Provocative Custom License Plate to be Pulled in Brooklyn

A black Ford vehicle has been spotted around the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bay Ridge bearing a custom license plate emblazed with the name ‘HAMMAS.’ For those of you who have been living on Mars for the past few years, Hamas is the name of a middle-east-based terrorist group who has most recently been shooting rockets at civilians in Israel from their enclave in Gaza. The US and many other countries have listed Hamas as a terrorist organization which is illegal to support.

Just in case the variant spelling might make one think that ‘Hammas’ refers to the car owner’s dog or pet fish, there is also a flag of ‘Palestine’ draped across the windshield. So there is no mistake about it.

The New York Department of Motor Vehicles has been made aware of the distressing license plate, and they have announced that the “politically charged” registration of the car will be revoked. Officials agree that the license plate is “patently offensive” since it is unequivocally sending the message of support for Hamas.

“We are pulling this plate off the road as patently offensive,” Jackie McGinnis, of the DMV. “The group represented by the name on the plate is on the list of entities designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.”

McGinnis added that it is a pity the plate was ever issued in the first place, and there is no question that the DMV has the right to revoke registrations that are considered either offensive, obscene or derogatory.