The Weather Channel, a U.S. pay television content provider, apologized on Thursday for an ad campaign that featured a woman wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, a symbol often associated with terrorism against Israel and Jews worldwide.
“We deeply apologize to anyone we offended through the inadvertent selection of an image in our recent ad campaign,” The Weather Channel said in a post on X, responding to the StopAntisemitism.org watchdog.
“We certainly don’t support or condone any form of antisemitism. We immediately removed the ad upon recognizing our mistake,” it added.
The Weather Company and its consumer brand, The Weather Channel, are widely recognized for our integrity and the trust we have with the public. We deeply apologize to anyone we offended through the inadvertent selection of an image in our recent ad campaign. We certainly don’t…
— The Weather Channel (@weatherchannel) October 10, 2024
Earlier on Thursday, StopAntisemitism posted a photo of the advertisement at a New York City subway station, asking The Weather Channel why its promotional materials featured “a symbol now associated with violence against Jews post 10/7?” in reference to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.
Billionaire New York hedge fund manager Bill Ackman also weighed in, noting that the Palestinian scarf in recent years “has become the flag of anti-Israel, pro-Hamas, pro-Hezbollah, and Israel- and American-flag-burning protestors on campuses and elsewhere.”
Last month, the Noguchi Museum in Queens, N.Y., fired three workers for wearing keffiyehs in solidarity with Palestinians, saying it constituted a violation of a new dress code against political messages and symbols.
The distinctive black-and-white keffiyeh has long been associated with the Palestinian war of annihilation against the Jewish state.
It was the signature headdress of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
