The MTA is about to get socked with a federal lawsuit for refusing to run ads on city buses that attack Islamic fundamentalists.
Political activist Pam Geller plans to file the suit in Manhattan on Wednesday, claiming the MTA violated the rights of her American Freedom Defense Initiative when it disallowed ads that read “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah,” followed by “That’s His Jihad. What’s yours?” beside a picture of a man with a scarf covering his face.
The “killing Jews” line is attributed to a Hamas TV station.
The pro-Israel group recently paid $100,000 to plaster six ads denouncing jihad on more than 100 buses and in the city’s busiest subway stations.
The MTA green-lighted five of the ads, but said this week that it decided to deny the one in question because it would “imminently incite or provoke violence,” because of Mideast turmoil.
A federal court ruled in 2012 that under the First Amendment, the MTA can’t block an advertisement, even if it is controversial. But the agency can stop those that might cause violence or harm its operations.
“It’s simply unconstitutional to prevent Ms. Geller or the AFDI from publishing or displaying this kind of political speech on the grounds that someone might misinterpret it’s message,” said David Yerushalmi, the group’s attorney.
The MTA declined to comment.