Atlas Shrugs

Pamela Geller, American Thinker: Fighting for Free Speech in Detroit

American Thinker has my latest piece on the battle for free speech playing out in a Detroit courtroom:

Read the whole thing here:

Fighting for Free Speech in Detroit Pamela Geller, American Thinker

When I tried to put ads on Detroit buses offering help to Muslims threatened by their families or communities for leaving Islam (e.g., Rifqa Bary), Detroit's SMART transportation authority banned the ads. This wasn't surprising in view of the large Muslim population in the Detroit area, but it was a key free speech issue: Is it still legal in America to say something Muslims don't like and reach out to Muslims endangered by Islam's death penalty for apostasy? Isn't this country based on individual rights and equal protection for all?

So my organization, FDI, filed suit. Was free speech still free? I went to Detroit on Tuesday to make the case -- and to testify in my lawsuit against Detroit for infringing on my freedom of speech. It was another day at the circus in the upside-down world of the left; the only difference is that the real circus is far more entertaining, and the animals are far more intelligent.

My hearing in Detroit was entertaining on a buffoonish level. The SMART legal team twisted itself into Gordian knots, doing everything it could to avoid the free speech issues involved. I half-expected Avery Gordon, lead attorney for SMART, to deliver his closing in the shape of a human pretzel. Gordon was quite taken with himself and his lawyerly acrobatics. Though few shared his enthusiasm, he strutted like a rooster and danced like a lummox. His arguments resembled the first really popular computer game, "pong," bouncing all over the map.

First, Gordon contended that SMART denied my ads because they were "political speech." He made this the centerpiece of his case. He denied that the ads were religious in nature. Are these ads political?

But under cross-examination, Beth Gibbons, a witness for SMART, admitted on the witness stand that the ads were not denied based on content. End game. Badabing, badaboom.

Gibbons went on to say that the ads were refused because of the "controversy" over them when they ran in Miami. She said that she had seen an opinion piece against the ads written by the Miami Herald's Jaweed Kaleem, a shill for the unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood front group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Where did she see this piece? Get this: in the Department of Transit newsletter (online).

But the money quote from Gibbons was that the ad was rejected not because of its content. And Gordian-knot Gordon kept repeating that the viewpoint of the SMART authorities had nothing to do with the decision. So if it wasn't rejected for content, and none of their views, biases, and prejudices came into play, then why was it rejected?

Scenes from a Detroit Courtroom

I thought Atlas readers might enjoy the following observations from self described "Grateful "Girl-illas" Linda and Sue, who were in the courtroom when I testified Tuesday. I would call them "great-ful," I am grateful for their activism and patriotism:

SMART is as SMART Does .............

We were proud to be at the hearing in support of Pamela and her impressive legal team, and in support of the bedrock freedoms they are defending for all of us. We in Detroit are so grateful that Pamela, Robert Muise and David Yerushalmi invested so much of themselves into fighting to preserve our First Amendment rights, curiously being challenged by the SMART transit authority, while other major cities are allowing the identical ads to run on their buses.

Given what is at stake and the important legal ramifications of this case, we were appalled that none of the local news outlets saw fit to assign any of their reporters to cover the hearing, especially since they were all still at the same federal building following former Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick’s arraignment.

Judge Hood asked thoughtful follow-up questions that kept the trial focused on the important issues of the hearing. We were disheartened, however, that the (not so) SMART attorney stooped to launching a personal ad hominem attack against Pamela and the full scope of her work, attempting to discredit her while telling the judge that he hadn’t even bothered to check out the organizations/individuals behind the two other very controversial bus ad campaigns (an anti-abortion ad and a pro-atheism ad) cited often in the hearing as relevant precedents. Though Notso SMART attorney tried to put Pamela herself on trial, her unflappable equanimity and impassioned conviction to the sanctity of religious liberties and free expression carried the day.

After listening to the testimony of Ms. Gibbons from SMART who declared that there was nothing in the content of the Leaving Islam? ads that could be construed as political in nature, we are baffled as to what could have happened between the time SMART initially accepted the ads/ payment and SMART’s subsequent decision to reject the ads. We can’t help but wonder if any outside organizations or influences brought pressure to bear on SMART to deny the SIOA ad campaign. Ms. Gibbon’s only justification for SMART’s refusal to run the bus ads was her reference to a single unfavorable opinion piece originally published by the Miami Herald. It was our sense that the SMART team failed to establish how the content of the ad violated their own policies and practices. Upon requested questioning, Ms. Gibbons could not clearly identify what in the ad met their criteria for political speech.

In his closing arguments, Robert Muise eloquently made the case that free speech cannot be denied based upon the “whims” or “capriciousness” of government officials. We couldn’t agree more that a dangerous precedent would be set and a slippery slope traversed if government officials begin to impose “viewpoint-based” restrictions on the exercise of our enshrined First Amendment rights.

Detroit Lawsuit: Awaiting Judge Hood's Ruling

Another day at the circus in the upside-down world of the left; the only difference is that the real circus is far more entertaining and the animals are far more intelligent. I was sorry to miss another Bloomberg meaningless dog and pony show (landmarks hearing) in NYC for the Ground Zero mega mosque site. But Spencer did a wonderful job covering it and covering our back. Proud to know that hundreds stood up for the dead. 

My hearing in Detroit, OTOH, was entertaining on a different but still buffoonish level. The SMART legal team twisted itself into gordian knots. I half expected Avery Gordon, lead attorney for SMART, to do the closing in the shape of a human pretzel. Gordon was quite taken with himself and his lawyerly acrobatics. Though few shared his enthusiasm for himself, he strutted like a rooster and danced like a lummox. His arguments resembled the first really popular computer game, "pong," bouncing all over the map.

The first twenty minutes were spent with Gordon arguing that testimony be given from either me or SMART's witness Beth Gibbons, despite the fact that that was why we were there and why I flew halfway across the country.

When the judge denied that, "isn't that what we are here for?" ...... the games began.

First Avery contended that SMART denied my ads based on "political speech." He made this the centerpiece of his case. He denied that the ads were religious in nature. Are these ads political?

But under cross-examination Beth Gibbons (witness for SMART) admitted on the witness stand that the ads were not denied based on content. End game. Bah dah bing, bah dah boom.

Gibbons went on to say that the ads were refused because of the "controversy" in Miami, and she said that she saw a link to an opinion piece by unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked shill reporter, Jaweed Kaleem ...get this, in the Department of Transit newsletter (online).

But the money quote was -- the ad was not rejected on content. And Gordian knot Gordon kept repeating that viewpoint and/or that POV had nothing to do with the decision. So if it wasn't content and none of their views, biases and prejudices were considered, then what was it?

His political speech argument, it had no legs, so he ..... he attacked me (anti-jihadist!), FDI, my motives, my intent, blah blah blah, but not the merits of my case. He then went on to say, in his closing remarks, that he (SMART) did not care who was behind the ads, it mattered not (then why the ad hominem attack?). And further, he could not identify who was behind the anti-Gd ads they ran or the abortion ad they wouldn't run. Mind you, FDI, though viciously attacked, was not even on the ad. RefugefromIslam.com is. And what has FDI got to do with the ad anyway?

Gordian Gordan and I had a contentious back-and-forth on cross examination. He was wanting me to admit that FDI was a political organization, and hence the ad was political. I stated specifically that it was a human rights organization dedicated to freedom of speech (which is the political aspect of the organization) and religious liberty (religion). He did get pissed at me at one point and asked the judge to "admonish the witness." Heh.

Are you political or not?, he railed .............. both, I said.

And frankly, what does that have to do with the price of eggs in China or our bus ads?

I loved when he quoted my website, an Atlas reader (who knew?) and said, did you not say on your website today that you were coming here fully armed (here's what I actually wrote),

"Armed with hundreds of pictures of honor killing victims, Rifqa Bary's testimony, screenshots of facebook fatwas on apostates, and the actual death fatwa issued at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most important institution of islamic law in the Sunni world and the authority that approved the revealing English-language guide to the Sharia (Islamic law): Reliance of the Traveller. Reliance of the Traveller is a one-volume manual of Sharia. (The title implies that this is a handy compendium of Islamic law so that when you're on the road, you know how to behave in unfamiliar situations.)

I said, yes, absolutely. One should be fully armed and fight fiercely in defense of religious liberty and free speech, should one not? Is there anything more crucial? And he bellowed no, there's not. Sort of surprising himself, it seemed, that we were ....... agreeing.

Gordian Gordon railed about me in closing ............and referred to cases that frankly were not applicable.

