An anti-Islam activist is threatening to sue the MTA if it doesn't approve her bus and subway advertisement calling Israel's enemies savages.
Pamela Geller submitted the proposed ad to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's media management company more than a week ago but still hasn't learned if it has been approved or rejected.
"I will sue," Geller said. "It's a free speech issue."
The strongly worded ad states, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad."
Geller, co-founder of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, said the message is meant to counter posters in 18 subway stations calling for the end of U.S. military aid to Israel. They were paid for by the Westchester-based WESPAC Foundation and began a one-month run earlier in September.
The MTA already has accepted counter ads from the pro-Israel group Stand With Us. They will run in the same 18 stations from Sept. 26 to Oct. 23, the authority has said. An MTA spokesman declined to comment Tuesday.
Last year, during the debate over plans to build a mosque and cultural center about two blocks from Ground Zero, Geller's group ran controversial bus ads depicting a plane flying toward the burning towers.
Why there?," asked the ad, which also displayed the star and crescent moon - symbols of Islam - on a nearby building.
In another campaign, the group paid for bus advertisements that read, "Fatwa on your head? Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?" The ad directed Muslims to a Web site urging them to leave the "falsity of Islam."
Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, agreed Geller has a First Amendment right to broadcast her views.
But, he added, "I don't think this type of over-the-top extremist rhetoric is helpful in seeking a just resolution to the Middle East conflict."
No comments:
Post a Comment