Straphangers going to work in Boston on Monday are going to be confronted by the ad above and two others against 'Israeli apartheid.' The ads are sponsored by a group co-founded by a purported self-hating Jew.
"The ads simply state
the facts and are backed up with citations from credible human rights
and international organizations, including the United Nations," said
Chadi Salamoun, the president of Ads Against Apartheid, who added that
"if the ads are shocking, that’s because the reality on the ground is
shocking."
Richard Colbath-Hess, a Jewish-American faculty member at the
University of Massachusetts, and the co-founder of Ads Against
Apartheid, noted that "American tax dollars help the Israeli government
maintain an incredibly brutal military occupation, which has denied the
Palestinian people their basic rights for decades. These ads show what
Israel’s occupation and apartheid really look like, and it is important
for Americans to see that."
The NGO plans to expand its campaign both in Boston and in other cities across the US, and promised to introduce more ads.
Similar ads were posted on the MBTA in November 2013. Calling Pamela Geller....
Massachusetts federal court agrees with MBTA (Boston) rejection of pro-Israel subway ad
A Massachusetts federal court has agreed with a decision by the Metropolitan Boston Transit Authority to reject the ad pictured above, calling it "demeaning or disparaging" to Muslims.
The ad was funded by the American Freedom
Defense Initiative, which seeks to combat what it calls the spread of
radical Islam in the United States. It read: ‘‘In any war between the
civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel;
defeat Jihad.’’
Massachusetts Bay Transportation
Authority officials rejected the ad on the basis that it violated agency
advertising guidelines because it is ‘‘demeaning or disparaging.’’
The judge last week agreed with
the transit agency that it was plausible ‘‘to conclude that the ...
pro-Israel advertisement demeans or disparages Muslims or
Palestinians.’’
A lawyer for the group that proposed the ad tells The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/1c3bbO1 ) an appeal will be filed.
I wonder if they'd reject an ad against cannibals too.
The Boston subway system may soon have perfidious anti-Israel ads like the ones above. The email below was sent to Boston-area pro-Israel activists (Hat Tip: Lance K).
As you probably have heard, the MBTA is planning to put the anti-Israel ads back up in 80 stations throughout the transit system. (Pictures of these ads can be seen athttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/13/pro-palestine-ads-on-metronorth-platform-henry-clifford-anti-defamation-league_n_1671557.html) They had been taken down briefly after "a rash of complaints," says the Boston Globe. Henry Clifford, of the "Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine," responsible for the New York ads, has paid $40,000 for the Boston ad campaign as well.
The New England ADL has been called and e-mailed. I will continue to contact them, and you should, too. Meanwhile, the great Pamela Geller has entered the fray: She has submitted her counter-ad to the MBTA's ad agency, Titan. We will know soon whether that ad is accepted. If you know anyone at Titan and/or high up in the MBTA, please get after them today. They should be reminded that if they turn it down, there will likely be a law suit.
In the meantime, we should be ready a.) to mount protests, and b.) create a Boston-based pro-Israel ad, which we must pony up and pay for ourselves. This outrage goes far beyond the usual First Amendment vs. censorship argument. Please stay in touch.
BTW, does anybody ride the T? If so, please take a picture of the ad if you see it, and circulate it to all.
Toronto Transit Commission rejects anti-Israel ads as 'inaccurate and misleading'
The Toronto Transit Commission has rejected an anti-Israel ad that ran earlier this year in Vancouver as 'inaccurate and misleading.'
Proposed by the Montreal-based Canadians for
Justice and Peace in the Middle East, the ads were similar to the
“Disappearing Palestine” ad that ran this summer in Vancouver’s transit
system. The Vancouver ad showed four maps, spanning from 1946 to 2012,
that suggested Israel was taking over Palestinian land.
The CJPME ads claimed that Palestinian “loss of land” has been “unfair” and “illegal under international law.”
“Our legal opinion,” Ross said, “is that there
has never been a finding by any international court or tribunal with
respect to the illegality of loss of land, and by making that statement,
it potentially could cause discrimination or advocate hate towards a
specified group, in this case Israelis and/or the Jewish people.”
Ross said the four ads contained similar
language, maps and the line “illegal under international law.” He said
“the real legal issue” for the transit commission “was a statement that
we determined to be either inaccurate or misleading.”