Needless to say, my brilliant legal team, Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center (who made the closing remarks, steadfastly holding to first amendment protections -- superbly) and David Yerushalmi, who argued the case and got the stunning admission from Beth Gibbons, were a freedom lover's dream team.

Judge Hood will issue her ruling later this week on our injunction.
Stay tuned.

On a side note, a huge hug to Susan and Linda for welcoming me to Detroit and having me speak at their ZOA meeting (asking me at the last minute). They picked me up at the airport, took me to their event as soon as I landed, and then drove me to my hotel. Wonderful warriors, they came to the hearing as well, and I will post their impressions if they write them up.

It was a thoroughly exhausting and almost silly excursion. One has to ask why SMART is fighting this with such vigor. They are wrong. Categorically. And no matter the ruling, the transcript alone will make for knee slapping legal incredulity.

I will have more, but I have to be at CNN tomorrow morning for a debate with Ibrahim Ramey (Muslim American Society) on the Ground Zero Islamic Supremacist mosque at 6:30 am. My segment will be on at 7:40 am. If you are up, watch....

Freedom Bus Detroit Hearing Today: Fighting the Sharia in Court

Crucial Federal Court Hearing Tomorrow on Controversial "Leaving Islam" Bus Ad

ANN ARBOR, MI – Federal District Court Judge Denise Page Hood will hold a hearing  on Tuesday July 12, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. to determine whether refusal by the SMART bus authority to run a controversial paid-for ad passes constitutional muster. The “Leaving Islam” ad lists a web address and states, “Fatwa on your head?  Is your family or community threatening you?  Leaving Islam?  Got questions?  Get Answers!” ...Read More

Reporting from Detroit: Sharia city.

I came prepared for my hearing against the city of Detroit DOT and SMART. David Yerushalmi and the Thomas More Law Center will be representing me. Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center was at the same courthouse yesterday representing the four Christians arrested for handing out leaflets at a Muslim festival. Time to take our country back. 

Armed with hundreds of pictures of honor killing victims, Rifqa Bary's testimony, screenshots of facebook fatwas on apostates, and the actual death fatwa issued at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most important institution of islamic law in the Sunni world and the authority that approved the revealing English-language guide to the Sharia (Islamic law): Reliance of the Traveller. Reliance of the Traveller is a one-volume manual of Sharia. (The title implies that this is a handy compendium of Islamic law so that when you're on the road, you know how to behave in unfamiliar situations.)

It is a product of the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence, which is one of the four Sunni schools of Islamic law. It is all the more valuable because it often notes how the other schools, the Maliki, Hanbali and Hanafi, differ from Shafi'i rulings where there is a difference.

Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most respected academic institution in the Sunni Muslim world, certified in 1991 that Reliance of the Traveller conformed "to the practice and faith of the orthodox Sunni community." In other words, it is a reliable guide to the belief and practice of Sunni Islam.

Here is apostasy from Reliance:

• *2*Chapter O8.0: Apostasy from Islam (Ridda) @(O: Leaving Islam is the ugliest form of unbelief (kufr) and the worst. It may come about through sarcasm, as when someone is told, ``Trim your nails, it is sunna,'' and he replies, ``I would not do it even if it were,'' as opposed to when some circumstance exists which exonerates him of having committed apostasy, such as when his tongue runs away with him, or when he is quoting someone, or says it out of fear.) @O8.1
• When a person who has reached puberty and is sane voluntarily apostatizes from Islam, he deserves to be killed. @O8.2
• In such a case, it is obligatory for the caliph (A: or his representive) to ask him to repent and return to Islam. If he does, it is accepted from him, but if he refuses, he is immediately killed. @O8.3
• If he is a freeman, no one besides the caliph or his representative may kill him. If someone else kills him, the killer is disciplined (def: o17) (O: for arrogating the caliph's prerogative and encroaching upon his rights, as this is one of his duties). @O8.4
• There is no indemnity for killing an apostate (O: or any expiation, since it is killing someone who deserves to die). @O8.5
• If he apostatizes from Islam and returns several times, it (O: i.e. his return to Islam, which occurs when he states the two Testifications of Faith (def: o8.7(12) ) ) is accepted from him, though he is disciplined (o17). @O8.6
• (A: If a spouse in a consummated marriage apostatizes from Islam, the couple are separated for a waiting period consisting of three intervals between menstruations. If the spouse returns to Islam before the waiting period ends, the marriage is not annulled but is considered to have continued the whole time (dis: m7.4). 

Detroit DOT: Enforcing the Sharia (Islamic law) -- Lawsuit Status

I gave Atlas readers a sneak peek into the recent developments in our lawsuit against the city of Detroit transit system for refusing to run our freedom ads, claiming they were political.

Islam is political? Well, then it rightly loses its "religious freedom" protections and status, and becomes the domain of legally subversive foreign law (the shariah -- Islamic law).

As you may know, Robert Spencer and I and our group the Freedom Defense Initiative are suing the city of Detroit for refusing our religious liberty bus ads -- the same ads that were dropped and then allowed on free speech grounds in Miami, and which ran without legal challenge in New York City. Detroit Transit (SMART), in its argument filed with the court defending its restriction of our freedom of speech (and effective endorsement of the Islamic death penalty for apostates), argued that it routinely disallowed ads in these categories:

1. Political or political campaign advertising. 2. Advertising promoting the sale of alcohol or tobacco. 3. Advertising that is false, misleading, or deceptive. 4. Advertising that is clearly defamatory or likely to hold up to scorn or ridicule any person or group of persons. 5. Advertising that is obscene or pornographic; or in advocacy of imminent lawlessness or unlawful violent action.

So they were saying that our ads offering help to those threatened for leaving Islam were political. They were effectively admitting that Islam was political -- an admission that has immense implications (far beyond, I'm sure, what Detroit imagined). If Islam is political, it ought to be subject to the restrictions and scrutiny to which all political entities in the U.S. are subject. This could open the door to a reevaluation of the unthinking assumption that Islam is simply a religion like Judaism or Christianity, and transform anti-terror efforts that are now hamstrung by the all-too-common idea that all that goes on in mosques is purely "religious."

But in the meantime, we have to win our lawsuit, which is a free speech issue, and as such as far-reaching implications of its own. Our ace lawyers, David Yerushalmi (www.davidyerushalmi.com and www.davidyerushalmilaw.com) and Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center have drafted the following legal brief replying to the city of Detroit's claims. They point out the inconsistency of the city's position: "Defendants seek to distance themselves from their own 'equal access' speech policy, which was likely drafted to comport with the First Amendment, so as to retain for themselves the unconstitutional power to censor messages they dislike. Consequently, Defendants’ evidence and arguments demonstrate a fundamental misapprehension of the First Amendment and its limits on the power of government to suppress free expression."

Read it all, carefully: it's a masterpiece of legal argumentation and a ringing defense of the freedom of speech. And one thing is certain, no matter what the outcome of our Detroit suit: the freedom of speech, our foremost bulwark against tyranny, is going to need a lot of defending in the years ahead.

Here's the doc: Download TRO Motion Reply Filed

BTW, the bus ads hit the streets of San Francisco this week.  NYC, Miami, San Fran .....more coming soon, too.

Geller Vs Detroit: City Declares Islam is "Political" -- Gamechanger!

New York City Freedom Bus

Freedom bus, Miami Beach

In the coming weeks I will be testifying in the suit I have filed against the city of Detroit for violation of free speech for refusing our pro-freedom bus ads that are currently running in New York City and Miami.

I thought Atlas readers and SIOA members would get a charge out of Detroit Transit's (SMART's) reply to the suit. They are calling the ads ....political. So is the city of Detroit a political system? Are they finally admitting that Islam is a religious, legal, political, economic and military system?

My lawsuit contends that we were denied the right to express a religious freedom message in a public forum created by the defendants based on the content and viewpoint.

Here are excerpts: Download SMARToppositiontoMPI

This case involves a political organization’s attempt to promote their political agenda by placing anti-Islamic political advertisements on SMART buses that operate throughout southeast, Michigan. Such political advertisements are in violation of SMART’s established, consistently applied and viewpoint neutral advertising policy, and, as such, were properly prohibited.

Ah, yes, but they have run other ads of this nature. So what are they saying? They support the killing of apostates?

Further, in the creation and administration of this policy, SMART has established and maintained a nonpublic forum in which political advertisement was never allowed.

How is help for Muslims in trouble a political message?

