Jewish groups are making their message bright and bold in a new billboard campaign posted near San Diego State University, calling on the university to fight anti-Semitism.
“Colleges, America's children are scared. Do your job!” the sign reads in bright pink and white.
These signs support a national campaign to combat anti-Semitism on college campuses.
“It's very difficult to get people's attention,” Archie Gottesman, co-founder of Jubilong, the nonprofit behind the billboard, told FOX 5 San Diego.
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Jewish group installs new billboard near San Diego State University to combat anti-Semitism. (Chabad House on Fox 5 San Diego/SDSU)
Gottesman told FOX 5 the organization began installing signage to combat anti-Semitism in 2021.
Then, on October 7, 2023, just three years after they began their billboard campaign, a Hamas terrorist attack occurred in Israel.
Gottesman said the Anti-Defamation League has announced that anti-Semitic attacks have increased nationwide, including in San Diego, since the attack.
“It really makes no sense that anti-Semitism would rise in America because of the terrible slaughter of innocent people. So what Jews Belong did was we doubled down and really focused on raising awareness. ” added Gottsman.
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Harvard University is one of several universities facing anti-Semitism on campus. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)
Gottesman said their goal is to start a conversation and break through the noise.
“I think there's a better way to explain exactly what's going on, and that's what we're doing right now,” Rabbi Chalom Bouzina of SDSU's Chabad House told Fox 5. I wonder if it will actually help students…”
Budzina said she has seen harassment and attacks firsthand, including several vandalisms to the menorah outside Chabad House, which has been vandalized three times in the past two years.
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After several vandalisms, a new menorah has been installed at Chabad House near San Diego State University. (Chalom Boudjnah/SDSU's Chabad House)
“When you're being targeted for Menorah and anti-Semitism and all that stuff, I always think that we should be spending our resources supporting the people on the ground and the students who actually go to campus.” Buzina added.
recent acts of vandalism A collision with the menorah in March caused the building to crumble to the ground, all taped up.
“It was done in a vicious way. You can see how one person who was in hiding ran straight into the menorah and pushed it to the breaking point. It was a really, really despicable and hateful act,” Bouzina said. he previously told FOX News Digital.
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However, despite the attack, Buzina said it further ignited the passion in their spirits, and that's when they decided to rebuild the menorah despite the rise in hate crimes and anti-Semitic acts across the country. That's what it means.
“While this has been a burden on our community, we have been reminded that we must be strong. We have not let this ruin anything. Instead, we have We decided to come together and build something beautiful and strong,” Buzina said.
