Crowdfunded Pro-Zionist Billboard Rises in Arcata, Critics Say It’s Provocative
A new billboard with a pro Zionist message sponsored by Code Blue and White is located at the Highway 101 on-ramp south of Arcata, facing the southbound lanes. [Photo by Ryan Hutson]
Reading, “CALL ME A ZIONIST. IT ONLY MAKES ME PROUDER” in bold letters, the billboard shows a young woman wearing a Jewish Star necklace in the forefront of a blended image of both United States and Israeli flags waving in the background.
According to a news source that interviewed the group responsible for putting the billboard up, it was by request that the provocative billboard message was displayed locally.
The Jewish News of Northern California (JN) attributes the billboard’s placement and creation to two individuals. One of them, Tamar Krigel, an Israeli-born local woman, reached out to JewBelong—a grassroots ad campaign founded by David Porush of San Mateo—that had previously sponsored similar billboards in the Bay Area. According to JN, JewBelong launched a crowdfunding effort that raised $41,500 to bring the project to Arcata.
Explaining that the catalyst for the Krigel’s request was in the events of the University protests last spring, “Krigel of Arcata contacted Porush about the possibility of bringing a pro-Israel billboard to Humboldt County, following the intensely disruptive spring 2024 anti-Israel protests at the university…”, the article reads.
Cal Poly Humboldt’s quad during the week-long campus protest. [Photo by Ryan Hutson]
Jewish student group offering pamphlets explaining Zionist views at Cal Poly Humboldt, before being attacked with paint by an unknown protester. [UPDATE for clarification: The people shown in this photo were the victims of a crime last fall and to our knowledge not affiliated in any way with the billboard posted this month.] [Photo by Ryan Hutson]
When asked about the term “Zionist” being used, and why that may be controversial, he replied, “It’s provocative precisely because it’s claiming the current Zionist project of Israel is something to be proud of right after their latest massive genocidal massacre.” Leon is serious about organizing aid locally and leveraging support directly to the people of Gaza, although the Sister CIty project is new to Arcata, Leon says the group has a blueprint, and that it can be done. He suggested that having a positive impact on Gaza’s people would displease some community members who align with Zionism. “The closer Arcata comes to becoming organized around providing tangible and material benefit to Palestinian civilians we can expect more provocative measures by Zionists seeking to divide our community and distract us from positive deeds,” Leon wrote in response to our questions.
In regard to the choice of words, “CALL ME A ZIONIST. IT ONLY MAKES ME PROUDER”, the Jewish News reports that Krigel and the President of Code Blue And White, David Porush “crafted the message” together.
Krigel told JN that because of this new alliance, she was hopeful. “I cannot think of something better that represents what I feel…I think it will boost so much pride of the Jewish people here.”. Krigel, who declined to comment to us, said she “also hopes it will spark curiosity among people who aren’t fully set in their understanding or opinion of Zionism” according to the interview about the billboard’s statement.
Referencing statements made to JN, Leon reasoned, “…Krigel conflates Judaism with Zionism by authoring a billboard about Zionist pride and saying it is about Jewish pride,” he said. “Not all Jewish folks are Zionist, but basically all Zionists that support Israel want people to believe they are fighting a religious war, an existential war for the survival of a religion, but as a matter of historical fact they are fighting for the increase of empire.”
Predicting that the sign will create further division, Leon added, “I expect our local supporters of Israel will take great joy in labeling anyone repulsed by the billboard as anti-Semitic. But criticism of Israel’s genocidal acts is not anti-Semitic.”
Asked if he thought the billboard would have a chilling effect on local pro-Palestinian protests, Leon told us, “I would urge anyone outraged by the billboard to consider what tangible actions they can take that will actually materially improve the living conditions for Palestinians. An appropriate response is to organize ourselves for collective action that actually makes a difference in the lives of Palestinians.”
The new billboard along the southbound exit from Arcata onto Hwy 101 is one of two billboards paid for by crowdfunding efforts, according to JN, a Bay Area news source. The second billboard paid for by Code Blue and White will flank Hwy 101 near Redwood City.
Update:
- Pro-Zionist Billboard in Arcata Torn Down Overnight
- New Pro-Israel Billboard Replaces Vandalized Sign on Highway 101
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I don’t even have the words to say how I feel about this except to say BAN ALL BILLBOARDS in our wetlands! Environment be damned, I have an opinion!!!
Correct! There shouldn’t be any billboards in the wetlands or intruding on views of the bay – especially ones extolling Zionist terrorism, ethnic cleansing and genocide.
And for those who don’t know, the modern state of Israel was created by armed conquest and a deliberate campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing waged by Zionist militias to drive out the majority Palestinian population and seize their lands and homes.
From then until now the state of Israel has been sustained by an ongoing campaign of terror, endless war crimes, including 1 million illegal Zionist settlers in the West Bank, and the ongoing suppression of Palestinian rights and confiscation of their lands.
What armed conquest created Israel? Do you actually know the history? Palestine has never been a “state”, instead they continually vote for terrorists to run the government they created. Israel, after WW2 was awarded the land they live on. They are a state and a prosperous democracy. Thinking it would make a difference in the Palestinians attitude toward them, they allowed Palestinians to live in Gaza. During the Clinton years, a two state agreement was made with Arafat (a terrorist leader) who renegged on the deal which negated Palestine ever being a state/country. Since then, Iran and her proxies have made life for the Jewish state a living Hell. Who attacked Israel without provocation on Oct 7th? Unfortunately, Hamas/Palestinians got what they wished for and we have discovered Hamas has been militarizing Gaza for years. Israel has always been a peaceful nation unless attacked. It is their right to defend their land and their people. Genocide was conducted by Hamas attacking innocent civilians, burning babies, and slaughtering innocents. Many have been imprisioned by Hamas in unthinkinkable conditions. Tell me again why You think Hamas is not responsible for the attack on them? Palestinians are oppressed by the very terrorist groups they, themselves, vote for. They should join Israel in fighting Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Instead they allow Hamas headquarters to be built in schools, hospitals and other places that should never be war zones. Read some of the history of the Holocaust. Yes, it was a thing and that’s why, after 6million Jews were tortured an put to death by Nazis during WW2, Israel was given the land they live on. There never has been a Palesinian state in the entire history of the world. If Hamas fought fair, with the rules of engagement, they would not have lost so many civilians. Instead, they have made schools and hospitals targets by housing their leaders and weapons in them. Read, “Son of Hamas” by Mosad Hassan Yousef with an open mind. It will give you some much needed insight.
Your post contains more idiotic statements than I can possibly respond to!!
But keep lapping up the Creation Myths for the modern state of Israel — meanwhile more people keep discovering the unpleasant facts of Zionist terrorism and oppression.
A slight correction – “Your post contains more idiotic statements than I can possibly respond to with my own.”
I felt the heat from this burn
Every word she posted is the truth. But hey, I understand your need to follow the dictates of your national socialist mentor. That’s just what the true believer does.
Wrong.. These are Right Wingers posing as Left.
Your myth started with Roman occupation, not zionists, or the Palis.They even gave them their name. Go after Rome and Italy if you want to be that upset about it.
Not upset just stating the plain facts — the Kingdom of Israel ceased to exist 2,500 years ago and is a specious justification for the modern state of Israel — which was a long term Zionist project that came to fruition in 1948 via armed conquest and a deliberate campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing which the Zionist leadership had long recognized as necessary to create a majority Jewish state.
I am almost 86 and lived most of it. How old are you to think Israel was not “given” the land they are on? How old are you to not know Palestine has never, in its history, been a state? We had news reels in the 40’s and 50’s and real history classes about the Holocaust. We also had media that did not allow propaganda to become news. Your truth is not to be told if you can’t be honest about the history of which you speak.
P.S. Use your damned name if you want to be credible. You are like the “anonymous source” that we are supposed to believe. Sorry, bud, that dog don’t hunt.
Check this newsreel
https://youtu.be/iWoP3EZM6A0?si=hxZ8VZPXVS6Ja1xc
It’s sympathetic to Israel, but keep an eye on Gaza out there behind the fence.
You think Israel was given the land?
if you’re referring to the UN plan of partition, the UN neither owned nor controlled any land and had no right to award it to anyone.
It’s indisputable modern day Israel was created by armed conquest including a deliberate campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing.
You might try reading up on killings and massacres during the 1948 war in Palestine, the vast majority of which were carried out by Jewish militias in conformance with Plan Dalet, a long planned Zionist strategy for conquest and ethnic cleansing.
…the vast majority of which were carried out by proto-palestinians (the term “Palestinian” was coined by Yasser Arafat in the 1980’s in order to justify his campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Jewish people) against innocent Jewish schoolchildren.*
Fixed it for you.
I detest idiots but the smug ones are the worst!
