A controversial pro-Palestinian advertisement has been pulled from Seattle billboards this week. The ad, which was sponsored by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC), was canceled and pulled from Seattle area Clear Channel Outdoor billboards just days after it was posted.
The billboards featured an image of a child behind a fence and the words, “Equal rights for Palestinians. Stop funding the Israeli military.” The ads also referenced a webpage – www.Stop30Billion-Seattle.org.
Olivia Lippens, president of Clear Channel Outdoor Seattle, told the group that objections from unnamed groups and individuals had led them to cancel SeaMAC’s contract, according to a statement from SeaMAC.
“It seems clear that even a call for equal rights for Palestinians is a message that the Israel Lobby in this country cannot tolerate,” said Rod Such, a volunteer with SeaMAC.
“Clear Channel Outdoor Seattle carefully evaluates all requests for advertising placement on a case-by-case basis,” said Lippens. “Where necessary, we balance our belief that out-of-home advertising can contribute to our community’s discussion of serious issues with our equally strong commitment to ensure that all messages we post and any websites they promote adhere to community standards and are not offensive towards any business, group or individual.”
“As noted in all contracts, Clear Channel Outdoor reserves the right to reject any advertising, at our sole discretion. Upon further review, it became evident that a campaign sponsored by Stop 30 Billion.org promoted a web site that is not in keeping with those standards. As a result of that review, we removed this advertising from our displays,” Lippens said.
The cancellation comes after SeaMAC ads scheduled to run on a dozen Seattle metro buses were pulled in December.
