Federal judge forces NYC subway to post 'The Muslims are Coming!' ads
-
Corey Fedde Staff
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Board has banned political ads on New York City subways and buses, but does that include comedy?
On Wednesday a federal judge overturned an MTA block against advertisements for a documentary about American Muslim comedians. The judge stated that the transportation agency erroneously labeled them political in nature.
The ads in question were for a 2013 film 鈥淭he Muslims Are Coming!鈥� After previously being accepted, the ads were rejected this year by the MTA, who oversees the nation鈥檚 largest mass public transit system in New York. The MTA Board stated the ads violated a new ban on political ads.
Judge Colleen McMahon disagreed.
鈥淭he evidence before the group plainly indicates that VQP鈥檚 silly advertisements were subject to greater scrutiny than other potentially controversial ads,鈥� the judge wrote.
According to the Associated Press, the judge called it 鈥渦tterly unreasonable鈥� to arbitrarily decide an advertisement with the word 鈥淢uslims鈥� was political.
The ads created by Muslim-American comedians Dean Obeidallah and Negin Farsad aimed at making people laugh and spreading word of their documentary.
One ad read, 鈥淢uslims hate terrorism! They also hate: People who tell you they went to an Ivy League school within 10 seconds of meeting them鈥� When the deli guy doesn鈥檛 put enough schmear on your bagel鈥� the pickling of everything.鈥�
The url of a website promoting the film was feature at the bottom of each of the advertisements.聽
鈥淪hutting down a couple of American Muslim comedians from spreading delightfulness on the subway? That never made sense,鈥� Mr. Farsad told the AP.
The to ban political ads from the subway and buses. Dissenting members and advocacy groups argued for free speech and the capacity for the advertising spaces on the subways to act as a forum for political discourse. The MTA board decision was prompted by legal challenges it had in rejecting some adds.
The week before the MTA Board decision to ban political ads, the MTA was ordered by a federal judge to display a controversial ad linked to a self-proclaimed advocacy group The American Freedom Defense Initiative. The ad featured a quote attributed to 鈥淗amas MTV鈥� that says, 鈥淜illing Jews is worship that draws us close to Allah.鈥�
In the case of the 鈥淭he Muslims are Coming!鈥� advertisements, Judge McMahon wrote, 鈥渢he advertisements at issue gently mock prejudice and employ Islamophobia as a comedic device does not make their message 鈥榩rominently or predominantly鈥� political.鈥�
This report includes material from the Associated Press.
