In response to Metro's decision to run 12 ads accusing Israel of "war crimes," many have called on Metro to change its ad policy, which allows non-commercial "cause" advertising as well as ads for goods and services. During the past year, Metro approved ads by nearly 100 such groups, including everything from the Salvation Army to Seattle Out and Proud to the Washington Association of Nurse Anesthetists. Altogether, those groups contributed more than $479,000 to Metro's 2010 budget. Put another way, changing the policy to ban issue ads would leave Metro with a nearly half-million-dollar budget hole.

Since the group first announced plans to run the ads this week, the story has gone international, and the flap has escalated, with two groups planning counter-ads. The first group, the American Freedom Defense Initiative, has proposed two ads. The first, which features grisly images of people covered in blood, reads: "One billion dollars to Hamas. Your tax dollars at work. Stop funding Islamic antisemitism." The second, which features a photo of Hitler juxtaposed with a Palestinian soldier, reads, "In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized man. Support Israel. Defeat Islamic jihad."

The second proposal, by conservative writer David Horowitz, reads: "Palestinian war crimes — your tax dollars at work."