Activism

Mandela ad is pulled in L.A. following graffiti vandalism

A billboard featuring Nelson Mandela on the importance of Palestinian freedom has been pulled from the streets of Los Angeles following graffiti incidents and threats.

The billboard manager said he was pulling the ad from his trucks a week before the 24-day contract had been fulfilled because he was afraid of more vandalism and attacks on drivers, according to Richard Colbath-Hess of Ads Against Apartheid.

“The owner of the company felt the graffiti was politically motivated,” Colbath-Hess said. “It upsets me because people can’t get both sides of the story.”

In a conversation with Annie Robbins, the billboard manager described intimidation tactics aimed at the trucks and asked that his name not be used. He did not respond to an email from me. But Colbath-Hess says that one graffiti was of a Star of David, and the company owner also received telephone threats from pro-Israel individuals. The police report from Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange County, on January 7 is not specific:

Inf advised he his 5 Box Work Trucks were parked in the open area on 1-6-15 at about 1830 hours and when he returned on 1-7-15 at about 1000 hours, the 5 vehicles were vandalized with graffiti.

Ads Against Apartheid still has ads on highway billboards in the Los Angeles area; but the truck-mounted billboard that was to travel Los Angeles streets eight hours a day was taken off the streets.

The ad would not seem to be provocative: a quote from Nelson Mandela in this 1997 speech, “Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

 

Graffiti on Mandela ad
Graffiti on Mandela ad

Here is a picture of another truck with graffiti on it.

 

Graffiti on advertising truck
Graffiti on advertising truck

Colbath-Hess says the censorship is of a piece with the censorship of ads in the Boston subways last summer. Those ads documented apartheid conditions, but the Boston transit authority pulled them saying they were “demeaning” to Israel.

His group wants to spark mainstream dialogue on the conflict and would never censor the other side, Colbath-Hess says.

“Both sides of an issue should get discussed, that’s an American value,” he says. “This upsets me but I realize it’s part of the struggle. We have to keep getting our views out there against opposition that can get ugly.”

His organization put out a press release last week on the vandalism in LA in which Colbath-Hess said “these acts of violence reflect a broader context of criminalizing and censoring free speech when it comes to opposing
US-sponsored funding for Israeli apartheid.”

The group linked the attacks to other efforts to suppress debate:

Attacks on freedom of speech against Palestine solidarity activists are becoming increasingly common in the United States. From the suspension of the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) for organizing a pro-Palestinian political group at Northeastern University to the firing of University of Illinois professor Dr. Steven Salaita for tweeting his outrage over Israeli attacks in Gaza last summer, there has been a crackdown on political dissent and freedom of expression related to criticism of Israel.

 

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Surely the people who took up the cause of Charlie Hedbo will be on this like fleas on a dog.

Right? Wait. This isn’t a story I’m reading in the mainstream press, is it?

What is EAL anyhow?

Beautiful billboard; sad that it was pulled, but understandable given the threats.

Compare the Mandela quote with the latest Gellar offering in the Bay Area, claiming “Jew Hatred” is in the Quran:

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Anti-Muslim-Ads-on-Muni-Buses-Stun-Riders_Bay-Area-288486491.html#

Where are the folks that Championed Hebdo’s freedom to offend? Shmuely, Shmuely?

What do those “words” mean?

This is yet another outrage. The Arab/Palestinian Defamation League would be screeching if the shoe was on the other foot. The police would fan out to find the perps.

Defacing Mandela’s image and his quote might bother more a few South Africans as well. And this is the day celebrating Martin.

Foul.