Nola billboard against antisemitism vandalized by “stand with Palestine” graffiti
Vandalized billboard in New Orleans
A billboard in New Orleans condemning antisemitism was defaced, to the applause of local anti-Israel groups.
The billboard on the 1800 block of North Rampart was purchased by JewBelong, a national nonprofit known for its pink billboards promoting Jewish inclusiveness and combating antisemitism, often with pointed messages. This billboard read “Standing against antisemitism is standing with America.”
The billboard, which went up around March 3, was defaced within a couple days, with matching pink paint obscuring the JewBelong and October 7 Coalition logos, and changing the text to read “Stand against antisemitism and stand with Palestine.”
A banner was hung underneath the billboard, reading “Never again for anyone.”
“Our billboard mentioned neither Israel nor Palestine. Defacing a message fighting Jewish hate highlights the antisemitism rampant among us,” says JewBelong co-founder Archie Gottesman. “Vandalism is vile and cowardly, and counterproductive to the goal of peace.”
He added that a police report had been filed, and the vinyl would be replaced that day.
On Instagram, the organization noted that “the irony is not lost on us that the words ‘JewBelong’ were erased, and a banner hung that declares ‘Never again for anyone.’ If you have to erase the Jews to make your point — you’re displaying textbook antisemitism.”
The statement referenced the banner by saying “the Nazis attempted to annihilate all of Europe’s Jews. This is not what is happening between Israel and the Palestinians, and saying it is, is a false and slanderous attack on Jews, Jewish memory, and Jewish identity. One can disagree with Israeli policy, but saying Israel is perpetrating a ‘second Holocaust’ against the Palestinians is not only factually wrong, it is antisemitic.”
The Palestinian Youth Movement New Orleans posted on Instagram that “If you’ve seen these billboards put up by Zionist orgs around town, it looks like one of them has gotten a much-needed upgrade. Never again means never again for ANYONE.”
The local Jewish Voice for Peace chapter also celebrated the vandalism, posting online that “someone fixed the billboard.”
One commenter, who referred to the Oct. 7 massacre on their own Instagram as “indigenous prisoners broke down walls and escaped to collectively scream loud enough so the entire world could finally hear them,” offered to buy lunch for whoever did the vandalism.
Many commenters also claimed that the billboard’s placement was a provocation, as there is an Islamic center two blocks away.
Anti-Israel establishments
The Palestinian Youth Movement also recently launched a “No Appetite for Apartheid” campaign, with stickers identifying grocery stores and restaurants that “deshelve” and boycott products and companies “that are complicit in the colonial occupation of Palestine.”
The stickers have a silhouette of the entire area from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean.
Thus far, 14 establishments have signed on, mainly in the Westbank, Arabi and Meraux. Also participating are Lowpoint coffee shop in St. Claude, Espiritu Mexican restaurant in the Warehouse District, Mona’s Café in Mid-City and Kased’s International Halal Market in Kenner.
