The Campaign Against Antisemitism has launched the first-ever nationwide billboard campaign asking for the public’s support against antisemitism.
The move comes following figures published from the Home Office that show Jews are 500% more likely to be targeted for hate crimes than any other faith demographic.
The campaign, launched on Tuesday, will run in cities across the UK for two weeks, including over Holocaust Memorial Day next week, on billboards, in shopping centres, motorways and high streets.
The billboards invite the public to take a stand using the hashtag #StandWithJews or by sharing their own experiences with antisemitism by using #BecauseImJewish hashtag.
One of the seven billboards to be shown throughout the UK
Gideon Falter, Chief Executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, told the JC: “This campaign is not about specific people like Kanye West, or Jeremy Corbyn, or about any one lightning rod of antisemitism, this is about the very real day-to-day violence and hatred that Jews experience as a community, even in a fundamentally great and tolerant place to live such as Britain.”
Aiming to challenge the public’s preconceptions about what it means to “look Jewish”, the billboards feature a diverse mix of individuals.
Mr Falter said: “I think a lot of people may be surprised by the diversity of the people featured on the billboards, but they reflect the UK’s Jewish community.
CAA Chief Executive Gideon Falter and Binyomin Gilbert in front of a billboard featuring Mr Gilbert, Leicester Square (Marc Morris)
“It can be unusual to have so many very different people from different backgrounds and levels of religiosity standing together as Jews, stripping away all labels except the fact that they’re Jewish – there is one thing that we do share, if nothing else, and that is that on average we are 500 per cent more likely to suffer a hate crime.
“For everyone who’s not an antisemite or a member of the Jewish community, we’re saying: Look, this is what’s going on, this shouldn’t be happening in Britain in 2023. Will you help us? We need decent people in this country to stand with the Jewish community and say enough is enough.” Mr Falter said.
CAA Chief Executive Gideon Falter in front of a billboard in Leicester Square (Marc Morris)
The models featured in the campaign include Holocaust survivor Ruth Posner and, what is thought to be the first time ever in a UK billboard campaign, a member from the Charedi strictly Orthodox community.
One of the models, Programme Manager at the CAA, Binyomin Gilbert, told the JC: “I was a student activist, I know what antisemitism is like. And I’ve always felt that the Jewish community is too apologetic, too quiet, and there needed to be a new movement with the times that can address modern antisemitism.
“I think this is the first time I’ve seen a billboard featuring a person wearing a kippah. It’s a momentous moment I think for the British community, and I’m quite proud that I can be a part of that.
“Jew hatred has not ever historically been a trendy topic for people to address. Hopefully, this phenomenal statistic catches people's attention and they can spot it every day, and reflect on it."