The CJPME, which was notified of the decision on Friday, may appeal the rejection, Ross noted.
If you want to help out, please tweet support to @BradTCC, who is being abused by the anti-Israel hooligans.
For those who have forgotten just what Eltahaway did, please go to that last link. It's quite entertaining.
Eltahaway has already admitted her guilt - at least outside the court room.
After all this agitation, Eltahawy has now decided that it was
finally time to do what one could have expected from a prominent writer
long ago, and she has taken to the pages of the Guardian’s Comment is Free (CiF) website to make her case in writing.
It is quite obviously a weak case. The headline of her post announces “If anti-Muslim ads are protected, so must be my free speech right to protest”
– but the text reveals that even Eltahawy is aware that her act of
vandalism wasn’t really an exercise of free speech, because she admits:
“I broke the law, yes.”
But Eltahawy adds defiantly: “So what? I broke it to make a point of
principle. Eleven years after the 9/11 attacks, American Muslims are
still being bullied and vilified.”
Indeed, Eltahawy tries hard to make the case that there is at least
some “coincidental correlation” between the ads that denounce violent
jihad as savage and various incidents of anti-Muslim violence and
bigotry.
Metro North posts anti-Israel posters on the first day of Passover
And afterward they'll tell us that there were no complaints....
Billboards calling for an end to US aid to Israel were erected this week at 25
train stations in suburban New York and Connecticut.
The billboards that
went up Tuesday, on the first day of Passover, in Metro North train stations are
sponsored by a group called American Muslims for Palestine.
The ad also
calls Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza a form of
apartheid, and features a quote by South African social rights activist Desmond
Tutu. They are scheduled to run for one month, and were reportedly timed to
coincide with US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel this
month.
“The campaign against US aid for Israel targets neither Jews nor
Passover, but rather Israeli apartheid and injustice. And the best way to honor
Passover, which celebrates Jewish liberation from ancient oppression, is to
champion Palestinian human rights today,” said Michael Letwin of Jews for
Palestinian Right of Return, who spoke at Tuesday’s launch of the billboards at
the Metro North Harlem station.
I wonder how many American Jewish morons are funding this....
San Francisco bus ad: 'Killing Jews is worship that draws us closer to Allah'
The ad above is appearing on buses in San Francisco, and this time it was not placed by the jihadis. It was placed by Pam Geller's American Freedom Defense Initiative and it's meant to show the reality of jihad. The ads have San Francisco Leftists bouncing off the walls.
Several San Francisco city leaders, including District Attorney George Gascon, have condemned the campaign.
“San Francisco won’t tolerate Islamophobic bigotry,” said Gascon.
“The only thing necessary for evil to prevail is for good people to look
the other way and do nothing.”
Board of Supervisors President David Chiu said the American Freedom
Defense Initiative is made of “well-known hate extremists” and said he
is introducing a resolution at Tuesday’s board meeting to denounce the
ads.
Geller said the ads were a response to another bus ad campaign earlier this year by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
That campaign sought to disassociate the word “jihad” with violence
and reclaim its meaning as “the struggle,” which is a central tenet of
Islam.
While previous posters, which read “In any war between the civilized
man and the savage, support the civilized man,” were vandalized within
an hour when they were put up in September, Geller told the New York Observer that she’s now prepared. Geller has made twice as many posters.
“I refuse to abridge my free speech so as to appease savages,” she said.
Awesome: Pam Geller's subway ads being installed in DC Metro
Pam Geller's pro-Israel, anti-Jihad subway ads are being installed in the Washington DC metro. But this time, they're being installed in huge light boxes and not just as posters along the subway walls.
Let's go to the videotape.
Eat your little green heart out, Chuckles. She's much better known and truer to her cause than you'll ever be to yours (whatever that is this week).
MTA changes their advertising rules, the Dersh calls new rules unconstitutional
Just one day after Mona Eltahaway was arrested in New York for vandalizing Pamela Geller's subway advertisements (see above), New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority changed its rules regarding ads like the ones in question.
The New York Times reports the MTA will prohibit any
advertisements that it “reasonably foresees would imminently incite or
provoke violence or other immediate breach of the peace.” Those
“viewpoint” ads that do not meet this criteria will be allowed, so long
as a disclaimer is included saying the MTA does not endorse them. The
MTA met on Thursday to discuss the rules, which were approved
unanimously 8-0.
