On Feb. 9, in NYC: Protest HULU ad promoting Israel takeover of Gaza

By a guest author posted on February 8, 2024

From the announcement by the demonstration’s organizers.

Taking the online outrage over Israel’s Hulu ads into the streets, protesters from pro-Palestinian groups will gather at 4 p.m. Friday, Feb. 9, at Union Square at 14th Street and protest at the company’s New York headquarters, at 79 Fifth Ave., between 15th and 16th Street.

Disney-owned Hulu has started running ads blaming the Palestinians for the destruction of Gaza. The ad uses AI-generated images to depict a fictional tourist destination and thriving Gaza that the ad claims could have existed “if it weren’t for Hamas.”

Richie Merino of the Bronx Anti-War Coalition said, “The ad attempts to cover up decades of occupation, murder, mass incarceration, settler violence and apartheid — not to mention the current genocidal assault.

Philadelphia, Nov. 19, 2023. According to Hulu ad, Israel plans to seize all of Gaza.
WW Photo: Joe Piette

“Everyone can see the genocide against Palestinians on their cell phones: the bunker buster bombs dropped on civilians, the execution-style murders, the attacks on hospitals, the starvation,” Merino said. “In early January, the United Nations said Gaza was already facing ‘the highest levels of food insecurity ever recorded.’ That was before the U.S. and other imperialist countries cut off funding to the UNRWA, the U.N. organization that feeds Gaza.

“It’s no wonder the ad, paid for by Israel, uses AI — they have to generate a fictional world in order to justify genocide. On Friday [Feb. 9] we will be in the streets to tell the truth.

“On social media, algorithms and shadow-banning can try to stop people from speaking the truth about genocide. On the streets, in person, we can’t be silenced. We must continue to stay in the streets until the victory of the resistance and the end of the occupation of Palestine,” Merino concluded.

Endorsers of the action include: Workers World Party, Bronx Anti-War Coalition, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Queers for Palestine, Silberman Social Workers for Palestine, Equality for Flatbush, Call to Action on Puerto Rico, Bronx Boricua Resistance, International Action Center, Workers Assembly Against Racism, Friends of Swazi Freedom, New School Students for Justice in Palestine, Artists Against Zionism, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and CUNY Law Environmental Justice Coalition.