As Chapel Hill Transit prepares to take down the advertisement that prompted the town to change its bus policy last year, a new ad in opposition to it has just been put up.
The original ad featured two men, one Palestinian and one Israeli, both holding their grandchildren, with a tagline that read, “Join with us. Build peace with justice and equality. End U.S. military aid to Israel.”
That ad, taken out by Chapel Hill’s Church of Reconcilation, is scheduled to be removed from Chapel Hill Transit buses later this week because its one-year contract has expired.
The new ad, which began running on all of the town’s 98 buses this weekend, depicts an Israeli boy and a Palestinian boy embracing. Its tagline reads “Israel Seeks a Partner for Peace.”
It was placed by Triangle-based organization Voice for Israel and national organization Stand With Us. Both organizations describe the new ad as pro-Israel.
Michael Ross, chairman of Voice for Israel, said the ad was a response to the ad taken out by Chapel Hill’s Church of Reconciliation.
The church’s ad advocated for the end to military aid to Israel. It sparked when it was first put on Chapel Hill Transit buses last August.
Ross said his organization decided to place an ad because it was offended by the current one.
Sharon Shohfi, chairwoman of the Church of Reconciliation’s Salaam Shalom committee, said she doesn’t have a problem with the new ad.