The battle for free speech begins. The very idea that the MTA would censor free speech in defense of the blasphemy laws under the sharia speaks volumes as to the success of the stealth jihad in America. How many New Yorkers find the anti-semitic ads the MTA approved offensive, bigoted and incitement against the Jews? But they ran them anyway. Our ads are not nearly as controversial, but they are pro-Israel, pro-freedom. I hope the MTA is prepared to go to the Supreme Court, because we are.
As long as the PA continues its savage policy to foment violence and promote hatred and teach their children to hate, the number of young Muslims willing to blow themselves up or to slit Israeli throats will continue to increase. That is savage. The Palestinian Authority propaganda of "Holocaust denial, racial slurs, anti-Jewish epithets and glorification of terrorists" is savage. Tell me again why the word "savage" is inaccurate. The targeting of civilians is savage. The relentless 60-year campaign of terror against the Jewish people is savage. The torture of hostage Gilad Shalit is savage. The bloody hacking to death of the Fogel family is savage. Munich was savage. The unspeakable torture of Ehud Goldwasser is savage. The tens of thousands of rockets fired from Gaza into Southern Israel (into schools, homes, etc.) are savage. The vicious Jew-hatred behind this genocide is savage. The endless demonization of the Jewish people in the Pali and Arab media is savage. The refusal to recognize the state of Israel as a Jewish state is savage. The list is endless.
Here is the latest from legal warrior David Yerushalmi to CBS/MTA:
From: David Yerushalmi
Subject: Ad submission by AFDI/Pam Geller to CBS/MTA
Dear Mr. Marcus:
My client forwarded to me your email (below) wherein you state the ad copy AFDI submitted violates Section 5.05( C )(2) of the MTA’s Advertising Standards. Presumably you are referring to the word “savage” in the copy. My client is not prepared to alter its ad copy, and specifically not this word. We hereby demand a formal and final determination by close of business on Friday, September 22, 2011. A non-response by that deadline, given the time MTA-CBS has already had to review this copy, will be understood as a formal and final rejection.
Let me be unambiguous. First, the word savage cannot violate the standard you cite because it is patently not demeaning an individual or group of individuals on account of “race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation.” It mentions neither individual nor group and it intends none. Specifically, it is a word in context describing behavior qua behavior. Certainly you recognize that the ad copy does not mention an individual or group of individuals falling within one of the Standard’s rubrics (i.e., “race, color, etc.”). Finally, as a word describing behavior, it quite obviously applies not to any one of Israel’s enemies in any one geographical location, but all her enemies who behave savagely. Precisely because it is a noun describing behavior (i.e., savage behavior), it cannot be demeaning because an individual or group who does not behave savagely is not captured by the word; an individual or group that does behave savagely, is similarly not demeaned because we presume men act in the way they intend and a savage intends to act savagely.
Finally, a word about the Standard itself and the way MTA/CBS is applying it. There can be no question that once the MTA opened up this forum for political advocacy, it cannot use the “demeaning” filter to decide which political speech it accepts and which it does not. The application in this context of the Standard, especially here where as noted above, there is absolutely no reference to one of the categories (i.e., race, religion) but rather to behavior (i.e., savage behavior), the MTA’s rejection of the word “savage” is most assuredly a viewpoint-based censorship, in violation of the First Amendment. If the MTA, as the organ of state authority, now understands itself in the business of toning down and even modifying the viewpoint of the speakers it has invited into this public forum, it has manifestly and egregiously crossed the line clearly drawn by the First Amendment and the jurisprudence promulgated thereunder.
David Yerushalmi
Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C.:
Washington, D.C., New York, California & Arizon
==========================================================================
David Yerushalmi was responding to the official rejection of our pro-Israel ad:
Date: September 21, 2011 3:36:26 PM EDT
To: Pamela Geller <pamelageller@gmail.com>
Subject: CBS Outdoor
Dear Pam,
Thank you for your ad submission; in its current version, we do not approve this ad for the reasons set forth below and the MTA’s Director of Real Estate has concurred pursuant to Section 5.05 ( C )(2) of the MTA’s Advertising Standards. (A copy of those Standards is attached.). Regarding issue-oriented advertisements we do not approve or disapprove such advertisements for display of the MTA’s transit system based upon the viewpoint expressed. As you may know, we have recently accepted for display paid advertisements submitted by organizations on the subject of U.S. military aid to Israel and the Palestinian Authority’s relationship with Israel that have expressed strongly competing views.
Your proposed ad, however, contains language that, in our view, does not conform with the MTA’s advertising standards regarding ads that demean an individual or group of individuals as set forth in Section 5.05(B)(11) of the MTA’s Advertising Standards.
We invite you – as provided in Section 5.05 ( C )(3) of the Advertising Standards – to discuss with us possible revisions to your ad; should you choose to submit a revised ad, we will review that submission promptly. Alternatively, if you do not want to consider any possible revisions, you may ask us to obtain from the MTA its formal and final determination of whether this ad conforms with its Advertising Standards.
Regards,
Howard
Kenneth S. Pober
CBS Outdoor
Vice President
New York Market Manager
212-297-6415
Previously at Atlas: It's Official: Pro-Jihad MTA Bans Pro-Israel Ads, Runs Anti-Israel Ads
VIDEO: Pamela Geller on WPIX News: MTA Bans Pro-Israel Subway Ads, Approves Anti-Semitic Ads
NY Post: "Blogger battling MTA over ads give agency ultimatum"
CBS Outdoor/NYC Transit to Run Antisemitic Ads
UPDATE: Listen to the Sheik.
