THE TELEGRAPH: Advertisements on New York buses offering help to Muslims who wish to leave Islam have been denounced as a "smoke screen for anti-Muslim bigotry".
The advertisements - paid for by conservative activists - ask readers: "Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?" The adverts point to a website called RefugefromIslam.com.
Pamela Geller, who leads an organisation called Stop Islamization of America, said the adverts were designed to help provide resources for Muslims who were fearful of leaving the faith. She said the adverts, which will run on 30 city buses for a month, cost $8,000 (£5,500), which was contributed by the readers of her blog, Atlas Shrugs, and other websites.
"It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom," she said. "It's not targeted at practising Muslims. It doesn't say 'leave,' it says 'leaving' with a question mark."
Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Ms Geller's advert had been reviewed and did not violate the agency's guidelines. >>> | Thursday, May 27, 2010
