Group Sues After MTA Rejects Anti-Islamic Ad
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A pro-Israel group sued the Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday, asking a court to force it to accept a bus advertisement including the phrase ``Hamas Killing Jews'' after it was rejected on the grounds its display could incite violence.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an organization headed by blogger Pamela Geller that is behind the advertisement. The lawsuit sought a ruling forcing the MTA to lift its objections and an award of unspecified damages for violations of the First and 14th amendments.
MTA spokeswoman Amanda Kwan said the agency had no comment. But the MTA on Sept. 19 issued a statement saying it was rejecting ads that include the phrase ``Killing Jews'' because displaying them on the backs of buses ``would imminently incite or provoke violence.''
According to the lawsuit, Geller's group buys the advertisements to express its message on current events and public issues ``including issues such as Islam's hatred of Jews.''
It said the MTA notified the group in late August that it would display three of four proposed advertisements but not an ad with the quote ``Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah'' because it could incite violence. In the ad, a covered face is shown next to the quote, which is attributed to ``Hamas MTV.'' It is followed by the words: ``That's his Jihad. What's yours?''
The lawsuit said the ad is particularly timely because of ``ongoing terrorism conducted by Hamas operatives against Israeli civilians in the name of Islamic jihad.''
It said the ad rejected by the MTA has been displayed in other major cities, including Chicago and San Francisco, without acts of violence or other lawlessness attributed to it.
In its Sept. 19 statement, the MTA said it recognized that the rejected ad was a parody of ``MyJihad'' ads sponsored by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said it was promoting the concept that jihad is an individual and personal struggle rather than a violent conflict or terrorism.
But the MTA also said those ads ran on buses in other cities rather than New York.
``The MTA does not decide whether to allow or not allow a proposed advertisement based on the viewpoint that it expresses or because that viewpoint might be controversial,'' the statement said.
It added that MTA Director of Safety and Security Raymond Diaz concluded the proposed advertisement ``would lead reasonable observers to interpret it as urging direct, violent attacks on Jews, given turmoil in Gaza, Syria and Iraq and New York City's heightened security concerns.''
A court order forces the MTA to run viewpoint ads. The agency requires a disclaimer saying it doesn't endorse the views.
Several other ads recently produced by Geller's organization have been cleared to run. The group decided to drop another ad that shows James Foley with the masked militant who killed him.
That ad, which depicts Foley moments before he is beheaded, was yanked after criticism from the American journalist's family.
All the ads that have been cleared to run feature a disclaimer that says the viewpoints are not endorsed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The agency is required under a federal court ruling to run controversial ads.
Last week, religious and political leaders of all faiths and backgrounds gathered on the steps of City Hall to denounce the anti-Muslim ads.
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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