You are right: Israel was not given the land. The land was purchased by the Jewish National Fund between 1906 and 1947. Absentee Arab landowners were only too happy to sell “worthless desert land” to the foolish Jews, at hyper inflated prices. Deeds of Trust exist on display in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Zionists were purchasing land prior to 1906 but only owned about 6% by 1947 – Ben-Gurion and other Zionist leaders began planning for the military conquest and ethnic cleansing of Palestine at least as early as 1934 because they realized it was the only way to establish a majority Jewish state.
It’s an incontrovertible fact that Israel was established by military conquest featuring a terrorist campaign of indiscriminate bombings, assassinations, massacres and ethnic cleanings.
Israel holds title to the land because of Plan Dalet — not because they bought it.
It is amazing how easily you conflate “Hamas” and “Palestinians”
Almost as if by doing so you can dehumanize them and alleviate yourself of all guilt for supporting genocide.
Oh, wait, that’s the point…because it’s the Palestinians fault land they already lived on was “gifted” to people by other people who never owned it.
Next tell us how you feel about manifest destiny.
Seen news of any protests in Gaza against Hamas and taking hostages? It’s impossible to not see Hamas as identical to Palestinians. That’s how they see themselves.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-palestinians-opinion-poll-wa
Palestinians were getting shot by drones, picking up pieces of their children. Nobody was going out to protest anything. Are you out protesting Chuck Schumer? You must be his biggest fan then. That’s how you see yourself.
LIES. Trump would be proud of you. Snopes already debunked the drone story.
Maybe you can give us your definition of a Palestinian.
Gurrrrrrrrrl, no. Just no. Try again
By your metrics amerikkans deserve to suffer because we “ are oppressed by the very terrorist groups WE( not me), ourselves, voted for”
but…MAGA!
Interestingly, Israeli citizens and amerikkkans called for the removal and imprisonment of both trump and netanyahu en masse … but, you know, dictators gonna dictate
Sorry, I don’t speak Marxist. Can you translate that into English?
Netanyahu doesn’t speak for Jews. The billboard speaks for a couple rich deluded people far away from here. Looks like a vandalism trap.
Actually most Humboldt County residents believe in the right of sovereign nations, including Israel, to defend themselves.
In fact, aren’t most of you shouting, “Yemen, Yemen make us proud, sink another civilian-manned ship?” just Cal Poly students visiting us from out of state?
They did? When? Is there some secret meeting place this occurs? At Huffbaggers office in Eureka, maybe? Thanks for not proving anything.
Blah blah blah I’m still gonna take their land. Israel has killed plenty of innocent civilians. but u can’t even hold ur own people accountable can you
And “ur own people” would be… who, exactly?
Help me understand, because I thought opposition to Israel didn’t have anything to do with the Jewish people.
The British Mandate for Palestine was a period of British administration of Palestine and Transjordan from 1920 to 1948. The League of Nations granted Britain this mandate after the Ottoman Empire was defeated in World War I. [1]
Background [2]
Events during the Mandate [3]
Outcome [4]
The British Mandate for Palestine ended with the creation of the State of Israel and the beginning of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. [4]
Generative AI is experimental.
[1] https://www.pcrf.net/information-you-should-know/what-was-palestine-before-1948.html
[2] https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/british-mandate-for-palestine/
[3] https://www.un.org/unispal/history/
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End_of_the_British_Mandate_for_Palestine
Not all images can be exported from Search.
You get the prize for best cherry picking comment but even take l at face value it fails.
You said: “The British Mandate was also influenced by the principle of self-determination.”
In fact, Palestine was the only mandate where the the right of self-determination of the inhabitants was not considered.
Israel was not established by the U.N. or the British or by anything else except armed conquest, terror and ethnic cleansing.
You have just written the TRUTH. Too bad our local antisemitic community will ignore it, or deny it.
Your comment is false – factual criticism of Israel and Israeli government policies is not anti-semitic — that’s the Truth.
Palestine was created by armed conflict just as much as Israel. By the exact same armed conflict in fact. The only time that area has known anything other than war, ethnic cleansing and genocide since the Roman ethnic cleansing of 135 BCE of the militant Jews, is when a very powerful outside power ( in turn Rome, Byzantine Empire, Islam Conquests, Europe) has suppressed the constant internecine warfare. There are no people there free from guilt in this. The Arab Palestinians are every bit as guilty as Jews. Both choose war at every opportunity. Even Arabic Islam and Iranian Islam continue their millenia old territorial battle that existed pre Islam.
That area always have always served as a proxy battleground since. You announce the “modern state of Israel” as the cause only because you disengenuously choose that particular time to support whatever personal grievance you have in using them as proxy too.
But who would Jesus carpet bomb?
Ham apparently.
He’s not going to carpet bomb anyone. According to the entire book of Revelation (and Zechariah, and Isaiah, and Ezekiel… try reading a Book), when the Messiah does return, it’s going to be to defend Israel and secure their national sovereignty forever. Pray, with me, that things never get to a point where He has to come down and Personally stand up to the enemies of His chosen people.
It’s too bad that Jesus never exhisted. See “Caesar’s Messiah,” by Joseph Attwill.
A Cliff Notes version of the mess(es?) in the Middle East would be so helpful.
Dear Remaining Neutral:
God chose Jews to have the holy land, but kicked them out. 2000 years later, Europeans and Americans, at the end of WW2, decided to re install Jews in Israel under the slogan that it was a “land without a people for a people without a land” Palestinians were living there since before the Ottoman empire, but like Kurds they don’t have a nation. They aren’t organized like that. (Does that make them less human?)
The purpose of the effort was to have a military ally at the axis of the global game of RISK. (Oil fields and Suez Canal etc) The plan hinged on buy in from the Christian Zionists who believe Armageddon brings about the rapture.
Now in the current moment, the modern era fascists are bringing on that Armageddon endgame (via international destabilizion at almost every level) because they know a massive depopulation is coming due to climate and ecological collapse) and this is their effort at managing it such that they can be in control, fuedal style, when the dust settles.
We are all Palestinians now, or we will be if we don’t eject the fascists from our government and fast .
Yep. Thank you for that poetry
I appreciate this succinct explanation. But where does Hamas (and the deal the Israelis made with the Palestinians, which backfired on them) fit in?
Who was the ruler of Palestine in (choose your favorite century)? Where was the capital of Palestine? Show us a picture of a Palestinian coin. Before that, read “The Innocents Abroad,” by Mark Twain.
Damn, dawg. So many facts … the rubes and their cognitive dissonance can’t handle actual facts.
Israeli people- mostly good
amerikkkans – stupid and evil
netanyahu- bad
trump- stupid and evil
Here’s another: both netanyahu and trump should be brought up on genocide charges in the ICC and any other appropriate governing body
Please explain when the trump genocide happened. It’s been a busy news cycle and I prolly missed it.
Trump has made a proposal that the Palestinians be removed from Gaza. Maybe you missed that in the news. Maybe you don’t consider the proposed displacement of a people as genocide proposal. Maybe we use different definitions of the word genocide.
Trump is full of shit on many things. I’m not sure he quite rises to the level of international court for a statement, but if you think so that’s fine.
-cide means killing, for example homicide
There’s also cultural genocide — a deliberate effort to destroy a groups language, history, culture and traditions — which Palestinians have been subject to since 1948 when Palestinian villages were depopulated, demolished and renamed and shrines and mosques destroyed.
You are confusing genocide (see definition below) with conquest. Conquest is not just conquering territory, but imposing a new culture. That’s what Obama was talking about just before he took office in 2009 – “We are five days away from fundamentally transforming America”
https://www.britannica.com/topic/genocide
No, the confusion (or is it denial?) is all yours. Cultural genocide goes far beyond military conquest or political victory and attempts to erase the history, culture, language, traditions, shrines and collective memory and continuity of a people. And it’s exactly what Israel had been doing to the Palestinians since 1948.
What part of “imposing a new culture” you didn’t understand? Remember Israel abandoned Gaza in 2005 and left it with full autonomy.
How dense (or disingenuous?) must you be to not get the difference between “imposing a new culture” and attempting to erase, destroy and obliterate an existing one?
Ignore, as you have, the 500 villages that were erased and the 120 mosques destroyed by Israel 1948-50 but consider the destruction of Mashhad al-Husayn, a shrine associated with Muhammad’s grandson that existed for over 1,000 years before it was blown up by Moshe Dayan in 1950 pursuant to an Israeli policy to destroy Muslim religious and historical sites — cultural genocide by any other name.
Fully autonomous with a giant fence with remote controlled machine gun emplacements, and Israeli control over who, and what can enter or leave.
I’m not sure “autonomous” means what you seem to think it does!
What shared culture, language, history, and traditions do Palestinians have, exactly? Other than opposition to the establishment of a Jewish state?
History: most individuals who call themselves “Palestinian” immigrated to Palestine after the Jewish people.
Language: English, Arabic, Persian, French…. depending on which region they immigrated from. (see above)
Traditions: opposition to Israel. (You can’t say radical Islam, because that would destroy your argument that there are anti-Israel Palestinian Christians and Jews)
Culture: … see above
I only have so many pearls to cast before swine and you’ve exceeded your quota.
