A grassroots campaign aimed at countering hateful anti-Muslim ads in New York’s subway system has gone live, placing posters in ten locations across New York City.

Called Talk Back to Hate, the campaign first launched its crowdfunding appeal in January in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, seeking to raise the money necessary to post advertisements in major subway stations from among the citizens of New York.

“I started the project because, like many people I’ve spoken to, these ads feel like an attack on our most basic communal values,” Akiva Freidlin, the creator of the project, said in an interview with ThinkProgress at the time. “They’re doubly offensive, for both attempting to demonize and intimidate individual members of a particular religious group, and trying to exploit the city’s grief and anger.”

Talk Back to Hate’s poster message was chosen from various suggestions submitted by contributors to the campaign. The image depicts a pair of arms wrapped around the Big Apple that is New York and the winning words “Hatred is easy. It is love that requires true strength.” The poster also features the names of those who donated to make the poster a reality. The ad is currently running at some of the New York subway’s most-trafficked stops, including Times Square and Rockefeller Center, as well as eight other locations throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. Fundraising for a second round of ads is already on-going.

A digital version of the ad posted on the Talk Back to Hate website cycles through messages submitted by the campaign’s contributors. In a press release sent out by the campaign, Friedlin highlighted the several of those messages from New York City residents who donated to the project:

Campaign donor Omar Gaya is an American Muslim who moved to NYC about 2 years ago from California to work at a bio-pharmaceutical company. He calls TalkBackToHate.org “the voice of a formerly ‘silent’ majority.”

“We must raise our voices,” Gaya notes, “or else we risk letting the hatred of a few well-resourced individuals dominate the discourse and hijack the values of freedom and tolerance that we hold dear.”

Jessica Nepomiachi, a public policy & community outreach consultant, said that she gave in appreciation for the complexity and diversity of New York. “The NYC transit system carries millions of people a day through one of the most diverse cities in the world,” Nepomiachi says. “Our transit system should be a place of pride, a place to encourage thoughtful and peaceful dialogue, not hatred.”


The spark that launched the campaign was a series of Islamophobic subway ads funded by Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative that ran in New York City and Washington, DC last year. Much as in the case of the ads that inspired Talk Back to Hate, the original series of ads from Geller — which referred to Muslims as “savages” — were likewise countered by various religious and civil groups.

A new campaign is seeking to raise money through the internet to push a message of tolerance to counter the slew of anti-Muslim ads that have been posted in public transit systems throughout the U.S.

The campaign, called Talk Back to Hate, is seeking to raise enough money to place advertisements in ten subway stations throughout the New York transit system — at a cost of $7,500. That sum would go towards booking the space, paying a graphic designer a small fee to produce a poster, and printing of the actual advertisement. Ideally, according to their fundraising page, they’ll be able to place ads in an additional ten locations with every $6,500 raised.

Masterminding the project is Akiva Freidlin, a New York City resident, who’s lifting the load of the project on his own. While he’s gotten some input from friends who work in online media, the concept, social media presence, and shooting and editing of the video promoting the initiative were completed by Freidlin.

“I started the project because, like many people I’ve spoken to, these ads feel like an attack on our most basic communal values,” Freidlin said in an interview with ThinkProgress. “They’re doubly offensive, for both attempting to demonize and intimidate individual members of a particular religious group, and trying to exploit the city’s grief and anger. After seeing the incredible strength and generosity that many New Yorkers displayed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy — the simple decency of people working tirelessly with Occupy Sandy and countless nonprofit and community groups — it seemed especially important to respond with a message that accurately represents the way we try to live our lives here.”

Watch the video Friedlin produced for the campaign here:

The timing of the campaign comes right as a new wave of Islamophobic advertisements are descending upon New York’s subways. Funded by Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative, the posters feature a picture of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, with a quote attributed to the Quran saying “Soon shall we cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers.” A similar design ran in the Washington, DC Metro system in October.

Last month, a woman, Erika Menendez, pushed a man onto a subway track who was then crushed by an oncoming train. “I pushed a Muslim off the train tracks because I hate Hindus and Muslims ever since 2001 when they put down the twin towers I’ve been beating them up,” Menendez said. She is being charged with second-degree murder as a hate crime.

Thousands of New Yorkers will view these ads everyday for a month at the 39 stations where space was purchased. This round of ads mark an escalation from the previous set posted last year that referred to Muslims as “savages.” Those posters — along with their counterparts in Washington, DC — were quickly matched by religious and other groups promoting the peaceful nature of Islam.

Alaska’s House Subcommittee Of The Select Committee on Legislative Ethics announced on Friday its ruling that a legislative aide for a Republican state representative “violated the Legislative Ethics Act” in her promotion of the anti-Islam group known as Stop Islamization of America (SIOA). The group, founded by noted Islamophobes Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller, reportedly had an “operative” work inside a state office for “months.” The legislative aide, a woman named Karen Sawyer, gave David Heckert, the SIOA “operative,” significant access to state resources. Here’s a rundown as described by the Anchorage Daily News:

Sawyer let Heckert use her personal laptop and Internet card, and provided him a cellphone number under her family plan. She herself used state equipment to plan events for the group. She even gave Heckert her key to the Wasilla LIO so he could get in while she was out of town, the report said.

