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Kidnapped-israel-posters

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Part of a series on 2023-2024 Hamas-Israel Conflict. [View Related Entries]


About

Kidnapped From Israel Posters, also known as #KidnappedFromIsrael Posters, refers to a viral campaign by two Israeli-American artists to create a series of posters of Israeli hostages captured by Hamas during the October 2023 conflict and encourage people to post them in public spaces in other countries to raise awareness. The posters are available on a dedicated website and the group has a presence online among various social media platforms. Over the course of October 2023, the posters became increasingly embroiled in controversy as videos of people tearing them down or removing them and sparring with those who wanted to keep them up gained traction online.

Origin

Following the October 7th, 2023, attack by Hamas on military members and civilians in southern Israel, the terrorist organization took over 200 hostages during the invasion.[9] The Israeli government responded with a bombardment campaign in the Gaza Strip (reportedly in preparation for a ground invasion),[10] causing the deaths of many civilians alongside Hamas militants. In various countries, such as the United States where the #KidnappedFromIsrael poster campaign began, Israel's conduct in Gaza was highly controversial, as well as Hamas' taking of hostages.

Starting around October 12th, a small group of Israelis based in New York City produced a series of posters and put them up online, encouraging people to download, print and display them to raise awareness (example shown below). The artists claim to have initiated "one of the most widespread guerilla public artworks in history," and say they are "unfunded" by any outside organization.[1] The organization also maintains Instagram and Facebook pages, which have been active since October 13th.[2]

KIDNAPPED Ariel 4-years-old Israeli Kidnapped from his home by Hamas On October 7th, nearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Their whereabouts remain unknown. More than 3,000 women, men, and children, ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, were wounded, murdered, beaten, r----, and brutally separated from loved ones by Hamas. Take a photo of this poster and share it Please help bring them home alive. #Kidnapped FromIsrael SCAN TO JOIN THE GLOBAL EFFORTS

Spread

As posters went up around the world from mid-to-late October 2023, particularly in Europe and the United States, backlash against the artists and their efforts also grew. Users on X / Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and other platforms filmed others tearing down posters, as well as arguments that resulted from their actions. For example, on October 12th, 2023, a video was posted to X by the account @StopAntiSemitism purporting to show Muslim women in London tearing down some #KidnappedFromIsrael posters. The video received over 31,000 likes in the course of two weeks.[3]

Many posts centered around college campuses or major cities in the United States where poster removals and vandalism took place. On October 16th, an incident where purported NYU students removed posters went viral on X and was covered by outlets such as Newsweek the next day.[4]

On October 19th, 2023, Fox News personality Guy Benson shared a poster to X (seen below) that he claimed was from the University of Chicago with a lively debate about Israel and Palestine carried on by people annotating it, receiving just over 200 likes in a week.[5]

Guy Benson @guypbenson Β· Oct 19 A student at @UChicago sends along this photo of how hostage posters (those not torn down) were defaced by Hamas apologists on campus today. In green ink, they accuse Israel of bombing the hospital (false) and committing "genocide” (false) β€” and also claim that the murders, rapes... Show more KIDNAPPED ΒΊf Bibi & FREE BALISTINE NUCLEAR BOMB AS AN American Jew to beantical. NOW NO FOOD, WATER, PUEL, OR REUFF 21 The EQUIVALENT OP- Omer Wenkert 22-years-old Israeli r---- and brutally 1000+ GAZAN KIDS ARE DEAD. 6 HAMAS LEADERS ARE DEAD, 9 On October 7th, nearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Their whereabouts remain unknown. AKE Israel is not a democracy anymore, wets, f------ Kidnapped from his free home by Hamas Palesti 6,000+ AIRST t67 More than 3,000 women, men, and children, ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, were wounded, murdered, beaten, CORNITTING A GENOCIDE WHAT THE F--- KIND OF JUSTIFICATION IS THIS, AND ALSO, YES, IT EAPRENED. HAMAS US by SUSTASTATER FILMED NOT HAMAS USES ITS HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS AS HUMAN SHIELOS. AGREE THAT TSRAEL HAS NO INHERENT 10/17: ISRAEL BOMBS HOSPITAL, MILLINGRIGOC4 Take a photo of this poster and share it DIVEST FROM THE GENOCIDEN Please help bring them home alive. PLEASE FREE PALESTINES 203 FRAEL IS SCAN TO JOIN THE GLOBAL LAND, BUT "FREE PPLESTINE SHOULD NEVER SUPPORT HAMAS ₁19K Ξ£ ... ←]

Viral videos also spread on TikTok, with tabloid publications like the New York Post boosting videos posted by accounts such as @StopAntiSemitism. Often, these videos partially or completely sought to identify or doxx the person seen taking down the posters.

