Posted on 10/10/2012 10:28:50 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
A U.S. lawmaker called Wednesday for a boycott of public transit systems in Washington and other cities running a pro-Israel advertisement that denounces "the savage" in Muslim countries, AFP reported.
The advertisements, which have also run on trains in New York and buses in San Francisco, went up this week at four stations in the U.S. capital area after a federal judge ruled that the group enjoyed a right to free speech.
Citing security concerns, the operator of the Metro had sought to delay the billboards, which read, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad."
Representative Mike Honda, a Democrat from California, said he supported the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of free speech and understood the court order for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority to run the advertisements.
But "the right to not support hate speech is also a right, which is why I encourage people to boycott, if possible, WMATA" and public transit in the other places where the ad is running until the ad buys are finished, Honda said in a statement.
"We do not have to support hate speech," he added, according to AFP.
Honda, who as a child was interned at a camp due to his Japanese ancestry, said he took the issue "very personally" because he remembered the "hateful billboards and caricatures that equated Japanese Americans to savages" during World War II.
"We learn from history that hate speech and hysteria have dire consequences, the result of societal complacency, failed political leadership and the lack of courage to stand up and speak out against hate," he said.
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(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...
Boycott the subway! Everyone get back into your cars!!
That’ll be better. Sure.
Put a bag over his head, and don’t take it off until you’re kicking him out the cargo door into an Afghani hot zone.
Talk about a reality check.
I'm boycotting Honda.
Honda's logic in comparing the ads to the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII is grossly flawed. The ads do not advocate the internment, nor any other inhumane or illegal treatment, of any Americans whatsoever.
Furthermore, boycotting mass transit as Honda advocates might hurt the boycotters and others economically. But leftists like Honda don't really care about that, because, in his way of thinking, in DC most of these mass transit riders boycotting would be federal workers who will be taken care of regardless of whether or not they show up for their jobs.
“But “the right to not support hate speech is also a right, which is why I encourage people to boycott, if possible, WMATA” and public transit in the other places where the ad is running until the ad buys are finished, Honda said in a statement.”
This guy was interned during WW2. Obviously he is allowing his personal experience on an entirely DIFFERENT set of circumstances to influence his decision on this subject.
His reaction is an emotional, irrational one.
The situations are NOT analogous. Islam is the equivalent of Fascism and is, by our current western standards, a BRUTAL, INTOLERANT, SEXIST cult. Would he oppose a poster attacking Fascism on the subway system? I certainly would hope not but today one never knows.
It would be great if the taxpayers could boycott paying for the subway. Ridership doesn’t matter when you have a free flow of “other peoples’ money”.
Yes, Pam Geller put up the ads on some of the subway platforms in NYC and, I think, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. She did it in response to anti-Israel ads that had previously been posted. This Honda guy is a moron - asking middle-class and working-class people to boycott the subways...
1. How old is this guy? In order to remember what he says he does, he must be pushing 80. If he is not, then he's lying.
2. I want to see picture proof of the hateful billboards.
There used to be short one just West of downtown Ft. Worth. It ran from a parking lot to a department store (what was it, A Montgomery Wards?) and a bit further, but not much further.
Mike Honda supports terrorism and hate speech.
Interesting. Used to go to FTW frequently but spent most of my time in Billy Bob’s. Had totally forgotten about Monkey Wards. Seems like they haven’t been around for a while though.
I’m really surprised nobody has made the observation that if the Muzzies boycott the Metro, that would make it the safest subway in the world.
All the more reason to ride my Harley!
:-)
Seriously though, I remember walking to the central Bus Station in Jerusalem and taking the bus to the Jaffa Gate.
It would have been a more pleasant ride if certain folks boycotted that route!
“I’m sure that Congressman Honda would want a boycott of the outdoor portions as well.”
Street panhandlers and performers will do their part, and stay away from the entrances, so they can strike a blow against hate.
Now there’s a light rail system running down Jaffe Road. It’s a superfluous dingdong that cost billions and totally disrupts everything. It’s crowded as hell, too. Can we boycott that train system?
Oh wow...they removed those from Boston. PITA...and i don’t mean the BREAD!
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