So you think Palestinians are gonna just limp their little amputees over to Egypt to make room for a Trump resort? You think US troops are going in without a lil killin? What do you think sending in US troops means?
Limp? All they’d have to do is fall over the border. They’re next door neighbors. Also it wouldn’t take much. Gaza strip is 141 square miles. By comparison, Humboldt County is a little over 4000. It’s 1/25th the size of us. Iraqi troops Kuwait, at 6900 sq. Mi. were run over by US troops in Desert Storm in two days, with entrenched resistance so….a couple hours maybe? This is US military not IDF here. We know how to make a mess.
But hopefully some sanity of those in charge neither raid nor build a resort. If they want a resort, rebuild the ones in Beirut that were destroyed by wars decades ago.
Yes President Trump made a proposal but you cherry picked what he actually said. He’s getting people in the area to think out of the box.
Hitler just made a proposal or two back in his day. People criticized his Final Solutions, but he was just getting people to think outside of the box…and into the box car!
You’re obviously incapable of thinking outside the box in a rational manner.
“ Think out of the box?” Interesting, that’s exactly what Netanyahu said to Trump( as a compliment ) for his Gaza proposal.
i would encourage you to “ think for yourself” rather than follow the fascist love bombing that is happening between them. Is it not clear that eliminating the Palestinians was the plan all along?
I do not conflate Jews with Zionists although there are many Jews that are Zionists. I cannot generalize about a group of people and blame all Jews for what Israel is doing, killing tens of thousands of men, women and children. I am not anti- Semitic ! I am against eradicating a whole culture of people.
You blame all Palestinians because you conflate all of them with Hamaas. I have no love for Hamaas- they are taking advantage of the Palestinians but they are also providing them with some security. Netanyahu’s war of genocide is real. He wants to eliminate any hope for a Palestinian state. Labeling them all as terrorists serves to dehumanize them.
This billboard serves to inflame dissent and there will be cries of anti-Semitism if anyone criticizes it! It revolts me!
TrishTM (hoping for sanity and humanity)
If you are against eradicating a whole culture of people, that makes you a Zionist. The purpose behind the creation of a sovereign state for the nation of Israel is to create a territory for the Jewish people where they can defend themselves using military force, forge alliances, and enjoy self-determination. That’s why the anti-defamation league, an organization established in order to oppose anti-semitism, defines anti-Zionism as antisemitic.
That was also the rationale behind the establishment of Jordan. It was referred to as a “two state” solution – one for ethnic Arabs (they didn’t call them Palestinians back then) living in British mandate Palestine, and one for Jewish people.
That’s also why the Jordanian flag also used to be identical to the Palestinian flag, until Yasser Arafat, the terr_rist, asked them to change it.
bad billboard bad! go to your room until I want to see you again.
Totally agree, I’d go even further and say we should ban all billboards everywhere.
This is Outdoor media we’re talking about here, who own the vast majority of billboards across the US. You can ban billboards all you want, they own vast amounts of real estate and ad rights everywhere. No billboard? That’s a damn shame. Mr. Fudd over here is leasing the side of his barn and a building he owns for $1000 a month. Hell, they’ll print T-shirts with this for you. Own a public transportation company? Hey let’s plaster the sides of that bus for you. No? OK insides then. Outdoor is there for your needs.
Your ban will really do nothing. Clean up the bay views for sure. Some of them are damn ugly and just don’t belong, but if someone wants to get out a message, they will.
Jews the 21 century nazis.
You can oppose Zionism without saying shit about all Jews. Not all Jews are Zionists. Being actually antisemitic weakens the argument.
And not all Palestinians are terrorists.
See how that works?
Dead Jews and dead Palestinians are still dead. See how that works?
Yes… both those things are true, what’s your point? The comment was specifically about Jews, you don’t have to bothsides every statement ever made.
The billboard invites the confusion
A new low for RHBB allowing this comment to stand! 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis. To equivocate is disgusting.
and more than 500,000 women, children and elderly were murdered by Israel
fuck Israel and anyone who thinks this is OK
No one thinks that is okay. They just don’t think your ideas are okay either.
What’s your source for that absurd number? Thought so, the hamas news network. That’s right, I refuse to capitalize their filthy name.
No one, including Hamas, has ever claimed that 500,000 Palestinians have been killed, this is a figure that spamnea completely made up. Or maybe they’re confusing themselves with the 700,000 Palestinians who were expelled and fled, not killed, in the 1948 Nakba.
The Hamas statistic of 45,000+ killed in Gaza since Oct 7 is internationally recognized, including by Israeli military and intelligence agencies, as the minimum death toll which is likely to grow once all the dust settles and bodies can be counted.
How many kids under 12 lost limbs? The disproportional number of dead Palestinians are the lucky ones. Tens of thousands of kids were wounded and left to live the rest of their lives like that. Do you think a fifteen year old boy left unscathed will thank Netanyahu, Trump, or Israeli citizens for being marched to Egypt? Or do you think he will dedicate his life to avenge the death of his family? Israel made this choice by leveling the entire area to sell off, instead of a targeted response to Oct 7.
Having a brain. That’s a great first source.
Inventing numbers doesn’t help the cause, please fact check yourself before “helping” by spewing misinformation.
Some people try really hard to reduce the numbers killed by IDF bombing too. I guess it’s partisan. Do you have any doubt about the general ratios of Palestinian civilians killed to Israeli citizens killed?
Right back at you.
500,000 murdered by Israel? You’re getting your numbers from Hamas.
500,000 women, children and elderly… according to statistics that originated from a terr_rist organization whose openly-stated goal is to exterminate the Jews and establish a theocratic ethno-state in its place. Thanks for showing us where your true allegiances lie, anti-zionists.
agreed
So the holocaust absolves their descendants from all guilt?
Talk about disgusting.
No … equivocating 6 million jews murdered by nazis to nazis is disgusting.
It’s Israel’s behavior TODAY that is being compared.
Serbians valiantly fought fascists during WW2. Then in the ’90s, Milosivitch pumped out propaganda to their children encouraging the ethnic cleansing of Croatians. So no, the credit earned by your grandparents trials don’t absolve you of responsibility for your own actions.
Agreed. Mods this is a blatantly antisemitic comment, calling Jews Nazis does not fall under legitimate criticism of Israel.
uhh it’s pretty much the same thing. 400k+ vs 6mil…. it’s probably bad any way you slice it.
Disgusting… simply disgusting.
Classic victim narrative cultivated by Israel. Israel can do ANYTHING because, well, you just anti semetic-ed me! Seems like a good time to examine ALL the recent forced removals of entire population based on ethnicity and religion. Maybe there are parallels to learn from. Turkey doesn’t like talking about Armenians and Kurds. Japan doesn’t want to talk about Korea. Americans don’t want to talk about immigrating to this continent and killing the people who lived here to take their land.
The truth of the situation in five words. Sadly the Zionists will never find peace or security by occupying a piece of land their ancestors left over 1000 years ago.
and if the United States wakes up and stops giving them billions of dollars every year their modern day Crusade will be over in no time.
What is wrong with you?
I think I found the guy with the “non-Jews are people too” sign. 😉
@Kym Kemp, does this comment meet your content policy? Does it reflect the position of your Publication?
No, it doesn’t reflect anything but my commitment to free speech. Many of your comments fall in the same category of things I’d rather people had more sense than to say.–let alone believe.
I have to say, it’s pretty scary to hear a newspaper editor openly admit to not wanting people to say or believe factual statements.
Also, you could easily have ended your response after the word “no.” The rest of the sentence doesn’t do a very good job of obscuring your admission that you’re making an exception to your site’s content policy for unvarnished antisemitic hate speech.
And I should be surprised, but I’m not.
EDIT: … and now I see that you’ve removed some of my other comments, which manifestly did NOT violate your site’s content policy.
So much for your commitment to free speech. Maybe I should start calling you “Humboldt’s own Elon Musk.” rofl
Insulting fellow commenters is ground for deletion. And Eventually, probably sooner rather than later in your case as I suspect you of being a banned commenter, you could end up banned.
I don’t remember insulting anyone. But again, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if you decided to ban me, given that you’re deleting comment of mine that you disagree with, and you’ve stated that you would rather people not say or believe the things I’m saying.
It’s your newspaper – it’s your right to control the opinions and facts that are able to be heard. Might have some implications in terms of journalistic ethics, but that’s not my business. You do you.
PS I’d be willing to wager that some of the commenters in this very thread are Jewish – and yet the comment equating all Jewish people with “nazis” has not been deleted. Again… it’s your business which side of the debate you want to be on, but there’s absolutely nothing unbiased about what everyone can see is happening here. 😉 Banning everyone who points it out isn’t going to keep your audience from noticing.
