Maps and Occupation Stories in New York and Washington

It's hard to believe that this took place in the heart of New York this last July, but there are very effective Zionist lobby groups and a general climate that we believe, perhaps incorrectly, is unfavorable to American solidarity with Palestine. This incident has implications on psychological, cultural and logistical levels. Would it occur to someone, for example, to wake up one morning and learn about the Palestinian issue, presented in an extremely stylized manner, with maps that try to explain it?

This past July, New Yorkers woke up to large billboards set at the entrances of 50 metro stations. These displayed maps of Palestine, chronicling the Israeli occupation's nibbling away of their lands with the phrase: "4.7 million Palestinians are classified by the U.N. as refugees." The clearly-marked maps showed how the size of Palestine has shrunk geographically and how the Israelis have robbed Palestine of its land over the years from 1946 to 2010. According to the press, this shocking advertising campaign sparked controversy — as expected — in the U.S. media, which conveyed the disapproval of some New Yorkers. Jewish and Israeli officials and activists denounced the ads for their content.

Henry Clifford, director of the "Committee for Peace in Israel/Palestine" is the person behind this educational media campaign. According to its blog, the Committee is an activist group that aims to "educate the public" about the Arab-Israeli conflict and use media campaigns to spread their ideas and apply pressure to achieve their objectives. It declares that it "advocates a two-state solution to the conflict — a complete withdrawal by Israel from the Occupied Territories…"

As for the Zionist lobby groups, Jewish groups and Israeli activists have moved quickly. They demanded that the Department of Transport "remove the ads from these locations." An official responded that the Department "can't legally remove ads due to what is expressed in them, or because of differences in viewpoint. We don't support what was stated in the ads on Palestine, as we do not endorse the content of all the ads that we've agreed to publish, but the ads will remain in place."*

The campaign succeeded, according to the report, at least to pique the curiosity of some of the citizens who encountered Occupied Palestine on the streets over the span of 30 days. But did it succeed in disrupting, even slightly, the mainstream media message in America on the Arab-Israeli conflict?

It's a big, important question for Palestinians and Arabs, not only here, but in New York and in all U.S. cities. Not to say that the average U.S. citizen doesn't keep up with the news, generally speaking, but rather that around 96 percent of what is presented to them is controlled by the Jews.

Here in Washington, we have seen productions of the play "Stories Under Occupation," which the Kasaba Theater presented over the course of two days to an enthusiastic American and Arab-American audience. The tickets sold out weeks before the festival, and after three performances, lengthy discussions were held about the play, and in particular on the Palestinian crisis under occupation.

As expected, the play sparked widespread controversy. American Zionist groups objected to the Kennedy Center's invitation to present "Stories Under Occupation" on the grounds that the play was of a political nature, demanding presentation of the Israeli viewpoint to maintain neutrality.

In his remarks to the press, Director of the Kennedy Center Michael Kaiser commented on the play's production, saying, "this event aims to reflect life as the citizen sees it in Arab nations, and because politics is part of everyday life, some of the work presented at this festival deals with politics."*

There is a large-scale U.S. campaign, driven by various civil organizations and committees that are taking the initiative to explain the Palestinian issue and the suffering of the Palestinian people under Zionist occupation. We appreciate and respect all of those who take action and struggle in the American media (culturally, artistically, pedagogically and politically) in order to explain the Palestinian issue from start to finish to the American public, which the Zionist media has robbed of its awareness in the past decades.

This is about national responsibility and Arab nationalism, and we have entrusted it to our American counterparts in Palestinian and Arab civil organizations.

*Editor’s note: The original quotes, accurately translated, could not be verified.