ACLU Files Lawsuit Against King County Over Anti-Israel Bus Ads

Read Rabbi Jonathan Singer's letter to the editor in The Seattle Times.

Today the ACLU of Washington State filed, on behalf of the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, a lawsuit against King County seeking a preliminary injunction to uphold the Campaign's free speech rights to publish a paid bus ad expressing its views on actions of the Israeli government. Filed in U.S. District court, the lawsuit alleges that King County's refusal to allow the ad on Metro buses violated the Campaign's First Amendment rights.

The media have begun calling us again. Our response to the filing of the lawsuit is as follows:

The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle is disappointed to see that the ACLU has elected to file a lawsuit against King County over the recently canceled anti-Israel bus ads.

We continue to believe that the ads violated King County's advertising policy and would have encouraged the ACLU to allow King County to develop its new policy regarding noncommercial advertising before deciding to file this suit.

We respect and support the First Amendment right to free speech but continue to feel this particular ad violated Metro Transit's own policy against running ads "so insulting, degrading or offensive as to be reasonably foreseeable that it will incite or produce imminent lawless action in the form of retaliation, vandalism or other breach of public safety, peace and order..." or could "... be reasonably foreseeable that it will result in harm to, disruption of, or interference with the transportation system."

The Jewish Federation believes this type of inflammatory campaign is destructive to the peace process and undermines efforts to build positive relationships both in the Middle East and within our local community. This kind of demonization of Israel is contrary to reconciliation and does not contribute to furthering the peace process. Our core values direct us to seek ways to build bridges — not to destroy them.

We encourage the public to become educated on all aspects of the Middle East conflict and to work for a peaceful resolution through which all parties can find a way to live and work together with respect and in peace.