USAID funding 'Palestinian' billboards in Israel
Your US tax dollars are at work again. USAID, an agency of the US Federal government, is spending $250,000 on outdoor billboards designed to convince Israelis that we have a 'peace partner' (Hat Tip: NY Nana)Washington is funding an ad campaign in Israel featuring billboards of Palestinian officials asking: "We are partners -- what about you?"But of course they're not sponsoring any that send the same message to the 'Palestinians.'
The campaign launched Sunday includes the faces of senior Palestinian Authority officials Saeb Erekat, Jibril Rajoub and Yasser Abed Rabo, and Riad Malki, Palestinian foreign affairs minister, Yedioth Aharonoth said.
The aim of the campaign is to persuade Israelis that peace partners on the Palestinian side truly exist, and calls for support of a two-state solution, the Tel Aviv newspaper said.
The U.S. government was approached to fund the campaign by the Geneva Initiative founders, who drew up an agreement in 2003 to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the newspaper said.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, invested close to $250,000 toward the creation of the billboards, the newspaper said.
The campaign has raised a few eyebrows in Israel.
"We are talking about a Palestinian Authority campaign funded by the American government," an Israeli Foreign Ministry official was quoted saying.
I haven't seen them yet, but then these billboards are far more likely to find a receptive audience in the Tel Aviv area than they would in Jerusalem where we have had more than enough up close and personal with the 'Palestinians.'
Does anyone believe them?
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:29 AM
5 Comments:
Why won't the Israeli government simply put an end to this foreign-government intervention in Israeli society?
Thanks for the hat tip, Carl. With the money that Hussein is handing out to the islamic countries, it is beyond the realm of reason in the economy in the States. He is spending a fortune..on him and his family. I would expect those billboards to be in Tel Aviv rather than Jerusalem, but I hope that they never actually appear...but I guess that is too much to hope for. And as far as Bibi's junket here for a 'peace' conference? I hope that he at least gets lunch before it falls apart.
I also hope that the billboards won't cause any driving acidents!
Why does the US seem to to think yhe Palestinians need to make their case in billboards?
Nothing stops them from talking to Israel. But this they do not want to do unless they are protected from the reality that they, too have to make painful sacrifices for peace, something familiar to Jews.
Israel has already agreed to share its home with them. They show no inclination to follow suit on it.
The videos can be viewed online at http://heskem.org.il/partners/.
Maybe it would be a good idea to sponsor similar videos for inside the West Bank. Of course, that would mean Israelis would actually have to publicly state that they are "partners" for peace...
This post is a bit much. Tel Aviv also had "up close and personal contact" recently, probably moreso than Jerusalem.
Now, I don't think this campaign will convince anyone - very few people would even consider agreeing to the Geneva terms, and even less would think that then peace would come. Worse, the campaign is ultimately misdirected by focusing on personalities rather than polities, and moreover on people with a known bad history. Trying to cover for all the problems using an ad slogan won't work.
Oh well, at least Obama is stimulating the Israeli economy. One wishes he paid more attention to his own.
Post a Comment
<< Home