In “Dhimmi Officials Go Sharia-Compliant” in the American Thinker today, Pamela Geller discusses the furious reaction to her pro-Israel and counter-jihad ads from cringing public officials in San Francisco and New York State:
The brouhaha over pro-Israel ads I placed on buses in San Francisco and counter-jihad ads I put in train stations in towns just north of New York City just keeps getting larger. Some people just can’t stand it when others tell the truth.
On Friday, I received an e-mail from Peter Swiderski, mayor of the village of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, saying: “I wanted to share with you what our Board of Trustees sent to the entire village tonight.” What the mayor wanted to “share” was a statement about our billboard that states: “19,250 Islamic attacks since 9/11: It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.”
“While the Board respects everyone’s right to free speech,” they wrote, “we categorically condemn the bigotry and innuendo expressed by this billboard message. To tar a faith and its followers because of the actions of a few is deplorable, hateful and morally repugnant.” But actually, the Board is reading the idea that “all Muslims” support jihad terror attacks into my ad. That is nowhere in my message. They are the Islamophobes and racists, not I.
Do these politicians really believe that all Muslims support jihad? And if they believe it, why surrender so swiftly?
The Board asked residents of Hastings-on-Hudson to write to the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) expressing their “dismay” that our ads were not deemed “hate speech.” The mayor and this Board of spineless wonders maintained their neutrality about the anti-Semitic ads that the MTA previously ran; they were silent about them. Notice how these clowns at one government entity have “complained” to another about private citizens exercising their constitutional rights.
I in turn wrote to Mayor Swiderski, asking him “why no such mailing went out concerning the vicious anti-Semitic ads. The anti-Israel ads were twice the buy (100 kiosks.) This speaks to a systemic, institutionalized anti-Semitism prevalent in your administration and among the Board. Care to comment?”
I did not, of course, hear back from Peter Swiderski.
Meanwhile, in an unprecedented move, the city of San Francisco is placing craven ads right next to every one of our pro-Israel ads on San Francisco Muni buses. Our ads say: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad.” The city’s disclaimers say: “Muni condemns statements that describe any group as savages.”
Muni spokesperson Paul Rose said: “Obviously we think the ads in place right now are repulsive and they definitely cross the line.” But, he added, “there’s not a lot we can do in light of the First Amendment.”
This is unprecedented in the history of outdoor advertising. This is the manifestation ofsharia in Western society. Any war on innocent civilians is savage. They are reading the idea that “all Muslims” or “all Arabs” want to destroy Israel into my ad. That is nowhere in my message. Here again, they are the Islamophobes and racists, not I….
