Duo wage "comedy jihad" on controversial MTA ads

Dozens of anti-Islam ads are plastered across two high-traffic New York City subway stations and 100 buses, but Muslim comedians Negin Farsad and Dean Obeidallah are confident they'll have the last laugh in the battle over Islam's public image.

"When we heard about these hateful ads, we were outraged and decided to do something about it, an ad campaign of our own," Farsad told CBS News. Her on-and-off comedy partner Obeidallah added: "We want to make people look at the issue a little bit differently."

In the 13 years since the 9/11 attacks, activists have been frustrated by numerous public attempts - Terry Jones' Quran burning in 2010, legislative efforts in numerous states to ban Sharia law - to conflate Islam with atrocities committed by terrorist groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. These new subway ads are no different, say Farsad and Obeidallah.

"If there was a fun and funny counter-message every time you saw something violent about Muslims, I think people wouldn't be connecting Muslim Americans and terrorism," said Farsad. "We want to keep creating a counter-narrative and meeting people so that we can change this."

"We called the MTA, and apparently the minimum ad buy is $11,000, so that became our campaign goal."

The pair launched a fundraising campaign using social media and their website "The Muslims Are Coming," which is also the name of their docu-comedy that just came out on Netflix. It follows their Islam-themed stand-up tour across the South and Midwest, during which they hosted free shows and outreach events to inform communities about the variety of "normal" Muslims.

They say that their poster idea seemed a natural next step in their "comedy jihad."

"We're calling this the 'Fighting Bigotry With Delightful Posters Campaign' -- aptly titled," joked Farsad.

"Perfect title, perfect title!" interjected Obeidallah.

"You know, if I saw the person who made the (anti-Islam) campaign today, I would say I'm really sad for you," said Farsad. "I would say let's sit down and talk this out - cupcakes on me?!"

The new wave of posters across the MTA are the work of Pamela Geller, co-founder of the controversial group Stop the Islamization of America, and president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, which bankrolled the $100,000 advertising blitz. Geller became involved in campaigns like this one following her vocal opposition to the establishment of a new Islamic community center during the so-called Ground Zero Mosque controversy in 2010. This is her third such ad campaign in about as many years, and she insists they are all educational.

"I'm all about freedom of religion. You can worship a stone if you want to, just don't stone me with it," Geller told CBS News. "I don't think a Muslim would look at my ad and say these ads are hostile. I'm not the one creating intolerance. I'll tell you what is intolerant - jihad is intolerant."

The MTA issued a statement saying they did not endorse the message of Geller's posters, but allowed it because of a late 1990s court ruling that designated the transit system as a public forum, and that banning them would constitute a violation of the First Amendment.

"The way to counter this speech, this kind of demonizing propaganda, is with more speech," said Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center who tracks issues like hate crimes against Muslims.

Potok likened this new campaign to the Ground Zero Mosque controversy in 2010. He described how, back then, there was a 50 percent uptick in attacks against Muslims, and attributed this to anti-Muslim smear campaigns in public discourse:

"There was no terrorist attack, nothing in terms of real violence or a real terrorist threat," said Potok. "But an enormous anti-Muslim rhetoric came spilling out after the Ground Zero Mosque scandal, and that, I think, was clearly the explanation."

He added that the current climate of fear propagated by recent ISIS atrocities makes it more necessary for public officials and mainstream media to distinguish between Islam as a whole, and the extreme ideologies fueling terror groups.

"What [President George W.] Bush did after 9/11 was crucial - to keep saying 'al Qaeda is not Islam'," said Potok. "I don't think we should feel that it is the responsibility of the Muslim community to denounce some crazy people who are out there beheading foreigners. It would be very much like saying that all white people have to stand up and denounce some criminal just because that person happens to be white."

Asked about whether they consider themselves the "moderate" face of Islam, Obeidallah and Farsad dismissed the idea as laughable.

"To me the idea of a moderate Muslim is just nonsense," explained Obeidallah. "There are extremists and then everyone else."

"Yet 60 percent of Americans in a recent survey say they don't know any Muslims--that's a big part of the problem here."

"I mean, I'm a very secular Muslim - I did have bacon this morning, and I will have a beer tonight," joked Farsad. "There's such a broad spectrum and some Muslims would definitely be offended at the idea of someone like me representing them. It's just like people from any other faith."

They pointed to the new "Not In My Name" social media movement -- built around that Twitter hashtag-- intended to express outrage over the violence committed by groups like ISIS, commending it as a step in the right direction. President Obama also singled out the movement for praise in his UN speech last week, in which he made an appeal to mainstream Muslims to denounce extremist groups, in the wake of growing concerns in the West about jihadist recruitment and potential terror plots.

Within three days of launching their bid, Farsad and Obeidallah secured the necessary funds for their posters, which they say will run in November.

"Just in time for Thanksgiving," joked Farsad.

Said Obeidallah: "Maybe we should just wait for a very Muslim Christmas?"