The New York Times Spins Dueling Jihad Campaigns

Boy, Pamela's in the news constantly nowadays. She's the Breitbart of counter-jihad.

See, "Using Billboards to Stake Claim Over ‘Jihad’":

CHICAGO — There is an advertising war being fought here — not over soda or car brands but over the true meaning of the word “jihad.”

Backing a continuing effort that has featured billboards on the sides of Chicago buses, the local chapter of a national Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has been promoting a nonviolent meaning of the word — “to struggle” — that applies to everyday life.

Supporters say jihad is a spiritual concept that has been misused by extremists and inaccurately linked to terrorism, and they are determined to reclaim that definition with the ad campaign, called My Jihad.

“My jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule,” says a woman in a head scarf lifting weights in an ad that started running on buses in December. “What’s yours?”

But last month another set of ads, with a far different message, started appearing on buses here.

Mimicking the My Jihad ads, they feature photos and quotations from figures like Osama bin Laden and Faisal Shahzad, who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square in 2010. “Killing Jews is worship that draws us closer to Allah,” says one ad, attributing the quotation to a Hamas television station. They end with the statement: “That’s his jihad. What’s yours?”

The leader of the second ad campaign, Pamela Geller, executive director of the pro-Israel group American Freedom Defense Initiative, has criticized the original My Jihad ads as a “whitewashed version” of an idea that has been used to justify violent attacks around the world.

“The fact that some Muslims don’t associate jihad with violence does not cancel out that so many do,” Ms. Geller said. “I will go toe to toe in this matter because it’s an attempt to disarm the American people.”

The debate started last year when Ms. Geller’s organization submitted a pro-Israel advertisement for the New York subway system that used the word “savage” to describe opponents of the Jewish state, stirring outrage in Muslim communities.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority rejected the ads, citing its policy against “demeaning” language, but a federal judge overruled the agency, saying it had violated the group’s First Amendment rights.

The signs went up in September and read: “In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Jihad.”

Ahmed Rehab, the executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office, said he was surprised that the New York case focused only on the word “savage,” not jihad — an indication, he said, that the Muslim community needed to be more active about promoting a more peaceful interpretation of its beliefs.

“Unfortunately we have witnessed in front of our very eyes a central tenet of our faith essentially become tarnished,” Mr. Rehab said of the controversy, adding, “I was tired of hearing fathers tell their children, you know, ‘Don’t say jihad over the phone. Don’t say jihad in public.’ ”