After Israel flap, Constantine bans certain bus ads (Geller forced Seattle Libs to cave)

Seattle PI ^ | December 23, 2010

[jazusamo]

KING5 photo

King County Executive Dow Constantine on Thursday temporarily suspended all non-commercial advertising on Metro Buses following complaints about a planned bus ad that criticized Israel.

The ads from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign read "Israeli War Crimes Your Tax Dollars At Work."
In a statement, Constantine said he approved an interim policy that bans accepting any new non-commercial ads. The anti-Israel ads, which were to start appearing on buses in Seattle after Christmas, have been rejected, Constantine said.

"The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment," Constantine said. "We cannot and would not favor one point of view over another, so the entire category of non-commercial advertising will be eliminated until a permanent policy can be completed that I can propose to the King County Council for adoption."

A new, permanent policy could be ready by the end of January.

County Councilman Peter von Reichbauer on Monday wrote to Constantine about his concerns, saying he'd been contacted by people who were worried about the ads from the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign.

Ed Mast, a spokesman for the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, has said the ads were meant to get people talking about Mideast peace issues, not as an anti-Israel statement.

King County Metro's current policy about bus advertising restricts messages about pornography, tobacco and alcohol and images and material that could threaten public safety.

[jazusamo]

Seattle bus ad controversy escalates (WA)
American Thinker ^ | December 22, 2010 | Thomas Lifson

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?

[jazusamo]

Ping!

[sheik yerbouty]

Allahu fubar!

[240B]

It is not over.

But round one goes to the good guys.

[NonValueAdded]

Way to go, Pamela!!! Outstanding. And as to Mast’s comment that his ad was “not as an anti-Israel statement,” well that’s just preposterous.

[pissant]

Geller is a pit bull.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks jazusamo. Bravo Pamela Geller!

[Zeppo]

Ed Mast, a spokesman for the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, has said the ads were meant to get people talking about Mideast peace issues, not as an anti-Israel statement.

If it sounds like a 'big lie', it probably is one...

[SkipW]

“Ed Mast, a spokesman for the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, has said the ads were meant to get people talking about Mideast peace issues, not as an anti-Israel statement.”

Another filthy, lying leftist. I’ve never been to Seattle, but from what I have heard about the place I have no interest in gong there.

[MarMema]

I am HUGELY celebrating this wonderful news.

[MarMema]

FYI, some wonderful news. These small battles matter a great deal imo.

[samtheman]

I would rather have seen both sets of ads than no ads... but this outcome is better than the original situation.

[Eleutheria5]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2646345/posts

Bottom line: Everyone saw the anti-Israel ad already. Anti-Hamas people did not get a chance to respond. First Amendment lawsuit, anyone? Judicial watch? Hello? This should not be accepted. Cowards should get no respect, and disallowing all ads is cowardice (the right response to free speech that offends is: a. more free speech; or b. less free speech).

[jazusamo]

Amen to that.

[justiceseeker93]

I had predicted that the Seattle public transit honchos would ban both groups from bus advertising, as a convenient way to bug out of the controversy.

As the photo in post #1 strongly suggests, the next battleground over this will be the billboards. The fight against the "International Solidarity Movement" and its leftist pro-terrorist allies is far from over.

[papabrody]

This has to be the first Constantine not to hate the Jews.

B'H