The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is considering an appeal of a decision by the U.S. District Court to allow a series of anti-Islamic advertisements to run across the Hudson Valley, southern Connecticut and New York City.
The ads, taken out by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, have sparked controversy from Westchester to San Francisco, with Judge Paul Engelmayer of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York ruling that under the First Amendment, they must be allowed to run.
The group”™s leadership includes an author who has previously taught seminars for multiple for U.S. government agencies on Islam and jihad.
AFDI paid $10,000 for the most recent series of ads, which read “19,250 Deadly Islamic Attacks Since 9/11/01 And Counting. It”™s Not Islamophobia, It”™s Islamorealism.” The ads are scheduled to be displayed on 75 recycling bins spread across 51 Metro-North stations from Aug. 6 to Sept. 2.
“MTA does not decide whether to allow a proposed advertisement based upon its viewpoint and the MTA does not endorse the viewpoint in this or any other paid advertisement,” said spokeswoman Marjorie Anders.
AFDI, led by Executive Director Pamela Geller and Associate Director Robert Spencer, is based in Manchester, N.H., and filed for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in May 2010.
Spencer is also director of the group Jihad Watch and author of 12 books, the latest being “Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry Into Islam”™s Obscure Origins.”
According to the group”™s website, Spencer has led seminars on Islam and jihad for a number of U.S. government and intelligence agencies, including the FBI and the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is a collaboration of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal and local law enforcement agencies.
FBI spokesman Paul Bresson said the agency invites speakers who possess a wide range of views.
“The FBI encourages our agents to seek out a variety of viewpoints. That does not mean we endorse or adopt the view of any particular author,” Bresson said. “Broad knowledge is essential for us to better understand and respond to the threats we face. Knowledge also helps us defeat ignorance and strengthen relationships with the diverse communities that we serve.”
Anders said the MTA was required to place the advertisements within 30 days of Engelmayer”™s ruling, adding that the authority is considering an appeal.
The MTA began a review of its policy of accepting non-commercial viewpoint advertisements even before the AFDI controversy, Anders said.
She said the policies are clearly stated in the MTA”™s contract with CBS Outdoor, which manages advertisements across all MTA properties, and that the policies are almost entirely governed by the Constitution and rarely come under the jurisdiction of state law.
Anders said the MTA has not gotten any feedback from other advertisers about the AFDI ads.
Other advertisement spots purchased by AFDI with both the MTA and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency have included messages such as, “In Any War Between The Civilized Man And The Savage, Support The Civilized Man ”“ Support Israel. Defeat Jihad,” with a second ad displaying the words “Why There?” between a picture of the Twin Towers and a Muslim community center proposed to be built near Ground Zero.
Geller said in an email that the AFDI campaign aims to “raise awareness of the nature and magnitude of the jihad threat.”
She said the group is planning a national advertising campaign, adding that Westchester was chosen as an initial location for the advertisements to be posted because anti-Israel ads had previously run here.
Town of Harrison Supervisor Ron Belmont said there is little that can be done independent of a subsequent court ruling.
“When it comes to the First Amendment, it”™s very difficult,” Belmont said. “I have to tell the residents the same thing ”“ it”™s a First Amendment issue.”