You may or may not be a banned commenter but the way you seemingly appeared out of nowhere fully armed with nation of Israel creation myths and misinformation talking points made me think you might be an AIPAC or Digital Iron Dome affiliated troll.
Zionist, not Jews. I agree with that 110%
Colleges are sespools of social engineering and destroying our youths minds. Anyone who thinks zionism is a good thing has lost their mind and moral compass. This is seriously disgusting [edit-Kym]. I will NOT be supporting anything for the college until all this woke mind virus garbage and supporting zionism, Marxism, communism etc. has been layed to rest for good. If I had a child in college I would stop paying and take my kid out immediately.
Just to be clear, the college is in no way supporting this billboard that we are aware of. In fact, a good part of the student population is divided into camps on Gaza and Israel.
Checking why the “spamned” personal comment of “fucking whiners” “goddamn you” tossed at another commenter is still up? Or the comparing Jews same as Nazis comments?
Personal comment
Well, somehow plenty of y’all ?☝️??still show up here with daily lies
Ok Big Time tell me the lies I’ve shown up with! Prove your point!
Found on Reddit: https://jweekly.com/2025/02/04/pro-israel-billboards-are-latest-salvo-in-roadside-rivalry/
You’re quite confused. Zionists are anti socialism. As the daughter of soviets, democracy is the antithesis of Marxism. Israel is the ONLY democracy in the Middle East.
Israel is a democracy?
Or did you mean theocracy?
By law Israel is established as a Jewish state — with state funded rabbi’s for every city, state funded religious schools, religious dogma enshrined into law, ultra-orthodox exempt from military service, extremist religious parties controlling the government, strict limits on so-called freedom of speech and arrest and indefinite incarceration without charges filed or court hearings.
Democracy? Ha,ha!
I suggest you go to Jerusalem and see the Knesset in action. At last count there were 13 political parties in the only democracy in the Middle East.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_lists_for_the_2022_Israeli_legislative_election
I notice you didn’t dispute a single example I offered — and any close observer of the Israeli Knesset and it’s members recognizes it’s a barrel of snakes —Netanyahu is currently on trial for fraud and conflict of interest — others led attacks on Israeli army bases — almost all put personal ambition ahead of public interest — they make U.S. politicians seem like paragons of virtue by comparison.
Why should they? You made the claims. But I’ll bite.“Shas MK Moshe Arbel stated that being ultra-Orthodox does not automatically entitle someone to an exemption from military service.”IDF has draft dodgers too.
And I notice you don’t dispute that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East
Wrong again!
”Israel is a democracy?” was my first comment on the topic.
Don’t be stupid. You asked a question, but didn’t make a statement.
Connect the dots — the answer followed the question.
You keep proving that stupid is as stupid does but I only have so many pearls to cast before swine and you’ve exceeded your quota.
And leading up to the Oct 7 attack Netanyahu was on the ropes and facing criminal charges. So pretty darn good timing for him to put the country on “war footing”.
Help me connect the dots here. Are you saying that Hamas, who carried out the attack on October 7th, did it to keep Netanyahu in office?
Christians, Muslims, atheists, neopagans, and even LGBTQIAA2S+ people, all have a vote, participate directly in government, enjoy absolute freedom of religion, and fight shoulder-to-shoulder with their Jewish brothers and sisters to defend those rights to the death as IDF soldiers in Israel.
Meanwhile Christians, Jews, and especially atheists, neopagans and LBGTQIAA2S+ individuals living in Gaza and the West Bank (and Israel, actually) are routinely tortured, “disappeared,” singled out for taxation by Hamas and the Palestinian Authority on the sole basis of their religious affiliation.
Try again.
Israel is theocratic apartheid state with strictly limited freedom of speech. In fact, the IDF just raided a Muslim bookstore in East Jerusalem, confiscated books and arrested the owners.
Quite the democracy! Imprisoning children and people without charges and not allowing journalists into Gaza or The West Bank.
This is completely uninformed and incorrect. Zionism in Israel was originally led by the socialist Labor party, which was dominant in Israeli politics until Likud (Netanyahu’s rightwing party) won the 1977 elections.
The kibbutz movement which was integral to the founding of Israel was communitarian and socialist.
“The only democracy in the Middle East” is an indefensible claim when there are 3 million Palestinians in occupied, de facto annexed West Bank, who have no voting rights and are subject to separate legal systems than their Israeli settler neighbors.
Btw socialism and democracy are compatible, and most countries with traditionally democratic-socialist governments have much stronger democracies than questionable “democracies” like the US, where our votes as Californians are literally worth less than people’s votes in Wyoming or Iowa.
We are a Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy. That’s why Hawaiian votes matter just as much as New York’s. If you want mob rule, that is Democracy and that is why the Democrats are so bent Trump won. Their mob democracy got obliterated and the house of cards they built is being takin apart, card by card. It’s quite a blow to all the Democrats who didn’t realize we are not a Democracy because they apparently were not taught that in school. Oh well, they are learning now. Hard lessons.
I’m confused–is “mob democracy” one person, one vote checked and balanced by the legislative, executive and the judicial branches? Or did you mean something else?
You realize that our system of government doesn’t change when the party in charge changes right?
We’re a constitutional republic that uses a mix of representative and direct democracy to determine the path that our various levels of government will follow.
“Democracy” and “republic” aren’t mutually exclusive terms.
What about the votes of Puerto Rican, Samoans, Marianas, Guam Islanders…?
Don’t get a boner celebrating our lack of Democracy!
Every democratic nation exercises its intrinsic right to secure its own sovereign territory. What is it about Israel’s use of this right, specifically, that uniquely disqualifies it from being described as a democracy?
Get a grip! You ever heard of a kibbutz?
Israel is full socialist by American standards. Politics aren’t so black and white as: Democracy. Marxism. Nothing in-between, no other ideologies. As the daughter of Soviets, how would you describe the political system of Russia today?
Israelis go out of their way to point out that THEY are European! I don’t know what you mean by this “Middle East” nonsense!
You’re right, there are many alternatives to Democracy. Sharia law, for instance.
Cesspools. Schools are cesspools for spelling and language comprehension also.
You left out History!
What’s your alternative idea to teach spelling and language comprehension?
Just teach kids to do a lot of reading from an early age. Incentivize them, and instill the habit.
There is a long history of what is now called social engineering in the area. It tempts with promises easy resolution of troublesome complaints. Interestingly Wikipedia uses the phrase in explaining why Rome removed those troublesome Jews back in 135 CE. “Jewish survivors faced harsh punitive measures from the Romans, who often used social engineering to stabilize conflict zones.”
What is not clear is what your moral compassion offers.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Kokhba_revolt
Do you have a college education?
So protesting genocide, being against apartheid, wanting the liberation of an oppressed group of people is wrong? Gotcha.
Also, do you even know anything about marxism/communism? Or are you just spouting the propaganda your were tought in high school?
Well the communist manifesto was required reading back then.
I also happen to be a Zionist (and pro-free markets, go figure), and I’ve read Proudhon, Marx, Stirner, Goodwin, Mao…
What about you? Have you heard of Max Stirner or Goodwin? Are you familiar with Marx’ thoughts on the Jewish people?
If zionists were truly proud of their ideology they would stop trying to conflate themselves with Judaism.
Exactly!
The message should be:
”In 1948 Zionists cleansed Deir Yassin and 500 Arab villages – now we’ve destroyed Gaza and are attacking the West Bank – we are Zionist terrorists and proud of it.”
You don’t seem to know what Zionism is.
Zionism is a political ideology that holds that there should be an Ashkenazim Jewish ethnostate in the eastern Mediterranean.
It’s founders were eastern European Jews but it also enjoys the support of many Christians that see it as essential to the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
And they justify any and all atrocities committed against the Palestinians because God gave them the land —modern Zionism is a deadly mix of religious fundamentalism and extreme political nationalism.
Once again… facts rule the day
-unless you are speaking about religion
no facts to be found there, yet people keep worshipping the invisible sky hippie. Ironically, he was the first person of color murdered by the state for his beliefs and words about loving everyone and being a decent human. But who actually reads the bible ( written by men to oppress everyone that wasn’t them)?
Idk where you’re getting your information from, but you need to do more research. Zionism was founded in Europe, but for 50 years now has been dominated by Mizrahi Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, not Ashkenazim. The most extreme right-wing governments, parties, and leaders since 1977 are Mizrahi or put in office by Mizrahi voters. The state of Israel is an “ethnostate” for all Jews, not specifically for Ashkenazim.
This is a nationalistic conflict and American paradigms of Eurocentric racism aren’t accurate to describe the discrimination and violence perpetrated on Palestinians by the state of Israel.
The original zionists literally discussed “weeding out” the “inferior” sephardic lines within Judaism, which they saw as contamination of the “true” ashkenazi judaic line.
The state of Israel isn’t strictly zionist, although it is a result of political zionism, and it does have a history of strong participation of liberal and even secular jews who see the Jewish identity as primarily a ethno-cultural identity rather than a genetic or racial identity. So the presence of more heavily Semitic and even Arab jews in Israeli politics doesn’t speak at all to zionism.
