AFDI Denounces Clear Channel for Running Hate-Israel Billboards But Rejecting AFDI's Pro-Israel Ads

NEW YORK, April 28, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A prominent national human rights and advocacy organization has vowed to fight against the advertising group Clear Channel's inconsistent rejection of its pro-Israel advertisements in Seattle after accepting ads from an anti-Israel hate group.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91367)

The antisemitic group, Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, is running ads that read, "Equal Rights for Palestinians: Stop funding the Israeli military." Seattle Metro had initially rejected these ads, but then reversed itself and accepted the ads. American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) Executive Director Pamela Geller then submitted ads to Clear Channel in Seattle depicting Muslim/Nazi collaboration during World War II, with the caption, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man." Another depicted various atrocities of the jihad terrorist group Hamas, with the caption, "One billion dollars to Hamas – your tax dollars at work."

However, after AFDI submitted its pro-Israel human rights ad to Clear Channel, the president of Clear Channel informed Geller that AFDI's ad had been "rejected due to community standards."

Dave Duffy, Senior Account Executive for Clear Channel Outdoor – Seattle, justified Clear Channel's decision in an email to Geller: "The issue with the design was both the tone in the ad, along with the photos. The political ad currently on the street is not an incitement to violence against the Jewish people, and any ad depicting violence towards any group or individual would rightly be rejected. For that same reason, copy that describes another group or individual negatively, or shows any imagery that is violent, either explicit or implied would be rejected."

Geller, however, pointed out in a statement that the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign's ads "clearly constitute an incitement to violence against Jews. How is cutting military aid to Israel not an incitement to violence against them? With no aid and no military, Israel cannot defend itself, and is vulnerable to attack by its Muslim neighbors. It is also an incitement in the sense that the ad is a direct attempt to break a bond of friendship between the Israel and the United States, and that also renders Israel to attack."

By contrast, AFDI's ads did not constitute any incitement to violence against any group, but merely collected photos of actual events. Geller added: "They cannot pick their hate and they cannot pick their politics. Clear Channel, in an act of abject submission, accepted and ran the anti-Israel ads that Seattle Metro had previously rejected for Seattle buses. But instead of standing up for the free speech standards of excellence that they pretended to adhere to when they accepted the Jew-hatred ads, they refused our human rights ad that advocated standing up for civilized men."

"Every Jewish business," Geller said, "or any business that believes in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness should pull their business from Clear Channel. They are advancing jihad."

Geller announced that AFDI would initiate legal action against Clear Channel and seek a temporary injunction enjoining the organization to run AFDI's ads.

Freedom-lovers can contribute to these legal proceedings and to the pro-Israel human rights ad campaign via Paypal to [email protected] or [email protected]. They can also write, politely and respectfully, to Olivia Lippens of Clear Channel Outdoor to protest this inconsistency: 3601 6th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98134-2212. Call (206) 682-3833.

AFDI is one of America's foremost organizations defending human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech against Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the United States.

Join the Facebook page of AFDI's subsidiary, Stop Islamization of America here.

For more information, contact Pamela Geller at [email protected].

SOURCE American Freedom Defense Initiative