An ad sponsored by the Israeli government drew attention to the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza appeared during the Super Bowl. While it may seem universally clear that a call to return hostages is justified, the ad drew sharp criticism from two diverse groups:
Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, claimed the ad violated Federal Communications Commission rules.
“Last night nearly 10,000 people filed a complaint directly with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over the ads paid for by the Israeli government aired [sic] during the Super Bowl broadcast. CBS violated FCC rules by not making proper disclosures to the viewers across all platforms,” he wrote.
“The FCC must hold CBS and the NFL accountable,” stated Ayoub, adding that “the American public has a right to know and be informed about the influence of foreign governments in our media, and this includes Israel.”
It should be noted that the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center identified the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee as praising the October 7 massacre of Israelis by Palestinian Hamas as an act of “ongoing resistance”.
“The Palestinians were exercising their right to self-fulfillment [sic] and demanded their freedom unequivocally. Never underestimate the desire of an oppressed and occupied people to be free” the AADC posted on their Facebook page.
David Greenfield, CEO of the Met Council, posted via X, “So just to be clear: You filed a complaint because there was an ad that pointed out that innocent civilians, including Americans, are being held hostage in Gaza?”
On October 7, Hamas invaded Israel, murdering over 1,200 and taking over 250 men, women and children as hostages. While two hostages were freed by a daring IDF operation in Rafah earlier this week, it is estimated that another 134 people remain in the hands of Palestinian terrorists.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman also criticized the ad calling for the return of the hostages.
“While we watched the Super Bowl, Netanyahu launched a wave of attacks and killed innocent civilians in Rafah – a place where many refugees fled for relative safety – despite warnings from Biden,” Bowman tweeted. “Netanyahu’s government is unfit to lead anything and cannot receive support.”
Mehdi Hassan, a former journalist, also slammed the ad, saying: “Remember this when you watch the Super Bowl ‘bring our hostages’ home ad tonight: Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir & co don’t actually care about the hostages.”They’re ‘preparing public opinion for the need’ to abandon them to their deaths. All to perpetuate this brutal war & save their jobs.”
Truthout, which describes itself as an organization “dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social justice issues’ ‘, describes Israel as “committing war crimes” as it “wages war against the civilians of Gaza”. Truthout describes the ad titled “Stop Jewish Hate” ads as a “propaganda campaign”
“Let’s be clear,” Truthout warned. “What Kraft is doing politically and what he’ll be using the Super Bowl as a platform to do is dangerous. He appears to think that any criticism of Israel is inherently antisemitic. For Kraft, it is Jews like myself, rabbis, and Holocaust survivors calling for a ceasefire and a free Palestine that are part of the problem. And Kraft seems to think that opposition to Israel, the IDF, and the AIPAC agenda is antisemitism.”
The article goes on to describe Zionism, the movement for Jewish sovereignty in their Biblical homeland, as “a minor strain in Jewish life until the Holocaust”, and Israel as “a new state built on the backs and land of the Palestinian people”.
The article went on to slam Christians as “nationalists” who believe that all Jews “are going to hell” but they are welcomed by Israelis for their support of Israel. The greatest crime of the Christains, according to Truthout, is their support of President Trump, who Truthout describes as “the most powerful and public antisemite in the history of US politics”.
“There is a Red Sea of distance, as I’ve written, between antisemitism and anti-Zionism. Antisemitism is the pernicious hatred of a beautiful religion and culture that has been with us for over 5,000 years. Anti-Zionism means opposing a once negligible 125-year-old colonial project in the Middle East.”
Forward, established over 120 years ago as the only national Jewish media outlet in the US, touts itself as reporting, “news that matters to American Jews” but in reality presents a biased left-wing perspective. Like the Arab organization, the Forward slammed the ad calling for the return of the hostages. The article criticized the ad for coming at a time when the IDF is running a “military invasion” in Rafah.
“What about the Palestinian dads? “ the Forward asks.
Ironically, two Israeli dads were returned home as a result of that “military invasion.”
Jewish Voices for Peace, an anti-Israel group, also slammed the ad, tweeting, “The Israeli military is bombing Rafah, the most densely populated area in the world, while Americans watch the Super Bowl. This is intentional. This is genocide. We’re demanding the world watching the #Super Bowl turn their eyes to Rafah. “
JVP called for an immediate ceasefire, a move that would leave Hamas in control in Gaza.
In addition, an ad sponsored by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism (FCAS ) also appeared during the broadcast of the Super Bowl. The ad was the culmination of a series of interviews Kraft carried out with Clarence B. Jones, a speechwriter and attorney for Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The ad advocated for speaking up in the face of hate paired with images of people washing away Islamophobic graffiti and wearing shirts that said “Say Their Names.”
The Forward panned Kraft’s ad as “sanctimonious” and “moralizing” for presenting “jarring” messages of “Don’t forget the hostages” and “Don’t hate Jews”. The Forward criticized the ad for being “unfocused” and “vague” for trying to “tie antisemitism into the larger cause of fighting racism and discrimination”. The Forward criticized the ad for not basing its anti-hate message on the Black Lives Matter movement and for not identifying the Ku Klux Klan as the origin of hate.
While the ad did address the meta-issue of hate, even featuring an image of Jews washing away anti-Muslim graffiti, the Forward was clearly mistaken. Its message was anything but vague.
Another FCAS ad, filmed at a Toronto synagogue, depicts the true story of a Massachusetts church that took in attendees from a bat mitzvah service when their nearby synagogue was evacuated because of a bomb threat.
An ad that was produced by the FCAS last year had a clear message about the horrific rise in antisemitism. The ad depicts a mother and daughter going out of their house and discovering that their garage has been defaced with the message, “No Jews” alongside a Swastika. Their neighbor, a silent elderly busy fixing his auto, views the message in silence. When the mother and daughter return, the garage door has been painted and the anti-Jewish message is gone. The daughter asks who painted their garage and the mother looks over at her neighbor, mouthing the words, “Thank you.” He simply nods, underscoring the simple human response of standing with an oppressed minority.
The ad ends with the message, “One in four Jews were victims of hate last year.” As noted, this ad, paid for by Kraft, appeared during last year’s Super Bowl. Since October 7, the Anti-Defamation League has reported a 337% increase in antisemitism over the same period last year.
It should be noted that the Super Bowl was watched by over 123 million people, almost ten times the 15 million Jews in the world.
