Battle of the Billboards - Why was An Anti-Hamas Billboard Removed in New Jersey?

In the world of the public square, those huge billboards are like silent looming giants, often subliminally shaping what we think as we drive by them. 

But an anti-Hamas billboard on Route 80 in Bergen County, New Jersey, jerked enough heads to be removed after a wave of complaints deemed it a symbol of hate speech, not free speech. It’s the latest flare-up between respective Jewish and Arab/Muslim diaspora communities ignited by the current Israel-Hamas conflict.  

The New Jersey billboard featuring the provocative statement, "Oh, don't be naive. Hamas would chop your head off too," led to over 100 complaints. 

It's part of an ongoing national campaign by an organization called JewBelong, which has a history of acting as a provocateur, although it says it's committed to combatting antisemitism and promoting "Joyous Judaism."

After being contacted for a comment by AMT over a week ago, the group backtracked on an initial favorable response for an interview with its co-founder, Archie Gottesman.

That may be due to some controversial comments highlighted by progressive groups like Jewish Voices for Peace, who say she wants to “normalize Israeli apartheid” and has made “racist and genocidal statements” including a 2018 tweet in which she’s reported to have stated that it was “time to burn the whole place” about Gaza. She later apologized.

The campaign has been seen as a clear attempt to blur the lines between those supporting justice for Palestinians to imply they are Hamas supporters. The Northern California Islamic Council responded by putting up several billboards informing Americans that their taxes are funding the bombs in Israel, and it's seeking funds for an “Emergency Palestine Billboard &PR Campaign Donation.” 

But the battle of billboards is also part of a long-running civil war between opposing Jewish groups. In February of this year, another JewBelong board stating, “You don't need to go to law school to know anti-zionism is anti-semitism was vandalized to equate “anti-zionism with anti-racism” and JewBelong’s name was replaced by a group called Jews4FreePalestine.

And the group, which calls itself a collective, has just struck again. A billboard saying “Let’s be clear: Hamas is your problem too” unveiled in October has now been re-branded to say “Zionism is your problem too”

After Gottesman’s latest inflammatory pro-Israel billboards was taken down, N.J.’s local Bogota police said in a Facebook post, “Our police department works closely with county, state and federal agencies to ensure the safety of our community. There have been no threats to our community and we are investigating the matter to ensure all community members remain safe.”

The continued vandalism of similar billboards by JewBelong across different parts of California illustrates the intensity of emotions surrounding these issues. 

However, the Foundation to Combat Antisemitism says removing the signs is an overreaction. It posted a photo of one of them, echoing its sentiments, "We're just 75 years since the gas chambers. So no, a billboard calling out antisemitism isn't an overreaction." 

Predictably, this view is not shared by American Muslim groups. In light of the shocking scale of ongoing civilian deaths in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli Military, they say this kind of gesture serves to antagonize a community in grief.

Leading civic engagement group, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has just unveiled its own billboard campaign to raise public awareness about the ongoing devastation in Gaza. 

MPAC Director of Communications, Saif Iqbal says, “We're paying with our tax dollars for what is happening in Gaza. U.S. bombs that are paid for by American taxpayers are being dropped on children. And in response to our protests has been a billboard campaign that seeks to illustrate Hamas as our problem. Our problem is that our money is being used to fund the killing of innocent children and civilians by a government that has violated international human rights laws, time and time again.” 

Iqbal says it is critically important that Muslim voters mobilize on this issue and lobby their congressional representatives. 

“This public awareness campaign is a call for the public to get involved and demand an end to our government’s role in the tragedy unfolding in Gaza. It’s also a message to lawmakers that the American Muslim community is an active, voting community. And we are being ignored, even though we helped put many of these officials into office. And even though nearly the entire world outside of the U.S. stands with us and knows that we are on the right side of history.” 

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