About the "Israeli War Crimes" bus propaganda, we read in the Seattle Times today that, "Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke, asked if the ad violates county standards, replied, "That's not my decision, but at this point it does meet our current standards."
Have the staff at Metro, who capriciously decided to run these hate ads on King County buses, even read their own policies? This ad is a complete violation of the Metro Agency rules on Restrictions on Advertising; section 6.4 D & E) which states:
6.4 The Consultant shall not place in or on a transit vehicle any advertising that contains or involves the following:
- D. Any material that is so objectionable under contemporary community standards as to be reasonably foreseeable that it will result in harm to, disruption of, or interference with the transportation system.
- E. Any material directed at a person or group that is so insulting, degrading or offensive as to be reasonably foreseeable that it will incite or produce imminent lawless action in the form of retaliation, vandalism or other breach of public safety, peace and order.
WHAT STANDARDS? WHAT STANDARDS? The ones that say it's ok to bash Jews in Seattle? Those standards? The ones that say it's ok to brainwash Seattle children against Jews and connect them as perpetrators (not victims) to the term "War Crimes" (remember the Holocaust?) in a twisted propaganda effort to delegitimize Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East? Those standards? The ones that say it's ok to murder Jewish women in Seattle because Jews commit "War Crimes." Those standards? By running these ads you are giving a green light to the anti-Semitic bigots in our city by providing governmental sanction to this propaganda. This will undoubtedly lead to attacks against Jews, their cultural and religious centers and even their schools. Have Jews not suffered enough?
And so the logic goes:
In days of old they used to say that Jews killed non-Jewish babies and drank their blood - now they say that Jews commit "War Crimes." If Jews are guilty of "War Crimes" then why shouldn't we kill them, stop them, destroy them as they are evil and need to be eradicated! That is the climate that this ad supports. Our public bus system has become a vehicle for vilifying Jews!
Let's get clear on something this time around - we in the Jewish community are not going to sit down and take this crap anymore. If you want to see how tough Jews can be, then go ahead and run those despicable ads and we'll see who has the last word on this. If you run these ads, we will work together with our Jewish friends and others to shut Metro down.