M.T.A. Violated First Amendment Rights of Pro-Israel Group, Judge Says

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"A federal judge in Manhattan ruled on Friday that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority violated the First Amendment rights of a pro-Israel advocacy group when it rejected advertisements the group wanted to place on city buses because the agency said the ads contained demeaning language.

The group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, had wanted to place text-only advertisements that said, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man.”

Then, between two Stars of David, the advertisement said: “Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”

The transportation agency said that the ad violated its prohibition on advertisements that demeaned individuals or groups on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin and several other listed categories. The group was given the opportunity to revise the advertisement, but it refused, arguing that the “no-demeaning standard” was a violation of the First Amendment."

<snip>

"The group seeking to place ads is run by Pamela Geller, a conservative blogger and outspoken critic of Islam whose group ran ads on city buses in 2010 that opposed construction of an Islamic center near ground zero."

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/nyregion/mta-violated-rights-of-pro-israel-group-judge-says.html

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Horrible. That language is insulting.

[Mosby]

2. Sure it is

and it's protected by the 1st amendment.

[shaayecanaan]

8. This is pretty extraordinary really...

as I read it, pretty much anything you could put on a sign at a rally, you can put on the back of a bus - and the transport authority has to say yes.

Such as: "In the struggle between the oppressed and an apartheid, racist state, support the oppressed. Support Palestine."

As far as I can see, you can't allow one without allowing the other. Im not sure if the Transport Authority will want to deal with that. More likely than not, they will simply contract out the ad space to a consulting company who has far more leeway to say yes or no.

[azurnoir]

3. Good enough

then ProPalestinian ads should be allowed too, unless of course there is a different standard

[EleazarV]

5. Advocating terrorism is completely different

Free speech doesn't include yelling "fire" in a theatre. Similarly it does not cover advocating the genocide of the Jewish race, no matter how subtly and indirectly it might be done.

[azurnoir]

6. so you are claiming anyone that supports a Palestinian State is promoting

is supporting the genocide of "the Jewish race"?

[Scurrilous]

4. Palestinian settles NYC suit over 'Bruno' film

<snip>

"A Palestinian grocer portrayed as a terrorist in the movie "Bruno" has settled his slander suit against film star Sacha Baron Cohen and David Letterman, his lawyer said Thursday.

Ayman Abu Aita's "case is settled to the mutual satisfaction" of everyone involved, attorney Joseph Peter Drennan said. Court records show the case was designated settled and closed Wednesday.

Drennan wouldn't discuss the terms. Lawyers for Baron Cohen, Letterman and other defendants involved with the movie and Letterman's "Late Show" didn't immediately return calls.

In the 2009 comedy, Baron Cohen plays an Austrian fashion journalist aiming to make peace in the Middle East. He interviews Abu Aita, who's labeled in a caption as a member of the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

Baron Cohen discussed Bruno's encounter with a "terrorist" on Letterman's show on CBS.

A Christian and "a peace-loving person" who was living in the West Bank, Abu Aita has never associated with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade or any terrorist activity, his court papers said.

He went to the interview that appeared in "Bruno" thinking he was talking to a journalist about peace activism, his court complaint said. Instead, the movie spurred death threats against him, damaged his business and made him fear for his family's safety, the complaint said."

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57476541/palestinian-settles-nyc-suit-over-bruno-film/

[shaayecanaan]

7. I hope he took him to the cleaners...

I personally liked the Ali G show, but everything he's done since (making fun of gypsies, Muslims and just about every minority that crosses his path) while at the same time trying to wax lyrical about anti-semitism is pretty breathtaking hypocrisy really.