Dutch billboard companies reject advertising campaign with images of Israeli hostages meant to run during the ICJ ‘genocide’ trial

According to a press release from the Israeli Government Press Office, companies in the Netherlands have refused to publish billboards displaying images of Israeli hostages held in Gaza. 

The National Public Diplomacy Directorate prepared a billboard campaign throughout the Netherlands to raise awareness about the 136 hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza after almost 100 days. 

The campaign, developed with Israel's Government Advertising Agency Lapam, was to be launched as part of a public diplomacy initiative related to the petition against Israel at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. 

The billboard campaign was similar to posters and billboards of the hostages displayed throughout Israel, with images of a hostage, including their name and the fact that they are being held captive in Gaza under the caption: "She/He can't testify today.”

The message of the billboards is that the 136 Israeli hostages are still being held captive by Hamas and cannot testify on Thursday at the Hague Tribunal. Each one is a victim and has witnessed acts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Hamas and their operatives, including citizens of Gaza, both on Oct. 7 and in the following weeks. 

The campaign was not run through just one advertising agency, but more than 10 different billboard companies near The Hague, Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport were contacted.

During the lead-up to publication with one of the billboard companies, the style and the message on the billboard were approved. Shortly before publication, the billboard company unexpectedly canceled the advertisement

“The attempts at silencing the hostages' voices will be answered with a loud voice,” said the head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, Moshik Aviv.

Aviva accused the billboard companies of choosing “an aggressive and outrageous manner to take down an information campaign.”

“The truth will prevail, and the State of Israel will continue to stand up for the justice of its path and tell the whole world the truth. We are running an unprecedented international information campaign. They will not be able to silence us,” he added.

Moriya Shalom, CEO of the Government Advertising Agency, said, “The publishers' refusal is a severe affront to freedom of expression and Israel's right to speak out in a loud voice against the terrorism that its citizens are suffering from.” 

Shalom oversaw a Christmas awareness campaign in North America in December with the message: “Are the kids coming home for Christmas?” 

That campaign prominently featured the picture of Kfir Bibas, the youngest of the hostages, whom Hamas claims has already been killed. 

Shalom said the Netherlands' companies' refusal to publish the billboards “is a crude attempt to silence the voices of the Israeli hostages, who were abducted during Hamas's murderous terrorist attack. Their right to be heard is beyond all doubt.”