Washington DC Officials Block Muhammad Subway Cartoon

Ms Geller is an outspoken critic of Islam

BBC AMERICA: Transport officials in Washington DC have blocked plans by an American free speech pressure group to have a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad displayed on the subway.

The American Freedom Defense Initiative wanted to display the cartoon, which won first prize at an event in Texas.

Two gunmen were shot dead by police outside the event earlier this month.

Washington transport authorities on Thursday banned political, religious and advocacy adverts on the subway.

The transport authority in the US capital voted unanimously to suspend advertisements it describes as "issue-oriented".

AFDI founder Pamela Geller strongly criticised the decision to ban the advert, describing it as an attack on free[dom] of speech.

Ms Geller commented on her website that "rewarding terror with submission is defeat, absolute and complete defeat. "These cowards may claim that they are making people safer, but I submit to you the opposite. They are making it far more dangerous for Americans everywhere."

The advert calls for Americans to support free speech and features a bearded, turban-wearing Muhammad waving a sword and shouting: "You can't draw me!"

In reply, a cartoon bubble portrays an artist grasping a pencil and saying: "That's why I draw you." » | Friday, May 29, 2015

JIHAD WATCH: Assassin’s veto: Washington Transit Authority shuts down free speech, suspends all issue-related ads » | Robert Spencer | Thursday, May 28, 2015

Pamela Geller With Judge Jeanine, Responds To Critics

Malzberg | Anjem Choudary Discusses His Claim That Pam Geller Deserves to Die

Read the Mediaite article here | Josh Feldman | Saturday, May 09, 2015

Brad Thor in Defense of Pamela Geller: Islam Needs More Direct Challenges, Not Less

THE BLAZE: One of the best articles I have ever read about how political correctness has completely caved to fundamentalist Islam is “Losing Our Spines to Save Our Necks“ by Sam Harris. I was reminded of this article in the wake of all the criticism Pamela Geller, rather than the Muslim terrorists shot dead outside her event in Garland, Texas last Sunday, has received this week.

What I have found particularly galling is the torrent of “She has a right to free speech, but…” coming not just from the left, but also from the right.

Critics – including most of the media – claim that what Geller did was provocative. They never stop to note, as Harris put it, “The point is not (and will never be) that some free person spoke, or wrote, or illustrated in such a manner as to inflame the Muslim community. The point is that only [emphasis added] the Muslim community is combustible in this way.”

Harris goes on to say, “Muslims appear to be far more concerned about perceived slights to their religion than about the atrocities committed daily in its name.”

This goes to the heart of Geller’s event in Garland and what I see not as a provocation, but as a challenge. » | Brad Thor * | Friday, May 08, 2015

* Brad Thor is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of "Black List," "Full Black," "Foreign Influence," "The Apostle," "The Last Patriot" (banned in Saudi Arabia), "The First Commandment," "Takedown," "Blowback," "State of the Union," "Path of the Assassin," "The Lions of Lucerne," and his New York Times bestselling spinoff series, The Athena Project. He has appeared on FOX News Channel, CNN, CNN Headline News, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS programs to discuss terrorism. He has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Analytic Red Cell Unit and shadowed a Black Ops team in Afghanistan to research "The Apostle."

Brad Thor’s website »

Pamela Geller’s Critics Are Proving Her Point

NATIONAL REVIEW: Let’s be clear: The great freak-out over Pamela Geller’s “draw Muhammad” contest isn’t about love for Islam or for robust and respectful religious pluralism. Indeed, many of those expressing anguish over blasphemy against Islam show no such concern over even the most vile attacks on the Christian faith. Beyond that, they’re among the leaders in movements designed to banish religious liberty — including Muslim religious liberty — to the margins of American life.

