Photo

Mona Eltahawy: ‘If anti-Muslim ads are protected, so must be my free speech right to protest’

A month after she spraypainted offensive posters in the NYC sunway, Mona writes:

American rightwingers – in between calling me a “bitch” and “cunt” countless times – would have you know I’m an “Islamo-Nazi anti-speech ungrateful immigrant” incapable of appreciating the wonders of the first amendment. The right is incredibly deft at getting earnest about all the wrong things. It was precisely my love of the first amendment that made me join sidewalk activists in 2010 to support an Islamic community center’s right to open in Lower Manhattan. As a member of a minority whose very presence has been considered an offense – “Why can’t you just move a few blocks away? Can’t you see you’re hurting our feelings?” – of course, I believe in the right to offend: it’s a two-way street.