Detroit Transit (SMART) is trying to wrongly convert a viewpoint restriction (not allowed) into a content restriction (permitted in some cases). For example, an anti G-d ad is purely religious, but my ads and the pro life ad (which didn’t oppose abortion, but only sought to provide Jesus to those who had had an abortion) are political. Further, they put me in the category of inviting ridicule/scorn. If anyone is the object of ridicule and scorn, it's the Detroit transit system.

More on the political nature of our religious liberty ads:

..... Offeror shall not allow the following content: 1. Political or political campaign advertising. 2. Advertising promoting the sale of alcohol or tobacco. 3. Advertising that is false, misleading, or deceptive. 4. Advertising that is clearly defamatory or likely to hold up to scorn or ridicule any person or group of persons. 5. Advertising that is obscene or pornographic; or in advocacy of imminent lawlessness or unlawful violent action.

[...]

B. Throughout the term of the Contract SMART has actively enforced this policy and has rejected all advertising deemed to violate the Authority’s content policy. For example, SMART has previously rejected proposed advertisements deemed to violate the policy which were deemed to be political (Ex. B),.....

It seems also that Rachel's Vineyard had a very good case. How was their ad "political"? And why were ads promoting atheism OK? The atheist ads ran in a month-long run campaign on a dozen Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) buses. They show the words “Don’t believe in God? You are not alone” superimposed on an image of blue sky and clouds.

On or about May 12, 2010, Plaintiff Geller contacted CBS Sales Manager Robert Hawkins regarding the potential posting of advertisements on SMART buses. The advertisement proposed by Defendants states “Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? LEAVING ISLAM? Got Questions? Get Answers! RefugeFromIslam.com”. (Ex. D). As set forth in the Contract, having determined that the advertising was a likely violation of the Contract’s content policy, CBS contacted SMART requesting a final determination. (Hawkins Affidavit, Ex. E). SMART Marketing Manager Beth Gibbons reviewed the proposed advertisement and discussed it with staff giving it careful consideration. SMART determined that Case 2:10-cv-12134-DPH-MJH Document 12 Filed 07/02/10 Page 6 of 19 7 the proposed advertisement violated at least two enumerated prohibitions within the content policy. Specifically, it was found that the proposed advertisement was in violation of Contract Section 5.07(B)(1), as political advertising, and Section 5.07(B)(4), as likely to hold up to scorn and ridicule a group of persons. SMART therefore rejected the proposed advertisement. 

So Islam is political? That's a game changer, folks.

You have to love how "SMART Marketing Manager Beth Gibbons reviewed the proposed advertisement and discussed it with staff giving it careful consideration" ..... where was the careful consideration for apostates?

Geller Vs. Detroit

New York City Freedom Bus

Freedom bus, Miami Beach

I wanted to give Atlas readers an update on the SIOA/FDI lawsuit against the city of Detroit. Despite the crying need for resources for Muslims under threat for leaving Islam, the city of Detroit refused to run our freedom campaign on the Dearborn and Detroit buses. Instead they caved to Islamic supremacism and violated their own ad guidelines of freedom of speech.

Here is guideline number one for the government agency that handles bus ads:

Advertising Guidelines

As a governmental agency that receives state and federal funds, SMART is mandated to comply with federal and state laws.  First Amendment free speech rights require that SMART not censor free speech and because of that, SMART is required to provide equal access to advertising on our vehicles. 

Muslims have responded overwhelmingly in favor of the ad campaign (here). And according to the Washington Times:

A public educator in Dearborn, speaking on the condition of anonymity owing to fear of retribution, said there is a climate of fear in the Detroit area's Muslim community.

"The fear is palpable. I know there are things I am 'not allowed' to say. A discussion of religion with a Muslim person is often prefaced by the statement, 'Dont say anything about the Prophet [Muhammad].' In free society, open and honest conversation is not usually begun by a prohibition. Threats and intimidation are just part of life here."

[...]

The Dearborn educator, however, said the ads serve a positive purpose.

"This kind of campaign and Americans support of it could assure these frightened Muslims that they have the rights that every other American has, that they will be protected, not abandoned or exposed to their leaders should they act upon their desire to be free," the teacher said.

So our law suit is moving forward for freedom of speech, religious liberty and equal rights for all men (no special rights for special classes).

Anyone against these bus ads supports the death penalty for apostates. It's just that simple. These girls would have gotten on the bus.

The islamic supemacists tried to shut us down in Miami (our first city) -- four hours after they went up, un-indicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked, Muslim Brotherhood front CAIR demanded they be pulled -- and they were. We started legal proceedings and the cowards at Miami Dade transit were overruled. Our ads were back up with an additional 20 buses at 50% off :)

In New York City, the little bus campaign that could became the news story of the week, with press coverage that included the NY Times, Daily News, FOX news, CBS, ABC news, NBC, CNN ......every one.  It was a huge story overseas as well. If it were an atheist or Jews for Jesus campaign, no one would have batted an eyelash. The media storm is indicative of how sick our society has become, and how far down the rabbit hole we have crawled.

The Detroit lawsuit is big news as well -- check out the Canadian press, the Washington Times, The Daily News (who calls it "pure Muslim hate." I call it pure Muslim love).

I thought you should know we are vigorously pursuing it, and we will prevail. We will win. 

Here is a pdf of the complaint prepared by the inestimable David Yerushalmi, my counsel and expert on sharia law and the courageous Thomas More Law Center, keeper of the flame..

Motion for Temporary Restraining Order. It has been served with the complaint/summons and now everything is filed with the court.

The Defendants will have 21 days to respond to the motion and they will likely ask the court (we would not object) to allowing them to put off answering or responding to the complaint until the court rules on the TRO. If the court grants the TRO, they’ll have to post the ads and then litigate on the merits. 

Motion: Download Motion for TRO exhibits filed:

ISSUE PRESENTED Whether denying Plaintiffs the right to engage in private political and religious expression in a public forum created by Defendants based on the content and viewpoint of the message causes irreparable harm to Plaintiffs sufficient to warrant temporary/preliminary injunctive relief.

 

Click for the Motion for TROw_exhibits_filedor the exhibits and the suit against Detroit.

I, Pamela Geller, make this declaration pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746 based on my personal knowledge:

1. I am an adult citizen of the United States and a resident of the State of New York.

2. Robert Spencer and I co-founded American Freedom Defense Initiative (“FDI”), which is incorporated under the laws of the State of New Hampshire. I am the Executive Director of FDI, and Mr. Spencer is the Associate Director. Mr. Spencer and I engage in political and religious speech through FDI’s activities, including FDI’s religious freedom bus and billboard campaigns.

3. The State of New Hampshire incorporation documents for FDI were filed on or about April 4, 2010, and a Certification of Incorporation dated April 5, 2010, was promptly issued by the New Hampshire Office of Secretary of State. See a true and correct copy of the Certificate of Incorporation attached as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by this reference.

4. FDI’s specific objective is to go on the public relations offensive when legal, academic, legislative, cultural, sociological, and political actions are taken to dismantle our basic freedoms and values. One of our cherished freedoms is religious liberty, which includes the freedom to change one’s religion without fear of retribution and harm. 5. FDI achieves its objective through a variety of lawful means, including through the exercise of its right to freedom of speech under the U.S. Constitution.

6. One example of FDI’s exercise of its right to freedom of speech is the sponsoring of religious freedom bus and billboard campaigns. To that end, FDI purchases advertising space on bus lines operated in cities throughout the United States to express various political and Case 2:10-cv-12134-DPH-MJH Document 8-2 Filed 06/17/10

religious messages. FDI’s religious freedom message states as follows: “Fatwa on your head? Is your family or community threatening you? Leaving Islam? Got questions? Get answers!” The message also includes the following website address: RefugeFromIslam.com.

7. Beginning on or about May 3, 2010, FDI sponsored a religious freedom message (hereinafter “Advertisement” or “Advertising”) to be displayed on Miami-Dade County Transit buses running throughout the City of Miami for one month. See a true and correct copy of the Advertising attached as Exhibit B and incorporated herein by this reference. The Advertising ran on the Miami-Dade County Transit buses for the full one-month period.

8. Prior to running the Advertising on the Miami-Dade County Transit buses, FDI entered into an advertising agreement with CBS Outdoor acting as the advertising agent for the Miami-Dade County Transit (“CBS-FDI Agreement-Miami”). See a true and correct copy of the CBS-FDI Agreement-Miami attached as Exhibit C and incorporated herein by this reference.

9. Beginning on or about May 17, 2010, FDI sponsored the Advertising to be displayed on New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) buses for a period ending on June 13, 2010.