Instead, the fury against Pamela Geller is motivated mostly by fear — by the understanding that there are indeed many, many Muslims who believe that blasphemy should be punished with death, and who put that belief into practice. It’s motivated by the fear that our alliances with even “friendly” Muslim states and “allied” Muslim militias are so fragile that something so insignificant as a cartoon would drive them either to neutrality or straight into the arms of ISIS. » | David French | Thursday, May 07, 2015

Charlie Hebdo Editor Seeks to Distance Newspaper From Anti-Islam Causes

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The top editor at Charlie Hebdo, the satirical Paris newspaper that was attacked four months ago by militant gunmen over its cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, sought on Tuesday to reject attempts by right-wing activists to exploit that attack for their own agendas.

In an interview with members of the editorial board of The New York Times, the editor, Gérard Biard, disputed any analogies drawn between the Charlie Hebdo attack and the assault on Sunday against an art contest in Texas organized by Pamela Geller, a conservative activist and blogger.

“We have nothing to do with Pamela Geller’s work,” Mr. Biard said. “When Islam or the Prophet Muhammad jump out of the news, we comment on it, we mock it, maybe. But we are not obsessed about it.” » | Rick Gladstone | Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Pamela Geller vs Imam Anjem Choudary on Fox News, Hannity: 'You Want Her To Die!' | Full Interview

Muslim Hate Preacher Says Blogger Behind ‘Draw Muhammad’ Comp Should Die, On Live TV

The preacher was born in Welling, south-east London

DAILY EXPRESS: HATE preacher Anjem Choudary told the anti-Islam activist who organised the 'Draw Muhammad' event at the weekend she should be sentenced to DEATH, on live TV.

American right-wing blogger Pamela Geller clashed with British imam Choudhary just days after gunmen Elton Simpson, 31 and Nadir Soofi, 34, attempted to storm the controversial cartoon event in Garland, Texas.

Geller, 56, has received death threats and Islamic State militants have called for her "slaughter" since the exhibition.

During a heated live Fox News interview, host Sean Hannity questioned Choudhary on his views about the cartoon drawing event and if he thought Ms Geller should die.

The imam replied: "We’re not talking about Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck.

“You’re talking about people who deliberately had a competition to insult the prophet … knowing full well this carries the death threat in Iran.

"If you saw the cartoons that Charlie Hebdo drew [sic], you would understand the anger."

The cleric then went on to say that Geller would be fully aware that many Muslims consider blasphemy a crime that is worth capital punishment. » | Rebecca Perring | Thursday, May 07, 2015

Pamela Geller Takes Heat Over Shooting At Muhammad Drawing Contest

Pamela Geller and other hosts of the "draw Muhammad" contest were lucky to emerge unscathed after two Muslim gunmen attacked the event Sunday, but they haven't escaped the wrath of critics who insist the organizers share the blame for what happened. The two would-be jihadis were killed by police after charging the art exhibit and contest,…

CNN Promotes Sharia Blasphemy Laws (Alisyn Camerota vs. Pamela Geller)

Following the recent shooting at a Muhammad cartoon contest in Garland, Texas, media attention has once again focused on Islam and the First Amendment. In a discussion with Pamela Geller, CNN news anchor Alisyn Camerota noted the "fine line" between free speech and provocative speech. She went on to say that there should be a debate about the line between free speech and provocative speech. Apparently, CNN agrees with proponents of Sharia that criticizing Islam is beyond the scope of free speech (despite Camerota's claims to the contrary).

Pamela Geller Battles Fox News Host Over Critics of 'Drawing Muhammad' #Garland | Full Interview

Exclusive–Pamela Geller Calls Out Cowardly Conservatives, Says She’ll Organize Another Free Speech Event in Near Future**Full Image Gallery**e

BREITBART.COM: Breitbart News spoke with Pamela Geller, president of the American Freedom Defense Initiative and blogger at Atlasshrugs.com, about her recent “Draw Muhammad” free speech art exhibit, which came under attack by Islamic radicals on Sunday in Garland, Texas.