Self-proclaimed “proud-liberal Muslim” activist Mona Eltahawy served
as the impetus of the ruling after she spray painted a pro-Israel
advertisement placed in the New York City subway.
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz says that the new rules are plain dumb and unconstitutional.
“A. it’s clearly unconstitutional” he said, and “b. it incentivizes
people to engage in violence. What it says to people, is that if they
don’t like ads, just engage in violence and then we’ll take the ads
down.”
“It’s very bad policy,” he continued, “and it’s just plain dumb, because it is going to encourage violence.”
Responding to the charge in an interview with The Algemeiner, M.T.A. spokesperson Aaron Donovan declined to comment.
...
The Law Professor also made clear that he is certain the decision
will face legal challenges. “It will be challenged, there is no question
about that,” he confirmed, “if the ACLU (American Civil Liberties
Union) doesn’t get into this case immediately, they are going to have to
write to me several times for my contribution this year. This is a
perfect case for the ACLU, the ACLU should be in there, opposed to the
MTA.”
“I would hope the ACLU would get behind the organization that put up
the ads even though I’m sure they disagree with the content of the ads,
as do I,” he concluded.
When asked by The Algemeiner if they had considered the
constitutionality of their decision, M.T.A. spokesperson Aaron Donovan
said that he wasn’t concerned. “All of the changes that were made to the
guidelines, were made within the framework of our understanding of
First Amendment law, we feel the guidelines as they have been amended
are firmly planted in the bedrock of the constitution, specifically the
First Amendment,” he said.
I wonder whether the ACLU will get behind Pam and her group. Hmmm.
Mona Eltahaway arrested for defacing one of Pam Geller's signs
She should be thankful that at least the New York police didn't break her arms. Egyptian-American 'activist' Mona Eltahaway was arrested in New York on Tuesday for spray painting over one of Pam Geller's subway signs.
Pam Geller has won a victory in the New York court system, with an order being issued to allow the ad seen above to be run in ten New York City subway stations starting Monday.
Note that the poster contains no reference either to a religion or to an ethnic group. It contrasts “Israel” with “Jihad.”
Abdul Yasar, a New York subway rider who considers
himself an observant Muslim, said Geller’s ad was insensitive in an
unsettling climate for Muslims.
“If you don’t want to see what happened in Libya and Egypt after the
video — maybe not so strong here in America — you shouldn’t put this
up,” Yasar said.
So the threat is explicit. But toward whom is the ad insensitive?
Jihadists, evidently. Are we really supposed to be sensitive to the
feelings of jihadists?
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York
initially refused to run Geller’s ad, saying it was “demeaning.” But
U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled last month that it is
protected speech under the First Amendment.
“Demeaning”? Again, demeaning toward whom? Jihadists. Are jihadists now some kind of protected class?
Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, backed publication of the “patently offensive” ads.
But aren’t they offensive only to jihadists, which is to say, mass
murderers and their supporters? If you advocate mass murder, shouldn’t
you expect to be offended? At a minimum?
Opponents say the ads imply that Muslims are savages.
But wait! Aren’t we constantly told that jihadists aren’t really
Muslims? That Islam is staunchly opposed to terrorism? So how are all
Muslims encompassed within the term “jihad”?
Hmmm. Why can't the mainstream media ask questions like that? (The quotes in John Hinderaker's post come from this New York Post report).
Pam has more on the story here, here, here, here and here (among other places). If you don't click through all five of those links, make sure to click through the second one. It's the full version of a 13-minute interview Pam did with CNN last week. It's awesome.
Pam Geller on ABC News in San Francisco talking about bus ads
This is Pam Geller's description of her video about the pro-Israel bus advertisements in San Francisco.
Mark Matthews of ABC News (KGO TV), San Francisco, did a news report on our pro-Israel bus ads that just hit the streets. In it, Matthews proselytizes for Islam, redefines jihad, and makes a bit of a fool of himself. He falls over himself to get the Islamic perspective but runs no counter to their claims. He spent a good deal of time during our interview arguing about the word "savage." I explained that any war on innocent civilians was savagery. Matthews countered that both the US and Israel have killed innocent civilians and I shot back that the US and Israel never target innocent civilians, ever. The deaths of innocent civilians are the tragic consequence of war sometimes. The war on Israel, OTOH, is a war on innocent civilians. Needless to say, that never made it onto the broadcast interview.
