
collective actions are more crucial and relevant than
ever. The subvertisments cover four issues:</p>
<ul>
<li>The BBC repeatedly sacrificing the truth on the
altar of their pro-Israeli bias</li>
<li>The infamous British security company, G4S,
helping in the imprisonment and abuse of thousands
of Palestinians, including hundreds of children</li>
<li>The UK – Israeli arms trade resulting in massacres
of Palestinians, but also greasing the cogs of the
Israeli apartheid machine</li>
<li>The destruction of Palestinian homes becoming a
means of routine collective punishment under the
Israeli occupation</li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
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<blockquote>
<p><strong>BBC Bias</strong>: <a
href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/debate/23754-the-missing-data-on-the-palestinian-revolt">In
the first eight months of 2015</a>, Israeli
occupation forces injured more than 1,372 Palestinians
and between October - December 2015, <a
href="http://www.imemc.org/article/74193">116
Palestinians were killed</a>. Not only has the
Western media ignored the extrajudicial killings but
the coverage misrepresented and was completely bias
towards Israel, particularly in the BBC news. Once
again, <a
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/amena-saleem/bbc-forced-admit-it-misled-over-palestine">BBC
was forced to admit</a> its coverage of the
situation in the West bank has been misleading and
refuses to acknowledge Palestinian deaths and their
suffering under occupation. <a
href="http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20151115_letter_to_pm_on_extrajudicial_killings">In
a letter to Netanyahu</a>, B’Tselem condemned the
Israeli government: “Your government permits – and
encourages – the transformation of police officers,
and even of armed civilians, into judges and
executioners.” Dania Irshied, a 17 year old, was one
of the many victims of extrajudicial killings that
continue until today. <a
href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2015/10/israeli-forces-must-end-pattern-of-unlawful-killings-in-west-bank/">Amnesty
International called on Israel</a> to bring its
“pattern of unlawful killings” to an end.</p>
<p><strong>Child prisoners and G4S</strong>: <a
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/issues_military_detention">More
than 500 Palestinian children</a> are arrested,
detained and prosecuted in the Israeli military court
system every year. G4S provides services to the
Israeli prison system making it complicit in the
illegal occupation of Palestine and the unlawful
imprisonment of Palestinians, including children. By
outsourcing occupation-related work to G4S, the
Israeli state frees itself from accountability for
human rights violations and breaches of international
laws. <a href="http://www.waronwant.org/g4s">G4S is
one of the UK’s most reviled companies</a> engaged
in conflict related profit making the world over.</p>
<p><strong>Apartheid is Great (Britain)</strong>: UK is
directly complicit in Israel’s continuing violations
of human rights and international law. <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/exclusive-uk-approved-7m-israeli-arms-sales-in-six-months-before-gaza-conflict-9878280.html">British-made
arms worth £7m</a> were used by Israel to massacre
more than 2,000 Palestinians in Gaza. By purchasing
arms from and selling arms to Israel, the <a
href="http://www.waronwant.org/sites/default/files/Killer%20Drones,%20War%20on%20Want.pdf">UK
government is giving direct material support</a> for
Israel’s aggression and sending a clear message of
approval for its actions. <a
href="https://www.caat.org.uk/resources/mapping/organisation?tag=military-export-applicant-to-israel">Almost
100 companies</a> supplying military & security
equipment to Israel are based in the UK. Amongst
suppliers on your doorstep are BAE Systems, Lockheed
Martin, G4S, Boeing, Elbit Systems. Israeli companies
make enormous profits from military technology that is
“field-tested” on Palestinians. The <a
href="https://www.caat.org.uk/issues/arms-fairs">UK
government sponsors three</a> “major defence and
security exhibitions in the UK” – DSEI, Farnborough
International and Security & Policing arm fairs.</p>
<p><strong>House Demolitions</strong>: Since October
2015, 29 demolitions were carried out in occupied East
Jerusalem. In January 2016, Israel demolished <a
href="http://www.btselem.org/punitive_demolitions/20160116_january_demolitions">three
Palestinian homes</a> in punitive actions, leaving
18 persons homeless. <a
href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.640147">In
2014</a>, Israel demolished 1,177 homes in occupied
East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This policy is a
form of collective punishment, and in accordance with
humanitarian and human rights law, is assessed as a
war crime and a crime against humanity.</p>
</blockquote>
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