New Yorkers will have to get used to seeing posters with the words “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah” because a federal judge in Manhattan said Tuesday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was infringing on a pro-Israeli group’s First Amendment rights.
The ad shows a man wearing a scarf with the controversial quote, which is credited to “Hamas TV.” Under that, it reads “That’s his Jihad. What’s yours?” The American Freedom Defense Initiative sued the MTA after in October after they rejected the ad. The MTA believed that the ad could incite violence against Jews.
U.S. District Judge John Koeltl disagreed, ruling in favor of the AFDI.
The MTA “underestimate the tolerant quality of New Yorkers and overestimate the potential impact of these fleeting advertisements,” Koeltl ruled, reports The Washington Post. “Moreover, there is no evidence that seeing one of these advertisements on the back of a bus would be sufficient to trigger a violent reaction. Therefore, these ads — offensive as they may be — are still entitled to First Amendment protection.”
According to the New York Times, the judge also pointed out that similar ads were used in San Francisco and Chicago a few years ago without sparking incidents.
AFDI president Pamela Geller called the decision a “triumph of liberty and truth.” She plans to buy even more ad space, even though they will not have partners in the ad campaign.
AFDI’s ads are supposed to be a response to ones run by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. That group tried to change how Americans thought of the word “jihad” by showing nonviolent individuals and their personal goals.
Just before the October lawsuit, AFDI voluntarily pulled versions of the ad that would have featured an image of American journalist James Foley’s execution by ISIS.
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