Geller discussed how much of the political left, Islamic totalitarians, and even some high-profile conservatives have attempted to equate her art exhibit with the actions of the AK47-weilding Islamic terrorists, who were shot dead in their botched attempt to commit mass murder. Geller talked about why drawing Muhammad is so controversial within Islam and how the media is capitulating to Sharia law in America, among other issues. Throughout the interview, view a selection of submissions to the “Draw Muhammad” contest. » | Jordan Schachtel | Tuesday, May 05, 2015

ISIS Threatens Controversial Blogger Pamela Geller in Message Boasting of '71 Trained Soldiers in 15 Different States'

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: ISIS appears to declare war on controversial blogger Pamela Geller on Tuesday in an ominous online message claiming it has fighters across America ready to attack "any target we desire."

The threat, posted on anonymous message board JustPasteIt, singles out Geller, who helped plan a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that was attacked by two gunmen in Garland, Texas, over the weekend. ISIS claimed responsibility for the shooting early Tuesday, marking the first time the terror group called an American attack one of its own, though lawmakers believe the two men were influenced by the group, not guided directly by it.

"This is the textbook case of what we're most concerned about," Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told the Associated Press.

Both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security were aware the contest was a potential terror target and issued a joint bulletin on April 20. Organizers, including Geller - who has become a lightning rod for critics who think she promotes anti-Islam views - knew they'd be targeted but refused to back down. (+ video) » | Sasha Goldstein, Jason Silverstein | New York Daily News | Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Texas Attack Shows How US Protects Free Speech – No Matter How Offensive

THE GUARDIAN: Critics say Pamela Geller’s event was provocative and arguably crossed the line into hate speech – but protections afforded by the first amendment are unique

The fatal shootings in Garland, Texas, of two extremist gunmen as they attacked an anti-Islamist meeting was a vivid reminder of the virtually unique protections afforded by the US constitution to free speech, no matter how hate-filled or provocative, according to prominent first amendment experts.

In many countries across Europe and around the world, Pamela Geller and the American Freedom Defense Initiative, who organized the event in Garland, might have fallen foul of hate speech laws such as the UK’s 1986 public order act or article 266(b) of Denmark’s criminal code. » | Ed Pilkington in New York | Wednesday, May 06, 2015

Pamela Geller Battles CNN Host Over Garland Shooting: Why Is Media ‘Targeting’ Us? |Full Interview

HT: JihadWatch article Robert Spencer @ Jihad Watch »

Are These Portrayals of Pamela Geller Fair?

Are these portrayals of Pamela Geller fair? From The Daily Telegraph this. And from the Daily Mail this. Is she a brave woman fighting for our freedoms, or is she a peddler of hate? You decide! – © Mark

Geert Wilders on Muslim Hit Lists before Muhammad Cartoon Attack

The keynote speaker at Sunday's Muhammad cartoon-drawing contest in Texas was Dutch politician Geert Wilders, a longtime target of Muslim extremists in Europe. Mr. Wilders is an ally of anti-Shariah organization American Freedom Defense Initiative, which sponsored the event that came under attack from two gunmen and a possible car bomb Sunday. He also was a…

Gunmen Shot Outside 'Draw Muhammad' Event in Garland, Texas

Police in Texas Kill Gunmen at Exhibit Defying Islam

THE NEW YORK TIMES: HOUSTON — Two gunmen were killed after they opened fire Sunday evening outside an event hosted by an anti-Islam group in Garland, Tex., featuring cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, local officials said. According to the authorities, the two assailants shot a private security guard and were, in turn, shot and killed by police officers.

Officials did not give the identities of the gunmen or the security officer and did not assign a motive for the attack. The Texas State Police and the F.B.I. referred reporters’ questions to the Garland Police Department. The City of Garland confirmed the episode in a Facebook posting. » | Manny Fernandez and Liam Stock | Sunday, May 03, 2015

Anti-Islam Ads Featuring Hitler Unveiled on Philadelphia Buses

An anti-Islam ad campaign hitting the streets of Philadelphia this week features Adolf Hitler having a sit-down meeting with "leader of the Muslim world" Haj Amin al-Husseini. The ads were created by the American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), a New Hampshire-based nonprofit co-founded by conservative pundit Pamela Geller, and will be displayed on 84 public transit…