I assume there's an equivalent org protesting the money given to Egypt?

You know, I doubt anti-Semites are waiting around to be triggered by ads that protest Israel's violent behavior toward Palestinians. Anti-Semites who want to kill Jews just don't give a shit about alleged Jewish violence against people not themselves.

Also, fuck the "if you're anti-Israel you're anti-Semetic, and if you criticize Israel then you're anti-Israel" bullshit. Bad people exist everywhere, including Israel, and deserve our attention.

And that's all I have to say about that.

As a daily busider, I can assure you that no one who rides the bus reads those ads. Without this bit of promotion by von Reichbauer, no one would know these exist.

They dont incite violence anymore than Pro-Palestinian protesters in Westlake do. IE: They wont as they currently dont and never will.

How many of these Anti-Israel bus ads were running when that idiot shot up the Seattle Jewish Federation? Give you a hint, it rymes with Rum.

Those "riding the bus is for losers" DUI attorney ads and Zipcar ads caused a lot more harm and disruption to the transportation system.

"I believe that this proposed bus advertising needs to be reviewed and reevaluated."

My favorite part. Nobody had a problem when ads inside the bus were advertising free pregnancy services, which were basically pro-choice clinics, staffed with people whos sole job is to talk people out of abortions. Rent the HBO movie 12th and Delaware.

In fact, you can shoot down any Metro Employee fake outrage or concern by asking them "So which bus do you take to work?", the answer is "I dont take the bus, I drive".

@4, "some"? Your riddle is too difficult for me.

I'd love to see us all move to a point where we can separate the issues associated with anti semitism and the issues associated with the state of Israel and discuss both separately. Until we do that I don't think we'll make much progress on either.

Let's be fair.

Our real enemy is Saudi Arabia, who totally provide funding, volunteers, and Wahhabi religious extremism worldwide thru state-funded madrassas that al-Qaeda uses.

But we should cut off funding for Israel, Palestine, and Egypt first.

Not military guarantees - just funding.

"But, but, if people know their tax dollars are funding war crimes, they'll get angry about it!"

Man, how I wish that was actually true.

Sorry, Pete, but those ads aren't the same as shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Not even close.

A major problem here is I am free to not patronize a business that engages in work I find objectionable.

For myself and many others this would force me to buy a car!

So, if you have a legitimate gripe against Israel, who has been breaking international law for going on 20 years now, you can't promote it anywhere because it might incite anti semitic violence. Is this really as nuanced as our view of the Israel-Palestine conflict is going to get? Still? How stupid are we?

In every conflict, it's not as if one side must be blameless heroes and the other conniving evil-doers. It's not a fucking comic book, it's real life. Israel's doing awful shit. Palestine is doing awful shit. The day we stop promoting EITHER viewpoint is the day we just decide to punt on the whole issue, leaving it unresolved for the foreseeable future.

Frankly, at this point, part of me feels like they deserve each other. If NEITHER side can figure out that murdering the other side isn't going to get you what you want, then there's probably nothing we can do but put a mirror in front of them and wait for them to realize how ugly they both are.

Israel =/= Jews any more than Vatican =/= Christians.

@9, Ok, go buy one.

@15, Until you saw a billboard you didn't like then you'd be really fucked.

@14

Hey remember when Metro bought tiles from South Africa during the economic sanctions? They had to remove and re-tile a few bus tunnel stations, at a cost of maybe 400,000$?

@12 for Best Quote of the Day.

@17 for runner up.

They say a lot worse in Israel. Read Haaretz, like this about how Israel is degenerating into a racist theocracy:

http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-p…

I never understood how we came to be more blindly, ignorantly, and thoughtlessly Pro-Israel than Israelis.

And how does an anti-violence advertisement incite violence?

@1- Why? We're bribing Egypt to respect Israel's borders and not start another war. We're heavily investing in Israel...

I suppose it was inevitible that this discussion would degenerate immediately into replays off all the palestinian/israeli conflict slogans. But ostensibly this is not about the rightness of either side in that conflict, but whether these ads incite riots. Under that standard, the wrong side (whichever that is) sould be welcome to advertise so long as their ads don't incite riots, and the right side (whichever that is) should not be allowed to advertise if their ads would incite riots.

Frankly, this is blatent political interference in free speech even if the ads would incite riots. I would feel fine if Metro's ad department, thinking like a business, decided not to run the ads because they don't want to piss off customers. But when King county council members get involved, it is clear that they are thinking like politicians and engaging in government censorship of free speech.

King County Councilmembers ARE politicians.

This isn't free speech censorship. Von Reichbauer doesn't have the power to censor speech. This actually is the practice of free speech, in this case, complaining. That's certainly covered under the First Amendment, as well as paid advertisements.

Sarah @ 25: That's a valid argument, as long as he really is just grandstanding, which I agree he has every right to do. As soon as a tells Metro not to accept the ad, he is acting in his capacity as a government official and engaging in illegal censorship. He may not have crossed that line, but he is close.

We don’t think that criticizing the state of Israel is the same as criticizing Jewish people.

So sick of the ignorant people that think anti-Zionism = anti-Jew. It doesn't.
Another pet-peeve... Anti-semitism equates to anti Jew in most circles. However, Arabs are Semites as well.

@27: Well said on all counts.

I'm Jewish, and I'm pro-Israel the same way I'm pro-American. That is, I love the ideas behind both countries, but I wish they'd get off their high horses and actively find a way to get along with brown people, instead of generally acting like raging dicks.

Hmm, tougher issue than I first imagined. Generally, the government can't ban speech because of the emotive impact of the speech on its audience. But there's this weird 1974 Supreme Court case that says you might be able to ban all "political" ads on buses generally, even if purely commercial ads are allowed. So, not certain how a ban or other restriction by the city would turn out. Let's not find out.