Here's another StandWithUs poster that will be going up at Metro North stations on Monday.
Those of you who are Jews and Christians should keep in mind that any time the 'Palestinians' and their supporters deny the right of Jews to the land of Israel, they are denying the Bible.
Some of you may recall that I reported last week on some anti-Israel posters that were placed in MetroNorth stations in suburban New York. When you go back to work on Monday,
StandWithUS will be countering those ads. The StandWithUs billboard campaign will highlight Israel's history, its gifts to the world, and underscore the Palestinians' refusal to say yes to peace.
One StandWithUs billboard informs viewers that the land of Israel, renamed Palestine by the conquering Romans in 135 CE, has been the Jewish homeland for over 3,000 years. A second billboard features a picture of the Bible along with the tagline, "According to this 3,000-year-old best seller, Israel is the Jewish homeland." The third visually details how Palestinians have said no to territorial compromise and peace repeatedly since 1937. A fourth billboard underlines the fact that Israel saves water through cutting-edge water conservation technology that is being exported around the world. The fifth shows how Israeli technology helps Americans, in part by creating American jobs. The sixth shows a Palestinian and Israeli boy hugging, reminding viewers that Israel Needs a Partner for Peace and urging the Palestinian leaders to accept Israel as its Jewish neighbor. Viewers will be directed to learn more at either www.sayyestopeace.org or www.onlyisrael.org.
"We cannot allow the public to be misled by the factual distortions in yet another anti-Israel campaign. We are committed to countering anti-Israel campaigns whenever they appear," stated Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs.
“Anti-Israel activists continuously try to undermine American support for Israel with campaigns that misrepresent Israel and its history. The anti-Israel ads are a shocking distortion of history. The message presumes there once was an Arab Palestine, when in fact no such country ever existed. As two of our billboards point out, this region has been recognized as the Jewish homeland for over 3,000 years. Our billboards will show some of the documentation to prove this fact-- the Arch of Titus in Rome, as well as the Bible. Our billboards will focus on the real Israel--its vibrancy, creativity, and humanitarianism--and underscore that Israel is on the forefront, working alongside the U.S., of making the world a better place," explained Rothstein.
"The founding of modern Israel was an act of historical justice. The injustice is that Palestinian Arabs have continued to reject all territorial compromises for peace. That’s why one of our billboards will detail the number of times that Palestinians have said no to territorial compromise and peace," stated Avi Posnick, regional coordinator of the New York chapter of StandWithUs. "Our billboard campaigns highlight how just Israel’s founding was, how MUCH it has sought peace with its neighbors, and how it is fulfilling its goal of helping people around the world."
Anti-Israel groups have repeatedly tried to undermine American support for Israel through misinformation campaigns like the NY/Westchester billboards, and StandWithUs has countered these anti-Israel billboards wherever they've appeared. In September 2011 SWU countered 25 anti-Israel billboards placed in New York's subway stations with 25 billboards that informed the public that "Israel Needs a Partner for Peace." StandWithUs billboards that displayed the message "Teach Peace, Not Hate" appeared in 2007 and 2009 in Washington, DC, Albuquerque, and Houston (in cooperation with the organization Bridge Houston). In 2010 SWU countered an anti-Israel billboard campaign in Chicago's transit system stations, and allied with other groups to successfully persuade Seattle's Metro Transit to reject proposed billboards with inflammatory, anti-Israel accusations. SWU countered anti-Israel billboards displayed in San Francisco and Berkeley BART stations four times in 2011-12, and placed billboards in Denver in April 2012 that promoted the story of "Baby Israela, delivered by Israeli medics in Haiti," and conveyed the message that "Israel saves lives." StandWithUs dropped plans to counter anti-Israel billboards in Los Angeles in June 2012 when the billboard company, CBS Outdoor, pulled the anti-Israel billboards after one week because the campaigners misused CBS Outdoor's name.
"Anti-Israel activists continue to display their typical negative billboards, which omit the Palestinian responsibility for the stalled peace process. We will continue to set the record straight, which we do in all our work, and we will inform the public about Israel's achievements in helping to make the world a better place," stated Posnick.
