Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Muslim Groups Denounce Anti-Islamist Ads That Will Appear on NYC Busses and Subway Stations
AlJazeera reported yesterday that Muslim groups are denouncing a series of six anti-Muslim, anti-Jihad ads that will appear on 100 New York buses and two subway entrances for the next four weeks, saying they equate all Muslims with extremism. The ads, which reportedly cost some $100,000, were purchased by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, a group led by Pamela Geller. Five of the ads are pictured on AFDI's website. One of the ads focuses on ISIL's radicalization of Westerners; another equates CAIR with Hamas; two others focus on promotion of anti-Christian and anti-Jewish views by Islamic countries; and one call Jihadists savages and urges support for Israel. An MTA spokesman says that court decisions (see prior posting) make it clear that under the First Amendment it must accept the ads unless they provoke violence or interfere with operations (which one proposed ad did).