Ads against Israeli war crimes canceled by Federal judge citing”threats” earlier this year

This ads could soon appear on Metro Detroit buses after a district court judge ruled that the SMART system could not deny them on the basis of First and 14th Amendment Rights.

DETROIT — A highly-controversial anti-Islam ad campaign has been approved on the basis of First and 14th Amendment rights in District Court in Detroit. But, in both Seattle, Washington and Ann Arbor, ads protesting Israel’s occupation and U.S. financial support have been denied in spite of First Amendment rights.

In Detroit, Judge Denise Hood granted a preliminary injunction against the Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority’s (SMART) original rejection of the anti-Islam ads by ruling that the SMART bus system violated the aforementioned Constitutional rights when it rejected the ads, which show messages such as “Fatwa on your head? Leaving Islam? Refuge from Islam.com. Got questions? Get answers!” 

The ads will be funded by the New York City-based American Freedom Defense Initiative group of which noted anti-Islam blogger Pamela Geller is the executive director. Geller is also the head of the Stop Islamization of America group, which is referred to as an anti-Muslim hate group by the Southern Law Poverty Center.

But in Seattle, a different situation unfolded in late February as federal judge Richard Jones ruled that county officials didn’t violate First Amendment rights, as argued by the American Civil Liberties Union, when they pulled contracted ads with the subject matter of Israeli war crimes on public buses. The judge did not rule simply by interpreting the Constitution, however. The ruling was handed down in large part because  “threats of violence and disruption from members of the public (from e-mails, phone calls, and anonymous photographs) led bus drivers and law enforcement officials to express safety concerns, and the court (found) that it was “reasonable” for county officials to cancel the ads, according to court documents.

The Seattle bus ads at left were pulled in large part because outside “threats” gave the county a “reasonable basis” to deny them according to court documents.

The ads, funded by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, had carried the following message: “Israeli War Crimes – Your Tax Dollars at Work” with pictures of Palestinian children standing by a destroyed house. They were meant to coincide with the Operation Cast Lead Attacks on Gaza in late 2008-early 2009 that left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians according to reports. SMAC has vowed to take the case further into the court system, however.

Also in Ann Arbor, activist Blaine Coleman said he submitted a request multiple times to pay for an ad with the message “Boycott Israel, Boycott Apartheid” and a skull and crossbones logo on it on Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) buses.

The ad was eventually denied placement based on portions of the AATA’s advertising policy on vehicles according to the Transit Advertising Group of Ann Arbor.

“The AATA, by permitting commercial advertising in or on its vehicles, shelters, informational material, buildings and benches, does not thereby intend to create a public forum,” the policy states. “AATA reserves the right to approve all advertising, exhibit material, announcements, or any other display and their manner of presentation.”

Also during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead against Gaza in 2009, an organization in Dearborn raised money to pay for billboards with messages that conveyed the effect of Israeli bombing campaigns on Gaza civilians. After much negotiation, CBS Outdoor rejected the ads on the basis that a community would be offended.

Meanwhile, the anti-Islam ads could appear on local buses soon according to The Detroit News, despite their initial rejection.

Victor Ghalib Begg of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan noted that the Qur’an says “there is no compulsion in religion” in The Detroit News and people can leave Islam freely if they wish.

An media spokeswoman from SMART had no further comment on the situation.