Left-wing activists from the Standing Together and A Land for All organizations hung a large banner without authorization at Dizengoff Center, a shopping mall in Tel Aviv. The banner read: “One day a Palestinian state will be established, and there will be peace here."
The mall’s management said following the incident that the banner was displayed for only a few seconds without its knowledge and was immediately removed. Management also said it had called the police to the scene.
The mall’s statement came amid strong reactions online claiming that the banner had been put up by the mall’s management or with the approval of its representatives. The mall stressed that it had no involvement in hanging the banner and does not support the message displayed on it.
Dizengoff Center emphasized that it does not identify with or endorse the messages on the banner and condemned them. Mall officials said the incident had generated “an enormous wave of hatred toward the mall, even though we do not represent or support these messages - quite the opposite, we condemn them."
The mall added that the controversy was harming employees and businesses operating there. “This publication is seriously harming the mall’s employees and the livelihoods of hundreds of people who have absolutely nothing to do with the incident."
The activists who hung the banner said, “Two peoples live in this land, and neither of them is going anywhere. The future depends on us. We choose a future of two states, with sovereignty and self-determination alongside partnership, reconciliation and rebuilding."
They added, “Peace does not require us to give up our identity, home or security. Where there is a struggle and the ability to imagine a different future - there is hope."