JewBelong, a national nonprofit organization for fighting antisemitism and making Judaism accessible, put up two billboards near the University of Kansas last week.
They were erected ahead of KU’s Aug. 23 football season opener against Fresno State and will remain posted as students return for the fall semester.
Reaching an estimated 4.78 million eyes, the pink and white billboards feature provocative slogans calling out the presence of antisemitism on campuses nationwide.
The billboards will remain standing until Nov. 10. Their locations and slogans are:
- “You don’t need to be a Jew to protect Jews.” (I-70 near mile marker 206.8)
- “Jewish students don’t need your pity. Just your spine.” (I-70 and E. 1500 Rd. )
KU was picked for the billboards in the wake of antisemitic incidents in the past few years such as interruption at when pro-Israel speaker Gal Cohen-Solal was shouted down by protesters chanting anti-Israel slogans during an Oct. 7 survivor event in early 2024, and when vandals tore down and defaced both Israeli and American flags at KU’s AEPi Jewish fraternity house.
“It’s a terrifying time to be a Jewish college student. Jewish students do not feel safe and are up against some of the worst antisemitism of our lifetime,” JewBelong co-founder Archie Gottesman said. “The Jewish community is only 2% of the entire country, so we need to work extra hard to break through to the wider American public. Schools need to do better. Jewish students deserve to be safe on campus.”
JewBelong has run more than 1,000 billboards across the country, and trucks carrying its slogans have traversed the country. JewBelong offers a library of free resources for “Jews, allies and anyone who has felt like a Jewish outsider or feels disengaged from the religion.”
A new JewBelong billboard on I-70 near mile marker 206.8.
