A BART train in San Francisco. Image by Wikipedia

(JTA) — The Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco accepted an ad from the Institute for Historical Review, a known Holocaust-denying group.

The ad, which shows a map of the world overlaid with the words “History Matters” and the name of the group, will run through the month of September on digital boards in two BART stations, J. The Jewish News of Northern California reported.

BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost told the newspaper that as a governmental agency, BART cannot reject ads based solely on the identity of the advertiser. While it can refuse ads based on language and appearance, the new ad does not contain offensive imagery or text, Trost said. BART did require the group to remove its web address from the ad.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The $6,000 ad buy was the first ever by the Institute for Historical Review, which is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The About section on its website says that it is “an independent educational center and publisher that works to promote peace, understanding and justice through greater public awareness of the past, and especially socially-politically relevant aspects of modern history.”

It later says: “We work to provide factual information and sound perspective on US foreign policy, World War Two, the Israel-Palestine conflict, war propaganda, Middle East history, the Jewish-Zionist role in cultural and political life, and much more.”

Among the linked articles on its website is one suggesting that Israel knew in advance about the 9/11 attacks, another about “Liberating America from Israel” and several about Holocaust denier David Irving.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount