Following accusations of bigotry, New York State’s Health Department removes ad campaign in the Five Towns urging Orthodox Jews to get vaccinated against polio.
By World Israel News Staff
The New York State Health Department axed a controversial mobile ad campaign this week, following accusations of antisemitic bigotry.
State health officials recently rolled out the ad campaign in areas with large Orthodox Jewish populations, including the Five Towns.
Signs mounted on vans included in the campaign read “Polio is spreading in Israel. Get immunized now.”
Officials say the ad campaign was made in response to the recent string of cases of polio reported in Israel.
Last year, the first known case of polio in Israel since 1989 was reported when a four-year-old Jerusalem boy contracted the virus.
Three other cases have since been reported in Israel. One child has been paralyzed by the virus.
Some have accused the state’s campaign of unfairly targeting Orthodox Jews.
Republican New York State Assemblyman Ari Brown, whose district includes the Five Towns, called the campaign “subtle bigotry.”
“I will fight antisemitism and will not be silent whether it’s from a government official, media, academic institution, or whomever,” Brown wrote in a letter to New York State Department of Health Associate Commissioner Sam Miller. “I would appreciate an expeditious response.”
Miller, Brown later said, immediately apologized and cancelled the ad campaign.
“He couldn’t have been nicer and apologetic,” Brown told Patch. “He knew there was a mistake. He was kind. Right away, he pulled it back.”
“You heard in his voice, sincerity. He was a gentleman.”
In a statement to Patch, Miller explained his decision to nix the ad campaign.
“After hearing feedback that mobile van ads intended to reach New Yorkers in their communities could be interpreted as blaming the communities themselves for the spread of polio, the Department immediately pulled those ads.”
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