Activists from London Palestine Action put up these posters criticizing Israel’s apartheid policies against Palestinians all over London’s underground train network early Sunday morning.

An activist from the group, who did not want to be named, told The Electronic Intifada that they posted 150 copies around at least four different lines on the network. The activist provided these photos.

These posters are “subvertisements,” political messages designed to look like sanctioned advertising. They were fitted on top of paid ads, the activist said.

The action was timed to coincide with the launch of this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week in the UK on Monday.

In a statement sent to The Electronic Intifada, the activists said: “Israel and its supporters are used to having the mainstream media repeat their talking points. Our action’s aim is to shine a spotlight on the support that Israel receives from the UK government and arms industry and UK companies like G4S as well as the one sided reporting which is endemic in the BBC.”

The UK Zionist Federation on Monday called for authorities to “apprehend the original culprits.”

Photos of the posters began appearing on social media Sunday evening.

Transport authorities confirmed to the Jewish Chronicle that many of the unofficial ads were still up Monday morning. A spokesperson told the paper Monday that the posters were being removed.

This means they would have been seen during this morning’s rush hour by some of the millions of commuters that use the tube network every day.

Update: London Palestine Action has now published the full original posters for people to use online or “print them off and post them wherever! Responsibly (obviously).”

Israeli fury

Israeli politicians reacted with near hysteria on Monday.

Israel’s foreign ministry called the subvertisements “inciteful” and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed their director-general to “demand” the posters’ “immediate removal” during a visit to London for talks with the UK foreign office.

.@yairlapid called ads in London Underground anti-Semitic, said he talked to Boris Johnson, who had them removed. pic.twitter.com/66ou3gKByZ — Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) February 22, 2016

Two Israeli opposition leaders also condemned the ads. Yair Lapid claimed the ads were “anti-Semitic” and implied that he had persuaded the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to remove them.

.@Tzipi_Livni on London Underground signs: BDS is against the existence of Israel. We are all together in battle against it. — Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) February 22, 2016

Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who in 2009 evaded a UK arrest warrant for war crimes, denied that Israel practices apartheid and said the posters showed that the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement “is against the existence of Israel.”

A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in London claimed that the ads were a “grim” act of “vandalism.”

Full statement

London Palestine Action activists issued this full statement detailing references for all the facts stated on the posters:

London Tube Subvertisment: The campaign was done by activists from London Palestine Action (LPA) for the launch of the Israeli Apartheid Week 2016. Approximately 150 posters were neatly placed on top of adverts already located in the tube carriages. The reasoning behind the action was not only to promote the start of the Israeli Apartheid Week but also to counterattack Western media’s silence over the situation in Palestine. As public bodies, local councils and student unions are threatened to be banned by law from boycotting “unethical” companies, Israeli Apartheid Week and similar collective actions are more crucial and relevant than ever. The subvertisments cover four issues: The BBC repeatedly sacrificing the truth on the altar of their pro-Israeli bias

The infamous British security company, G4S, helping in the imprisonment and abuse of thousands of Palestinians, including hundreds of children

The UK – Israeli arms trade resulting in massacres of Palestinians, but also greasing the cogs of the Israeli apartheid machine

The destruction of Palestinian homes becoming a means of routine collective punishment under the Israeli occupation