'Voices for Palestinians' Adopt A Road near Temple Israel leads to sign takedown
Adopt a Road sign for Voices of Palestinians near Temple Israel taken down
The sign is within two miles from Temple Israel, the target of a terror attack last March with some arguing should have never been agreed to. The Adopt A Road program is for anyone that pledges to clean up two or three miles of a road of their choosing, once a year.
OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (FOX 2) - Free speech or hate speech? An Adopt A Road sign that was approved by the road commission for Oakland County credits the group - "Voices for Palestinians."
The backstory:
The sign is within two miles from Temple Israel, the target of a terror attack last March with some arguing should have never been agreed to.
The Adopt A Road program is for anyone that pledges to clean up two or three miles of a road of their choosing, once a year. It’s free.
And for your efforts, you get a sign. But the group, Voices for Palestinians applied, a sign was made, but was taken down when some argue the motive was not to clean the road, but to provoke at the least, or possibly out of hate.
"I believe that the sign is something more than the words," said Judge Barry Howard, retired chief judge Oakland County Circuit Court. "The Voice of Palestine is licensed in another country where I think that it has the potential for signaling of an attack."
FOX 2: "So the government can put limits on free speech based on the location of a sign?"
"Absolutely," Howard said.
FOX 2: "If Palestinians wanted to protest on a public sidewalk in front of Temple Israel, the war in Iran for example, could they do it?"
"I haven’t thought about it but that’s not the message here," Howard said.
FOX 2: "But what’s the difference?"
"Yeah, there is a difference, because of where it’s at, and what was done," Howard said.
Last March the synagogue was attacked by a gunman who crashed his vehicle into part of the structure.
Related: Temple Israel attack – FBI calls synagogue assault 'Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism'
Federal officials said Ayman Mohammad Ghazali had purchased firearms, ammunition, and gasoline ahead of a planned attack on Temple Israel.
He fatally shot himself after exchanging gunfire with security officials.
Attorney Nabih Ayad disagrees.
"If the road commission applied a certain protocol to everyone that said you do certain things," he said. "You are eligible to have the sign named after your organization, entity or what have you, and if they do all those they have to do it fairly - regardless of who it is."
Those signs have been taken down. The signs were applied for by a West Bloomfield resident before the attack on Temple Israel and had been cleaning the stretch of road.
The Source: Information for this report is from speaking with the Oakland County Road Commission, attorney Nabih Ayad and retired Judge Barry Howard.