New Anti-Muslim Ads Up in NYC Subway Stations

The group that equated Muslim radicals with savages in subway advertisements the previous fall put up another set of provocative ads in dozens of New York City subway stations in January 2013.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by activist Pamela Geller, purchased space next to 228 clocks in 39 stations. The new ads paired an image of the burning World Trade Center with a quote attributed to the Quran: "Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers."

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the ads went up on Monday, January 7, and would run for a month. The same group had paid for ads in 10 stations the previous September.

The September precedent

The fall 2012 ads had read: "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." The MTA had initially refused to run them; a federal judge ruled the refusal was viewpoint discrimination barred by the First Amendment, and the ads went up.

That ruling set the template: the transit authority, as a government actor selling ad space, could not pick and choose messages by viewpoint. The January 2013 buy flowed directly from the same legal logic.

The counter-campaign

The ads did not go unanswered. Religious and civic groups bought their own subway space, including posters from rabbis reading "In the choice between love and hate, choose love. Help stop bigotry against our Muslim neighbors." The subway system became a rolling debate: hate met with counter-speech, exactly as First Amendment theory prescribes.

The free-speech knot

The episode tied the classic American knot. The ads were plainly designed to offend and provoke; they were also plainly protected speech. The MTA could no more ban Geller's posters than it could ban the rabbis'. The remedy the system offered was more speech, not less, and New Yorkers got a month of it, underground, next to the clocks.

FAQ

Who placed the ads? The American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by Pamela Geller.

What did the January 2013 ads show? The burning World Trade Center with the Quranic verse, "Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers."

Why couldn't the MTA refuse? A federal court ruled that rejecting the ads was viewpoint discrimination violating the First Amendment.

How did opponents respond? With counter-ads, including rabbis' posters urging love over hate and an end to anti-Muslim bigotry.

The takeaway

The subway ads were a stress test of the American speech settlement: the government must carry messages it despises, and the answer to bad speech is more speech. For one month in 2013, the test ran next to 228 station clocks.