Zionism isn’t a right or left wing political ideology. There have always been zionist strains on both sides of that typical American perception of politics.
But if you’ve got any information you think would be interesting about the transition of zionism away from a racially motivated movement I’d be happy to read it. That doesn’t change the fact that that’s what it started as.
‘The most extreme right-wing governments, parties, and leaders since 1977 are Mizrahi or put in office by Mizrahi voters.’
‘The original zionists literally discussed “weeding out” the “inferior” sephardic lines within Judaism, which they saw as contamination of the “true” ashkenazi judaic line.’
Tell us how you really feel. What’s next – direct quotations from the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion?” But you’d actually have to read a book for that… instead of just repeating whatever you last heard on n_zi tok.
Your definition of Zionism isn’t quite right. Zionism is a subset of nationalism, a belief that all nations (roughly, ethnic people groups. It’s a bit more complicated than that, and it isn’t the “nationalism” of Germany in WW2 – that was a bastardization – but that’s for another definition) – anyway, it’s a belief that all nations deserve the right to self-determination, which is best achieved by means of territorial statehood, conferring as a corollary, the right of mutual self-defense.
Zionists (Christian and otherwise) are individuals who realize that this is the only option for the Jewish people in the face of continuing antisemitism across the west, as evidenced by a trial witnessed by Theodore Herschel at which an entire seemingly progressive community began to call, inexplicably, for the extermination of the Jews.
…and as evidenced by the spectre of violent, antisemitic extremists marching through the streets of all major cities across the West last summer. …by comments on this very article… by the pogroms and that we’ve seen taking place in Australia, New York City, Amsterdam, and Canada… etc.
Christians in particular support the right of the nation of Israel to exist for three reasons: 1) Morally, we oppose all forms of ethnic hatred, believing that all humans are God’s children, and feel a collective responsibility for the existence of antisemitism to begin with. 2) Historically, we believe that the Jewish people have the only reasonable claim to a “right of return” to land that no serious scholar disputes was originally theirs. 3) Religiously, we believe that God has promised the Jewish people national sovereignty in the territory roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel.
It is not “essential to” the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy – it IS the fulfillment of MANY Biblical prophecies.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s part of the reason why it is so vehemently opposed?
it’s FASCISM
they collaborated with the Nazis to form the state of Isn’treal
Not exactly — Avraham Stern broke with Irgun and founded Lehi in 1940 to continue fighting against the British during WWII — he offered to fight on Germany’s side if the Germans would agree to support Jewish immigration to Palestine and a Jewish state — nothing came of it but Lehi — aka the “Stern Gang” —continued to fight against the British, in effect acting as Nazi Germany’s ally.
I think I found the Palestinian. Give me one example, besides the Irgun attack in 1946, which had 0 casualties.
Like black or indigenous people conflating their history in the US with that of Palestinians?
Well various indigenous groups in the US do have a similar history.
I’m not really sure what your point though.
Sadly I have yet to find a way of getting others to look at my points with open minds. When there has been injustice, there is a need by a lot of people to see it in terms of one person or entity is evil and that makes their victim innocent. And to re-frame history to suit. But it’s simply not true. There is a fear, not unjustified, that admitting any shared guilt will be treated as a reason for further attack. This is almost required to be seen as a victim and to make demands for restitution.
In the case of indigenous people of North America, they had no idea of the massive influx of war honed Europeans coming their way. The people who came had been constantly engaged in war for more than a millennium. They were at war with each other before the explorations that lead them here. They were at war with each other at the time they came. And they brought those wars with then, involving the indigenous people in them here. Not that the indigenous people did use the Europeans to further their own wars too.
The problem is that these settlers met mostly cultures here who themselves also had warred constantly. What else would two warring cultures do but war when they met. Sometimes as allies, sometimes as enemies. These conflicts were not one-sided at the start. There were massacres of European settlers to start. How else does any group of warriors hold onto their own? But there was a never ending supply of replacements. The power shifted from the indigenous to the settler. And, by the time both had seen the inevitable, the histories were thorough edited into a litany of complaint to suit.
The point that I keep trying to make, but just gets rapid attacks , is the Palestinian versus Isreali war is just such a edited history. On both sides. And yet, even having the example of mass immigration and war to the brink of extinction in North America, people keep wanting to repeat the same useless narratives that failed and failed and failed previously. They refuse to look at it differently and so repeat it endlessly.
People migrate. All of them always in response to hardship. Unless the land has been previously emptied, there is conflict. The current Palestinians were and are both the perpetrators of what is called now ethnic cleansing at times and the recipients of it. And not just by Israeli jews. Europeans have their own such history to contribute. To frame the issue as Israel evil and Palestinians innocent is to prefer to ignore the choices of each and rely on war to resolve it. Again. And that’s the point. Either be prepared to fight to the brink of extinction amendment maybe over it, or come up with a more useful idea.
Stop shitting on bipoc
gawd, this is just like being on twatter or troth social. Bigoted rubes everywhere
Stop running into the shitting.
Yeah I hoped we had gotten rid of the billboards on the bay. But this?!! Ha- I’m predicting an INCREASE in prejudiced activity against Jews. And really this billboard is racist. I’ve no problem w my Jewish friends. But this incendiary bomb thrown at our community by agitators from the Bay Area? Assholes behind this, pretending it’s ethnic pride but just being assholes….
I agree 100%, what a BS thing to deface the coastal view.
Did you read the article? The sign was crowd funded.
By locals.
Quit trying to gaslight us all into thinking you out-of-state college students speak for everyone in Humboldt County, and that there is anti-Jewish hatred behind a public display of the star of David.
If you want to know what the leftists are doing, just listen to what they accuse you of…
“crowd funded” by out of towners including a new jersey company called JewBelong and the ADL
No… the money was donated *to* those organizations by locals.
You really should read articles before you comment on them.
Nah, writing “free Palestine”, “from the river to the sea”, “fuck Jews”, “kill Zionists” is racist. This is not.
Writing “free Palestine” “from the river to the sea” is racist? How so?
Scroll down and check the comments from spamned. Actually uses it along with “fucking whiners” and “goddamn you” in an earlier comment. Usually personal attacks like that would get you tossed but for some reason it’s staying up. Maybe Kym has an answer? Blatant anti-semitism.
Waaaaaaah?
I mean, I guessed the bigots could best recognize hate speech and bask in it , like y’all expect us to do.
Poor Kym has a whole life to live outside of moderating shitposting, mine included. But you are sorely mistaken if y’all think we will silently concede this space to ALL of the racism 99% posted here. Some find a way to be racist about bake sales, puppies, rainbows,& joy. And I will call it out
EVERY
SINGLE
TIME
Have a blessed day✌️
“ from the river to the sea” is a call for genocide
Free Palestine is not
Maybe Palestinians should free themselves from Hamas – the proxy of Iran. Iran has vowed to annihilate Israel. I take that to mean genocide of Jews. Maybe you could talk about that to prove your point!
… right up until you realize that the “Palestine” in “free Palestine” means Israel, and the “free” means, “they [the Jews] can all go back to the countries they came from.” (Direct quote from the king of Jordan).
Because it calls for the elimination of Jews from the entire Levant. An accurate translation from the Arabic is “From the river to the sea, ‘Palestine’ shall be Arab”
Protesting for the rights of the people who are being occupied and exterminated is NOT Racist.
zionism is racist and genocidal by definition
If opposing antisemitism is “racist and genocidal by definition,” then call me a racist, too. It only makes me prouder! 😉
Yes those are also. But they aren’t on billboards. This one is racist in that it specifically exclaims ONE race and it’s pride. The underlying nasty is that there is a massive genocide underway by these same proud people of that advertised race. See- racism is just about separating the races, it’s not always evil or violent. But in this case it’s a subtextual slap to the real victims in this one-sided war. You know what could have been cool and uplifting and peaceful? One more line beneath it….” And everybody should be proud of their heritage!” There- I fixed it!
Which racial group does this billboard promote?
1) Judaism isn’t a race. It’s a religion. The Dead Sea region has been basically a hodgepodge of ethnicities from a thousand miles away for millennia.
2) Not on billboards? OH yeah they are. In fact the first one that was crowdsourced by JewBelong was later replaced with this one in Silicon Valley by UnityLab. There are others.
I can’t wait for resorts and golf courses in Gaza.
….and a small military prescence to keep the peace in the mid-east. It’s actually brilliant. It would end the war. Since Palestine is not a state, allowing them to re-locate to other Arab states without terrorist leaders, would allow them an education which they are not allowed under Hamas. I think it’s a win win. Tourism is an industry. I understand Gaza is prime real estate. Too bad Hamas was too busy trying to eliminate Jews and didn’t understand the economics of developing land.
We’ve had “a small military presence” in the middle east since the late 80s. When has it stopped wars there?
