RSS
Billboard of Hamas Hostages in London Removed Following Complaints, Threats
One of the billboards of Hamas hostages that were taken down in London. Photo: Provided
A billboard campaign featuring pictures of hostages taken from Israel on Oct. 7 by Hamas terrorists was meant to be displayed on video screens throughout London but has been shut down after organizers received a torrent of threats and complaints.
The project was spearheaded by an organization called the Hostages Families’ Forum UK, with help from the Embassy of Israel in London, and was expected to run for two weeks, according to Elad Simchayoff, the European correspondent for Channel 12 News who documented the entire incident on X/Twitter. He said many media companies initially refused to screen the photos but eventually a large media company, whose name was not revealed, was chosen and an agreement was signed to have the billboards displayed around London.
You’ll be shocked by what’s happening in London. Or maybe you actually won’t.
The Israeli Hostages Families’ Forum in the UK managed to raise a substantial sum of money for a billboard campaign showing pictures of hostage held in Gaza on video screen throughout London> pic.twitter.com/QEWxoEVyQu
— Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) December 12, 2023
The billboards went live on Dec. 5 but were taken down six days later, Simchayoff told The Algemeiner. Campaign organizers received a notice from the media company saying that due to “an unusual volume of complaints from the public” the campaign was terminated with immediate effect.
Simchayoff said the media company received thousands of complaints, including personal threats to its staff, about the billboards. Business owners in the area of the video screens were also threatened and organizers of the campaign received an “unprecedented amount” of threats and complaints, he added.
“While we are strong advocates of freedom of speech and endeavor to minimize censorship, we acknowledge the remarkable level of reaction these posters have elicited,” the notice further said. “Our primary objective is not to provoke or distress our audience, and thus, we deemed the removal of the posters appropriate. We trust you appreciate that this decision as highly challenging, and we value your understanding and support. We sincerely apologize for this disruption.”
The Embassy of Israel in London is seeking legal counsel regarding the matter. The embassy did not immediately respond to The Algemeiner’s request for comment regarding the incident.
The post Billboard of Hamas Hostages in London Removed Following Complaints, Threats first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes ‘Cruelty’ After Israeli Minister’s Criticism
Pope Francis waves after delivering his traditional Christmas Day Urbi et Orbi speech to the city and the world from the main balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, December 25, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi
Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.
Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican’s various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza.
“Yesterday, children were bombed,” said the pope. “This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart.”
The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel’s military campaign against Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said some international experts said that “what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”
Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli sharply criticized those comments in an unusual open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio on Friday. Chikli said the pope’s remarks amounted to a “trivialization” of the term genocide.
Francis also said on Saturday that the Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, known as a patriarch, had tried to enter the Gaza Strip on Friday to visit Catholics there, but was denied entry.
The patriarch’s office told Reuters it was not able to comment on the pope’s remarks about the patriarch being denied entry.
Israeli officials were not immediately reachable for comment on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The post Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes ‘Cruelty’ After Israeli Minister’s Criticism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
IDF Pledges to Implement Lessons from Failure to Intercept Houthi Missile
Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – The Israeli military said on Saturday that while the investigation into the failure to intercept the missile that hit Tel Aviv early in the morning was still ongoing, some lessons were already being implemented. The ballistic missile, fired by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, landed at a playground in a residential area, leading to 16 people sustaining injuries from glass shards.
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said that “some of the conclusions have already been implemented, in regards of both interception and early warning.”
The spokesperson added that “no further details regarding aerial defense activities and the alert system can be disclosed due to operational security considerations.”
The Houthis have repeatedly fired drones and missiles towards Israel in what they describe as “acts of solidarity” with Palestinians in Gaza.
The post IDF Pledges to Implement Lessons from Failure to Intercept Houthi Missile first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login