Pamela Geller ‘Hitler’ Anti-Islam Ad Comes to Washington D.C.

A group purporting to counter an anti-Israel ad campaign posted ads on Washington, D.C., buses featuring a photograph of Adolf Hitler meeting with Palestinian leader Haj Amin al-Husseini.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative, led by the Islam critic Pamela Geller, launched its effort this week on about 20 Metro buses. The ads are headlined “Islamic Jew-hatred: It’s in the Koran” and call for a suspension of U.S. aid to Muslim countries.
The caption to the photo describes “Adolf Hitler and his staunch ally, the leader of the Muslim world, Haj Amin al-Husseini” in a wartime meeting. Husseini, the grand mufti of Jersualem from 1921 to 1937 before his exile by British authorities, propagandized on behalf of the Nazis and sought to recruit European Muslims to the Nazi cause but mostly failed.
The American Freedom Defense Initiative said on its website that the ads were in response to a bus ad campaign by American Muslims for Palestine that featured a grimacing Uncle Sam waving an Israeli flag and headlined “We’re sweating April 15 so Israelis don’t have to.” April 15 is Tax Day. “Stop US aid to Israel’s Occupation!” it said.
AFDI has published controversial ads in response to pro-Palestinian campaigns in other cities.
Geller led efforts to prevent the building of an Islamic center several blocks away from the site of the 9/11 terrorist attack on Manhattan’s World Trade Center. She has criticized by groups such as the Anti-Defamation League and others for her harsh comments about Islam.
Husseini, who had sought an alliance with the Axis in a bid to drive Jews out of Palestine, escaped French arrest for his Nazi collaboration and slipped into obscurity until his 1974 death in Lebanon.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 3
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Trump is cracking down on universities — just like Hitler targeted academics who didn’t bow to his will
-
Fast Forward As Netanyahu arrives in Budapest, Hungary announces exit from International Criminal Court
-
Yiddish הונדערטער פֿרומע ייִדן לאַנצירן לינק־געשטימטע גרופּע אין מאַנהעטןHundreds of observant Jews launch left-wing group in Manhattan
הרבֿ יוסף בלאַו האָט בײַ דער קאָנפֿערענץ באַדויערט וואָס דער רעליגיעזער ציוניזם אין ישׂראל איז „פֿאַרכאַפּט געוואָרן“ פֿון די רעכטע.
-
Fast Forward Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ includes 17% tariffs on Israeli imports, even as Israel cancels tariffs on US goods
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.