10. Prior to running the Advertising on the MTA buses, FDI entered into an advertising agreement with CBS Outdoor acting as the advertising agent for the MTA (“CBSFDI Agreement-NYC”). See a true and correct copy of the CBS-FDI Agreement-NYC attached as Exhibit D and incorporated herein by this reference. The CBS-FDI Agreement-NYC is identical in form and has the identical “Terms and Conditions” as the CBS-FDI Agreement- Miami. Case 2:10-cv-12134-DPH-MJH Document 8-2 Filed 06/17/10

11. On or about April 30, 2010, FDI entered into an advertising agreement to place the Advertising on Detroit Department of Transportation (“DDOT”) buses with CBS Outdoor acting as the advertising agent for the DDOT (“CBS-FDI Agreement-Detroit”). See a true and correct copy of the CBS-FDI Agreement-Detroit attached as Exhibit E and incorporated herein by this reference.1 The CBS-FDI Agreement-Detroit is identical in form and has the identical “Terms and Conditions” as the earlier agreements for Miami and New York City. Pursuant to the CBS-FDI Agreement-Detroit, FDI paid CBS Outdoor $4,801.50. 12. On or about May 7, 2010, CBS Outdoor representative Robert B. Hawkins informed me by email that the DDOT rejected FDI’s Advertising. He did not explain why the DDOT rejected the Advertising, but instead told me to contact Natalie Starks at the DDOT for clarification.

13. After several emails, on May 12, 2010, Ms. Starks informed me that the DDOT refused to run the Advertising and provided no explanation. See a true and correct copy of an email thread between Mr. Hawkins and me and then between Ms. Starks and me attached as Exhibit F and incorporated herein by this reference. 14. After the DDOT rejection, I researched other bus lines in the Detroit metropolitan area and learned that the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (“SMART”) also operates bus lines in the Detroit area. I was confident SMART would run the Advertising for two reasons. First, SMART had previously permitted advertising promoting atheism. See Exhibit G attached to this declaration and incorporated herein by this reference. And second, SMART, as a governmental agency, had published its own “Advertising Guidelines,” which 1 The handwritten dates of “5/28/10” appearing at the signature lines of the CBS-FDI Agreement-Detroit are scrivener’s errors and should have been dated April 28, 2010. Case 2:10-cv-12134-DPH-MJH Document 8-2 Filed 06/17/10

includes the following free speech policy statement: “First Amendment free speech rights require that SMART not censor free speech and because of that, SMART is required to provide equal access to advertising on our vehicles.” True and accurate copies of SMART Web pages setting forth SMART’s “Advertising Guidelines” and its “Policies and Regulations” are attached to this declaration as Exhibit H, which is incorporated herein by this reference. The free speech policy statement is also available at http://www.smartbus.org/Smart/mktg/advertise.aspx. 15.

On or about May 12, 2010, I emailed Mr. Hawkins and asked him to modify the CBS-FDI Agreement-Detroit to have the Advertising placed on SMART buses running in the Detroit metropolitan area for the existing contract price, which FDI had already paid.

By return email the next day, Mr. Hawkins confirmed the request and that he had sent our Advertising copy to his contact at SMART for approval. Our Advertising request met all of the procedural requirements for running an advertisement on the SMART buses. See a true and correct copy of the emails between Mr. Hawkins and me switching the Advertising from DDOT to SMART attached as Exhibit I and incorporated herein by this reference. 16. On or about May 24, 2010, Mr. Hawkins emailed me and informed me that SMART refused to run the Advertising. He suggested I contact Beth Gibbons of SMART, who is his primary contact there, and he provided me with Ms. Gibbons’ email address. I immediately emailed Ms. Gibbons and asked her: “What was it about the ad that was ‘not approved’ and what would have to be changed? Please let me know so we can get this campaign on the road.” See a true and correct copy of the emails from Mr. Hawkins to me and from me to Mr. Hawkins and Ms. Gibbons attached as Exhibit J and incorporated herein by this reference.

Filed 06/17/10 17. I have heard nothing from Ms. Gibbons or from any other SMART representative. The only information that I received from SMART, as relayed to me through Mr. Hawkins, was that SMART rejected my Advertisement, and thus rejected my religious freedom message. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed this 15th day of June 2010.
Case 2:10-cv-12134-DPH-MJH Document 8-2 Filed 06/17/10 Page 7 of 7
EXHIBIT A
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Help good folks in their dangerous escape - help us buy a bus.

Muslims Respond Overwhelmingly to SIOA "Leaving Islam" Bus ads

Thousands of people have responded to the "Leaving Islam" bus ads. We have helped hundreds to get help and have increased the number of safe houses for Muslims leaving Islam. I thought Atlas readers should see this latest missive.

Reaching those in need:

Dear Pamela,

I want to commend you for the work that you do on Atlasshrugs2000.typad.com. I think that you are doing a wonderful job exposing corrupt liberalism and most of all Islamic fundamentalism. My name is Omar Khalid. I am a 32 year old American Pakistani male. I was born and raised in the United States of America. I know I have the same first name as the terrorist who attempted to blow up New York City, Faisal Shehzad. He is a low form of life as far as I am concerned and I am not proud that I have the same name he does. I think you are doing a great job protesting the mosque being built at ground zero. I also love how you honor the memories of the women killed in honor killings. It makes me sick and angry every time I hear about honor killings in the news. After doing so much research and listening to testimonies of former muslims, I can no longer see myself practicing a false and backward religion that encourages the killing of so many people. Many muslims come to America, escaping dictatorships only to set up Islamic dictatorships here in the US.

I have many reasons for leaving Islam. Mohammed married a 9 year old girl named Aisha as well as the daughter of his adopted son Zaid. According to Islam Mohammed is the highest of all creation. I do not see him as the highest of creation, especially after he married a little girl and killed so many people. He is actually the lowest of creation as far as I am concerned. There is a saying by Mohammed that " who ever leaves his religion, kill him." This is not a peaceful religion to me. It is a cult of death, responsible for so much bloodshed and violence in the world. I know that the world would be a much better place without it. I have been studying religions in secret. I live in tyhe United States where there are many muslims. Here in the US,  I am privileged to know Nathan Ketterling, who is an attorney and Pastor John Hagee's son in law. My parents are muslims as well. I have 2 other sisters but they are not practicing muslims. Every time I have read the Koran, I always asked myself, is there a point to this? The Koran does not make any sense as it is full of errors and contradictions. I know Islam is not from God. I definitely do not buy into the 72 virgins concept, as Heaven is the ultimate presence of God, where no sex would take place.

I think that you are doing a great service to humanity by having the ad "leaving Islam?" on buses. Many groups and organizations were wrong to complain against it. CAIR is a terrorist supporting organization. Former muslims such as Walid Shoebat and Nonie Darwish have greatly inspired me to look deep within myself. I admire Riqfa Barry and her courage to stand up for what she believes in. It would be a dream come true to meet former muslims such as Nonie Darwish and Walid Shoebat. It would also be an honor to meet you and share my testimony with you. I believe that all countries should follow Israel's example on how to deal with muslim terrorists.

I wish I had someone to tell my testimony too and help others who are considering leaving Islam. I would like to be in a support system of former muslims such as myself. I know I need to take a spiritual journey. I know it will not be easy as so many of my relatives are Islamic fundamentalists. My parents are not extremist but they do know muslims who devoutly practice their religion. I want you to know that you are doing a great job on your blog as well as your youtube videos. I support you 100%. Let me know if there is something I can do to help you in your cause.

May God bless you and be with you in your mission. You and your website are inspirations to people who love freedom.

Best Wishes and Regards,

Omar Khalid

The New York Times Liberal Fascism Opposes Freedom Bus Ads, Shows Itself to be in Favor of Killing Apostates

In a shocking display of ignorance and dhimmitude, The New York Times sanctions sharia law and, inevitably, the killing of apostates. They dismiss, with a wave of the hand, the thousands of honor killings and apostate killings as small and inconvenient. In other words, not a problem.

Did the Times call me to get a statement or ask questions? No. Their shoe leather must be in pristine shape.

How dare they? How dare they render one life more important than another, or an ideology more important than its victims?

What is important in the article is not to defame or insult. What is important is the self-enforcement of sharia law -- scrubbing the awful truth from their narrative. Erudite savages.

1. The bus ads are to defend religious freedom.
2. To oppose bus ads is to oppose religious freedom.
3. We want to protect people from violent intimidation and threats.
4. By opposing the bus ads, the NY Times shows itself to be in favor of killing apostates.

