Opinion

Pink paint can’t stop it: Free speech always wins

The Issue: Pro-Israel, anti-jihad subway ads, which activist Mona Eltahawy defaced with spray paint.

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In The Post’s reporting of Egyptian-born activist Mona Eltahawy’s defacement of a subway ad, she claims that her destruction of the message is freedom of expression (“The Heckler Wore Pink,” Editorial, Sept. 28).

Nothing could be further from the truth. If you don’t like what someone else is saying, buy a sign of your own.

Instead, Eltahawy attempted to destroy it. That’s not free speech; that’s vandalism.

People like Eltahawy know it is easier to destroy speech they find offensive than to supply a convincing counterargument.

Also, nice pink blazer, Ms. Eltahawy. Try wearing it in Tehran.

Carl Joseph Calo

Eastchester

I fail to see why Muslims would be offended by the ad in the subway.

The ad does not denigrate the Muslim people but rather labels as savages any who partake in jihad, or, as we know it, a holy war against infidels. As an infidel, I have no use for savages who believe in jihad.

It is time for Muslims to direct their anger in the right direction.

Paul Alexander

Staten Island

I am a little confused. Is Eltahawy a jihadist?

The subway posters make no mention of Islam or Muslims whatsoever but are directed only at those who are committed to a holy war.

In my eyes also, they are savages.

Thomas Radcliffe

Kings Park

The subway posters are not anti-Muslim in general but specifically oppose those who would wage a jihad against Israel, such as fanatic Muslims bent on destroying Western civilization.

The Post, to my disappointment, headlined that the posters are anti-Muslim (“Anti-Muslim Posters Spark Subway Fears,” Sept. 25).

Those who would kill because of religious differences are savages. This does not apply to peace-loving Muslims, who should stand up and speak out against these fanatics. Certain fanatics would slaughter them, as well, if they did not obey sharia law.C. Eckstein

Brooklyn

The only people who should be insulted over the subway ads are savages. I don’t think moderate Muslims want to annihilate Israel and wipe every Jew off the planet.

Clearly, the ad is talking about the nut jobs who use the name of Islam to justify beheading or stoning non-Muslims, women and gays.

Perhaps Muslims’ outrage should be against the people who have hijacked their faith and used it to justify murder.

Whether you approve of it or not, freedom of speech is an American right. If we were somewhere in the Middle East, a sign like this may get your head separated from your body. That is savage.
Stewart Lara

Roosevelt Island

Eltahawy is wrong in any color. She used a tactic that she actually fought against in her native Eygpt.

She just can’t get the hang of freedom. Whether you approve of the poster or not, it is still someone’s right to display it. If you’re in disagreement, put up your own sign criticizing that poster. That’s how our system works.

If someone is making a soap-box speech about something you disagree with, get your own soap box and talk him down. You don’t get a pistol and shoot him down.

Rae Mackenzie

Hoboken, NJ

The ad says nothing about Muslims; it only says: Defeat jihad.

Javerea Khan, quoted in the Sept. 25 story, says it’s “a slap in the face to all Muslims.”

No, it’s only a slap in the face to the violent ones.John Bono

Brewster

Controversial ads have a right to be placed in subways.

What was said is true, for the terrorists are nothing more than animals, especially when it comes to the killing of women and children.

This ad does not attack mainstream Muslims, who are respectful of all people, but the fanatical extremists who are bent on destroying Israel and America’s free speech.

Frederick R. Bedell Jr.

Glen Oaks Village