(San Francisco—October 12, 2012) For the fifth time in the past two years, StandWithUs (SWU) is countering anti-Israel ads with twelve pro-Israel ads that will be placed on San Francisco Muni buses from October 22 through November 18. They will go up when the anti-Israel ads end their run. The StandWithUs ads specifically counter a recent ad campaign of maps that distort facts and other ads that call for ending U.S. aid to Israel. SWU countered the same map ad in New York's Metro-North in July 2012 and is also countering them in Portland, Oregon beginnign October 22.
 
One SWU ad underscores how the U.S.-Israel alliance benefits the American economy by highlighting that "Israelis invested over $57 billion in U.S. companies and created 200,000 jobs in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010." Another ad encourages the public to "Tell Congress Not to Support Palestinian Groups Like Hamas Because They Don't Want Peace."


"We cannot allow the public to be misled by the factual distortions in yet another anti-Israel campaign. These ad campaigns try to undermine American support for Israel by misrepresenting Israel and its history. The anti-Israel maps presume there once was an Arab Palestine, when in fact no such country ever existed. They also leave out the context such as the chronic wars and terrorism unleashed against Israel, and the numerous times Israel has given up land for peace - such as in Gaza - when it got thousands of rockets hurled at its southern towns in exchange," stated Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs.
 
"Most Americans are aware that Israel is on the front lines of terrorism, and faces ongoing threats from terrorist cells in the West Bank and from the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas . They know that blaming Israel alone as the obstacle to peace ignores the context of Palestinian extremism and refusal to adhere to its signed commitments to continue direct negotiations. They know that the injustice is that Palestinian Arab leaders have continued to reject all territorial compromises for peace. Moreover, Americans recognize that Israel shares America’s Democratic values and that a healthy exchange of commerce, technology and ideas creates jobs and is the best hope for peace in the region," states Dr. Michael Harris, StandWithUs/SanFrancisco Voice for Israel.
 

StandWithUs has countered anti-Israel billboard campaigns wherever they've appeared. In July 2012, SWU placed six ads in 75 locations in New York's Metro-North stations to counter posters of maps that misrepresent Israel's history. In September 2011 SWU countered 25 anti-Israel billboards placed in New York's subway stations with 25 billboards that informed the public that "Israel Needs a Partner for Peace." StandWithUs billboards that displayed the message "Teach Peace, Not Hate" appeared in 2007 and 2009 in Washington, DC, Albuquerque, and Houston (in cooperation with Bridge Houston). In 2010 SWU countered an anti-Israel billboard campaign in Chicago's transit system stations, and allied with other groups to successfully persuade Seattle's Metro Transit to reject proposed billboards with inflammatory, anti-Israel accusations. SWU countered anti-Israel billboards displayed in San Francisco and Berkeley BART stations and muni buses five times in 2011-12. It placed billboards in Denver in April 2012 that promoted the story of "Baby Israela, delivered by Israeli medics in Haiti," and conveyed the message that "Israel saves lives." StandWithUs dropped plans to counter anti-Israel billboards in Los Angeles in June 2012 when the billboard company, CBS Outdoor, pulled the anti-Israel billboards after one week because the campaigners misused CBS Outdoor's name.
 
“We hope that those who publicize misinformation about Israel understand that every time they do, we will be there to correct the facts and to inform the public ,” affirmed Rothstein.
 
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an eleven year-old, international, non-profit Israel education organization that supports people around the world who want to educate their campuses and communities about Israel. SWU educates through social media, hosts speakers, programs and conferences in cities around the world, offers website resources and creates materials about Israel in a variety of languages and a range of topics that are distributed globally.

Based in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters across the U.S., Israel, France and the UK including New York, Chicago, Pacific Northwest, Detroit, San Francisco (CA), San Diego (CA), Santa Cruz (CA), Davis (CA).

www.standwithus.com and www.standwithus.co.il
http://www.twitter.com/StandWithUs and http://www.facebook.com/StandWithUs