In 2011, Sawyer’s boss at the time, Alaskan state Rep. Carl Gatto (R), sponsored an “anti-Sharia” bill. Apparently, Sawyer’s preoccupation with Sharia became so intense that she reportedly said “my co-workers wonder if I’m getting obsessed with Sharia.” Indeed, she was obsessed. Beyond setting up events for the group, she also created a SIOA checking account and joined the group’s Alaska board. What’s more, the SIOA “operative” held a meeting at a state office.

While it may seem shocking that an anti-Islam group could gain such prominence inside a state office, it shouldn’t be. In 2011, CAP documented the troubling rise of anti-Islam groups like Stop Islamization of America.

Sawyer resigned shortly after the ruling was released. (HT: Alex Kane)

Fox News is again trying to drum up “controversy” around the Park51 Islamic community center in Manhattan. On Sunday, Fox Nation re-published a New York Post article claiming that “community programs” no longer exist at Park51, just Muslims praying. From there, Fox and Friends discussed the latest “development” on Park51. “It’s all pray and no play,” host Gretchen Carlson said and complained that the center isn’t hosting community programs and is instead attracting Muslims for prayer. Noted Islamophobe Donald Trump cited the oft-repeated far-right claim that Muslims built the community center to celebrate victory on 9/11:

GRETCHEN CARLSON: It’s all pray and no play. The controversial Ground Zero Mosque was supposed to be a cultural center, but it turns out it’s now an empty space with no community programs. Dozens of worshipers gather at the site for prayer services, but that’s pretty much the only activity in the building aside from a small martial arts class.

BRIAN KILMEADE: … Donald, do you want to finance the mosque downtown?

STEVE DOOCY: The Mosque-erade

DONALD TRUMP: No, I don’t think so, I’d certainly buy the site. But I don’t think it’s an appropriate use of the site. A lot of people don’t. You know, in the Arab world, when they have victory, they like to build a Mosque at that site. It’s very strongly out there. I think this is a terrible idea. It shouldn’t be done and let’s see what happens…

Watch it:

Fox is recycling rhetoric from more than two years ago when anti-Islam activists like Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer led an all-out war in their attempt to prevent the cultural center from opening. At the time, Fox News became a major broadcaster of their Islamophobic agenda. Back then, Fox gave anti-Islam activists a platform to make their virulent attacks against the proposed Park51 community center.

Multiple news organizations, like the Washington Post, debunked the fearmongering, pointing out that the “stated point of the project is creating a world where Jews, Christians and Muslims connect again in a way that builds mutual understanding and respect. This is precisely the opposite goal of the 9/11 terrorists.” Conservatives like Orrin Hatch supported Park51. And New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke up in favor of the center as well, saying that freedom of religion should be tolerated.

As far as Fox’s new angle goes, it’s hardly a new development that the center serves as a place of worship; it was always slated to provide a home for Muslim worshipers in Manhattan. And the lack of cultural events likely has more to do with the center’s perceived financial issues than with a sinister plot: last year, a rental dispute between the center and its landlord went to court.

But unlike two years ago, the center faces no legal hurdles from the city to continue operating in the site. New York City’s Landmark Preservation Commission approved the center in 2010 and Mayor Bloomberg agreed. Park51 opened up last year without protests and little to no fanfare.

Pamela Geller has opted to continue her anti-Muslim campaign in a new extremely incensing advertisement that she has submit to the Washington Metro Transit Authority. The new ad, funded by her American Freedom Defense Initiative, depicts the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001 , alongside a contentious verse from the Qu’ran:

Geller — featured prominently in the CAP’s report on Islamophobia in the U.S. — explained the impetus for the new ads on her blog:

Citing the quran, are we? I think that’s a grand idea. AFDI is launching a new ad campaign much like Hamas-CAIR’s. Here is the ad we have submitted to WMATA. I want to thank Hamas-CAIR. What a wonderful way to educate millions of Americans on what is that book. We hope to feature all of the verses that call for jihad.

Geller’s new ad is in direct response to an ad launched by the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR). In CAIR’s banners, a young woman wearing a hijab is depicted with the words “Show forgiveness, speak for justice, ignore the ignorant.”

The proposed ad marks a new round in what is becoming an escalating messaging war between Gellar and various religious groups. While counter-ads have been posted in response to Geller’s “savages” ad in New York City as well, D.C. is the first city to earn a response by the AFDI to these groups’ rebuttal.

After a slight delay, the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority has posted the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s anti-Muslim advertisements in four DC Metro subway stations. WMATA last month delayed displaying the ads — which refer to Muslims as “savages” — on the grounds that they could be seen as incitement in a time of global tensions after the attacks on U.S. embassies in the Middle East.

