Gallery 3: Zionist Advocacy

Zionist advocacy, known as hasbara (Hebrew: Israel advocacy, solidarity) has a long history of using posters as a means of getting its messages across. Beginning in the early 1920s, when the tradition was more graphically oriented, the goals of the publishers were to spur Jewish immigration to Israel, promote tourism, and encourage investment in Israel.

The early Zionist advocacy posters were often created by accomplished graphic artists working for ad agencies or professional design firms. The genre drew deeply from the well of Jewish aesthetics and religious symbolism. The result is a magnetic, inspirational storyboard detailing the vision and aspirations of the Zionist pioneers, one that is too rarely exhibited and consequently under-appreciated by American audiences.

The commitment of the contemporary Israel advocacy movement to mobilize graphic arts on behalf of Zionism and Israel seems to have waned and the poster art it distributes today is defensive in tone and lacks the aesthetic vitality of the earlier works.

An important note about availability
Most of the posters in this exhibit are limited editions, archival copies, or out of print. They are rare Palestinian historical documents and are not for sale. Liberation Graphics does not have any Palestine posters for sale and has no plans to establish a sales program. If you have a Palestine poster that you would like to donate, or if you would like to learn about our poster exchange program, please visit the Palestine Poster Project page for details.

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