
{"id":27908,"date":"2012-09-20T09:53:43","date_gmt":"2012-09-20T13:53:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=27908"},"modified":"2012-09-20T09:53:43","modified_gmt":"2012-09-20T13:53:43","slug":"group-calls-for-ads-removal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2012\/09\/20\/group-calls-for-ads-removal\/","title":{"rendered":"Group calls for ads\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 removal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>CHAPEL HILL \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0Following the removal and subsequent replacement of a group of controversial ads on Chapel Hill Transit buses, residents both in support of and against the ads\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 removal packed the Chapel Hill Town Council meeting last week. <\/p>\n<p>Adam Goldstein, speaking on behalf of Triangle Voice 4 Israel, petitioned the council to remove the ads, saying that they were \u00e2\u20ac\u0153divisive and a barrier to dialogue.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The ads, placed by the Church of Reconciliation, are part of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Join With Us\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Be on our Side\u00e2\u20ac\u009d national ad campaign coordinated by the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, calling for the end of U.S. military aid to Israel. <\/p>\n<p>Five complaints led to a review of the ads, which found that they were not in compliance with CHT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s policy on political and religious advertising, which requires a disclaimer stating the purchaser of the ad as well as contact information. <\/p>\n<p>The initial ads did not include the church\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contact information, which was later added, and the advertisements went back up. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re offensive to many, the equivalent of calling for an end to the state of Israel, and they leave me as a Jew, a Chapel Hill resident and a parent with a teenage daughter feeling attacked in a place I want to feel at home,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Goldstein said. <\/p>\n<p>Church of Reconciliation Pastor Mark Davidson said the ads were not intended to serve as a call for the end of the state of Israel, but simply the end of U.S. military aid to Israel. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It is true that some members of our community have been uncomfortable, even quite distressed with the view point expressed in the ad, and they have unfortunately unfairly accused us of advocating for the destruction of Israel,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Nothing could be further from the truth.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Part of living in a democracy is being exposed to viewpoints different from our own and learning to handle the difference gracefully and respectfully,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Davidson continued. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Such civic virtues are sorely needed in our time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Resident Fred Shectman urged the council not to accept any political or religious advertising on CHT buses, noting that the current policy keeps the buses open to advertising by groups like the Ku Klux Klan, the American Nazi party or homophobic groups. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153If you accept political or religious ads \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 you implicitly place yourself in the role of gatekeeper by deciding what is appropriate and what is not,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153One man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s terrorist is another man\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s freedom-fighter. Think carefully whether you want to put yourself in that position.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Mark Dorosin, a lawyer with the UNC Center for Civil Rights, noted the protection of free speech under the U.S. Constitution. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Even in a limited public forum, content-based restrictions on speech are subject to the highest level of judicial review,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, adding, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I would caution you against the idea of drawing between commercial speech and other kinds of speech.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>In accordance with its policy, the council voted to receive and refer the petition for staff review and consideration by the council at a later date. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Residents both in support of and against the controversial bus ads\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 removal packed the Chapel Hill Town Council meeting last week. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27908"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27908\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27909,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27908\/revisions\/27909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}