Community Corner

Hate Speech or Free Speech? Metro Ad Sparks Counter-Ad

The "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad." ad, paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative and placed last week in the Glenmont Metro station, has provoked a strong response.

"Hate speech is not civilized. Support peace in word and deed. #mysubwayad."

This ad in the Glenmont Metro station is sponsored by an interfaith coalition of 24 organizations. It is also a direct response to an ad nearby that reads, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad."

The "Support Israel. Defeat Jihad" ad is paid for by the American Freedom Defense Initiative, whose executive director is blogger and political activist Pamela Geller, and has been in place since Oct. 8. Similar ads have been posted in the U Street, Georgia Avenue and Takoma Metro stations.

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Patch reported last week that someone had placed "hate speech" stickers over the advertisement in the Glenmont Metro station.

There was no sign yet on Wednesday afternoon of the ad space bought by the Council on American-Islamic Relations in response to the Pamela Geller ads. The design for the 16-foot banners going up in the Glenmont, Georgia Avenue and U Street Metro stations this week features a girl in a hijab accompanied by a verse from the Quran that says, "Show forgiveness, speak for justice and avoid the ignorant."

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Should these ads be protected as free speech or labeled as hate speech? What do you think? Tell us in the comments.


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