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Pamela Geller Buys More Subway Ad Space For 'Anti-Jihad' Posters

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Conservative blogger Pamela Geller has purchased more ad space at New York City subway stops and Metro North stations displaying anti-Islam messages.

Ads began running in the subway a few months ago. The ads read: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad."

Geller, of the American Freedom Institute, spoke with WCBS 880 about the ads. She said it is in issue of freedom of speech, and repeated the characterization of the targets of her anger in the ads "savages."

"It is freedom of speech, and I will not abridge my freedom of speech so as not to offend savages," Geller said. "I cannot imagine why anyone would be outraged by the truth, but this is the era that we're living in. Truth is the new hate speech, and just telling the truth is a radical act. There's nothing that's inaccurate in my ad. It's merely a statement of fact, so what's the problem?"

Geller said she chose the MTA for the ads because of a new ad campaign also running that is critical toward Israel.

"A new anti-Israel campaign is currently running, which virtually everybody ignores," she said. "But if you speak against jihad, or you take a pro-Israel stance, everybody seems to be outraged."

Geller said her posters have been defaced.

"There are literally thousands of anti-Israel ads running across America in every major city, and not one has ever been defaced, removed or destroyed, and yet here, I ran 10 – 10 little posters in the New York City subway system – and all 10 were defaced or destroyed within an hour," she said.

She said "Hamas groups" and "Muslim Brotherhood groups in America" have been running subway ads touting Koranic verse.

Geller said the biggest issue was that her critics are seeking to censor free speech.

"It's very dangerous. It's really dangerous – the war on free speech, and I think every American should be more concerned about that than the content of my ads," she said.

Geller has gained a reputation as a controversial figure for her criticism of Islam, and of President Barack Obama. In a Village Voice feature article last month, writer Greg Howard noted that on her Atlas Shrugs blog, Geller has previously called Obama a "Muhammadan" who "wants jihad to win."

In a feature article in the Village Voice late last month, Geller told writer Greg Howard that she is anti-jihad and not anti-Muslim. She said no when Howard asked her if she thought she was "inciting hatred" with the subway ads.

The ads have also appeared on mass transit property in Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.

What do you think about the ads? Leave your comments below...

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