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Judge rules that New York must run ‘killing Jews’ ad

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By Nesh Pillay, Reporter

April 23, 2015 | 2 min read

A New York judge ruled that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) must run an ad for a Pro-Israel group after it was rejected by the public service last year.

The ad features a man wearing a scarf and displays the words, “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah,” which was attributed to Hamas TV. It also read, “That’s his Jihad. What’s yours?”

The American Freedom Defense Initiative sued the MTA, claiming that the rejection violated first amendment rights. The MTA argued that the ad may be misinterpreted as a promotion of violence against Jews.

“While the court is sensitive to the MTA's security concerns, the defendants have not presented any objective evidence that the ‘Killing Jews advertisement’ would be likely to incite imminent violence,” ruling judge, John G. Koeltl wrote.

There is no word yet on when the ad will run, or if the MTA will appeal the ruling.

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