Judge rules controversial ad is allowed on NYC transit
(The Christian Science Monitor) A federal judge in Manhattan ordered the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to display a controversial ad from a pro-free-speech group on buses.
The MTA declined to run the ad last year, saying that its message could incite violence. But U.S. District Court judge John Koeltl ruled April 21 that the ad qualified as protected speech and granted a preliminary injunction ordering that the transportation authority run it.
The advertisement is paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative and was meant to parody a campaign by the Council on American Islamic Relations called My Jihad. CAIR’s website states that the My Jihad campaign aims to “take back Islam from Muslim and anti-Muslim extremists alike.” The AFDI ad, meanwhile, shows a man wearing a scarf around his head. A quote to the man’s right attributed to “Hamas MTV” says, “Killing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah.” Below the quote the ad reads: “That’s His Jihad. What’s yours?”
