StandWithUs counters anti-Israel rhetoric

A StandWithUs billboard campaign poster showing the Arch of Titus. In the battle against anti-Israel misinformation, StandWithUs (SWU) is a bulwark, countering the diatribes with positive, educational, factual accounts of Israel’s history. This month, starting August 2nd, SWU placed 75 ads with six variations in Metro-North train stations in New York and Connecticut as a response to a blatantly anti-Israel and factually incorrect advertising campaign.

“We want to respond to negative anti-Israel messages with positive pro-Israel messages,” said Avi Posnick, New York Regional Coordinator for StandWithUs. “We challenge what they said with facts. That is what we will do throughout the country as need be.”

StandWithUs was founded by Roz and Jerry Rothstein, Esther Renzer, and a small group of volunteers in Los Angeles in 2001in response to the murder of Koby Mandell, 13, and Yosef Ishran, 14, by Arab terrorists near Tekoa in Israel. Rothstein saw this murder and other violence as a product of the Arabs’ “hateful training” and “creation of hatred.” They reached out to leaders, clergy and media in the United States and planned rallies, but saw the tide of misinformation on college campuses and the helplessness of students to bolster Israel’s defense and cause.

“For 30 years, we took Israel for granted and now we are faced with a lot of catch-up,” explained Rothstein. “We have to learn how to mend that, how to create connection between young people and Israel, make them feel like they want to engage.”

SWU is now an international non-profit, based in L.A. with chapters across the U.S. and in Israel, France and the United Kingdom. Their stated goal is to use students to educate students on campuses and in local communities about Israel through lectures, social media, and conferences, and provides literature and access to further resources on their website. (...)