Delray Beach, Florida, has a large and politically active Jewish Community, but that hasn’t stopped the city from advertising for tourists on Al Jazeera.
A source sent Florida Jolt a video of their TV. The source lives in Miami and said Al Jazeera ran the Delray ad all the time.
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Most Jewish people do not consider Al Jazeera, a friend to Israel or to Jewish people in general.
The Israeli government has long maintained that the Qatari network, Al Jazeera, is vehemently anti-Israel and incites hatred and violence against the Jewish state in the Arab world. Additionally, reports have emerged, such as one from Israelhayom.com, alleging that an Al Jazeera journalist was outed as a Hamas commander.
Israel has banned Al Jazeera, and according to a report by the Jerusalem Post on May 6, 2024, other countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt, have also banned the network at various times.
Al Jazeera is as Al Jazerra does:
I’m shocked to hear this and saddened that our wonderful city would associate itself with such an entity. I hope this was an oversight and will surely be corrected immediately.
~Rabbi Mendy Heber, Chabad at the City of Delray Beach
@DelrayJewish on Instagram
Someone at the City of Delray Beach is just fine with Al Jazeera, though.
The influence of Al Jazeera among pro-Palestinian activists, particularly among students, has been highlighted in recent coverage by The New York Times:
The NY Times recently wrote about Al Jazeera
Nick Wilson has closely followed news on the war in Gaza since October. But Mr. Wilson, a Cornell student, is picky when it comes to his media diet: As a pro-Palestinian activist, he doesn’t trust major American outlets’ reporting on Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
Instead, he turns to publications less familiar to some American audiences, like the Arab news network Al Jazeera
“Al Jazeera is the site that I go to to get an account of events that I think will be reliable,” he said.
Many student protesters said in recent interviews that they were seeking on-the-ground coverage of the war in Gaza, and often, a staunchly pro-Palestinian perspective — and they are turning to alternative media for it.
~NY Times. May 12, 2024
Frustrated by Gaza Coverage, Student Protesters Turn to Al Jazeera
Florida Jolt asked the Mayor of Delray, Tom Carney, about the ad, and he’s working on investigating. However, the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) of Delray handles advertising, not the mayor.
My colleague Tracy Caruso texted Laura Simon, the Executive Director of the DDA, to ask what happened and received the following reply.
“I will have to get back to you with specifics. These are called demand gen digital ads which are based on demographics not by station. I will text you specifics. Thank[s]”
~Laura Simon
“I will have to get back to you with specifics. These are called demand gen digital ads which are based on demographics not by station. I will text you specifics. Thank[s]”Former Delray Beach Commissioner and current candidate for Palm Beach County Public Defender, Adam Frankel, expressed his strong disapproval of the city’s decision to advertise on Al Jazeera, emphasizing his concerns about the network’s agenda and the lack of proper oversight:
Al Jazeera plays to an anti-American element. I do not support anything whatsoever related to Al Jazeera TV, including spending Delray Beach taxpayer dollars on their network. If I was still on the city commission, I would lead strong opposition to any continuation of this poor choice. I strongly question who and why this bad decision was made without a vote by the DDA board.
~Former Delray Beach Commissioner and current candidate for PBC Public Defender Adam Frankel
We did get a total CYA email from Laura Simon late tonight.
Per your text message: “Why is it running on Al Jazeera? Is it running on other stations?”
Response: “It is not running on AL JAZEERA station or other Stations, it is being served to the television based on the demographics of the HOUSEHOLD user and their watch patter, interest, key words, income, etc. The Love Delray Summer Marketing campaign is a destination marketing campaign designed to drive summer business to downtown Delray which is currently running on Connected TV based on the demographics below of the Household not the station. These Connected TV ads are on streaming TV devises targeting the household based on the demographics below which are keywords, user patterns, income, age, interest. Again this is not based on the station but the user or household interests and patterns.”
~Laura Simon
Simon tries to blur the issue by sending boilerplate demographic gibberish designed to obscure the main issue. That might work for the general public, but it doesn’t work with Florida Jolt. We know all about how to buy and sell media.
Simon is not telling the whole truth. The ad is running on Al Jazeera, and it’s running on Al Jazeera either on purpose, neglect, laziness, or sheer incompetence.
I spoke to our tech expert and Florida Jolt partner Lisa Gaal, who has over twenty-five years of experience in the business.
Yes, buying advertising is based on patterns and behaviors, but you can still block undesirable networks and applications that could potentially show your ads.
~Lisa Gaal
Does anyone think Florida Jolt won’t have the Kamala campaign ads blocked on our site?
My source did tell me he downloaded the Al Jazeera app because someone told him about the Delray commercial, and yes, he fit the demo, except guess what? He’s Jewish and didn’t appreciate seeing the ad on Al Jazeera.
It’s up to Delray taxpayers if they think this is an appropriate use of their tax dollars. If you don’t like how your money is being spent, you can call the Delray DDA at 561-243-1077.
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