The media is falling all over themselves desperately trying to frame our counter jihad ads as "islamophobic."
Here was the statement I submitted to Jonathan Vigliotti of NBC News:
The ad is just stating a fact – that there have been over 19,000 jihad attacks since 9/11. How is it “Islamophobic” to point that out? It is “Islamophobic” and a real attempt to paint all Muslims as jihadists to suggest that all Muslims would oppose attempts to rein in the jihadists.I’m wondering why there was no comparable brouhaha when two vicious anti-Israel ads ran – nothing like the reaction there has been over a statement of real fact. There was no concern in the media about “hate speech” and incitement to violence against Jews by those dishonest messages. The actual story here is the systemic and institutionalized bias in the media.The truth is not offensive. The millions slaughtered in jihad – that is offensive to free men.
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner wants Metro-North to warn passengers that the ads could be upsetting and don't represent Metro-North's views or that of the community. Our ads are statements of fact. There have been over 19,441 deadly Islamic attacks since 911. Feiner wants to warn people of what, exactly? The truth? Why didn't Feiner react as viscerally when the same kiosks had vicious blood libels posted about Israel? Feiner is OK with anti-Jewish ads. His bias is showing.
Feiner says, "[Muslims] should not be discriminated against. The posters encourage hatred, discrimination and do not help the efforts to fight hate crimes." Feiner implies that all Muslims support jihad. Sounds like Feiner is painting all Muslims with the same brush. How islamophobic.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the NBC News reporter actually told me that the fact that 911 was in the ad was "hateful." I said, what could be more hateful than the largest and bloodiest attack on American soil in US history? We are supposed to scrub that from our history books now? We can't say 911 because that offends Muslims, too? Needless to say, that exchange didn't make it on the air. As a matter of fact, little of what I said made it on the air.
UPDATE: Here's Vigliotti's report: Anti-Islamic Ads Bring More Metro-North Controversy
Many call it hate speech, but the anti-Islamic ads are protected by the First Amendment
Riders on Metro-North's Harlem line are reacting to a new controversial greeting on train platforms throughout Westchester.
'It just seems out of place," said one commuter while while viewing the startling ads. "I think it's hateful."
The billboards, which read “19,250 Deadly Islamic Attacks Since 9/11/01 and counting. Not Islamophobia, It’s Islamorealism,” are the latest shot from the American Freedom Defense Initiative.
The controversial group first made headlines in New York for its fight against the so-called Ground Zero Mosque project.
The Metro North line has become the group’s new battleground because anti-Israel ads were recently posted at stations, ads claiming Israel turned Palestinians into refugees.The latest ads, according to the woman who bought them, are a blunt response.
"The ad is just stating a fact -- that there have been over 19,000 jihad attacks since 9/11," said Pamela Geller of the American Freedom Defense Initiative. "How is it 'Islamophobic' to point that out?"
While many riders say the poster is hate speech, U.S .courts consider it political speech, which is protected under the first amendment. Now local officials want the MTA to deliver a speech of their own.
"The MTA should denounce the ads. Another option is for them to give the money from these ads to organizations that fight hate crimes, like the anti defamation league," said Greenburg town supervisor Paul Feiner.
He emailed the MTA, but hasn't heard back. The MTA, in a statement to NBC 4 New York, said the agency does not reject ads based on controversy, but went on to say: 'The MTA does not endorse the viewpoint expressed in this ad or any of the ads that MTA accepts for display on its facilities.”
In a statement, the Anti Defamation League said: “We believe these ads are highly offensive and inflammatory. Pro-Israel doesn’t mean anti-Muslim. It is possible to support Israel without engaging in bigoted anti-Muslim and anti-Arab stereotypes.”