The Times worries that our bus ads will "subvert" the "five million to seven million Muslims estimated to live in the United States [who] have behaved like others of Crèvecoeur’s new American men." Really, how? If they are not devout believers in Pure Islam (original Islam), how could our little bus campaign "subvert" them and turn them into ................violent jihadists? This is what passes for critical thinking at the Times.

The ads are not for the millions the Times is worried about. If they are indeed "Crèvecoeur’s new American men," they are believers in religious liberty. These ads are for the thousands who are in trouble.

Did the Times do any investigative journalism, like the Washington Times, and speak to former Muslims, or those leaving Islam? No. Here's what the Washington Times found in Detroit, where our ads have been rejected (and where we are suing based on freedom of speech):

A public educator in Dearborn, speaking on the condition of anonymity owing to fear of retribution, said there is a climate of fear in the Detroit area's Muslim community.

"The fear is palpable. I know there are things I am 'not allowed' to say. A discussion of religion with a Muslim person is often prefaced by the statement, 'Dont say anything about the Prophet [Muhammad].' In free society, open and honest conversation is not usually begun by a prohibition. Threats and intimidation are just part of life here."

[...]

The Dearborn educator, however, said the ads serve a positive purpose.

"This kind of campaign and Americans support of it could assure these frightened Muslims that they have the rights that every other American has, that they will be protected, not abandoned or exposed to their leaders should they act upon their desire to be free," the teacher said.

Even the NY Times headline is misleading. No one was demonizing the adherents of Islam. The freedom buses were meant to provide information to those in trouble, like victims of spousal abuse, domestic violence, etc.

The Danger of Demonizing Adherents of Islam NY Times

NEW YORK — They are not exactly ubiquitous, but according to The Daily News, 40 New York City buses are rolling these days with an unusual and, to be frank, dubious advertisement emblazoned on their sides.

“Fatwa on your head?” the ad reads, in a message apparently aimed at Muslims who want to convert to another religion or simply not to be Muslims anymore. “Is your family or community threatening you?”

The ad is promoting a Web site, RefugeFromIslam.com, where, presumably, New York Muslims whose lives have been threatened because they want to convert can turn for help, and the site contains links to other sites with various anti-Islamic purposes. “Muslims Against Sharia,” for example, aims “to educate Muslims about dangers presented by Islamic religious texts and why Islam must be reformed.”

[...]

Probably that is not about to change drastically; and yet, those bus ads are a small sign that Islamic extremism and the often intemperate and panicky reaction to it are creating a kind of vicious cycle in which the traditional interethnic truce and live-and-let-live civility of American life could be casualties.

The ads, which, according to The Daily News, will run for a month, were created by a 51-year-old conservative blogger named Pamela Geller, who heads a group called Stop the Islamization of America and sees as its task to expose the supposedly retrograde and repressive nature of Islam itself.

“There ought to be ads also for people who want to leave Islam,” she told The Daily News. “Their lives are threatened.”

Are they? There is no doubt that in any number of Muslim countries, apostasy is indeed a crime punishable by death.

Maybe, in the privacy of Islamic American society, there are similar threats. But certainly Ms. Geller’s various Web sites offer no evidence of them, despite a strenuous effort to do so. The site listed on that bus ad refers vaguely to an “honor killing” that took place 20 years ago in Arizona. It also reprints a news account from 2007 about a Muslim man living in Queens who stabbed his wife to death, a terrible crime, but there is no indication that this particular killing was perpetrated because the wife no longer wanted to be Muslim.

This is deliberately inaccurate. I have an entire category devoted to Islamic honor killings. How dare the NY Times dismiss the lives of these girls, these women away with a wave of their leftist hand. Who are they to determine whose lives matter and whose don't? Liberal fascism. 

Rifqa Bary, Christian convert out of Islam, escaped from her devout Muslim household after her father threatened to kill her if she "had this Jesus in her heart." She has been dogged and persecuted by her family's CAIR-appointed attorneys and a sharia-friendly law enforcement 'judicial system.

 

November 2, 'o9: Noor Almaleki is Dead Run over by her Muslim father for being too "westernized", she lingered for days.

 

Police in Kingston, Ontario, charged three Montrealers, Mohammed Shafia, his wife Tooba and their 18-year-old son Hamed with a shocking crime. The trio are accused of mass murder, the killing of three of the couple's teenage daughters, including their eldest child, Zainab, 19, (above left, in a photo taken in 2007 in the United Arab Emirates with her friend Zubaida Siddique) and Rona Amir Mohammed, a 50-year-old woman who was Shafia's secret, first wife.

Honor killings on the rise in the West. The media gags itself and throws women under the bus. 

Tulay Goren: Schoolgirl 'was tortured by her father' before she was murdered in Muslim honour killing

Notice the man's face is protected and the victims of these "honor" murders are always beautiful.
 The depraved murder Önder B. und Müjde

 

 "Canada" Honor Killings of Four Muslim Girls in Canada: "The girls were not allowed to go out alone, for example, neither to the cinema nor to meet friends and they were not able to dress freely"

Feroz Mangal and Khatera Sadiqi were shot  by Khatera's brother as they sat in a parked car at the Elmvale Acres shopping plaza .

 

Sisters: Yasmine (right) and Sabrina Larbi-Cherif were allegedly killed by Yasmine's boyfriend Mohammed Ali

Ayman Udas Poet and Artist 

Gulsen P: GERMANY: HONOR KILLING VICTIM'S FACE "BEATEN BEYOND RECOGNITION"

UK: Muslim Husband Convicted of Murdering His Abused Wife....... Sabina Akhtar

Aasiya Hassan had her head chopped off by her "moderate" Muslim husband

Sahar Daftary UK

 

Lidia Motylska, 19,  Leeds

Amina and Sarah, the Said sisters  - raped and murdered by their Muslim father - still at large.

Amina & Sarah Said. "Please don't tell my Father!"

 

Sandeela Kanwal, 25, was found dead on her bedroom floor last July. Her father told police he strangled his daughter with a bungee cord because she wanted a divorce.

 

Morsal Obeidi (stabbed to death 23 times by her brother - for "turning away from her family").

Hatin Surucu Germany Muslim brothers  gunned her down for adopting Western ways.

Banaz Mahmood UK

Aqsa Parvez Canada -- lies in an unmarked grave despite our relentless ongoing efforts to right that terrible wrong.

Caneze Riaz, 39, and her four daughters, Sayrah, 16, Sophia, 15, Alicia, 10, and Hannah, 3 UK (Muhammad Riaz killed his wife and four daughters by throwing petrol over them as they slept and igniting it.)

Sweden

 

Uzma Rahan, 32,and sons, Adam 11, and Abbas, eight, and six-year-old daughter, Henna

10 women beheaded in Iraq

Samaira Nazir UK

Hina Salem Italy ("Mohammed Saleem cut his daughter’s throat because she refused an arranged marriage and instead wanted to integrate into Italian society".)

Methal Dayem, a 22-year-old Cleveland State student, USA.

Sazan Bajez-Abdullah Germany

Rudayena Jemael with her son and killer Salim Israel.

Hesha Yones UK (hacked to death)

Burned Alive  A Victim of the Law of Men Souad

Ibtihaz Hasoun Israeli Muslim

Fadime Sahindal Sweden

Zahida Peeveen at 29, before the malicious attack by her husband. At the time of the attempted honor killing, she was six months pregnant. After attack: WARNING GRAPHIC

Ghazala Khan Denmark

 

The killing of Ghazala Khan in Denmark by her brother may be the only instance where an 'honour' killing has been photographed while being perpetrated. This  picture was captured on cell phone camera and shows the woman's brother aiming the gun at his sister, lying on the ground. Her fiancee, also seen, was wounded, but survived. The killing was planned by her entire family, and Pakistani taxi drivers were used as spies to spot her and alert her family.

As a 13-year-old girl in Turkey, Rojda was raped, then forced to marry her
rapist under Islamic law. Her face was mutilated by her "husband's" family
when she refused to prostitute herself after he was imprisoned for raping
another child.

Dua Khalil, 17 Iraq

Rim Abu Ghanem 19 (Dr. Suliman Abu Ghanem, a 33-year-old pediatrician at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, who along with his three brothers decided to murder his sister for refusing an arranged marriage) Israel

1/3 of the women murdered in Jordan are a result of Islamic "honor" killing. And yet I could not find one picture of a murdered girl in Jordan.

