Bus stops in central London vandalised with antisemitic posters claiming that it is “racist” for Jews to have a state
Posters carrying the message “Israel is a racist endeavour” have been put up on bus stops around central London, including one opposite Parliament.
This poster explicitly mocks and breaches the International Definition of Antisemitism which states that “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is antisemitic.
A Transport for London (TfL) spokesperson told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “These adverts are absolutely not authorised by TfL or our advertising partner JCDecaux. It is fly posting and therefore an act of vandalism which we take extremely seriously. We have instructed our contractors to remove any of these posters found on our network immediately.”
The group London Palestine Action has been tweeting photos of the posters during the day with messages including: “Created by ethnic cleansing; maintained by ethnic exclusion. Israel is a #racistendeavour”.
This vandalism follows on the heels of the Labour Party’s adoption of the International Definition of Antisemitism yesterday, with an added caveat that is based on the fallacy that the definition prevents free speech. Labour MPs, including Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Honorary Patron, Margaret Hodge, responded to news of the amendment with disappointment, stating that this “unnecessary qualification” is an attempt to undermine the definition’s validity.
The posters are a yet another glaring example of how antisemites have been emboldened by Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to address antisemitism in the Labour Party, and by his ongoing and vocal support for extremists and terrorists who have called for the destruction of the Jewish state.
We commend TfL and JCDecaux for their swift action. We expect that action will now be taken against those responsible for this antisemitic vandalism.