Court OKs 'Kill Jews, draw close to Allah' ads on NYC buses

By Michael Haverluck

A district judge ruled that ads posted on New York City buses and subways reading, “Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah,” are acceptable under First Amendment protections.

Ironic and confusing to many, the ads were created by the pro-Israel group, American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI). They are run to parody ads launched in 2012 and 2013 by CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), which ran in several cities across the United States to promote so-called “peaceful” versions of Islam with the message, “#MyJihad is to build friendships across the aisle. What’s yours?” However, because of a disagreement between CAIR the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA), New York City residents never saw the ad.
Next to AFDI’s ad’s statement, “Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah,” is the image of a young man in a checkered headscarf with the words, “That’s His Jihad. What’s yours?”
The MTA allowed AFDI to purchase three of its four ads intended as parodies to CAIR’s ad campaign last summer, with the “Killing Jews” ad being the only one that was blocked. The dispute over the ad was taken to court.
Inciting awareness or violence?
Despite AFDI’s pro-Israel, anti-jihadist motivation behind the ads, MTA Security Director Raymond Diaz feared that the ad in question would promote violence, especially toward Jewish People.
“What matters is not AFDI’s intent, but how the ad would be interpreted,” Diaz contended, saying it could be read as a “call to violence” because the CAIR ads that it is mocking never ran in New York City.
Diaz attempted to shoot down AFDI’s argument — that the ads never incited hostilities in San Francisco or Chicago where they ran — by pointing out that New York City is a different story because it is “the prime terror target” and has experienced a higher “terrorist security threat” over the past couple of years.
United States District Judge John Koeltl ruled on Tuesday that he cannot stop the MTA from running the ads and threw out its arguments in AFDI’s favor, declaring that “the ads could not reasonably be considered an incitement to violence, even if someone didn’t understand them,” The Washington Post reports.
“The defendants admit that the actual intention of the advertisement is not to advocate the use of force, but to parody the CAIR ‘My Jihad’ campaign and to criticize Hamas and radical Islam,” Koeltl stated in his ruling. “However, they argue that a reasonable New Yorker would not read the advertisement this way, but would instead read it as advocating the killing of Jewish people … The defendants’ theory is thoroughly unpersuasive.”
Koeltl further justified his conclusion.
“[MTA officials] underestimate the tolerant quality of New Yorkers and overestimate the potential impact of these fleeting advertisements,” the district judge ruled. “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.”
AFDI President and Co-founder Pamela Geller was pleased with the decision about her ad, which includes a disclaimer at the bottom, stating that it is “a paid advertisement sponsored by AFDI” and that it “does not imply MTA’s endorsement.”
“This is a triumph for liberty and free speech,” Geller tweeted with the hashtags, “#freedom #victory #shariafail.”
Clarifying the purpose of the organization, AFDI’s website proclaims its bold approach to fight for democracy on its website.
“Our objective is to go on the offensive when legal, academic, legislative, cultural, sociological, and political actions are taken to dismantle our basic freedoms and values,” AFDI states. “AFDI acts against the treason being committed by national, state, and local government officials, the mainstream media, and others in their capitulation to the global jihad and Islamic supremacism, the ever-encroaching and unconstitutional power of the federal government, and the rapidly moving attempts to impose socialism and Marxism upon the American people.”
Fox News notes the effectiveness of AFDI’s messaging over the years.
“Whatever you make of the group, AFDI has been remarkably successful in bringing its message to America,” Fox News’ Michael E. Miller attests. “AFDI has filed at least nine lawsuits across the country, often against cities or their contractors that refuse to display their messages. Those messages include a poster depicting Adolf Hitler meeting with “the leader of the Muslim world” and demanding that the United States cut off all aid to Islamic countries.”
The main text of that ad reads, “Islamic Jew hatred; It’s in the Quran … Two-thirds of all U.S. aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop the hate.” Others read, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man,” and “Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
Despite its controversial and often inflammatory messaging, AFDI has consistently been able to get its word out to successfully challenge anti-Semitism and restrain Islamic infiltration.
“These posters have put AFDI on a crash course with both the MTA and Muslim advocacy groups,” Miller points out. “In 2011, the MTA refused to run the ‘savage’ ad because it was demeaning to Muslims and Palestinians. AFDI sued, and a federal judge later ruled that MTA’s non-demeaning standard violated the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. The ‘savage’ ads soon went up all over New York City.”
Celebrating AFDI’s latest victory over the “Killing Jews” ad, Geller announced her plans to keep the message going.
“With our NY win, our ads will make their debut on New York buses in the coming weeks,” Geller’s site announced AFDI. “We want to run 100.”