Pro-Palestine Tube posters 'an act of vandalism'

Campaign: The posters are being taken down
London Palestine Action
Mark Chandler22 February 2016

Controversial pro-Palestinian posters put up on the Tube over the weekend were unauthorised and an “act of vandalism”, transport chiefs say.

Up to 150 posters about Palestinian treatment at the hands of Israel appeared on London Underground trains across the capital yesterday, making what the London Jewish Forum called “awful smears”.

They are part of the Israeli Apartheid Week campaign by pro-Palestinian campaigners in London, which, according to its website, aims to highlight “Israel’s ongoing settler-colonial project and apartheid policies” over the Palestinian people.

An activist from group London Palestine Action, who did not want to be named, said they wanted to highlight killings, land grabs and the demolition of houses by Israeli forces.

She said: “It’s to highlight the illegality of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and the involvement of British companies there.”

The activist went on: “Because in the media there’s silence about what’s really happening in Palestine, we wanted to have the opportunity to speak to members of the public.”

Tube adverts included a doctored still from BBC News, claiming the corporation was biased towards Israel and reporting figures of 142 Palestinians killed, plus a further 15,620 injured since last October.

Another poster, focusing on British-made arms allegedly being used by Israel in Gaza, read: “Apartheid is Great Britain.”

But a spokesman for the London Jewish Forum said: “These posters are awful smears that do nothing to contribute to peace and dialogue, placing significant strains on inter-community relations across London.

“They are an act of vandalism, seeking to undermine the UK’s relationship with Israel and designed to foster discomfort. We welcome Transport for London’s commitment to quickly remove them.”

Transport for London have now confirmed the ads were unauthorised and will be taken down.

A spokesman said: “It is fly posting and therefore an act of vandalism which we take extremely seriously.

“Our staff and contractors are working to immediately remove any found on our network.”

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