Israel v. Palestine - Free Speech on American Public Transport
Readers occasionally make comments to me that free speech in America is dead. If you still believe this, take a look at this shocking ad I saw plastered on a Metro bus in Washington, DC this morning. I could hardly believe it. The advertisements are reportedly the work of Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, controversial founders of the organizations "Stop Islamization of America" (known as "SIOA") and the American Freedom Defense Initiative. Geller also operates a website and blog called "IslamicJewHatred.com" here. To see a statement like this on transport buses in ultra-liberal and culturally diverse Washington, DC is surprising. Yet this appears to be the shock value tactic of this organization, who also ran similar ads in New York City. The banner below became the subject of a heated court battle with New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority system last year, when SIOA attempted to buy ad space which was rejected on the ground the advertisement contained disparaging content.
SIOA sued the NY Transportation Authority on freedom of expression grounds and won. The ads eventually appeared in NYC subway stations. The organization currently is engaged in a similar battle with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority who refused this same ad.
Geller and SIOA's position in such matters is that they "aggressively seek to defend our nation's Judeo-Christian moral foundation in courts all across the nation." She even went as far as organizing protests against Park 51, a mosque/community center located two blocks from the World Trade Center. Speaking of September 11, SIOA also ran this ad in NYC.
On the other side of the battle, anti-Israeli groups like "American Muslims for Palestine" plaster anti-Israeli sentiments in NY subway stations.
Another pro-Palestine banner placed in NY subway stations.
From a legal and civil liberties perspective, it's all quite interesting. I've said numerous times that I advocate for all freedom of expression, no matter how controversial or idiotic the statement. It's the reason I've never once banned any troll from my blog, although I've been tempted to do so on many occasions.
Do I like seeing political advertisements during my already stressful morning commute? Absolutely not, but it's the price you pay to live in an open, free society. Having recently visited this region of the world, I can say the sentiments expressed in these ads are very real and palpable. It's part of the reason for my delay in writing my travel reports. The issues dramatically impact the daily lives of all people - both Israelis and Palestinians - and realistically I see no peaceful resolution during my lifetime. It's almost surreal to visit a country where a separation wall is still in place, where someone's designation on their identity card determines which borders they can cross, and how they are treated to a large extent.
I've never once seen a political ad of this nature in the Moscow metro or on a Russian bus. Do they exist? Should they? Discuss.