Brief
Pro‑Israel group runs Madrid bus ads linking Ceuta migrant surge to Oct. 7 attacks
The campaign, run by ACOM, used two wrapped buses on Oct. 6‑7 to draw parallels between the Ceuta border breach and the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.
By Felo News Desk · Published
On Oct. 6 and 7, the pro‑Israel organisation Action and Communication on the Middle East (ACOM) ran a billboard‑style campaign on two fully wrapped buses that travelled Madrid’s main streets, according to the New York Post.
What happened
The buses displayed messages such as “Did Ceuta make you feel threatened? Imagine they’d come in to kill us. That was 7 October in Israel” and “Israel did what it had to do: defend itself.” ACOM said the buses operated for ten hours a day and passed landmarks including the Agriculture Ministry in Atocha, the KIO Towers in Plaza de Castilla and Plaza de Cibeles. The group estimated the ads generated between 160,000 and 280,000 street impressions over the two days.
What the reports add
The Post noted that the campaign linked the July 30‑31 migrant surge into Spain’s Ceuta enclave – when Spanish authorities first estimated about 50,000 people crossed, later revised to roughly 72,000 – to the Oct. 7 Hamas‑led attack on Israel. It reported that at least 72 migrants died during the Ceuta crossings and that most later returned to Morocco.
What was said
ACOM founder and CEO Angel Mas told JNS that the juxtaposition was meant to “underline for Spanish audiences the threat Israel faces and the scale of the Oct. 7 invasion.” ACOM also said the Ceuta migrants “did not come in to murder families or to massacre a festival.” JNS contributor Monica Vidal welcomed the campaign, saying it “uses a recent Spanish experience to make the events of Oct. 7 feel less distant and abstract.”
How it came about
The bus ads were timed to the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, a date on which Felo News previously covered related memorials and political framing of the attack (Intelligence failures linked to Oct. 7, Oct. 7 as election centerpiece). The Ceuta border breach, which prompted Spain to deploy additional police and military personnel, provided a recent local event for the campaign’s narrative.
Key facts
- ACOM ran two fully wrapped buses with anti‑Hamas messages in Madrid on Oct. 6‑7. (nypost.com)
- The campaign linked the July 30‑31 Ceuta migrant surge (initially 50,000, later about 72,000) to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack. (nypost.com)
- ACOM estimated 160,000‑280,000 street impressions from the bus ads. (nypost.com)
- Angel Mas said the ads were meant to underline the threat Israel faces, per JNS. (nypost.com)
- Monica Vidal praised the campaign for making Oct. 7 events feel less distant. (nypost.com)
Sources
- [1] nypost.com — originally reported as “Madrid bus campaign from pro-Israel group links Ceuta border breach to Oct. 7 massacre”