ADFI, led by Pamela Geller, sued WMATA to have the advertisements posted immediately, as any delay was a violation of the group’s First Amendment rights. In a one-page order issued on Friday, District Judge Rosemary Collyer ordered WMATA to display the ads by no later than October 5.

WMATA has complied with the District Court’s order, leading the ads to be posted in four DC Metro stations for the next month: Takoma Park, Glenmont, Georgia Ave/Petworth, and U Street/Cardoza. At the time of publishing, WMATA did not respond to an inquiry about why it chose to place the ads in these locations.

An appeal to have the ads remain free from defacement ran on the Washington Post’s website on Monday. Similar ads in New York and San Fransisco have been the target of constant defacement, being labeled as “racist” and “hate speech.” Despite the appeal, several of the signs have already been creatively revised, as in the case of the advertisement at the Takoma Park station:

Debbie Polhemus, of D.C., covered up the letters of the ad, which read “In Any War Between the Civilized Man and the Savage, Support the Civilized Man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”

The high school teacher said she wanted to counteract the American Freedom Defense Initiative’s right to free speech with her own right to free speech, all without actually defacing the sign. “This is a public space, and we don’t like hate speech,” she told The Washington Examiner. “And not to do anything would be to allow this speech. … It would be hurtful.”

Her message at the Takoma Metro station on the Red Line instead included: “If you see something hateful say something peaceful.”

The ads in New York have also been countered by anti-hate speech advertisements purchased by the United Methodist Women and other religious groups.

New ads went up yesterday in New York City’s subway system to counter controversial anti-Muslim ads paid for by Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) that referred to Muslims as “savages.” United Methodist Women announced their ad campaign Sept. 25 press conference of the Interfaith Center of New York.

The counter-ads — which read “Hate speech is not civilized. Support peace in word and deed” on a simple green background — will be running in subway stations throughout Manhattan at all ten of the locations where AFDI ads are currently running. United Methodist Women’s Facebook page has posted photos:

Previously, others had plastered “Hate Speech” and “Racist” stickers on AFDI’s ads.

United Methodist Women’s General Secretary Harriet J. Olson said at the group’s ad campaign unveiling:

“United Methodist Women recognizes that women have always been the most significant victims of violence,” Ms. Olson said, acknowledging hate speech as a form of violence. Because of that, she said, “We have a particular incentive to work toward peace.”

Ms. Olson said United Methodists support and respect the use of faith toward peaceful goals.

“Religions of the world should invest in the work for peace,” she said. “Peace comes because we work for it. Women know that the best.”

The counter-ads will run for as long as Pamela Geller’s ads do. AFDI also ran its campaign in San Fransisco and may be coming to Washington, D.C. in the near future. United Methodist Women is already preparing to run counter-ads in the nation’s capital, possibly in partnership with local social justice campaign, Sojourners.

United Methodist Women is also running a social media campaign through Facebook and Twitter, inviting those interested to spread awareness of their message by attaching a “Twibbon” to their avatar and use the hashtag #mysubwayad.

After the anti-American protests erupted in the Middle East earlier this month, Pam Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) decided to re-up its anti-Muslim ad campaign in New York’s subway system. The ad, borrowing from an Ayn Rand quote, is meant to imply that Muslims are savages.

New York City transit authorities did not want to display the ads but a federal court said refusing the ads would violate AFDI’s First Amendment rights. But now that the ads are up, New Yorkers are taking matters into their own hands, writing “RACIST” and “HATE SPEECH” over the ads in certain subway stations:

AFDI is trying to run a similar campaign in the Washington DC Metro but authorities there have so far been successful at blocking the campaign “out of a concern for public safety.” (HT: Mondoweiss)

An anti-Muslim ad campaign is about to start a new run in the New York City subway, in spite of protests from Metropolitan Transit Authority officials. The ads, which also ran in San Francisco last month, have garnered much criticism from community activists.

The MTA refused to approve the ad campaign earlier this year, but, citing the First Amendment, a federal court ruled that the MTA must run the ads. Now, in the wake of tensions over mocking depictions of the Prophet Mohammad, 10 more NYC subway cars will soon have to display the ad posters, which imply that Muslims are “uncivilized” and call upon commuters to “Support Israel…Defeat Jihad.”

The American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), founded by Pamela Geller of the group Stop Islamization of America, created the ads. (Geller is featured prominently in CAP’s recent report on the Islamophobia network in the United States.) AFDI celebrates their new campaign on its website, calling MTA “craven quislings.”

AFDI bought ad-space in Washington, DC to run the same campaign, but the the DC metro transit authority delayed running the ads ads “out of a concern for public safety, given current world events.” In New York, the MTA is looking at changes to their advertisement policy to allow for similar protections. For now, spokesman Aaron Donovan says “our hands are tied.” The ads are due to appear next week.

– Nate Niemann