The One-Word design emerged from an effort to challenge Israel’s commitment to peace through straightforward language and images demonstrating three of the harsh realities of the Occupation.
One of the ads highlights the 25,000 Palestinian homes systematically destroyed by Israel. Thousands of families have been made homeless as a result of Israeli policies that criminalize Palestinian land ownership, resulting in military-backed home demolitions and confiscation.(1, 2, 3)
A second ad calls attention to the 150 Israeli-only cities Israel has built on internationally-recognized Palestinian land, entire swaths stolen for the construction of settlements – which are deemed illegal under international law.(4)
Both ads challenge Israel’s commitment to peace with a banner that reads, “Does Israel want peace… or land?”
The last of the three ads features a young Palestinian girl with statistics about the tragic level of violence perpetrated by the Israeli government and military – “Israel has killed 1 Palestinian child every 4 days since 2000.” A banner at the bottom of the poster reads, “End U.S. Support for Israel.”(5, 6, 7, 8)
Richard Colbath-Hess, a board member of Palestine Advocacy Project and a Jewish-American faculty member at the University of Massachusetts stated, “American tax dollars help the Israeli government maintain a brutal military occupation, which has denied the Palestinian people their basic rights for decades.”
“These ads show what Israel’s occupation and apartheid really look like, and it is important for Americans to see that,” he said.
In March 2015, these ads appeared in cities across the country as the main feature of Palestine Advocacy Project’s first national campaign. Timed to correspond with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s controversial visit to Washington D.C. as well as Israeli Apartheid Week, the One-Word ads will appear in subway stations, on billboards and on other public infrastructure in New York City, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, San Antonio and San Diego.
The One-Word campaign first ran in Boston’s subway system (the MBTA) in June 2014, with the three ads running side by side in State Street Station.