The war in Gaza has reached New York turned into a poster battle: pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian activists They try to occupy public space by posting messages on walls that are immediately responded to, crossed out, or torn down by their opponents.

Pro-Israel posters entitled KIDNAPPEDand solve individual cases of some of the more than 200 Israelis kidnapped by Hamas; pro-Palestinians, of whom there are far fewer, have the title KILLEDand in the same way they introduce the victims of the explosions in the Gaza Strip by name and surname.

Both have been cut, defaced, or torn off so many times that their authors embarked on a second campaign to “protect” them with layers and layers of clear duct tape.

But all over the city you can see posters where spontaneous they try to “fix” the messages: In photographs of kidnapped Israelis, the hand-printed phrase usually reads “Genocide” or “Ceasefire”; and posters of slain Palestinians bear phrases such as “Israeli victory.”

Fired on Wall Street

This may seem like just an anecdote, but the battle of the cartels It requires sacrifices, at least labor sacrifices. And all because of viral videos.

Last week, a man was caught by a passerby tearing up a poster of kidnapped people, who started recording on his phone and who, identifying himself as an American Jew, criticized his behavior, to which another man responded. “Go back to your country”in relation to Israel.

When the video went viral, the identity of the person tearing down the posters was soon revealed: Kurush M., oil analyst at Freepoint Commodities trading company, who entered into controversy by announcing his resignation.

“Aware of the recent anti-Semitic incident reported on social media, this person no longer works at Freepoint“, the company said in a statement.

A similar incident occurred with Victoria Ruiz, an employee of the New York District Attorney’s Office, who was also surprised and photographed tearing down pro-Israel posters, and then condemned by the “Stop Anti-Semitism” associationuntil he resigned, although his circle of friends began a donation campaign in his support that had already raised $20,000.

A campaign with global ambitions

The “Kidnapped” campaign was created by a group of artists and designers who call themselves “Israelis living in New York” and say they have achieved “greatest artistic guerrilla work never seen in history.”

On a site created “specially”, its promoters give instructions on uploading photos, printing them and sticking them on the walls “as many as possible”, but advise “not to provoke or incite conflicts with other people or officials.”

The campaign, they say, has reached thirty countries, even Australia, because they want to tell the world that “they cannot sleep until these children, women, elderly people and entire families (kidnapped) are safe.”

The Palestinian counter-campaign began several weeks late and also shamelessly copied the enemy’s messaging style: photos, texts and colors They are practically cut from the same cloth.

Uneven presence on the streets

Yeah Pro-Israel poster campaign takes the lead and it was a success, which cannot be said about the marches and street demonstrations: Jewish groups, so influential in New York in the financial and cultural world, have so far organized two events: one in Times Square and the other towards Central Park, with relative success.

Despite the enormous logistical support – huge stages, singers, videos broadcast on giant screens – and the participation of such political figures as New York Mayor Eric Adams and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schummer, the influx was relative. not exceeding two thousand people in both cases.