For example, the New York Post shared a video (seen below, left) to TikTok on October 18th, identifying the man as a UPenn Library staffer and earning almost 11,000 likes in a week.[6] Miami dentist Ahmed El Koussa, who lost his job over a video of him taking down a poster, defended his actions in another TikTok video (seen below, right) that was posted by the Daily Mail on October 20th and received almost 5,000 likes in a similar timeframe.[7]

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7291331528884358443
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7292013362752326954

Often, the posters became a site for public debate about the escalating war in the Middle East. Supporters of removing the posters argue that they frame the conflict in a way that unfairly favors Israel, pointing out the increasing civilian casualties in Gaza. For example, X user @zonexkiller, in a post seen below that earned over 1,200 likes in a day on October 26th, called the posters "a cynical way to funnel money to Israel lobby."[8]

Thank you. By ZONE KILLER @zonexkiller 22h People are ripping down those posters because they, like anyone else with a brain, realize that a "missing person poster" that does not have any contact info and only leads to a payment portal for Israeli foreign influence campaign is a cynical way to funnel money to Israel lobby KIDNAPPED 7 Omer Neutra 22-years-old Israeli-American Kidnapped by Hamas Onnearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Gara Sep Their whereabouts reman unknown More than 1300 women, men, and children ranging in age from onths to 8 years old, were wounded murdered beaten od and brutally separated from loved ones by Hamas Take a photo of this poster and share it Please help bring them home alive. FA CRECHEN SCAN TO HEAR 1272 3 1.2K SCAN TO JOIN THE Email Card Information 1234 1234 1234 1234 MM/YY Cardholder name Full name on card Country or region Canada Postal code cve il₁23K VISA ... 口企

Others online refer to the posters as "propaganda," such as the X account @Sprinter99800 who posted a video of a woman in Boston removing the posters on October 21st, which received over 58,000 views and 1,400 likes in six days (seen below).

On the other side, supporters of the posters argue they put them up to raise awareness and show support to people in Israel. For example, X user @PrinceArihan[11] made a post on October 20th, 2023, noting that they added the posters to their website "to extend our support to the people of Israel," receiving over 70 likes and 30 retweets in one week (shown below).

Savio Rodrigues @PrinceArihan GoaChronicle has put up the posters of the missing Israelis on our news portal for the last four days. We put up the poster to extend our support to the people of Israel. I dare the Islamic terrorists and radicals to take it down from our online news portal. The world must know the hostages kept by the terrorist group Hamas. GC GOA CHRONICLE KIDNAPPED Doron, Aviv, Raz 34|4|2-years-old Israeli Kidnapped from their home by Hamas On October 7th, nearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Their whereabouts remain unknown. More than 3,000 women, men, and children, ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, were wounded, murdered, beaten, r----, and brutally separated from loved ones by Hamas. *** Take a photo of this poster and share it Please help bring them home alive.

On October 27th, 2023, a viral video showing a conflict between a man ripping down the posters and a group denouncing his actions was widely spread online. The X account @nyscanner posted the video that day, receiving over 4.2 million views, 19,000 likes and 5,600 retweets in six hours (seen below).

Various Examples

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7294339113774239019
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7291749877418102059
Viral News NYC @ViralNewsNYC . Oct 17 78th and Madison Kids ripping down posters of kids who are missing from the terrorists attacks in Israel. 0:10 873 1K ZUIA 1.7K ₁ 346K :
Jitender Chaudhary @JituChaudhary25 London of People Destroying Posters of ISRAELIS Kidnapped By Hamas. There's also a Lot of littering These people should be ashamed who are filled with so much hatred towards innocent children. #Israel #Gaza #Palestine #Hamas ...
Sprinter @Sprinter99800 - Oct 21 Clean Your City and Remove Israel Propaganda Posters Now. 0:12 76 EVIDI nashbonc TRANS0207208582 NCHING C 246 KISHAPPED WANAPPER Aanta 865 KIDNAPPED SUPP KIDNAPP ₁41K : 口企

External References

[1] Kidnapped From Israel – Home

[2] Instagram – @kidnappedfromisrael

[3] X – @StopAntisemites

[4] Newsweek – NYU Students Seen Tearing Down Posters of Missing Israelis

[5] X – @guypbenson

[6] TikTok – @nypost

[7] TikTok – @dailymail

[8] X – @zonexkiller

[9] Reuters – Hamas hostages what we know so far

[10] AP News – Israeli air and ground strikes intensify in Gaza

[11] X – @PrinceArihan



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One of the Kidnapped from Israel posters, displayed on a telephone pole. Source / X user @zonexkiller

Kidnapped From Israel Posters

Part of a series on 2023-2024 Hamas-Israel Conflict. [View Related Entries]

Updated Oct 27, 2023 at 05:38PM EDT by Zach.