So are whole group of people that have been there for generations upon generations should be moved for tourism? You are a stellar human.
Blah blah blah
Most of the world wants a two state solution. This plan( like all of his stupid musings)was floated months ago and is a non starter. Arab nations are not accepting Palestinian refugees, nor should there be Palestinian refugees.
Leave it to amerikkkans to think we should tell others where and how to exist
Sounds like y’all think the trumpster fire would transform the area into the new Atlantic City… oh wait… Only trump’s brilliance could financially tank a casino
Good luck! At least everyone now knows what your point and problem is – TDS. Blah blah blah
You’re right, most of the world would like to see a two state solution. The only problem is that Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Hamas don’t.
The Palestinians already have a state. It’s called Jordan. The “Palestinians” still living inside Israel’s sovereign territory (along with a handful of terror regimes whose own people are miserable under their oppressive leadership and whose beef is more with us than it is with our strongest middle eastern ally) are the only ones who are still opposed to the already-existing two-state solution.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. I want the war to end and the hostages to come home yesterday. I want to see Hamas obliterated. But Israel has been trying to manage this conflict for decades… what are the odds that we will be able to do any better? Mexico didn’t pay for any wall that I know of… and I can’t imagine Egypt of Jordan accepting any Palestinian “refugees” any time soon. Although I can’t imagine why. 😉
Wonderful billboard. Makes me proud to be Jewish and Zionist!
AI Overview
“Albert Einstein believed that nationalism was a disease that led to violence and tragedy. He thought that eliminating nationalistic feelings was the key to world peace.
Einstein’s views on nationalism
Einstein’s actions
Yeah, right. Like that was effective.
sounds like einstein was a dumb globalist
Jew hatred is now out in the open.
Weird flex, bruh
Those people have been invited to depart from 109 different countries over the past 3000 years. This is an average of once every 28 years.
All we hear about this is “oy vey; oy vey!”….; terrible anti — semites everywhere, behind every tree.
OK, there are anti – semites. Probably there are people out there who are anti blue eyes. I get it. What I really wonder is what the other side has to say about this. 109 separate countries!!? Seems like there is another side to this that we have never heard.
For anyone paying attention, THIS post is racist.
Yes, it is. Unfortunately Kira you’ve completely lost your credibility by labeling any advocacy for Palestinian human rights as “racist” and “antisemitic”. So hopefully people will still recognize real antisemitism like this after you & other mindless propagandists cried wolf so many times.
But no one seems to be much interested in Palestinian rights on actuality. They are overwhelming talking about how awful Israel is. What invaders they are. How genocidal. And heaven forbid talking about Israerli rights should inadvertently be mentioned.
If both sides seem the resolution of the problem is eliminating the other, no matter how lopsided the results are at the moment, neither side is innocent of genocide.
“Those people”? Tells us a lot about your credibilty!
fucking whiners
[edit-Kym]
Congratulations, Kym. This is we’re the version of journalism of identity gets all of us. ” who declined to comment to us« is no excuse for the one side essence of this.
Congratulations, anonymous user that chooses to come here everyday [edit-Kym]
Yes. I treasure my anonymity (in fact resent not having it more honestly kept confident) like I treasure it in voting. Because of people who feel they are entitled and that it is in fact noble to attack someone personally for their opinion. From behind their own keyboards.
You think this whole thing has been edifying? That it did more than allow spasms of bitterness and acrebate the worse kind of bigotry? Apparently you do.
Not edited enough.
They couldn’t get enough people to protest but they could find enough money to fund it! LOL. It’s a terrible idea – awful timing for that message and it will no doubt be detrimental to our community.
And the money was raised out-of-town. So ridiculous and out of touch. And backfiring horribly
And what is Arcata’s connection to either Palestine or Israel? The whole scree seems using the issue in proxy battles here. Racism, wealth, ethnicity, politics- there seems to be no one who is unwilling to be self righteous in their hatrid ov others.
all that needs to happen is israel needs to send back all the money they’ve ever taken from the US, and the US needs to never send another dime overseas. what religious fanatics do to each other overseas is not our business.
Funny you should say that, because we haven’t seen any of you “Free Palestine” folks at our weekly pro-Israel rallies for a couple months now. What happened? Where have you guys been?
Proverbs 16:18
41K for a billboard! Whoever owns these billboards is raking it in!
Does anyone think Arcata’s still going to want to be sisters with Gaza after it becomes Trump Oasis?
Exactly. When Trump takes ownership of the Gaza Strip, moves the Palestinians out and cleans it it up so the Jewish Zionist settlers have more land things will be much better.
Trump wants other countries to take the Palestinians so how about the US. Florida would be a good place for them.
Or how about CA. Arcata wants to be sister cities. Maybe they could “co-exist”
You need to keep going to those ESL classes at Cal Poly.
Nobody cares what Arcata thinks.
Arcata isn’t your parents. Arcata is full of caring people so let them express themselves. You can go and live under a dictatorship where nobody cares what you think.
How did the owners of the billboard allow something so inflammatory and provocative? Do we really need more shit to be stirred right now? Do we really need to exacerbate the tensions between humans? Do you really need to profit from it? I am now going to do all in my power to lobby against these billboard and I hope they’ll get taken down, no matter what’s on it.
“An appropriate response is to organize ourselves for collective action that actually makes a difference in the lives of Palestinians.” HAHAHAHA This guy is completely delusional. Want to help Palestinians, then give some money to aid organizations. I doubt the pittance of help from “organizing” in Arcata could ever make a difference. But keep pretending….
Keep laughing, soon (not that I am hopeful) you will be crying at the realization of your own incompetence.
Liberals will pull their hair out over this one lmao
Fuck Isn’treal
From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free!!!
In your dreams.
so you promote violence? What a looser that would say this anti Israel chant. Fuck gaza and hamas. And their fake dead baby count.
So let me get this straight, you can’t be a broke student who protests against a U.S funded genocide but you can pay 45 000 dollars to proudly and publicly display that you are a proud supporter of it ? Who talks about free speech in this contry because all I see is fee speech…
I’ll happily discuss this issue with you in a civilized tone in front of the courthouse this afternoon between 4:30 and 5:30. You can stand opposite us and hold up a protesting our right to exist if you like. (You certainly wouldn’t be the first). Because no one is stopping you from protesting anything.
I mean, a few people did try to stop *us* from sharing *our* point of view… but that only resulted in a giant billboard that everyone who visits Humboldt County can’t help seeing.
Seems to me like free speech is alive and well…
Arcata has become an anti-semitic city
Wanting a genocide to stop is not anti-semitism.
Calling a war started by Hamas and Palestinians (HALF of the 6,000 murderers and rapists on October 7 were “innocent civilians”) a genocide on the part of the country defending itself is antisemitic. There is and never was a genocide in Gaza. Its blood libel to keep claiming it is.
No it hasn’t. Most people here still support Israel. Don’t let the trolls gaslight you.
Zionists have nothing to worry about. Trump is as pro as it gets. ZOG is the name of the game in DC.
Kim, this is the “Jews run the government” theory.
An American can be many things- descended from Palestinians, Germans, Ethiopian, South Africans, Yuroks, Mayans, Portuguese, Irish, etc etc etc. They can be Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, Agnostics, Spiritualists, Amish, Animists, even. Satanist. Only if they want to exclude, abuse, blame, belittle and berate other Americans do they no longer have anything in common and resort to this sort of ugliness.
Scratch a ProPalestinian and you find an Antisemite. Scratch a Zionist and you find an Anti American.
Propals are FAR more anti American than any Zionist.
“Scratch a Zionist, and you will get an anti-American”… Because nothing is more anti-American than supporting our strongest ally in its fight against America’s enemies… or, wait…
Sigh.
I say this as a Jewish person and political scientist: Israel is committing genocide, and anyone who says otherwise at this point is brainwashed. Plus this billboard is such a waste of a beautiful coastal view.
Brainwashed? Well, I guess someone could make a case for you having Stockholm Syndrome? Agree with your second point.
Someone who didn’t know me probably could make a great case built on imaginary assumptions. I’m glad we can agree on one thing though.
Speak for yourself- “Brainwashed” – imaginary assumptions indeed. Wait…political scientists never make assumptions. And I don’t even know you.
Okay. So what is your solution to people so full of bitterness and hate that one side turns a blind eye to the lawlessness and violence of Jewish settlers and the other turns a blind eye to kidnapping women and infants and slaughtering of 10/7? That Iran and Saudia Arabia use terrorists in their own continuing fight for hegemony?
Yabut, you can’t play both sides of this issue. If you think the modern state of Israel has the right to continue to exist, that makes you a Zionist, and you should be proud of this sign.
Israel is fighting for its life.
Exactly. They are fighting on what Tzun Tzu called ‘deadly ground’ where there is no way to retreat.
Hardly. Why did it take so long to activate the remote control machine guns against the ancient motorbikes and improvised paragliders coming from within the fenced urban concentration zone? Why was a trance dance venue allowed next to the apartheid demarcation if Israel is fighting for their lives? Too bad Israel didn’t know about drones and surveillance technology.
