PrintDecember 22, 2010
Seattle bus ad controversy escalates
Seattle's Metro bus agency, a public entity, set off a controversy by accepting anti-Israel advertising to run on the sides of its busses. The ads were sponsored by a group calling itself the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, run by a veteran anti-Israel protestor Ed Mast, also known as an activist in the terrorist-linked International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
Because Seattle has a history of antisemitic violence by jihadists (local media called the murderous gunman who invaded the Jewish Federation in Seattle 5 years ago "mentally ill," but he was unmistakably a jihadist), the bus ads set off a wave of fear and controversy, lest similar violence be provoked. The transit agency was besieged by telephone calls and emails protesting the acceptance of the potentially provocative advertising.
But now the incomparable Pamela Geller of Atlas Shrugs (and an AT contirbutor), as is her wont, has responded with action that puts the ball squarely in the other court: sponsoring counter-advertising to run on the busses.
All of a sudden, Metro is reviewing its advertising policy. While the public agency was fine with the anti-Israel ads, the anti-Hamas terror ads apparently are cause for worry.
We salute Ms. Geller heartily. Stay tuned as the Metro grapples with the issue. Can you imagine someone like her running the RNC?