Added Oct 27, 2023 at 11:30AM EDT by Aidan Walker.

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About

Kidnapped From Israel Posters, also known as #KidnappedFromIsrael Posters, refers to a viral campaign by two Israeli-American artists to create a series of posters of Israeli hostages captured by Hamas during the October 2023 conflict and encourage people to post them in public spaces in other countries to raise awareness. The posters are available on a dedicated website and the group has a presence online among various social media platforms. Over the course of October 2023, the posters became increasingly embroiled in controversy as videos of people tearing them down or removing them and sparring with those who wanted to keep them up gained traction online.

Origin

Following the October 7th, 2023, attack by Hamas on military members and civilians in southern Israel, the terrorist organization took over 200 hostages during the invasion.[9] The Israeli government responded with a bombardment campaign in the Gaza Strip (reportedly in preparation for a ground invasion),[10] causing the deaths of many civilians alongside Hamas militants. In various countries, such as the United States where the #KidnappedFromIsrael poster campaign began, Israel's conduct in Gaza was highly controversial, as well as Hamas' taking of hostages.



Starting around October 12th, a small group of Israelis based in New York City produced a series of posters and put them up online, encouraging people to download, print and display them to raise awareness (example shown below). The artists claim to have initiated "one of the most widespread guerilla public artworks in history," and say they are "unfunded" by any outside organization.[1] The organization also maintains Instagram and Facebook pages, which have been active since October 13th.[2]


KIDNAPPED Ariel 4-years-old Israeli Kidnapped from his home by Hamas On October 7th, nearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Their whereabouts remain unknown. More than 3,000 women, men, and children, ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, were wounded, murdered, beaten, r----, and brutally separated from loved ones by Hamas. Take a photo of this poster and share it Please help bring them home alive. #Kidnapped FromIsrael SCAN TO JOIN THE GLOBAL EFFORTS

Spread

As posters went up around the world from mid-to-late October 2023, particularly in Europe and the United States, backlash against the artists and their efforts also grew. Users on X / Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and other platforms filmed others tearing down posters, as well as arguments that resulted from their actions. For example, on October 12th, 2023, a video was posted to X by the account @StopAntiSemitism purporting to show Muslim women in London tearing down some #KidnappedFromIsrael posters. The video received over 31,000 likes in the course of two weeks.[3]


Many posts centered around college campuses or major cities in the United States where poster removals and vandalism took place. On October 16th, an incident where purported NYU students removed posters went viral on X and was covered by outlets such as Newsweek the next day.[4]

On October 19th, 2023, Fox News personality Guy Benson shared a poster to X (seen below) that he claimed was from the University of Chicago with a lively debate about Israel and Palestine carried on by people annotating it, receiving just over 200 likes in a week.[5]


Guy Benson @guypbenson Β· Oct 19 A student at @UChicago sends along this photo of how hostage posters (those not torn down) were defaced by Hamas apologists on campus today. In green ink, they accuse Israel of bombing the hospital (false) and committing "genocide” (false) β€” and also claim that the murders, rapes... Show more KIDNAPPED ΒΊf Bibi & FREE BALISTINE NUCLEAR BOMB AS AN American Jew to beantical. NOW NO FOOD, WATER, PUEL, OR REUFF 21 The EQUIVALENT OP- Omer Wenkert 22-years-old Israeli r---- and brutally 1000+ GAZAN KIDS ARE DEAD. 6 HAMAS LEADERS ARE DEAD, 9 On October 7th, nearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Their whereabouts remain unknown. AKE Israel is not a democracy anymore, wets, f------ Kidnapped from his free home by Hamas Palesti 6,000+ AIRST t67 More than 3,000 women, men, and children, ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, were wounded, murdered, beaten, CORNITTING A GENOCIDE WHAT THE F--- KIND OF JUSTIFICATION IS THIS, AND ALSO, YES, IT EAPRENED. HAMAS US by SUSTASTATER FILMED NOT HAMAS USES ITS HOSPITALS AND SCHOOLS AS HUMAN SHIELOS. AGREE THAT TSRAEL HAS NO INHERENT 10/17: ISRAEL BOMBS HOSPITAL, MILLINGRIGOC4 Take a photo of this poster and share it DIVEST FROM THE GENOCIDEN Please help bring them home alive. PLEASE FREE PALESTINES 203 FRAEL IS SCAN TO JOIN THE GLOBAL LAND, BUT "FREE PPLESTINE SHOULD NEVER SUPPORT HAMAS ₁19K Ξ£ ... ←]

Viral videos also spread on TikTok, with tabloid publications like the New York Post boosting videos posted by accounts such as @StopAntiSemitism. Often, these videos partially or completely sought to identify or doxx the person seen taking down the posters.