It occurred to me the other day that the US government may have withheld intelligence from Israel leading to the October 7th attack.
No, anyone claiming it’s a genocide is brainwashed by Jihadists.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-01-30/ty-article-magazine/.highlight/theres-no-auschwitz-in-gaza-but-its-still-genocide/00000194-b8af-dee1-a5dc-fcff384b0000
Well said Shawn, thank you for your continuous efforts. We are not blind to the mass slaughter Israel has committed in the Middle East and continues to do so with our dollars. It continues to baffle me that Jewish communities continuously support and cheer for the very evils done to them by the Nazis, now done to the Palestinians/Lebanese/Syrian people. Shame on you hateful beings. You need to find a new god.
It amazes me that people that support the jews as Nazis bullshit have nothing to say about Iran. Hamas is a proxy of Iran. Palestinians supported Hamas by voting them into power in Gaza. Iran has vowed to annihilate Israel – that means annihilating Jews. You support that?
Indoctrinated Jews and Christians would support trump and netanyahu annihilating Iran just as indoctrinated Muslims support the annihilation of Isreal. It’s time to give it a rest people. God isn’t going to prefer one group of people over another group of people. If anything God enjoys watching us quarrel and has a very sick sense of humor. Perhaps in the end, God knows we will figure this out and the people will finally put an end to imperialist rulers. Rulers that only manipulate for their own greed and wealth. We should all understand what it’s like to be pawns in their game and stop fighting each other, look up and see them laughing at us. They don’t care and will always use god as a means to their own selfish ends.
You need to cool it with the Nazi conflation. Not all genocides are the same, it doesn’t excuse Israel’s atrocities and killing tens of thousands of civilians in Gaza, but there is no comparison to the 11 million civilians systematically slaughtered in the Holocaust. No comparison. It’s this kind of ignorant conflation that gives a bad name to the movement for Palestinian human rights.
Btw the people of Syria? Israel invaded it’s not perpetuating a genocide there. In Lebanon the bombing campaign was disgusting and Israel committed war crimes but again it’s not a genocide or anything remotely resembling the Nazis. Words have meaning and you’re watering down the actual genocide and ethnic cleansing that’s happening in the West Bank and Gaza.
It also reminds me a bit of the Russian pogroms, the Armenian genocide, 1990s Yugoslavia, ’70s South Africa, and the colonization of North America. Funny how it reminds me of Imperialist Japan in China, and Korea, but it also has shades of the American round up of other Americans who happened to be born here from Japanese immigrant laborers. Reminds me a bit of our historical relationship with people born in the region now known as Mexico and South Western North America. Kinda like the crusades, kinda like the European religious civil wars…
Well this billboard won’t last long and will be defaced or pulled very soon. Hamas support is strong in this area.
Can I buy a billboard that says “TRUMP IS AN ASS’ with a picture of a jack ass kicking up it’s hind feet behind it?
If you have the money, sure. It’s a free country
We already know america is racist. We know the zionists are racist. Just keep watching the show. ASIANS WILL TAKE OVER EVERYTHING. You guys dont have any culture. European americans and jews have no CULTURE lmao. The entire HUMBOLDT COUNTY is embarrassing. You guys should be humble and peaceful. You live in the middle of the woods away from civilization and have these negative thoughts about other races? Ive heard from students at HSU that theyve always been racist. Local bars in remote cities in humboldt also racist. Keep being racist towards people. I like it actually. ASIANS ARE SMARTER THAN ALL OF YOU AND WE HAVE BETTER FOOD AND CULTURE.
Ever been to a Purim celebration? Or lit candles for Hanukkah,? You’re just confirming your ignorance if you say the Jewish people have no culture.
Iron like a Lion in Zion. The Lion of Judah. Yep. Rastaman know. The Jews are Gods chosen people. Fact. That is why they are still living while surrounded on all sides by people who want them gone. Even here they are continually pummeled by loser European, white liberal children from Humboldt State. As far as Asians, the Japanese are very smart. They have a very orderly society. Their food and gardens/landscaping are excellent. But they are also conformists and their country is 99.9% made up of Japanese people. Do I think that is racist? Ah, no, it’s smart so people cannot infect their society with negative vibes like you are espousing. Who can blame them. However, they recently put out the word worldwide that people should move to Japan to farm. They will even give the newcomers free land. Maybe you should go there.
As far as the Democrat Party, they work overtime to hinder Asian students from progressing using DEI because they are way more intelligent than the chosen minorities and whitey. Well, that ended. So yea, they probably will end up in all the jobs that take technical skills, science, and mathematics. Oh well, they are Americans who succeeded. Good for them. Got a problem with that? Work and study harder to emulate them. As far as Europeans, Americans like the Italians and Portuguese here have very strong cultures but are Americans first while recognizing their ancestry and spreading their great food and art culture. Italian food is the most loved food in the world. I wouldn’t go to an Italian restaurant run by Japanese or German Americans. They don’t have the necessary touch to succeed cooking gnocchi.As far as Mexican Americans, they are beautiful people with strong work ethic, family values, great food, and most importantly, they are very moral people. I wouldn’t go to a Mexican restaurant run by a Taiwanese American either, not enough spice. There is a really great Jewish restaurant in Santa Rosa. Excellent lunches. So what’s the problem?
That’s all kinda weird but, yeah
Best gnocchi I ever had was at a restaurant in Fukuyama.
We need more thai japanese koreans indians hmong cambodian vietnamese people here. All the asian countries. So you lowlives can see what real culture and food looks like.
we already had a china buffet i think it went out of business. so much for your food and ‘culture’
Fantastic and informative billboard sign. I’d much rather read a sign as opposed to listening to A Holes on a bullhorn yelling vulgarities all over town most every day. It’s provocative and offensive. Listening to someone broadcasting Fuck Israel! Fuck Trump! on a bullhorn daily is an abuse of their rights under the 1st Amendment and a violation of our rights.
The irony of all of this being that Tamar Krigel and her husband just went on the last Arcata city council meeting and spewed about how using the term Zionist is antisemitic. That Zionist is an antisemitic slur. You can’t have it both ways; they tell us if you say Jewish it’s Antisemitism (and inaccurate as we know you don’t have to be Jewish to be a Zionist.) So you use Zionist and then Jews tell you it’s an antisemitic slur. Then those same Jews who accuse you of being antisemitic for using the term Zionist literally make a billboard of themselves *cough*narcissist*cough* proclaiming how proud they are to be called a Zionist. The point, you see, is to simply shut down the conversation. Because at the end of the day this has been the game for the last 76 years. If we spook everyone into silence with claims of antisemitism any time anyone criticizes the Zionist, white supremacist, failed settler colonial project in Western Asia (the Middle East), they’ll never be able to even TALK about what’s happening there. Nobody is buying it anymore Tamar. We have watched children blown to pieces for too long to believe a single word of your genocidal propaganda. The sign may as well read Proud White Supremacist, the Star of David reads like a swastika in the midst of the Palestinian Holocaust. Btw, this woman, who funded this billboard, is a stalker and has been known to do such childish things as ripping Black Lives Matter signs out of peoples yards. She’s completely unhinged and absolutely a danger to our community.
So yes please, say it loud, you’re a psychotic narcissistic white supremacist Tamar. We know. We know.
So, this Tamar seems to be known by you so well. And she’s the stalker?
Kym, please read the above comment carefully. I think you will find that it is not an anti-Zionist comment at all – it is just antisemitic.
What I’m seeing is a supposedly new commenter that has made about 30 comments in four hours. I’m finding that hard to believe.
Why? On average that’s 8 minutes of reading, followed by a single comment. I happen to be deeply invested in this subject.
But changing the subject isn’t going to draw my attention away from the fact that you’ve admitted openly that you’re aware of two instances of blatant, antisemitic hate speech in this thread, and have consciously chosen not to do anything at all about either one.
So much for not taking sides…
I don’t like what those two commenters said, but I also believe that a fierce debate is better than a suffocating silence. I am a strong advocate for free speech and believe the best way to counter bad ideas is with better arguments, not censorship. If we start removing every comment someone finds offensive, we risk shutting down discussion entirely. That doesn’t mean I endorse what’s said—I don’t. But I’d rather err on the side of too much free speech than too little.
I’m looking forward to seeing how your commitment to free speech plays out when an excuse arises to silence my opinion.
maybe she’ll secretly place you on an extended moderation list so she can delay and possibly filter your comments before they appear
I get where you’re coming from Kym and I recognize it’s a delicate line to tread, but there are some comments on this article that are clearly crossing the line. There’s no reasoning or arguing with people who spew out things like Poking the bear’s “Jews the 21 century Nazis.” It’s one thing to compare Israel’s actions in Gaza with the Nazis, I think it shows complete ignorance about what the Nazis actually did, but people have the right to make a comparison. But saying that all Jews are Nazis is virulently and unabashedly antisemitic. I hope you’ll exercise some discernment on comments that aren’t just “offensive” but are clearly hate speech.
