Activist Mona Al-Tahawi decided to fight anti-Muslim advertisements sprouting up in New York subway stations, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky "I am proud that I spray-painted that racist poster, and I would do it again," said Egyptian-American activist and writer Mona Al-Tahawi, who will stand trial in New York for misdemeanor late next month for spray-painting a subway poster that described Muslims as "savages". On 23 September, New York police arrested Al-Tahawi after she was caught distorting pro-Israel and anti-Muslim advertisements that were posted in several New York subway stations. A video published by the daily New York Post showed the activist spraying the ad at a Times Square subway station while another woman who supported the billboard's content, identified as Pamela Hall, stood against the wall to prevent her from doing so. "In any war between the civilised man and the savage, support the civilised man. Support Israel, defeat Jihad," read the ads. Hall and Al-Tahawi kept arguing until two police officers appeared and arrested Al-Tahawi. As the police escorted Al-Tahawi out of the station, she said, "This is what happens to non-violent protesters in America in 2012." After spending 22 hours in police custody, the judge ordered Al-Tahawi released on bail and set 29 November for her trial. Youssef Zada, Egypt's consul in New York, said that Al-Tahawi's legal situation was "not serious, as she faces charges for only a minor violation which is spraying a poster." Zada added the charges did not include anything that affects US national security. "That's why the judge released her on bail." Al-Tahawi said the police arrested four other people for putting stickers on the same posters on the same day, but released them after just a few hours of detention. Last week many of the ads went up across New York City, paid for by the American Freedom Defence Initiative, a group spearheaded by Pamela Geller, a 54-year-old activist and author who co-founded the organisation Stop Islamisation of America. The battle of the ads started a few months ago when New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority refused to post the controversial anti-Muslim ads in the city's subways, but was forced last week to allow them after the anti-Muslim group contested the authority's decision in court, and won the case. "'Savage' is a word long used to dehumanise minorities; racism is not just about skin colour," Al-Tahawi said. A few hours before her arrest, Al-Tahawi said on twitter that she would spray-paint the posters. She said the Post was there to film the reaction along with Hall who works with the anti-Muslim group that paid for the ads. "The New York Post is known for its anti-Muslim and anti-Arab stances. That's why the paper shows support for the ads," she said. On a blog, Geller described Al-Tahawi as an "Islamic supremacist journalist" and said her arrest was the result of "assaulting a defender of freedom". "This again proves that Islamic supremacists and the leftist thugs are dedicated to shutting down free speech," the post said. "Anti-Israel ads ran all over the country without a murmur of protest; but this pro-Israel ad was hardly up an hour before fascist thugs like Al-Tahawi went to work to deface it," she added. Some New York Jewish religious leaders, including Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, wrote against the ads saying they aimed at unleashing violence and hatred between religious groups. "Geller's ads, sharply dividing the world into civilised people and savages, are only intended to hurt and tear fragile relationships apart," Kahn-Troster said in an article on the CNN website. Al-Tahawi received support in Egypt and many other Arab countries. Spokesman for Egypt's Dar Al-Iftaa Ibrahim Negm said ads are "a new chapter of never ending assaults on Islam and Muslims". Negm said the grand mufti had decided to launch a counter campaign replying to the anti-Islam ads in coordination with the Islamic Circle of North America. "We will place posters in New York metro stations to explain in brief statements what Islam is and who is Prophet Mohamed," Negm said. The ads come hot on the heels of a US-produced film which mocks Muslims and the Prophet Mohamed and which last month sparked violent demonstrations around the world, in some cases deadly.
