One of the digital billboards of Hamas hostages that were taken down in London. Photo: Provided

A major Jewish organization in the United Kingdom has lambasted an advertising company in London for removing digital billboards showing the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 after facing public scrutiny and threats.

“It cannot be right that in Britain, in 2023, an advertising company is intimidated into withdrawing a campaign about hostages taken by a terrorist group,” the Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a statement, calling for the advertisements to be put back up. “The company should reverse its decision and the police should provide support and urgently investigate these threats.”

The nonprofit organization also noted that the advertising company’s actions followed two months of rampant anti-Israel activity in London, where people have been ripping down or defacing thousands of posters of the 240 people kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during their Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel and taken back to the Gaza Strip.

The Algemeiner previously reported that the advertising company in question, London Lites, signed an agreement with an organization called the Hostages Families’ Forum UK to have the digital billboards displayed throughout London. The billboards went up on Dec. 5 but were taken down after six days.

London Lites told the Hostages Families Forum UK, which organized the billboard campaign with help from the Embassy of Israel in London, that because of “an unusual volume of complaints from the public,” as well as personal threats made to the company’s staff, the billboards would be taken down immediately.

“Following discussions with the Metropolitan Police about community safety concerns regarding billboard site advertising this campaign, we have regrettably taken the decision to cease advertising on community cohesion grounds,” London Lites further said, noting that it has previously carried advertising for the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) and “supports freedom of speech.”

“However, we received an unprecedented number of concerns from the public in response to the advertising campaign last week, and the safety of all members of the local communities where we advertise is paramount,” it added.

The Embassy of Israel in London is seeking legal counsel regarding the matter and slammed London Lites for playing “into the hands of terrorists by actively ignoring the war crimes of Hamas and also by succumbing to intimidation and threats in London.”

CAA, a volunteer-led charity dedicated to exposing and countering antisemitism, had its own share of issues displaying images of the Hamas hostages in London. The charity revealed in mid-October that it had vans driving around central London featuring digital billboards of children kidnapped by Hamas and calling to bring them back home. When anti-Israel supporters stopped the vans and began protesting, Metropolitan Police in London told CAA to turn off the billboards and clear the area or they would be “in breach of the peace.”