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Israeli Consulate Launches Times Square Billboard Campaign Condemning PA’s ‘Terror-Fueled Education’
A virtual billboard in Times Square, New York, organized by the Israeli Consulate in New York. Photo: Screenshot
The Israeli Consulate in New York launched on Wednesday a virtual billboard campaign in Times Square, Manhattan, that calls for an end to funding for Palestinian Authority-run schools because they promote hatred and terrorism against Israel and Jews.
The virtual billboard displays an image of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and a message that says: “They teach hate in Palestinian Authority schools. No funding when education fuels terror.” The consulate debuted the billboard campaign in cooperation with the public diplomacy division of the Israeli Foreign Ministry. It will run for one week in Times Square.
“The Palestinian Authority’s incitement machine is well-oiled and well-funded — since its establishment,” Ambassador Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, told The Algemeiner. “In their textbooks, Israel doesn’t exist at all, and Jews are portrayed as pigs and monkeys. This is not education for peace; it’s wild incitement that starts from early childhood, through elementary schools and up to high school.”
“Not only is this not a path to reconciliation or peace — it’s exactly the opposite,” the ambassador added. “This is how they educate, in violation of all agreements, to hate Israel and promote terror, paving the way — in their eyes — for more events like Oct. 7.”
Some kids hate school.
Some schools teach hate.In Palestinian Authority schools, hate is part of the curriculum.
Consul General @Ofir_Akunis :
“We will expose the PA’s incitement machine—spreading lies and hatred through media and education—right in the heart of Times Square.”… pic.twitter.com/PIEh58fSPl— Israel in New York (@IsraelinNewYork) April 23, 2025
PA-sanctioned educational materials have been repeatedly criticized over the years for promoting antisemitism and inciting violence and hatred against Israel and the Jewish people. Last year, the PA promised the European Union it would reform its educational material to be in line with UNESCO’s standards of peace and tolerance in education, in exchange for continued funding from the EU.
However, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) released a report last month showing how PA-sanctioned textbooks used as part of the 2024-2025 curriculum in Gaza schools promote antisemitic stereotypes, glorify violence and martyrdom, praise the deadly Hamas attacks across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and hail the terrorists who carried out the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust as “heroes” and “symbols of pride.”
These antisemitic and anti-Israel educational lessons that are being taught to nearly 300,000 Palestinian school children in grades 1-12 across Gaza do not show the state of Israel on a map and are filled with “graphic depictions of violence,” according to IMPACT-se.
“Palestinian classrooms remain a breeding ground for extremism, with new educational materials reinforcing the same old dangerous narratives,” IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said in a statement accompanying the release of the report.
The new billboard campaign in Times Square will help “expose the Palestinian Authority’s poison machine to the world,” Akunis said in a released statement.
“Since its establishment, the Palestinian Authority has operated a well-oiled poison machine of incitement and lies against the State of Israel and the Jewish people,” he noted. “They do this systematically through both their media and education system. We will remove the PA’s masks before the world, especially in one of the world’s central arenas: Times Square.”
The post Israeli Consulate Launches Times Square Billboard Campaign Condemning PA’s ‘Terror-Fueled Education’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netanyahu Criticizes Nation-Wide Strike That ‘Strengthens Hamas’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday harshly criticized nationwide demonstrations calling for the release of hostages and an end to the Gaza war.
Speaking at a government meeting, Netanyahu argued that such protests only strengthen Hamas and risk repeating the atrocities of October 7.
“Those who call today for an end to Hamas’s war not only harden the terrorist group’s position and delay the release of our hostages, but also guarantee that the horrors of October 7 will be repeated and that we will have to fight an endless war,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister defended Israel’s ongoing military operations, citing strikes carried out in recent days: “In the last 24 hours, the navy attacked power stations in Yemen, IDF soldiers struck Zeitoun and eliminated dozens of terrorists in Gaza, and the air force targeted Hezbollah commanders and launch sites in Lebanon.”
He added that Israel’s response in Lebanon was consistent with the ceasefire agreement: “According to this agreement, we will meet with fire any violation and any attempt to arm Hezbollah.”
Netanyahu reaffirmed Israel’s conditions for ending the conflict, stressing the need for continued security control in Gaza and the group’s long-term demilitarization. He rejected Hamas’s demand for a full Israeli withdrawal: “They want us to leave Gaza entirely — from the north, the south, the Philadelphi corridor, and the security perimeter. That would only allow them to reorganize, rearm, and attack us again.”
The war has now entered its 681st day, with 49 hostages still held by Hamas.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Israelis joined a general strike organized by the Hostage Families Forum, calling for the return of all captives in a single deal and for an end to the war. Demonstrations spread across the country, at major intersections, government ministers’ homes, and familiar protest hubs such as Kaplan Junction and the Ayalon highways.
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Family Releases Footage of Matan Zangauker in Captivity
A screenshot of a video released by the family of hostage Matan Zangauker.
i24 News – The family of Matan Zangauker, the Israeli hostage held by Hamas since October 7, shared new footage of him from captivity on Sunday evening.
The video, obtained by the IDF, was recorded several months ago.
In the recording, 32-year-old Matan looks directly into the camera, addressing his loved ones: “Tato, Shani, Ilana, I miss you. God willing, we’ll see each other soon. All my friends and acquaintances, go out and make noise like only you know how.”
Matan was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, along with his partner Ilana Gritsievsky, who was released in a hostage deal last year. Since then, Matan has remained in Hamas custody while his family continues to fight for his return.
On the national protest day calling for the release of hostages, Ilana staged a poignant display at Hostages Square. Dressed in a wedding gown beneath a chuppah, she symbolically “married” Matan in his absence. “Matan, my curly-haired one, if you hadn’t been abducted, we could already be married. In a single day, our world was destroyed, and you’re not here to hold me. I’m fighting for you until you come back,” she said.
Matan’s mother, Einav, has emerged as a leading voice in the campaign for the hostages’ release and has sharply criticized Israel’s political leadership, accusing them of undermining potential hostage deals.
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Hamas Rejects Israel’s Gaza Relocation Plan
Palestinians, displaced by the Israeli offensive, shelter in a tent camp as the Israeli military prepares to relocate residents to southern Gaza, in Gaza City August 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Palestinian terrorist group Hamas said on Sunday that Israel’s plan to relocate residents from Gaza City constitutes a “new wave of genocide and displacement” for hundreds of thousands of residents in the area.
The group said the planned deployment of tents and other shelter equipment by Israel into southern Gaza was a “blatant deception.”
The Israeli military has said it is preparing to provide tents and other equipment starting from Sunday ahead of its plan to relocate residents from combat zones to the south of the enclave “to ensure their safety.”
Hamas said in a statement that the deployment of tents under the guise of humanitarian purposes is a blatant deception intended to “cover up a brutal crime that the occupation forces prepare to execute.”
Israel said earlier this month that it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of northern Gaza City, the enclave’s largest urban center. The plan has raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, which is home to about 2.2 million people.