Islamic group practicing Jihad on San Francisco buses

January 6, 2013

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is advertising Jihad on the sides of San Francisco buses. [Huffington Post]

CAIR is attempting to reclaim the meaning of the controversial term in its My Jihad campaign that uses billboards on city buses to redefine what it perceives as American misconceptions of an Islamic practice.

“A common misconception of the word ‘jihad’ is that it means armed struggle or holy war,” CAIR Bay Area Chapter head Zhara Billoo told ABC 7. “The proper meaning of jihad, as many of us frequently describe it, is ‘to struggle’ and that’s it.”

Biloo said that the word has been “hijacked” by people “pushing anti-Muslim sentiment.”

So, CAIR is using bus advertising to show Muslims achieving personal goals, such as getting in shape, as a form of jihad.

One ad pictures individuals with varying pigmentation acting friendly and says, “My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle.”

The Jihad ad campaign follows a series of controversial advertisement on buses in San Francisco and nationwide sponsored by conservative blogger Pamela Gellar’s American Freedom Defense Initiative. Those ads read, “In any war between civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man… Support Israel Defeat Jihad.”

Gellar responded to the pro jihad campaign by submitting counter ads to the San Francisco transit agency, as well as to the Chicago Transit Authority, which first ran the CAIR campaign. Gellar’s proposed series, “That’s #My Jihad. What’s yours?” uses pictures of Islamic advocates of violence, including Osama Bin Laden and Major Nidal Hassan.

Shaped in a similar fashion to the CAIR ads, Gellar’s proposed ads integrate quotes about committing acts of violence in the name of Islam, Allah and Jihad. One says, “Killing Jews is Worship that draws us close to Allah” and is placed next to a man in a headdress that covers most of his face.

Gellar posted photos of the proposed ads on her blog.