After winning a court battle which tried to censor the sentiment, Pamela Geller’s “Support Israel- Resist Jihad” ads were recently circulated in the New York City Transit system.
In a apparent publicity stunt, CNN and MSNBC Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy chose to vandalize the perceived anti-Muslim ads as she was being filmed. What the commentator criminal did not count on was Pamela Hall, a concerned citizen getting in the way.
Ms. Hall was sympathetic to the “Resist Jihad” campaign but she also stood up against squelching free speech and countenancing clear vandalism. The delay seemed to be long enough for the NYPD to step in and cuff the apparently indignant Eltahwy. Mona claimed that she was not harming anyone and that she too was exercising her First Amendment rights. It seems that Eltahwy’s civics lessons did not cover battery and vandalism are unacceptable in the civilized public square. Moreover, in America the cure to undesired speech is more speech not erasing the other side.
While the perpetrator acted melodramatically , she also was intent to exploit the American civil system while de jure imposing Shariah law. Perhaps when she pleads her case in court, she can quote the pertinent part of President Obama’s recent speech before the UN General Assembly “The future does not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.”
But accepting that it was a publicity stunt for her cause and to raise her esteem on progressive news outlets like MSNBC, it is downright curious that a journalist sought to advance her career by championing censorship. Especially since Eltahwy is supposed to be a feminist Muslim who wants to change Muslim practices. Geller's ad is aimed against Salafists who want to annihilate Israel. So in the end Eltahwy still adopts the extreme Muslim perspective of imposing Shariah codes on everyone. This failed stunt does not seem like forward progress, even for a liberal bastion like MSNBC.
h/t: Hot Air
Newsbusters
New York Post
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