"It was a brutal scene. One victim's head was nearly cut clean off," an official is quoted as saying. (here)

And the thing is, this is the end - the final act, the culmination of the subjugation, oppression, violent abuse of women in Islam. The terror that precedes the murder is almost unimaginable. Living in fear, every day, living in fear of physical and mental abuse and still, standing up and living their own lives -- only to be murdered for it.

Sabia Rani 19  UK (not only did four members of her husband's family do nothing to help her, they turned a blind eye as he continued the beatings and ultimately murdered the helpless young woman at the house they all shared).

Shafilea Ahmed UK more here

Teenager 'honour killing' girl made dramatic plea for help before she died

Ramla: Woman killed in front of her children

Israel: Ramla: 18-year-old shot dead

Australia Virgin Murdered in "Honor" Killing

Israel: Clever Enough to Play Dead

Randa Abdel Qader: Stomped, Suffocated, Stabbed, Dad walks free

 

Sharia against women:

Still, even those of us mystified and disturbed by the sway of radical jihadist Islam ought to recognize that, with an infinitesimal number of exceptions, the five million to seven million Muslims estimated to live in the United States have behaved like others of Crèvecoeur’s new American men, more interested in getting ahead in their new country than in nurturing ancient conflicts and prejudices.

"Leaving Islam" Freedom Ads in Wall Street Journal

Amazing .....if it were any other religion it wouldn't even register. What happened to religious freedom?

Pamela Geller, Big Journalism: Dhimmi MSM Stenographers Get Talking Points from Hamas-Linked CAIR

Dhimmi MSM Stenographers Get Talking Points from Hamas-Linked CAIR

Thirty little buses in New York City…my, how they roll. Through our organization Stop Islamization of America, Robert Spencer and I have placed ads on New York City buses, offering help to Muslims wishing to leave Islam. Our ads ran previously on buses in Miami, but in New York they've received international notice. The religious liberty bus ad campaign was covered in the last few days by every major network: ABC, NBC, CBS (New York), CNN and FOX, as well by Associated Press, Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, Britain’s Daily Mail, Russian television, and many more--too many news outlets to list here.

It’s no surprise that most mainstream media outlets that have covered the story have just repeated talking points from the unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood front, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). AP said: “some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.” Which Muslims are saying that? Farther down in the article we find out:

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ads were based on a false premise that people faced coercion to remain with Islam. She said Muslims believe faith that is forced is not true belief. “Geller is free to say what she likes, just as concerned community members are free to criticize her motives,” Ali said.

 

Geller has a history of speaking out against Muslims, and the ads are “a smoke screen to advance her long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry,” Ali said.

While we hear that “some Muslims” believe this, we don’t hear in this AP story about any Muslims who think otherwise. So is AP saying that the unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked CAIR is the best representative of Muslims in America? Is AP actually saying that Muslims in the U.S. are haters, extremists, and terror-tied? Islamic Sharia law is very clear: apostasy is punishable by death. Why does CAIR equate being pro-freedom with being anti-Muslim? Is AP saying that Muslims in America don’t support religious freedom? Wow.

The New York Daily News, meanwhile, offered up more pure derangement from CAIR in its story about how Detroit’s SMART bus system, in violation of their own guidelines, refused to run our ads: “Detroit bus system rejects ‘Leaving Islam?’ ads as ‘pure anti-Muslim hate.’“ (We’ve filed suit against the SMART system over this.) It seems as if CAIR is writing Daily News headlines and copy--there’s a reason why the Daily News is third in the New York market. Why don’t these shills for Islamic supremacists step back and think? It wasn’t SMART that called the ads “pure anti-Muslim hate,” it was Hamas-linked CAIR’s Dawud Walid, who said of the ads: “It’s a purely anti-Muslim hate issue.”

I don’t know about you, but I think CAIR is engaged in apostate hate.

The Daily News "investigative reporters" trolled Google in their research on me and exposed the blockbuster revelation that I once made a video while wearing a bikini at the beach. The Daily News said it was “from the surf of Israel” -- uh, it was Florida. They have not gotten one fact right. And that was the whole of my resume as far as the Daily News was concerned: bikini vlogging.

The intrepid reporter went on to claim that the Miami bus system at first rejected the ads. Wrong again. They were up and running when the hate sponsors at CAIR threatened and bullied Miami-Dade Transit into taking the ads down. But they went right back up when I declared that I would fight for free speech, and announced preparations to file suit.

In the Daily News story, Walid calls 1.5 billion Muslims “a minority group” --I’d say the apostates who live in fear of their lives from Muslim thugs that CAIR never says anything about are the minority group.

CAIR wants to keep us out of Detroit because there is a crying need for our religious liberty ads in that area, which is heavily populated by Muslims. The Washington Times (a real newspaper that actually does genuine reporting) spoke to people in Detroit, and one teacher in Dearborn said:

The fear is palpable. I know there are things I am ‘not allowed’ to say. A discussion of religion with a Muslim person is often prefaced by the statement, ‘Don't say anything about the Prophet [Muhammad].’ In free society, open and honest conversation is not usually begun by a prohibition. Threats and intimidation are just part of life here. […]

 

This kind of campaign and Americans support of it could assure these frightened Muslims that they have the rights that every other American has, that they will be protected, not abandoned or exposed to their leaders should they act upon their desire to be free.

And that is the reason for Hamas-linked CAIR’s ugly, irrational fury. But what’s the mainstream media’s excuse for not sticking up for this vulnerable, endangered minority: apostates from Islam?

FOX News: Geller VS cair

I was on FOX news tonight. Kimberly Guilfoyle was subbing (thank gawd) for Geraldo the clown. They had me on to discuss the 911 mega mosque at Ground Zero, and who was my adversary? Niwad Awad, Hamas supporter and founder of the unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked, Muslim Brotherhood front CAIR.

Awad was quoted as saying at Barry University “I am a supporter of the Hamas movement.”

How can you tell Niwad Awad is lying? His lips are moving.  And that the mosque is all about "freedom on religion." Yes, CAIR's position of freedom of religion was best illustrated in their vile response to the freedom buses and persecution of Rifqa Bary.

Worse yet, he has the audacity to say that 911 had nothing to do with Islam.

Awad wrote in the Muslim World Monitor that the 1994 trial which resulted in the conviction of four Islamic terrorists who had perpetrated the previous year's World Trade Center bombing was “a travesty of justice.” Notwithstanding the confessions of the terrorists, Awad said: "There is ample evidence indicating that both the Mossad [Israel’s intelligence agency] and the Egyptian Intelligence played a role in the explosion."

In a 1994 interview with newsman Mike Wallace, Awad was asked if he supported the “military undertakings of Hamas,” to which he replied: “The United Nations Charter grants people who are under occupation [the right] to defend themselves against illegal occupation.” That same year, Awad declared at a Barry University meeting, "I am a supporter of the Hamas movement.”

In June 2001 Awad participated in a protest outside the State Department and the White House, condemning U.S. support for Israel’s allegedly repressive government. In conjunction with this demonstration, several organizations -- including CAIR, IAP, American Muslims for Jerusalem, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the American Muslim Council, and the Muslim American Society -- released a statement that read: “Before there can be any lasting peace in the region, America must finally come to terms with the real sources of violence, namely: 1) The brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, 2) The continued expansion of settlements, 3) The denial of the right of return for Palestinian refugees, [and] 4) The billions of American taxpayer dollars that help finance Israel's occupation. Any other course of action is a recipe for unending strife and instability.”

In September 2003, Awad and CAIR Chairman Omar Ahmad were invited to testify at hearings held by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security; both men declined to testify.

In an August 2006 interview on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, Awad suggested that suicide bombings are understandable attempts to address political injustices and do not have any inherent connection to radical Islam. Referring to the writing of political scientist Robert Pape on the topic, Awad stated: “[Pape] found out that [suicide terrorism] has more to do with occupations and fighting injustice than religion.” (more here)

'Pure anti-Muslim hate,' Shrieks Unindicted Co-Conspirator, Hamas-Linked CAIR of Freedom Campaign, Daily News Runs It As Headline Attributes it to Detroit Transit

More pure derangement from unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood front CAIR. Worse, it seems as if is they are writing Daily News headlines and copy (there's a reason why the Daily News is third in this market.)

Why don't these shills for Islamic supremacists step back and think? Their headline blares, Detroit bus system rejects 'Leaving Islam?' ads as 'pure anti-Muslim hate.' I don't know about you, but the headline sounds more like apostate hate. And it wasn't SMART that said "pure anti-Muslim hate," it was Hamas- linked CAIR.

