Things are heating up at MTA/Metro-North where several railroad stations north of Manhattan, such as White Plains and Chappaqua, have posters depicting the shrinking land holdings of the Palestinians from 1946 to 2010. Talk of censoring such ads is now swirling around this poster campaign as mentioned in the stories with one MTA board member actively investigating legal language that would ban such posters in the future. Freedom of speech is at the heart of this matter.

The campaign which cost $25,000 was paid for by a retired Wall Street financier, Henry Clifford:

“If the facts are inflammatory, then they are inflammatory,” said Henry Clifford, chairman of a 10-member group called the Committee for Peace in Israel and Palestine. “All of the Middle East is infected with the virus of the Arab-Israeli conflict. People need to know the truth of the matter.”

--The Journal News

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Provocative poster advertisements showing shrinking Palestinian land in Israel that are on display at Metro-North Railroad platforms have alarmed leaders in the Jewish community who are concerned they could lead to acts of hate.

“This is anti-Semitic because when people think of Jews they think of the Jewish state,” said Dovid Efune, editor of the Manhattan-based Jewish newspaper The Algemeiner. “Jews have seen this happen so many times. It always starts with messaging that says Jews are committing a crime.”

The ads, which show a succession of shrinking Palestinian territory in four maps and contain a headline saying that 4.7 million Palestinians are classified as refugees by the United Nations, were paid for by an 84-year-old ex-Wall Street financier who lives in Connecticut."

--Rob Ryser and Alex Weisler, The Journal News

Political advertising that provokes division such as the pro-Palestinian ads at Metro-North Railroad stations in Chappaqua and White Plains has no business on billboards run by a government agency, a board member of the railroad’s governing body says.

“Advertising that incites or inflames the public is not helpful in the management of a railroad,” says Charles Moerdler, 77, an attorney and Holocaust survivor. “It is not our business to allow our platforms to be used for divisive political discourse.”

Moerdler, a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board, said he is researching language that would ban political advertising in its stations and on its buses, subways and trains in New York City and the suburbs.

--Rob Ryser, The Journal News