I read it super-carefully, and your hasbara (Israeli Counter-Intelligence Project) deflection failed. You’re just upset because it is a good break-down of how Zionists conflate criticism of the state of Israel with criticism of Judaism. I get it, the truth hurts and being exposed as a liar is embarrassing.
Oh, by the way, Israel has prevented any food, medicine or fuel from entering Gaza for 5 days. This is a violation of the Ceasefire agreement Israel agreed to with Hamas. The U.S.-Israeli Axis of Genocide is still carrying-out Genocide of Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The IOF has kicked 45,000 people from their homes in The Occupied West Bank and prevents them from returning–the War Crime of Ethnic Cleansing is going on right now!
I thought that the Coastal Commission had jurisdiction over such things as billboards along our coast and contacted Supervisor Mike Wilson who informed me that “Coastal [Commission] only has jurisdiction here upon appeal. Still waiting for the City [of Arcata]to update their sign ordinance that moves toward removal of all billboards… over time (~15 years).”
I am hoping for more clarification at tonight’s Arcata City Council meeting. Folks concerned might show up at 6 p.m. Public comment available at beginning and end of the meeting.
If the idea is garner support for Israel this billboard only does the exact opposite. This is identity politics and all it does is provoke. Someone will vandalize it, it will be decried as anti-semitism, and we’ll have another article on KymKemp with hundreds of comments. All too predictable and a complete waste of time, money and energy. By the way, they forgot the period after “prouder”…..
The pot calling the kettle black.
It’s amazing to watch all the humans who pop out of the basement the minute some article about Israel pops up, and then they start pummeling Israel. It’s almost like……..yep, you guessed it. Good luck with that. Never forget is burned into most Americans brains for a very good reason. It needs to be taught from the first grade onward.
✝️???Praying for peace in Jerusalem ??????????
???❤️??
Nothing wrong with this billboard. But heck I believe in free speech.
The Jewish culture is so beautiful, but Israel will for ever be known a genocidal state now, on par with Germany…how f’ed up is this… shame on the Zionist and courage to true jewish people
Hardly. The Jews should fight for their land to be safe and free.
As has been the case for millennia, those in power wish to sow distrust and fear across the populations of God fearing people. Their hidden agendas will be the ruin of us all. Death to a damaged people should not be our agenda. See that this disease will infect us all if we allow them to distract us from the truth. Love and unity will strip them of their power, and show that they are not gods but simple men.
By Jewish law, isn’t the only true Jew a practicing Orthodox Jew? And don’t the Orthodox in Israel see the non-orthodox, or squatters, or American Jews as a Hassle? Over there I mean. I wouldn’t mess with them either. They’re mean. They come in threes!! I’ve seen whole families move as a unit.. Like a school of fish! So disorienting, but very reserved and coordinated people. Very coordinated.
If it was their land they’re fighting for, maybe. Forced resettlement on a house by house basis without warning is never cool. There’s no circumstance in which taking someone’s house, the house that their grandmother and mother and kids and sheep, no pigs tho, and not them because they were in Cairo when they were born while they were out shopping isn’t right. There’s no way you can sell it. Plus they’re filling these house with people they farm from all over the world. By selling these communities as theirs to sell. It’s not nauseating to you? Do you know the girl from the billboards number?
Florida? Yes we agree
It may be legal, but damn. It makes my blood boil. Do that shit in your hood, not ours, mofos!
I hope Trump keeps his promise to own Gaza in the long term.
Many nations in the region already want to assist Trump because he keeps his promises and is a man of his word. I think he wants the leaders in the region to think out of the box so they can build a beautiful home/nation for the people of Palestine.
He’s a man of his word for 10-12 hrs. Until he has to backpedal the latest mean goofy nonsense. How are those tariffs?
Don’t be a dolt.
It’s utterly nonsense. Shifting people to another country does not mean they will not act from there. It just makes for deeper hostility. It takes land and shifts it to Israel.
Look at the nature of immigrant Palestinians in the US. They have formed coalitions with other disaffected people to create protests and the occasional violence. No other country in any proximity to Palestine is so blind as to not know they will certainly get dragged into the fray even more than they are now if Palestinians are moved there. Maybe even to the point of losing any control to outside religion organizations like the Brotherhood.
Perhaps moving the Palestinians isn’t the answer.
“Crowdfunded” by a crowd of two… Okay. Also this is the same Tamar that was so toxic in local political FB groups that she got banned multiple times for harassment?
Lol you people are all killing me. We are the human race. period.
I haven’t until now ever thought as anyone as a zionist, let alone called anyone a zionist. Nor have i been on the street and witnessed anyone else calling anyone or anything else a zionist. So, if that’s where this tanned tradwife looking tupperlife salesperson gets her strength, it seems like there’s not alot of strength going around for her. Kind of a weird thing to gather strength from tho. Doesn’t seem healthy. I prefer to get my strength from something awesome.
Something awesome like… a drawing of The Original Zionist defeating the Original Antisemite??
I take it back. I don’t hate her. She’s actually kinda cute. If she feels like she needs to be denegrated to be strong(?), I dunno whatever that’s code for these days, but I’m willing to try. Couple seasons out 36 with me and Truckie and that tan’ll history, and she’ll have a whole new idea about where strength comes from. …
Choppin’ wood and worshipping good ol’ white Jesus!
Sorry. I was reacting to the billboard without reading the article and learning of it’s placement.
I’m tote sad and I bet she’s soooooper cute when she’s crying. Or barefoot. Or barefoot and crying, but her billboard is blocking my sunset view of the muck?
Hellz naws!!!
Still send me them digits first, but that vinyl stuff is no bueno in front of the oyster beds and mudflats. Still cute tho! She should call me. There’s still time to save a soul!
And plus I need 4 cords cut by summers start! 8 if I get the kids presents for XmasTrumsDay, and 12 if she want’s shoes. But seriously, there’s still time to get right before whatever. HMU girl!!
Amen!
Might as well put up a billboard for Hitler. His progeny have learned so very well as evidenced by Israeli genocide. They had trials in Nuremberg for Hitler’s supporters. How about war crimes trial in Arcata?
That’s unhinged.
Pride goeth before a fall
Locals have created a petition to take the billboard down, if you want more info sign here openpetition.org/!gftjz or here
https://www.change.org/p/take-down-the-zionist-billboard-on-hwy-101
Yes! I signed it and shared it!
They’re wasting their time.
Stand with people, not ideologies.
Stand with Palestinians
Not Palestine
Stand with Israelis
Not Israel
Palestinian nationalism is an ideology, same as Jewish nationalism. It has the same roots (Arab nationalism is rooted in the same European national consciousness ideologies as Zionism).
If you see humanity in the Palestinian people beyond the ideologies of their leaders, see the humanity in the Israeli people, beyond the ideologies of their leaders.
If you see the humanity in the Israeli people beyond the ideologies of their leaders, see the humanity in the Palestinian people beyond the ideologies of their leaders.
Everyone should be able to live in freedom peace and dignity, no matter who they are or where they are. That is our north star as a human species in the face of the global challenges all species on the face of the planet are facing. Everything else is just more divisiveness that keeps alive the status quo of destruction and oppression, violence, and hatred.
Who paid for this? The people protesting should pay but I doubt it. Probably tax payers that didn’t agree with this billboard being up. Shouldn’t we be more concerned with what’s going on in our own community?
“The closer Arcata comes to becoming organized around providing tangible and material benefit to Palestinian civilians we can expect more provocative measures by Zionists seeking to divide our community and distract us from positive deeds.”
On the contrary. We Zionists are very much in favor of any actions taken to alleviate the suffering of any humans. That’s why we oppose the calls for intifada (which refers to the forcible removal of all Jewish people from their homes in Israel). The suffering of the civilians in Gaza is a horrifying tragedy that rests squarely on the shoulders of Hamas. The sooner the 2 remaining American citizens, along with the rest of the hostages who are the real victims of the most unspeakable crimes against humanity (do your research) are free, and the sooner the stranglehold that Hamas has over its own population has been broken, the sooner the people of Gaza can experience relief from their suffering.
This is why I think efforts to establish a sister city in Gaza, and other humanitarian projects are a much better use of students’ time than attacking other Jewish students or calling for the abolition of the only Jewish state in existence.
Spot on…
I was a college student in ’76 and have always loved Arcata. My daughter is graduating in May. So glad she is done there. I never realized what a progressive shithole the city has become. Homeless capital of the world. The fact that they stand so strongly for the palestinians is the reason the palestinians are in the situation they are. Worthless support by the utterly worthless Left.
Just FYI. Israel calls holocaust survivors, anti-Semitic. For the of you who know of the hundreds of thousands killed by Israel, you know what side is right. I am sorry to any well meaning jewish people who are unfairly caught in the crossfire. you do not deserve this.