A controversial anti-jihad ad is scheduled to be placed in subway stations around New York on Monday after an unsuccessful attempt by the MTA to have it blocked.
The poster from the American Freedom Defense Initiative reads, “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat jihad.”
The ad comes as protests rage overseas over a film mocking the Prophet Muhammad.
The MTA originally refused to run the ad calling it demeaning, but were overruled in U.S. District Court in July when Judge Paul Engelmayer determined it was protected under the First Amendment.
“Our hands are tied. The MTA is subject to a court ordered injunction that prohibits application of the MTA’s existing no-demeaning ad standard. That standard restricted publication of ads that demean people on the basis of their race, sex, religion, national origin or other group classification. The judge recognized our intention but found our attempt to be constitutionally deficient. As a result, under our existing ad standards as modified by the injunction, the MTA is required to run the ad,” said an MTA spokesperson.
San Francisco, which had the ad run earlier this month, placed a disclaimer on their buses condemning describing any group as savages.