"We hope that those who publicize misinformation about Israel understand that every time they do, we will be there to inform the public," affirmed Rothstein.
The group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, had wanted to place text-only advertisements that said, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.”
Then, between two Stars of David, the advertisement said: “Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
The transportation agency said that the ad violated its prohibition on advertisements that demeaned individuals or groups on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and several other listed categories. The group was given the opportunity to revise the advertisement, but it refused, arguing that the “no-demeaning standard” was a violation of the First Amendment.
The judge, Paul A. Engelmayer of United States District Court, said in a 35-page opinion that the agency’s standards would still permit ads that contained demeaning language as long as it demeaned people or groups outside of the characteristics or circumstances included in the prohibited list. He even offered examples, like “Blondes are bimbos,” “Lawyers are sleazebags” or “Upper West Siders are elitist snobs.”
Judge Engelmayer noted that the agency’s rules would even allow the use of the word “savage,” the objectionable word in the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s proposed advertisement, as long as it demeaned a group not included in the prohibited list.
“Whatever weight might be assigned to the governmental interest in banning demeaning speech on the exterior of New York City buses on an even-handed basis,” the judge wrote, “there is no good reason for protecting some individuals and groups, but not others, from such abuse.”
He said that the agency’s “no demeaning” language standard, “as currently formulated, is, therefore, inconsistent with the First Amendment.”
StandWithUs to counter inflammatory Metro North ads
The billboard above appears at ten Metro North stations in New York City's northern suburbs. It's factually incorrect (of course). The first place it appeared was in Chappaqua, New York last week. There's an online poll (and more) here, which is fairly new. I made the score 2-3. You should all go and vote yes.
Assembly member Robert Castelli (R, C - Goldens Bridge) was quick to call the billboard "anti-Israeli" and asked Metro-North President Howard Permut to remove it immediately.
"I am a strong supporter of the First Amendment right of free speech in the Constitution, and certainly a proponent that the people of Israel and Palestine should live in harmony together," Castelli said. "However, the subliminal message that this particular billboard carries is an anti-Israeli message that I believe has just the opposite effect of creating peace and harmony between the Israeli and Palestinian people."
...
The billboard is sponsored by Henry Clifford, who co-chairs the Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine (COPIP). The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said the billboard is "deliberately misleading and biased."
...
Clifford, who paid $25,000 for the billboards, told Fox News that “there’s always room for discussion of different sides of every story, but there’s no room for discussion on fact. Anyone who challenges these maps and the content of these ads, it’s their obligation to show that they’re historically wrong. The ball is in their court.”
Commuters at the station have seemingly offered some "feedback" for the billboards. On Monday morning, foul language was hand-written and stamped onto the ad.
Resident Deb Raider Notis believes the advertisement should be removed: "It is insightful and could encourage hate crimes," she said.
StandWithUs, however, is set to combat this lie by placing at least 50 pro-Israel ads in similar locations. They organization is in the process of refining their messaging with CBS Outdoors and will soon release a photo of the billboards, according to a Scarsdale website.
The organization countered 25 anti-Israel ads in New York's subway system with 25 ads in September of last year that informed the public that “Israel Needs a Partner for Peace.”
In 2007 and 2009, SWU ads appeared in Washington, DC, Albuquerque and Houston, with the message, "Teach Peace, Not Hate."
In 2010 SWU, together with other groups, successfully persuaded Seattle's Metro to reject proposed ads with inflammatory, anti-Israel accusations.
BART: Anti-Israel ads are okay, pro-Israel ads are not
Two weeks ago, I reported that San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system had decided to accept advertising from StandWithUs to counter ads from the deceptively named Jewish Voice for Peace (which might be more appropriately called the Jewish Voice for Suicide). Those ads were supposed to start running this past Monday.
Pam Geller reports that BART has been accepting ads from Electronic Intifada for about a month and a half now. Yet, they have turned down ads from her organization - the American Freedom Defense Initiative - because they are not 'content neutral.'
Pam's ads appear in this post.
On Thursday, I reported that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is suing the City of Seattle and King County to force them to run anti-Israel bus advertisements from an organization called Stop30billion-Seattle.org. I trust that the ACLU will also be filing suit against the city of San Francisco and BART to force them to run Pam's ads.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
