WND EXCLUSIVE

'ISLAMIC JEW-HATRED' AD GETS JUDICIAL SUPPORT

'Speech does not lose 1st Amendment protection simply because the listener believes it is false'

Bob Unruh

A federal judge has refused to allow an Islamic expert to use his court to criticize a bus advertisement that seeks to raise awareness of Islam’s teachings against Jews, arguing the First Amendment does not permit the government to be “arbiters of truth.”

The decision concerned the testimony of a witness sought by the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, SEPTA, which is defending itself in a federal lawsuit brought by the non-profit American Freedom Defense Initiative, AFDI.

AFDI filed suit when SEPTA refused to run its ads, which have included photos of a terrorist about to behead an American and a prominent Muslim leader meeting with Adolf Hitler.

The judge said longstanding Supreme Court precedent “instructs that political speech does not lose First Amendment protection simply because the listener believes that it is false or disagrees with the message it advances.”

“Allowing the state to restrict political speech based on an assessment that it is false or inaccurate, offends bedrock First Amendment principles,” the judge said.

AFDI is led by author and Atlas Shrugs blogger Pamela Geller, and author and Jihad Watch Director Robert Spencer.

One of the ads states: “Islamic Jew-Hatred: It’s in the Quran. Two thirds of all US aid goes to Islamic countries. Stop the Hate. End all aid to Islamic countries.”

It presents the IslamicJewHatred.com website address and an image of Haj Amin al-Husseini and Adolf Hitler with the caption, “Adolf Hitler and his staunch ally, the leader of the Muslim world, Haj Amin al-Husseini.”

The transportation district, seeking to defend itself from accusations it violated the First Amendment, had proposed bringing in an “expert” to testify.

Jamal J. Elias, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an “eminent scholar of Islam and Muslim society,” was to offer two opinions regarding “alleged inaccuracies” in the ad.

First, Elias intended to testify that referring to Haj Amin al-Husseini as the “leader of the Muslim world” was “manifestly false.”

And he planned to express his opinion that the statement “the Quran teaches Jew-hatred” is “unfair” or “erroneous.”

The judge’s opinion said the testimony from Elias won’t be allowed.

He ruled the First Amendment does not allow the government to be the “arbiters of truth” regarding matters of public concern.

The judge’s ruling in the case, handled by the American Freedom Law Center, said, “Allowing the state to restrict political speech based on an assessment that it is false or inaccurate offends bedrock First Amendment principles.”

Robert J. Muise, senior counsel for AFLC, said it would be “perilous to permit government censors to be the arbiters of truth regarding politics, history, religion, or other similar matters of opinion.”

David Yerushalmi, AFLC co-founder, added: “We are encouraged by the judge’s ruling, which was loyal to the First Amendment and tracked our motion on every point. It is important to have a judge who understands the importance of this constitutional guarantee, particularly when, as in this case, the freedom of speech is pitted against political correctness.”

AFLC said a court hearing on its request for a preliminary injunction is expected within weeks.

The lawsuit against the transportation agency and its general manager seeks “to protect and vindicate fundamental constitutional rights.” It asks for an order that the defendants are violating the U.S. Constitution by restricting speech.

The transit agency said it disallowed the ad because it “tends to disparage or ridicule any person or group of persons on the basis of race, religious belief, age, sex, alienage, national origin, sickness or disability.”

AFLC, however, said the message “is timely in light of the fact that many Jews (and Christians) are being persecuted in Islamic countries in the Middle East, and many of these countries receive aid from the United States.”

“Moreover, the Israel/Palestinian conflict has drawn intense international media attention as Hamas is using human shields (mostly innocent women and children) to protect its rockets from Israel’s defense forces as the Islamic terrorist organization continues its deadly attack of Jews in Israel.”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/11/islamic-jew-hatred-ad-gets-judicial-support/#kLWI2x2vQ4o4dSsu.99