.bmp)
.bmp)
When organizers of a counter-terrorism conference in Texas wanted to advertise their event with a billboard, they ran into a roadblock with the term "Islamist" and an image of the Statue of Liberty with a Muslim veil and a scene from 9/11.One company approached by Jeff Epstein of the non-profit group America's Truth Forum said it had to consider its international clientele, "some of whom might be on the other side."Epstein told WND he first submitted his artwork to another advertiser, Clear Channel Outdoor, and was told the veil and imagery of the 9/11 attack had to go. America's Truth Forum is planning a symposium Feb. 1-2 near the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport called "Exposing the Threat of Radical Islamist Terrorism." Other speakers include experts on Islam and counter-terrorism such as Robert Spencer, Frank Gaffney, Caroline Glick and David Schippers.Talk hosts Roger Hedgecock and Mike Gallagher will serve as emcees.Epstein told Clear Channel he would not remove the 9/11 scene – arguing it honored victims of the attacks – and began investigating possibilities with other billboard companies. In the meantime, Clear Channel came back to Epstein with some counter-proposals. After further negotiation, Epstein agreed to leave out the Statue of Liberty, and the billboard company said it would allow the 9/11 scene. But Clear Channel then insisted the word "Islamist" – an oft-used reference to radicals with an openly political agenda – was not acceptable.While the process with Clear Channel proceeded, Epstein contacted another billboard company, which didn't like the terrorism theme at all.Epstein said he was told: "My boss wouldn't go along with this type of advertising, since we have an international clientele – some of whom might be on the other side." Robert Spencer's weblog Jihad Watch, the first to publish the billboard images online, wondered aloud what was meant by "the other side.""The other side? On the side of the jihadists?" "Imagine," Spencer wrote, "an American billboard company in 1942 toning down an anti-Nazi billboard because, well, some of their clients are Nazis."
As in the days of Noah...
