[WCUSP] Wash Jewish Wk: Anti-'occupation' ads coming to Metro stations

[KATHARLOW at aol.com]

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(javascript:WinOpen('print.asp?ArticleID=6959&SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4','560','400','10','5');)    Subterranean soapbox 
Anti-`occupation' ads coming to Metro  stations
by Richard Greenberg  
Associate Editor   
The  Israeli-Palestinian conflict is about to go underground ‹ into the  
Washington subway system, to be exact.  
Beginning May 13,  some 20 downtown Metro stations will be emblazoned with 
posters  advertising a June 10 rally and march in Washington protesting 
"Israel's  illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and  
East Jerusalem."  
The event, which  will be held on the west lawn of the Capitol, is being 
organized by the  District-based U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, 
which claims  250 member organizations around the country.  
"If past events  organized by this organization are any indication, it will 
make no attempt  to present a balanced view of the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict, and this  ad is a pure reflection of that," said Oren Segal, a spokesperson 
for the  Anti-Defamation League.  
The U.S. Campaign's  effort to publicize the rally ran into an early 
roadblock that escalated  into a minor freedom of speech face-off that eventually 
involved the  American Civil Liberties Union.  
The saga began  unfolding when the U.S. Campaign approached CBS Outdoor, the 
New  York-based company that handles in-station advertising for the Washington 
 Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. A CBS Outdoor account executive  
refused to place the organization's ad, claiming in a March 9 e-mail that  it was 
"too offensive to be displayed in a public place," according to  Arthur Spitzer, 
legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of  the National Capital 
Area.  
Jodi Senese, CBS  Outdoor's executive vice president in charge of marketing, 
rejected the  ad, saying it appeared to violate company policy. "The ad," she 
explained  in an interview, "included a picture that I felt was inflammatory 
and was  exploitative of children."  
Senese said the ad  was not turned down because of its political stance. "I'm 
Jewish," she  added, "and I didn't want to be seen as making a political 
statement."   
The ad is dominated  by a photograph of a child who is facing a giant tank 
that looms  menacingly in the near distance. The accompanying text reads in 
part:  "Imagine if this were your child's daily path to school. Palestinians  
don't have to imagine." In larger, bold letters, it also reads: "The World  Says 
No to Israeli Occupation!"  
Within days of  being turned down, a U.S. Campaign official contacted 
Spitzer, who then  set out to touch base with a lawyer he knows in the WMATA legal 
office,  who, as Spitzer put it, "understands the First Amendment and can help  
solve this with a call."  
The issue was  indeed solved with a single nonthreatening call, and a 
confirming e-mail.  CBS Outdoor has been instructed by WMATA to place the ad as per 
its  contract with the U.S. Campaign, and the company has not objected,  
according to Spitzer. WMATA spokesperson Joanne Ferreira said only: "We  didn't have 
any problem with the ad. It was a First Amendment issue."   
The 46-by-60-inch  ads (one per designated station) will appear for one 
month, according to a  U.S. Campaign spokesperson who declined to comment when 
asked how much the  advertising campaign costs.  
Spitzer said this  case is not precedent-setting. Over the years, several 
highly politicized  ads have run in the Metro system, espousing positions 
spanning the  political spectrum. In some cases, the ACLU has gone to court to fend 
off  those who sought to remove them.  
Spitzer, who is  Jewish, was asked if he had any compunctions about defending 
the rights of  an organization that is publicly and harshly criticizing 
Israel. "This is  not a case about Judaism or Israel," he said, "but about 
establishing  someone's right to freedom of speech, which I agree with regardless of  
whether I agree with their particular political position."  





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