Israel says billboard campaign about plight of Gaza hostages rejected in Netherlands
National Public Diplomacy Directorate says 10 advertisers declined to put up poster featuring hostages and slogan ‘He/She can’t testify,’ amid ‘genocide’ case in The Hague court
An Israeli government billboard campaign to raise awareness of hostages held by Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip has been rejected by multiple advertising companies in the Netherlands that refused to put up the posters, the National Public Diplomacy Directorate charged in a statement Thursday.
The campaign, prepared by the directorate’s Government Advertising Agency, had been intended to coincide with a hearing at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, in which South Africa accused Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Agency head Moriah Shalom said that the refusal by billboard companies to take on the Israeli campaign was “a serious violation of freedom of expression and Israel’s right to speak out loud about the terror its citizens suffer.”
“This is a blatant attempt to silence the voices of the Israeli hostages, who were taken captive during the murderous terrorist attack by Hamas,” she said in the statement. “Their right to be heard is beyond any doubt.”
Israel’s ongoing military campaign in the Strip came in response to a devastating attack by Hamas that killed 1,200 people in Israel, mostly civilians. The thousands of terrorists who burst through the border from Gaza also abducted at least 240 people of all ages, most of whom are still being kept captive in Gaza.
The statement said the Netherlands campaign was aimed at “increasing awareness for the release of hostages from Hamas captivity.”
Billboards were to feature pictures of hostages along with their names and the caption “He/She can’t testify today.”
“The main message conveyed by the signage is the fact that 136 kidnapped Israelis are being held captive by Hamas and cannot testify today at The Hague tribunal,” the statement said. “These are victims and witnesses to the acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas, and to the war crimes they commit every additional day while they are held hostage by Hamas.”
The government advertising agency approached 10 billboard operators in The Hague, Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport, and they all refused to cooperate. In one case, the design and language of the billboards were initially approved, “but unexpectedly” the project was canceled just as the signs were about to go up.
Moshik Aviv, the head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, remained defiant, vowing: “The truth will prevail and the State of Israel will continue to stand up for the justice of its path and tell the whole world the truth. We are running an unprecedented international information campaign. Despite everything, they will not be able to silence us.”
The billboard campaign was part of “the multitude of information and public diplomacy” surrounding the accusation of genocide brought against Israel at the International Court of Justice, the statement said, and is only one aspect of a “wide variety of outreach activities that will be carried out across Europe in the coming days.”
The Hague hearing opened Thursday and its initial stage was expected to take two days, though the entire proceedings were expected to take years.
Ahead of the hearing, hundreds of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in The Hague on a freezing cold morning in dueling solidarity rallies amid a heavy police presence.
