Anti-Islamic Ads Coming To NYC Transit System, But One Ad Is Rejected
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Anti-Islamic ads will begin appearing on 100 New York City buses and two subway entrances next week.
But the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said no to one ad, which references "killing Jews."
Some of the ads include an image of American journalist James Foley just before he was beheaded standing next to his masked executioner and another of Hitler.
The ads are paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative run by anti-Islam blogger Pamela Geller. She says the campaign tells truths about Islam and Jihad that the U.S. government and mainstream media ignore.
"Our organization has created this campaign in order to educate people about Jihad," Geller told 1010 WINS. "I don't think the truth is controversial. I think we're entering a very dangerous period and I don't think the American people should be disarmed in the information battle space."
The ad that was rejected by the MTA includes the quote: ""Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah," with an attribution to "Hamas MTV," along with a masked figure and a tag line – "That's his jihad. What's yours?"
That advertisement was apparently a parody of the "MyJihad" ads that have been mounted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which the group said were intended to show that jihad is a notion of personal and individual struggle rather than terrorism or violence, the MTA said. The CAIR ads did not appear in New York.
Ibrahim Hooper of the CAIR called Geller "a purveyor of hatred and bigotry" but said she has a First Amendment right to place the ads.
"She has that guaranteed right to be a bigot," he told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond. "Unfortunately, she exercises that right on a daily basis."
All the ads that have been cleared to run feature a disclaimer that says the viewpoints are not endorsed by the MTA. The agency is required under a federal court ruling to run controversial ads.
"We review every viewpoint ad under the standards, but a series of court rulings have made clear that our hands are largely tied," MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said in a statement.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative has posted ads on New York's transit system in the past. Last year, it purchased space next to 228 clocks in 39 subway stations for ads that called enemies of Israel "savages.''
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