US Supreme Court rejects appeal claiming Boston-area mass transit agency acted unfairly when it rejected a pro-Israel ad

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from a pro-Israel group that wants to put ads on Boston-area mass transit that authorities rejected as inflammatory.

The justices on Monday let stand court rulings that upheld rejection of the ads by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. The agency said ads from the American Freedom Defence Initiative using the word “savage” were “demeaning or disparaging” to Palestinians and Muslims.

The group claimed the rejection violates its right to free speech and shows a double standard on the part of the transit agency because it allowed a pro-Palestinian group to run a subway ad.

The ads in question described the conflict as between “civilized man and the savage.” The MBTA accepted a different version that was critical of people engaged in “savage acts.”