Activists to launch anti-Israeli ads in US

A group of US peace activists have planned to launch a campaign to condemn Israeli crimes against Palestinians and to protest Washington's support for Tel Aviv.

The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign decided to plaster anti-Israel ads on the sides of 12 local commuter buses starting Monday, on the third anniversary of the start of Israel's war against the Gaza Strip. "Israeli war crimes: your tax dollars at work," has been written on the buses with pictures of Palestinian children standing around a demolished building, AFP reported. The Israeli offensive against the coastal enclave, which began in December 2008, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Thousands of people were also injured in 22 days of Israel's devastating air, land, and sea attacks, which also reduced dozens of buildings to debris. Seattle activist Ed Mast said he was protesting a 2007 promise by the United States to give 30 billion dollars in military aid to Israel over the next decade. "The Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign is launching the advertising campaign aimed at securing equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis, as well as an end to United States military aid to Israel, which continues at a time of economic crisis and severe budget cuts that have resulted in massive unemployment," Ed Mast said.