Pro-Jewish billboards with thought-provoking statements go up around KC

PJ Green, The Kansas City Star on Apr 11, 2025

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — If you see bright pink pro-Jewish billboards while driving around Kansas City highways, then a national nonprofit has accomplished its mission of spreading awareness.

JewBelong, an online platform that combats antisemitism and spreads information about Judaism, has posted seven billboards along I-70 and I-29 with what they hope are thought-provoking statements about the religion.

A billboard on I-70 and Brooklyn Avenue reads “Can a billboard end antisemitism? No. But you’re not a billboard.”

A billboard on I-29 and Northwest Waukomis Drive reads “We’re just 80 years since the gas chambers. So no, a billboard calling out Jew hate isn’t an overreaction.”

Co-founder Archie Gottesman said these messages are significant because of the rise of antisemitism across the country. The Anti-Defamation League reported a yearly all-time high in antisemitic incidents in America from the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel to Sept. 24, 2024.

“Most people are not anti-Semitic at all... They’re just good people,” Gottesman said. “But they may not realize, wow... this is an issue. And so that’s what the billboards do, is they make people aware that the antisemitism is (an) issue. And that’s why the billboards are so clearly important to getting the word out.”

Billboards have been put up in 17 cities, including Atlanta, Boston, and San Francisco. The nonprofit targeted cities with smaller Jewish communities where billboards could be seen by many people, Gottesman said.

The billboards in Kansas City will be up for three months.

Gottesman hopes the advertisements can start conversations and create more allies of Jewish people.

“Sometimes the Jewish community has a hard time putting your finger right on it and saying, ‘This is about antisemitism’. It is not about Islamophobia and it’s not about other racism,” Gottesman said.

“I think we get .... the right to talk about antisemitism in and of itself, hard stop, and then we can also talk about other hates.”

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