$60,000 Ad Featuring Condemnation of Hamas by Elie Wiesel Rejected by The London Times
by Algemeiner Staff
A $60,000 advertisement featuring a message from famed Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel condemning Gaza based terror group Hamas’s use of children as human shields has been rejected by The London Times, The New York Observer reported on Tuesday.
In rejecting the ad, a representative for The Times explained, “In brief, they feel that the opinion being expressed is too strong and too forcefully made and will cause concern amongst a significant number of Times readers.”
The ad, which has appeared in a number of major American publications, was placed by The Values Network, a group which promotes Jewish values in the media and is headed by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach.
Boteach was incensed by the rejection and told The Algemeiner that it was proof of British media bias against Israel. He called on the outlet to “immediately reconsider this decision and run our ad.”
“Elie Wiesel is one of the most respected human beings alive, a Nobel Peace Laureate, and is the living face of the holocaust. There is no more influential voice on genocide in the whole world. His call for the end of child sacrifice by Hamas, who use children as human shields, and a stop to their genocidal charter which calls for the murder of Jews everywhere, could only offend the sensibilities of the most die-hard anti-Israel haters and anti-Semites,” Boteach said. “I am shocked that The Times would engage in censorship of the worst kind to cater to such bigotry.”
The Observer also reported that in a private, unlisted meeting with President Obama on Friday, Wiesel showed the president the ad who proceeded to read it in his presence.
According to a source cited by The Observer, “Elie Wiesel had lunch with President Obama on Friday and presented the ad into his hand.” The source continued, “The president literally read it in front of Elie Wiesel’s face.”
Wiesel’s ad in part reads, “In my own lifetime, I have seen Jewish children thrown into the fire. And now I have seen Muslim children used as human shields, in both cases, by worshipers of death cults indistinguishable from that of the Molochites.”
“What we are suffering through today is not a battle of Jew versus Arab or Israeli versus Palestinian. Rather, it is a battle between those who celebrate life and those who champion death. It is a battle of civilization versus barbarism.”
The ad says, “Palestinian parents want a hopeful future for their children, just like Israeli parents do. And both should be joining together in peace.”