http://english.alarabiya.net
Friday, 21 September 2012

La Corte di New York approva la campagna pubblicitaria anti islamica per la metropolitana

Una campagnia provocatoria che equipara i mussulmani radicali con i selvaggi, è pronta ad essere eposta nel sistema metropolitano di New York, mentre violente proteste contro il film che ridicolizza il profeta Maometto dilagano in gran parte del mondo mussulmano. Una blogger conservatrice che guidò una campagna contro la costruzione di un Centro Islamico vicino a Ground Zero, ha ottenuto il permesso della Corte per pubblicare i suoi cartelli in 10 stazioni della metropolitana di New York Lunedi prossimo. Sui cartelli si legge: - In ogni guerra tra l'uomo civilizzato e il selvaggio, sostenete l'uomo civilizzato. Sostenete Israele. Sconfiggete la Jihad. –

I cartelli erano già comparsi sugli autobus di San Francisco nelle ultime settimane, spingendo alcuni artisti a deturpare gli annunci e rimuovere alcune delle parole, tra cui Jihad, o Guerra Santa, per rimpiazzarle con scritte del tipo Sconfiggi il Razzismo.

La blogger, Pamela Geller, ha intentato una causa Giovedi nella capitale della nazione per pubblicare l'annuncio nel sistema di transito di Washington, dopo che i funzionari hanno rifiutato di ammettere l’affissione - Per essere chiari, non abbiamo rifiutato l'annuncio,- ha detto Dan Stessel portavoce della Transit authority, - ma semplicemente abbiamo chiesto all'inserzionista di essere sensibili ai tempi del collocamento, preoccupati per la sicurezza pubblica, dato gli attuali eventi in corso nel mondo islamico. -

Abdul Yasar, un conduttore di treni della metropolitana di New York, che considera se stesso un mussulmano osservante, ha detto che l’annuncio della Geller era insensibile ad un clima inquietante per i musulmani. – Se non volete vedere quello che è successo in Lybia ed Egitto dopo il video del film, - anche se qui in America non sarebbero proteste così dure, non dovreste mettere quei cartelli … ma … se questo è un paese libero, hanno il diritto di mettere quei cartelli … e i mussulmani hanno il diritto di mettere su i loro cartelli. –

La Geller, direttrice esecutiva dell’ American Freedom Defense Initiative ed editrice del blog AtlasShrugs.com, ha definito l’ordine del giudice federale di New York che permetteva l’affissione una vittoria del Primo Emendamento, e ha aggiunto che lei non era preoccupata che il suo annuncio potesse innescare proteste come quelle contro il film “L’Innocenza dei Mussulmani”. Le violenze legate al film hanno lasciato sul terreno 30 morti in sette paesi, incluso l’Ambasciatore americano in Lybia. – Se non è un film, sarà un fumetto, se non è un fumetto sarà l’orso Teddy – ha detto la Geller – Cosa pensate di fare? Avete intenzione di premiare l'estremismo islamico? Io non sacrificherò la mia libertà per non offendere i selvaggi. –

Il gruppo Geller ha anche messo annunci nella Stazione della Metro-North Railroad a nord di New York City che diceva: - Non è islamofobia, è Islamorealismo -

http://english.alarabiya.net
Friday, 21 September 2012
New York court okays anti-Muslim subway ad campaign
A provocative ad that equates Muslim radicals with savages is set to go up in the city’s subway system as violent protests over an anti-Islamic film ridiculing the Prophet Mohammed sweep over much of the Muslim world. A conservative blogger who once headed a campaign against an Islamic center near the Sept. 11 terror attack site won a court order to post the ad in 10 subway stations next Monday. The ad reads, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”
The ad was plastered on San Francisco city buses in recent weeks, prompting some artists to deface the ads and remove some of the words, including “Jihad,” or holy war. The blogger, Pamela Geller, said she filed suit Thursday in the nation’s capital to post the ad in Washington’s transit system after officials declined to put up the ad in light of the uproar in the Middle East over the anti-Islam film.

Abdul Yasar, a New York subway rider who considers himself an observant Muslim, said Geller’s ad was insensitive in an unsettling climate for Muslims. “If you don’t want to see what happened in Libya and Egypt after the video — maybe not so strong here in America — you shouldn’t put this up,” Yasar said. But “if this is a free country, they have the right to do this,” he said. “And then Muslims have the right to put up their own ad.’

Geller, executive director of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and publisher of a blog called Atlas Shrugs, called an order by a federal judge in New York allowing the ads “a victory for the First Amendment” and said she wasn’t concerned that her ad could spark protests like the ones against the depiction of Muslims in the video “Innocence of Muslims.”
Violence linked to the movie has left at least 30 people in seven countries dead, including the American ambassador to Libya. “If it’s not a film it’s a cartoon, if it’s not a cartoon it’s a teddy bear,” she said. “What are you going to do? Are you going to reward Islamic extremism? I will not sacrifice my freedom so as not to offend savages.”

New York police aren’t anticipating adding any security to subways when the ads go up and have received no threats or reports of violence relating to them, chief spokesman Paul Browne said.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York initially refused to run Geller’s ad, saying it was “demeaning.” But U.S. District Court Judge Paul Engelmayer ruled last month that it is protected speech under the First Amendment. “Our hands are tied,” MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said.

“Under our existing ad standards as modified by the injunction, the MTA is required to run the ad.” Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, backed publication of the “patently offensive” ads. “More offensive would be their censorship because that would violate the guarantee of free expression of all ideas regardless of how distasteful they are,” she said. Geller said the subway ads cost about $6,000. Donovan said they will be up for a month. Opponents say the ads imply that Muslims are savages. “We recognize the freedom of speech issues and her right to be a bigot and a racist,” said Muneer Awad, the executive director of the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. But he said he hopes elected officials and the MTA, which runs the nation’s largest mass transit system, “take on a leadership role in denouncing hate speech.”

Geller, as head of a group called ‘Stop Islamization of America’, helped spur a months-long campaign two years ago to remove a planned Islamic community center blocks from the World Trade Center site, which she called the “ground zero mosque.” Plans to build a larger center are pending, although Muslims still have regular prayer services at a mosque in the building.

When the ad ran in San Francisco from Aug. 13 to Sept. 4, transit officials took the unusual step of running disclaimers on the sides of the buses, while some artists painted over “Jihad” or pictures altered in Photoshop that said instead, “Defeat Racism.” Geller’s group has also placed ads in Metro-North Railroad stations north of New York City that read: “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.”

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority hadn’t seen Geller’s lawsuit on Thursday, spokesman Dan Stessel said. The agency told Geller the ad would be “deferred” because of the ongoing violence in the Middle East, he said. “To be clear, we have not rejected the ad,” Stessel said, but “merely asked the advertiser to be sensitive to the timing of the placement out of a concern for public safety, given current world events.”

Vedi anche:

April 23, 2010
No Free Speech about Leaving Islam?
By Pamela Geller