For example, the New York Post shared a video (seen below, left) to TikTok on October 18th, identifying the man as a UPenn Library staffer and earning almost 11,000 likes in a week.[6] Miami dentist Ahmed El Koussa, who lost his job over a video of him taking down a poster, defended his actions in another TikTok video (seen below, right) that was posted by the Daily Mail on October 20th and received almost 5,000 likes in a similar timeframe.[7]


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7291331528884358443
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7292013362752326954

Often, the posters became a site for public debate about the escalating war in the Middle East. Supporters of removing the posters argue that they frame the conflict in a way that unfairly favors Israel, pointing out the increasing civilian casualties in Gaza. For example, X user @zonexkiller, in a post seen below that earned over 1,200 likes in a day on October 26th, called the posters "a cynical way to funnel money to Israel lobby."[8]


Thank you. By ZONE KILLER @zonexkiller 22h People are ripping down those posters because they, like anyone else with a brain, realize that a "missing person poster" that does not have any contact info and only leads to a payment portal for Israeli foreign influence campaign is a cynical way to funnel money to Israel lobby KIDNAPPED 7 Omer Neutra 22-years-old Israeli-American Kidnapped by Hamas Onnearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Gara Sep Their whereabouts reman unknown More than 1300 women, men, and children ranging in age from onths to 8 years old, were wounded murdered beaten od and brutally separated from loved ones by Hamas Take a photo of this poster and share it Please help bring them home alive. FA CRECHEN SCAN TO HEAR 1272 3 1.2K SCAN TO JOIN THE Email Card Information 1234 1234 1234 1234 MM/YY Cardholder name Full name on card Country or region Canada Postal code cve il₁23K VISA ... 口企

Others online refer to the posters as "propaganda," such as the X account @Sprinter99800 who posted a video of a woman in Boston removing the posters on October 21st, which received over 58,000 views and 1,400 likes in six days (seen below).


On the other side, supporters of the posters argue they put them up to raise awareness and show support to people in Israel. For example, X user @PrinceArihan[11] made a post on October 20th, 2023, noting that they added the posters to their website "to extend our support to the people of Israel," receiving over 70 likes and 30 retweets in one week (shown below).


Savio Rodrigues @PrinceArihan GoaChronicle has put up the posters of the missing Israelis on our news portal for the last four days. We put up the poster to extend our support to the people of Israel. I dare the Islamic terrorists and radicals to take it down from our online news portal. The world must know the hostages kept by the terrorist group Hamas. GC GOA CHRONICLE KIDNAPPED Doron, Aviv, Raz 34|4|2-years-old Israeli Kidnapped from their home by Hamas On October 7th, nearly 200 innocent civilians were abducted from Israel into the Gaza Strip. Their whereabouts remain unknown. More than 3,000 women, men, and children, ranging in age from 3 months to 85 years old, were wounded, murdered, beaten, r----, and brutally separated from loved ones by Hamas. *** Take a photo of this poster and share it Please help bring them home alive.

On October 27th, 2023, a viral video showing a conflict between a man ripping down the posters and a group denouncing his actions was widely spread online. The X account @nyscanner posted the video that day, receiving over 4.2 million views, 19,000 likes and 5,600 retweets in six hours (seen below).


Various Examples


https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7294339113774239019
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7291749877418102059
Viral News NYC @ViralNewsNYC . Oct 17 78th and Madison Kids ripping down posters of kids who are missing from the terrorists attacks in Israel. 0:10 873 1K ZUIA 1.7K ₁ 346K : Jitender Chaudhary @JituChaudhary25 London of People Destroying Posters of ISRAELIS Kidnapped By Hamas. There's also a Lot of littering These people should be ashamed who are filled with so much hatred towards innocent children. #Israel #Gaza #Palestine #Hamas ... Sprinter @Sprinter99800 - Oct 21 Clean Your City and Remove Israel Propaganda Posters Now. 0:12 76 EVIDI nashbonc TRANS0207208582 NCHING C 246 KISHAPPED WANAPPER Aanta 865 KIDNAPPED SUPP KIDNAPP ₁41K : 口企


External References

[1] Kidnapped From Israel – Home

[2] Instagram – @kidnappedfromisrael

[3] X – @StopAntisemites

[4] Newsweek – NYU Students Seen Tearing Down Posters of Missing Israelis

[5] X – @guypbenson

[6] TikTok – @nypost

[7] TikTok – @dailymail

[8] X – @zonexkiller

[9] Reuters – Hamas hostages what we know so far

[10] AP News – Israeli air and ground strikes intensify in Gaza

[11] X – @PrinceArihan

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