In Orlando, Florida, there are two eye-catching billboards strategically placed on a highly trafficked highway. These billboards aim to draw attention to the alarming increase in antisemitism.
The billboards along the Beachline at South Orange Blossom Trail have been strategically placed to target the millions of visitors who come to America’s top tourist destination annually.
As you make your way from the Orlando International Airport to the enchanting destination known as the “Most Magical Place on Earth,” you may come across billboards that serve as a stark reminder of the troubling reality we face. The Anti-Defamation League has recently reported a disheartening surge in Jewish hate incidents in the United States. In fact, these incidents have nearly tripled in just one year, with an alarming total of almost 4,000 recorded cases of antisemitism nationwide in 2023. This figure marks the highest number of incidents ever recorded by the ADL since they began keeping track.
One billboard reads, “People on the right side of history never hide their faces.” Another on the opposite side of the Beachline states, “I need to be able to tell my children I did not stay silent.”
Archie Gottesman, one of the cofounders of Jew Belong, a Jewish foundation based in New York City, shared the reasoning behind choosing Orlando as the location for their billboards.
“It really has come to this,” Gottesman said. “There’s only 2% of the entire country that are Jewish people. Even if every Jew spoke out and stood up proudly against antisemitism, it wouldn’t be enough. So what Jew Belong is doing is talking to the 98% of people in this country who are not Jewish.”
Over the past few years, News 6 in Central Florida has covered a series of concerning incidents. One such incident involved neo-Nazi demonstrators in Waterford Lakes who were arrested for attacking a Jewish UCF student.
Hateful messages appeared on buildings in downtown Orlando and at the Daytona International Speedway.
Aaron Bernstein, Chair of the Jewish Community Relations Council, expressed that the Central Florida Jewish Community is genuinely fearful.
“There’s a fear but it’s also an awareness, a heightened awareness,” Bernstein said. “You’re more aware of your surroundings. You take a look at certain things that are out of place…. but yes there is an actual fear, you see it at the JCC [Jewish Community Center], you see it with heightened security at a lot of our Jewish institutions in town.”
Bernstein has been receiving a significant number of reports regarding instances of anti-Semitism within the local community.
“I do know that in the community there has been some instances of anti-Semitic activity, some very overt and some covert which basically means microaggression,” Bernstein said. “I can tell you I’ve gotten reports of people writing either anti-Semitic or anti-Israel marks on coffee cups at specific fast food coffee places. Someone went in wearing a pro-Israel necklace or pin and someone of a certain background decided they did not want to serve that person.”
According to Bernstein, the billboards have been greatly appreciated by the Central Florida Jewish Community, which consists of approximately 50,000 individuals.
“These are great actually,” Bernstein said. “It raises awareness. It’s saying something. Speaking up. If you see something, say something, don’t sit idly on the side. If you see a sign like that you have to take action.”
“People don’t want antisemitism but what’s happening is there’s not enough awareness about it,” Gottesman said. “And conversations are key to getting to a better place in this country for everybody because antisemitism is bad for everyone. It’s not just Jews who are going to be hurt by the rise in anti-Semitism.”
Local Jewish schools are taking strong measures to address the increasing issue of antisemitism. They have installed bulletproof glass and hired armed guards who wear military-style uniforms.
“The Jewish community has a tendency to talk to itself about how bad the problem is and that’s not terrible, but it’s not solving the issue,” Gottesman said. “The issue has to be talking to our allies. After Oct. 7, when a lot of the antisemitism became huge, the Jewish community felt like well, great, our allies will be there for us because Jews are often very good allies… and we felt like, well, there’ll be other groups to speak up about the antisemitism. And there really haven’t been, and I’m not saying none, but it hasn’t been nearly as vocal and as brave as the Jewish community has thought. So what’s happening is Jewish kids are scared to wear a Jewish star or a yarmulke, you know, a skull cap covering that often observant men wear. And they’re scared in America to be proud Jews. And that’s why I mean, it’s really a boiling point. It’s terrible that that it’s gotten this bad without more outrage from good people in our country.”
In 2023, rapper Kanye West issued an apology for sharing anti-Semitic comments.
“Why aren’t more celebrities speaking up?” Gottesman asked. “Why don’t politicians? And the answer: because those who hate Jews have made it very, very difficult to speak up. So even when people are strong enough and speak up, other people are going to overcome it. You know, a lot of this is social media. They kind of say terrible things on social media and so you have to be brave to speak up.”
Jew Belong has placed 628 billboards across 33 states as part of their larger campaign. The billboards at State Road 528 and U.S. 441 are included in this campaign.
“Jew Belong is a nonprofit organization so sometimes we get people reaching out to us on Instagram or Facebook or on our website and people say, well, I want to have a billboard in my town and or my city, and we do that,” Gottesman said. “So sometimes we choose where our billboards go, like Orlando was such an obvious place because everyone goes to Orlando. But sometimes we go where someone who donates to our organization says, ‘I want you to come to my city for me’ or ‘I want you to come to a place where my son goes to college because there’s been a lot of antisemitism there and we want to have a billboard.’ So we love when people reach out and talk to us or donate. And that’s how that’s how it gets better and better.”
The two billboards will be on display until April.