The Daily News investigative reporters trolled google in their research on me and exposed the blockbuster revelation of  bikini commentary "from the surf of Israel" -- uh, it was Florida -- and they have not gotten one fact right. That was the whole of my resume at the NY Daily Blues, bikini vlogging.

The intrepid reporter went on to claim that the Miami bus system at first rejected the ads. Wrong, they were up and running when Islamic supremacist, unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked hate sponsor CAIR threatened and bullied them to take the ads down. But they went right back up when I said I would fight for free speech.

Unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked CAIR's Walid calls 1.5 billion Muslims "a minority group" -- I'd say the apostates who live in fear of their lives from thugs like CAIR are the minority group.

CAIR wants to keep us out of Detroit because there is a crying need in the area largely populated by Muslims. The Washington Times (a real newspaper that actually does real reporting) spoke to people in Detroit, and one teacher in Dearborn said:

The Dearborn educator, however, said the ads serve a positive purpose.

"This kind of campaign and Americans support of it could assure these frightened Muslims that they have the rights that every other American has, that they will be protected, not abandoned or exposed to their leaders should they act upon their desire to be free," the teacher said.

And that is the reason for Hamas-linked CAIR's ugly, irrational fury.

Detroit bus system rejects 'Leaving Islam?' ads as 'pure anti-Muslim hate.' Daily News

Motown has no use for the anti-Muslim ads plastered across the sides of buses in New York City.

Detroit's SMART bus system has rejected the button-pushing placards that read "Fatwa on your head? Is your community or family threatening you? Leaving Islam?" - and direct Muslims to a Web site urging them to leave the "falsity of Islam."

"It's a purely anti-Muslim hate issue," Dawud Walid of the Council on American-Islamic Relations told the Detroit News on Friday.

"The SMART bus company, or any bus company, should not be used to marginalize a minority group."

Defenders of the ads, dreamed up by Manhattan-based right wing blogger Pamela Geller and the New York-based Stop the Islamization of America, say it's a free speech issue and they have sued.

"Americans have a right to know the truth; Islam is a religion of intolerance and violence," said Michigan lawyer Richard Thompson, who filed the suit.

"Christians, Jews and other non-Muslim minorities are persecuted in every country where Islam dominates."

The MTA has not tried to remove the 40 ads, which Geller said cost her group $10,000 for a one-month run, because they do not violate agency advertising guidelines.

In April, the Miami bus system at first rejected the ads but relented when Geller's group threatened to sue.

A leader in the fight against the proposed mosque near Ground Zero who has Tea Party ties, Geller has been branded a bigot by CAIR and other groups.

Pig Flying Moment: Journalist Actually ....... Practices Journalism, Finds Fear in Muslim Community

"This kind of campaign and Americans support of it could assure these frightened Muslims that they have the rights that every other American has, that they will be protected, not abandoned or exposed to their leaders should they act upon their desire to be free," the Dearborn teacher said.

There is a story today in the Washington Times on the SIOA freedom bus ad campaign. This bus ad campaign has been covered by every major network, ABC, NBC, CBS (NY), the LA Times, FOX, CNN, Russian Television, UK fleet street, the Daily Mail ..........too many news outlets to list here.

Today, in the Washington Times, Michal Elseth wrote a news story and actually did...... research. SHOCKA! The reporter sought out Muslims who might speak openly and honestly about and safe leaving Islam. No other media outlet thought to look at the desperate struggle of apostates. I asked Lou Young of CBS (whose news report CAIR is running), but he wanted me to turn over people. I would never do that. He is blissfully uninformed.

It is shocking what Elseth, interning with the National Journalism Center, turned up about apostates, and what a liar unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-tied CAIR's Walid is. But he knew my ads were rejected in Detroit and was confident that SMART transit would not be running them. I wonder who the thugs strong armed.

Detroit transit sued for nixing 'Leaving Islam?' ad by Michal Elseth THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A bus-ad campaign that seeks to offer resources to those considering leaving Islam already has stirred up controversy in Miami and New York, but its next city may create the most fireworks - Detroit, the U.S. metropolitan area with the heaviest concentration of Middle Easterners.

The Detroit-area bus authority has refused to run the ads from Stop Islamization of America, an organization headed up by conservative activist and anti-jihad blogger Pamela Geller, prompting SIOA to file a federal lawsuit Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Mrs. Geller said the transport authority's refusal to run her ads violates her First Amendment right of free speech, and she will take the lawsuit to the Supreme Court if necessary.

"It is against the law, and I tell you, those ads will go up whether they like it or not," Mrs. Geller said.

SIOA initially encountered a similar refusal in Miami, but Mrs. Geller said a lawsuit prompted the transport-authority there to relent in less than 24 hours.

Several calls to the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation, which operates the bus system serving Detroit and two surrounding counties, were not returned Thursday.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Michigan, said he expects that even if the ads do run in Detroit, they will not elicit any response besides puzzlement. The Detroit area, centering on Dearborn, is home to a quarter-million Muslims, whom Mr. Walid does not expect to react favorably to the presence of SIOA's ads in their city.

"If she's planning to put those Islamophobic ads in Detroit, she's wasting her time," Mr. Walid said.

The Detroit area also has a large Arab and Middle Eastern Christian population, centering on suburbs north of the city proper.

Mrs. Geller said SIOA began its national city-by-city ad campaign in response to bus ads in Florida inviting people to convert to Islam.

[...]

Part of the conflict centers on whether Muslims are free to leave Islam without retribution, and whether their families will punish or kill them for conversion.

One such case that has made national headlines in the U.S. involves 17-year-old Rifqa Bary, who fled her parents' Ohio home to stay with a Florida Christian minister after she converted. In the ensuing custody and foster care disputes, her Muslim parents deny that the girl will be harmed if she returns home.

Abdul Rahman, an Afghan citizen, was arrested in 2006 for converting to Christianity there, and members of his family asked prosecutors to seek the death penalty. But the international outcry over Mr. Rahman's case, and the fact that the Afghan government was installed by the U.S. invasion - plus doubts about the case and Mr. Rahman's sanity - combined to prompt the court to release him.

The consensus view among Muslim jurists worldwide is that apostasy, unless mitigated by such factors as mental illness or duress, is punishable by death. Mrs. Geller cited a fatwa, or ruling point on Islamic law, issued by the authoritative Al-Azhar University in 1978, that said: "This man has committed apostasy; he must be given a chance to repent, and if he does not, then he must be killed, according to Shariah [law]."

Mr. Walid denied Mrs. Geller's claims, though he provided no authoritative citations, and attacked Mrs. Geller's character.

"She's a well-known anti-Muslim bigot," he said. "She makes no distinction between extremist Muslims and mainstream Muslims."

Mr. Walid said that although there have been a few cases of violence against Muslims who convert away from the religion, there is no retribution for those who choose to leave Islam.

"People are free to leave Islam or any religion at any time. This is the United States of America," he said.

But a public educator in Dearborn, speaking on the condition of anonymity owing to fear of retribution, said there is a climate of fear in the Detroit area's Muslim community.

"The fear is palpable. I know there are things I am 'not allowed' to say. A discussion of religion with a Muslim person is often prefaced by the statement, 'Dont say anything about the Prophet [Muhammad].' In free society, open and honest conversation is not usually begun by a prohibition. Threats and intimidation are just part of life here."

CAIR's denial of the dangers of apostasy are part of the reason behind Mrs. Geller's campaign, which she defined as a religious-freedom issue.

"We're not encouraging people to leave Islam," she said.

Whether or not the ads actually encourage apostasy, the furor elsewhere already have received a considerable amount of negative attention from American Muslims.

"The ads are to serve a purpose - to incite Islamophobia," Mr. Walid said. "The average person here will see them for what they are."

The Dearborn educator, however, said the ads serve a positive purpose.

"This kind of campaign and Americans support of it could assure these frightened Muslims that they have the rights that every other American has, that they will be protected, not abandoned or exposed to their leaders should they act upon their desire to be free," the teacher said.

Here is the fatwa, proof that death "is a very normal part of Islamic law for apostasy and for every muslim its an honor to CLEAN the umma if Rifqa is dead".

Obama describes Al-Azhar University this way: "For over a thousand years, Al-Azhar has stood as a beacon of Islamic learning, and for over a century, Cairo University has been a source of Egypt’s advancement." Here is the actual fatwa issued at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most important institution of islamic law in the sunni world, and where Obama made his speech to the Muslim world. (More on Obama's speech here and here.) Fatwa committee concerning the case of a man who converted to Christianity: "Since he left the Islam, he will be invited to express his regret. If he does not regret, he will be killed pertaining to rights and obligations of the Islamic law."

