An anti-Israel and incites hatred with misinformation which has been placed on buses in Vancouver

Vancouver Transport system carries anti-Israel posters

http://o.canada.com/2013/08/28/disappearing-palestine-vancouver-translink/

 

Jewish groups in Vancouver say they are considering suing the transit authority for accepting controversial political advertisements showing the “disappearance of Palestine due to Israeli occupation over the past 66 years.”

On Tuesday, a group called the Palestine Awareness Coalition announced the launch of 15 bus posters and a large mural in a central Vancouver SkyTrain station, that depict the territory of Palestine steadily shrinking into the state of Israel in a succession of dated maps.

Marty Roth — a 79-year-old member of the coalition group behind the ad campaign — said they have already won a victory over groups that tried to “suppress” the ads.

“This will be controversial with a number of traditional Jewish organizations that have tried to suppress the ads,” Roth claimed. “But TransLink has refused to agree with them, because these are educational ads that are well within national advertising guidelines and the Canadian Charter.”

Roth said as a Canadian Jewish man he believes that the state of Israel is unjustly oppressing the people of Palestine and that his group wants to educate the Canadian public about the conflict.

But Jewish leaders including Mitchell Gropper, chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, called the ads a provocative attack on Jewish people that will incite hatred.

“This is of grave concern to our community at large, because the ads make the use of the buses unwelcome and unsafe,” Gropper said, noting that terrorist attacks in Israel often target buses.

If the transit system will be used to attack Israel and the Jewish people, who is next?

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen ads on our TransLink system that attack a section of our society. If the transit system will be used to attack Israel and the Jewish people, who is next?”

Gropper, a Vancouver lawyer, said his group went to the “highest levels” of TransLink and argued that the Palestine ads should be rejected, but they were told that TransLink must accept the ads for legal reasons.

The Province sought interviews with TransLink officials but were referred to a prepared statement, which says TransLink sought a “third-party legal opinion” which said the Supreme Court of Canada decided TransLink must run ads such as “Disappearing Palestine” under the Canadian charter.

Gropper said his group has retained a lawyer with a different opinion, and that suing TransLink is one strategy that is being considered in response to the ads.

“TransLink has said the law requires them to publish these ads but that is certainly not the case,” Gropper said.

The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center in Toronto issued a statement saying the group is “disturbed to learn about TransLink’s agreement to run historically distorted anti-Israel advertisements.”

“While Israel and the Palestinian Authority are currently engaged in peace negotiations to resolve their differences and reach a two-state solution, TransLink will be running ads that are provocative and incite hatred and contempt,” said group president Avi Benlolo.