Israel's Plight In Full Page NYT Ad
Donation protected
American news outlets aren’t telling our story, so it’s time we wrote it for them.
(UPDATE ON THE AD: We have been connected with professional designers and copywriters and are in the process of writing an updated ad. We will share the final version as soon as it is closer to completion.)
It's an old story: the media keeps stories about Israel in the background until Israel strikes back, and then it's front page news. We feel weak, sometimes helpless, in the face of such powerful voices overwhelming our own.
Enough.
It is time to simply tell our story. To combine our voices and to cry out to the world in a voice of resolute strength and determination.
Let's buy a full page ad in the New York Times, one of the most popular newspapers in America, and… simply tell the stories of those we have lost and give a comprehensive list of all the attacks against the Jewish people of Israel.
Let's do what the media will not do: tell the stories and facts as we know them. Prominently. Loudly. Strongly.
We must equal their front page strength. And that is what this ad is about.
This is time sensitive so the goal is to get this done by October 15th at the latest!
To answer some questions you may have:
1. How do you know this will accomplish anything? Will we actually change any minds?
Of course, no one ad, no one event, no one article, will ever cause a transformation overnight. That’s not what this is about. It’s about three things:
1. Empowering ourselves. We are giving ourselves a voice in the very place we feel voiceless. And that will reverberate beyond the pages of the New York Times. It will reverberate to other outlets (which is the real strategy here) and also through this very campaign.
2. It will simply provide the facts and information that people reading these outlets are truly unaware of. How many Americans know that there may be a third intifada in progress? We will be able to educate, even if we won't persuade.
3. There is an inherent worth in simply doing the right thing. There is something quite simply, and terribly, unjust in how the Israeli narrative is shaped throughout the world. Sometimes we have to do something just because we have to.
2. What happens if you don't reach your goal?
If we don't hit our goal, we will give the money to StandWithUs, who have promised to use it towards marketing the very message we are trying to send, but in other avenues.
3. Is it really worth it to spend so much?
The media's narrative is changing the way lawmakers approach Israel. It’s changing the way voters look at us. It emboldens organizations like Hamas.
The media is incredibly powerful. And we might not be able to change it. But at least we can force our way into the conversation.
4. I don't like the NYTimes. Why should I give them money?
The impact outweights the cost. We will go straight to the source of the misinformation and hidden journalism. So: We can not give them money and not have a voice, or we can give and have a huge impact.
5. Are you sure the New York Times would accept such an ad?
I spoke directly with their "activist" ad representative, and she assured me that it would be. She gave me a few guidelines, none of which will affect our ad. She also promised to work with me to make sure it meets the standards required before it's posted.
6. Who are you?
My name is Elad Nehorai, and I’m the writer behind Pop Chassid , a blog where I try to simply bring my own humanity to my writing, in as clear and honest a way as possible. I'm also the creator of a site called Hevria that unites creative and funky Jews.
I'm not an activist or funded by anyone besides you. Here's what I am: a person who believes deeply in the power of the internet to unite people who otherwise would not have a voice.
I've lived for three years in Israel before returning to teh States and have two Israeli parents.
(UPDATE ON THE AD: We have been connected with professional designers and copywriters and are in the process of writing an updated ad. We will share the final version as soon as it is closer to completion.)
It's an old story: the media keeps stories about Israel in the background until Israel strikes back, and then it's front page news. We feel weak, sometimes helpless, in the face of such powerful voices overwhelming our own.
Enough.
It is time to simply tell our story. To combine our voices and to cry out to the world in a voice of resolute strength and determination.
Let's buy a full page ad in the New York Times, one of the most popular newspapers in America, and… simply tell the stories of those we have lost and give a comprehensive list of all the attacks against the Jewish people of Israel.
Let's do what the media will not do: tell the stories and facts as we know them. Prominently. Loudly. Strongly.
We must equal their front page strength. And that is what this ad is about.
This is time sensitive so the goal is to get this done by October 15th at the latest!
To answer some questions you may have:
1. How do you know this will accomplish anything? Will we actually change any minds?
Of course, no one ad, no one event, no one article, will ever cause a transformation overnight. That’s not what this is about. It’s about three things:
1. Empowering ourselves. We are giving ourselves a voice in the very place we feel voiceless. And that will reverberate beyond the pages of the New York Times. It will reverberate to other outlets (which is the real strategy here) and also through this very campaign.
2. It will simply provide the facts and information that people reading these outlets are truly unaware of. How many Americans know that there may be a third intifada in progress? We will be able to educate, even if we won't persuade.
3. There is an inherent worth in simply doing the right thing. There is something quite simply, and terribly, unjust in how the Israeli narrative is shaped throughout the world. Sometimes we have to do something just because we have to.
2. What happens if you don't reach your goal?
If we don't hit our goal, we will give the money to StandWithUs, who have promised to use it towards marketing the very message we are trying to send, but in other avenues.
3. Is it really worth it to spend so much?
The media's narrative is changing the way lawmakers approach Israel. It’s changing the way voters look at us. It emboldens organizations like Hamas.
The media is incredibly powerful. And we might not be able to change it. But at least we can force our way into the conversation.
4. I don't like the NYTimes. Why should I give them money?
The impact outweights the cost. We will go straight to the source of the misinformation and hidden journalism. So: We can not give them money and not have a voice, or we can give and have a huge impact.
5. Are you sure the New York Times would accept such an ad?
I spoke directly with their "activist" ad representative, and she assured me that it would be. She gave me a few guidelines, none of which will affect our ad. She also promised to work with me to make sure it meets the standards required before it's posted.
6. Who are you?
My name is Elad Nehorai, and I’m the writer behind Pop Chassid , a blog where I try to simply bring my own humanity to my writing, in as clear and honest a way as possible. I'm also the creator of a site called Hevria that unites creative and funky Jews.
I'm not an activist or funded by anyone besides you. Here's what I am: a person who believes deeply in the power of the internet to unite people who otherwise would not have a voice.
I've lived for three years in Israel before returning to teh States and have two Israeli parents.
Organizer
Elad Nehorai
Organizer
New York, NY