Update:  Check out Newsmax

SIOA FREEDOM BUSES SAIL ACROSS THE OCEAN

The thirty little  buses that could.....  have gone transatlantic. The Freedom buses hit the UK. Ask yourself, why is this such a giant story? Perhaps because the UK suffers an epidemic of Islamic honor killings, as well as apostate issues.

Check out the fear that devout Muslims "might bomb buses." Got that? Religious freedom might incite Islamic violence.

'Fatwa on your head?'  Controversial adverts that help Muslims abandon Islam appear on New York buses Daily Mail, UK

A conservative activist has sparked controversy after running a series of adverts on New York buses offering information to people who want to leave the Islamic faith.

The adverts, entitled Leaving Islam?, points readers to a website called RefugefromIslam.com and will run on at least 30 city buses for a month.

Pamela Geller, who leads an organisation called Stop Islamization of America, said the adverts were meant to provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith.

Adverts: These posters are appearing on at least 30 buses which travel through all five of New York's boroughs

She said: 'It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom.

'It's not targeted at practicing Muslims. It doesn't say "leave", it says "leaving" with a question mark.'

Ms Geller said the adverts cost $8,000 (£5,500), which was contributed by the readers of her blog Atlas Shrugs and other websites.

Similar adverts have run on buses in Miami and she said more were planned for other cities.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials said the adverts were reviewed and did not violate the agency's guidelines.

Spokesman Kevin Ortiz said: 'The religion in question would not change the determination that the language in the ad does not violate guidelines.'

All adverts which feature on New York buses are screened by the MTA.

Last month, Miami-Dade Transit removed them from 10 buses after deciding they 'may be offensive to Islam', according to the Miami Herald.

But the agency decided to reinstall them after a review by the county attorney's office.

Religious freedom: The posters are appearing on New York buses but critics say they are based on the misconception that people are coerced into remaining in Islam

Transit spokesman Clinton Forbes said: 'Although they may be considered offensive by some, they do not fall under the general guidelines that would warrant their removal.'

Courts have ruled that the First Amendment requires Americans to put up with 'a lot of unenlightened and objectionable messages', according to Glenn Smith, a professor at California Western School of Law.

Eugene Volokh, an expert of constitutional law at UCLA School of Law, said the adverts could leave some Muslims reluctant to ride the bus.

There could also be a risk that some extremist groups might bomb the buses, although that possibility wouldn't limit free speech rights, he said.

The agency has received no complaints since the adverts went up on May 14, the MTA said. The buses with the posters on pass through all five boroughs of the city.

Council member Robert Jackson, himself a Muslim, said: 'I think this is a campaign by the extreme right, those that are against the Muslim religion.

'Quite frankly I would think the average New Yorker would take it for what it's worth.'

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said they were based on a false premise that people face coercion to remain with Islam.

She said Muslims believe faith that is forced is not true belief.

'Ms Geller is free to say what she likes just as concerned community members are free to criticise her motives,' she said.

Ms Geller has a history of speaking out against Muslims, and the adverts are 'a smoke screen to advance her long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry,' she added.

Ms Geller denied she had a problem with Muslims, and said she was working to 'maintain the separation of mosque and state'.

She is among those speaking out against the building of a mosque and Islamic cultural centre near Ground Zero.

SIOA FILES RELIGIOUS LIBERTY LAWSUIT AGAINST GOVERNMENT

This is still America and we mean to keep it that way. Hat tip to our founding fathers.

Stop Islamization of America is filing suit against SMART, the government agency that handles advertising for bus ads in Detroit, for refusing to run our religious liberty bus ads. SMART's guidelines guarantee the freedom of speech, and it is clear that our ads were refused because of politically correct dhimmitude and self-censorship for fear of the Muslim community in the Detroit area.

We'll be posting the complaint soon. Robert has more.

This is Strike a blow for religious liberty: make a donation to SIOA now, to help us pay for the costs of defending religious freedom in Barack Obama's America.

Donate to SIOA

UPDATE: Here is a pdf of the complaint prepared by the inestimable David Yerushalmi and courageous Thomas More Law Center, keeper of the flame. Read the lawsuit - I posted it after the break. It is a beautiful case for freedom of speech. The language sounds like music

SIOA FREEDOM BUS CAMPAIGN HITS LA TIMES

Thirty little NYC buses.....my, how they roll. Funny how the LA Times says that "Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda." It was CAIR that said that. So is the LA Times saying that the unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked CAIR is representative of all Muslims? Is the LA Times actually saying US Muslims are haters, extremists and terror tied? Wow.

Islamic (sharia) law is very clear: apostasy is punishable by death. Why does CAIR equate being pro-freedom with being anti-Muslim?

Leaving Islam? Bus ads in New York are offering help LA Times

Muslims are calling the ads — paid for by a conservative activist and the organizations she leads — a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.

New York —The questions on the ads aren't subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?

A conservative activist and the organizations she leads have paid several thousand dollars for the ads to run on at least 30 New York buses for a month. The ads point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com, which offers information to those wishing to leave Islam, but some Muslims are calling the ads a smoke screen for an anti-Muslim agenda.

Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to provide resources for Muslims fearful about leaving the faith.

"It's not offensive to Muslims; it's religious freedom," she said. "It's not targeted at practicing Muslims. It doesn't say 'leave.' It says 'leaving' with a question mark."

She said the ads cost about $8,000, contributed by the readers of her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and other websites. Similar ads have run on buses in Miami, and she said advertisements were planned for other cities.

Faiza Ali, of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said the ads were based on a false premise that people faced coercion to remain with Islam. She said Muslims believe faith that is forced is not true belief.

"Geller is free to say what she likes, just as concerned community members are free to criticize her motives," Ali said.

Geller has a history of speaking out against Muslims, and the ads are "a smoke screen to advance her long-standing history of anti-Muslim bigotry," Ali said.

Geller said she had no problem with Muslims, but was working to "maintain the separation of mosque and state." She is also among those speaking out against the building of a mosque and cultural center near the site of the former World Trade Center.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the ads had been in place since May 14 and were scheduled to come down in a couple of weeks. There are about 6,000 buses in the MTA fleet.

MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said all ads are screened. Most are reviewed by the company that handles the MTA's advertising opportunities, but some are sent to the MTA for ultimate approval.

Geller's ad was sent to the MTA for assessment, he said.

"We reviewed it and found that it did not violate the MTA's ad guidelines," he said.

The agency had received no complaints since the ads went up, Donovan said. The 30 or so buses with the ads pass through all five boroughs of the city.

"Tolerant" Daisy Khan on the Religious Freedom Bus Ads: "Ignorant"

Why doesn't Khan stop calling me names, and start calling out the jihadists?

The Jewish star in her office (on the bottom of the picture at right) was rich.

And while she calls me ignorant, she didn't refute, either here or on the Behar show, my charge that her husband, Feisal Abdul Rauf, said that our children and grandchildren would all be Muslim.  And that was OK with everyone.

WPIX TV: CONTROVERSIAL ISLAM ADS

NEW YORK (WPIX) - There is a controversial message on about 30 New York City buses that imply Muslims are forced into their religion and face serious retribution if they try to leave their faith.

"It is always hurtful when your entire community is judged by an action of a few," Daisy Khan, executive director for the American society for Muslim Advancement, told PIX 11 News.

Kahn said it's ridiculous to think there is any threat of harm or death in this city, or this country for anyone who wants to convert from Islam to another religion.

Conservative Activist and pundit Pamela Geller is responsible for the ads. She spent $8,000 she raised on her blog to pay for them and defends her actions.

"Just as there are ads to invite people to Islam there are people that are leaving islam whose lives are in jeopardy and we wanted to provide this service," said Geller.

The ad even has a website for that service.

The MTA has no plans to pull the banners and told PIX 11 News quote. "The ads were reviewed by the MTA, and we determined they did not violate the MTA's advertising guidelines."

Khan says she believes in free speech, but thinks the ads are divisive and along with their creator are tasteless.

"I think Pamela Geller is ignorant of who our community is, and she should take the time to understand that there are 1.5 billion muslims majority that has nothing to do with extremism," said Kahn.

Geller says she is not ignorant, that this is her life work, something she became dedicated to after September 11th.

"Who would be hurt by it?" Geller said. "if its not applicable to you its not applicable to you."