New York's Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is in the process of revoking a license plate reading "HAMMAS," which it says never should have been issued in the first place, New York Magazine reported on Friday.
The DMV said the "patently offensive" plate can be read as a message of support for Hamas which is recognized as a terrorist group by the United States. It was spotted in Bay Ridge, according to the report, with a Palestinian flag covering the front windshield.
More alarming, the plate doesn't even stop at support for Hamas. In tiny red letters under the yellow plate, the car's owner spelled out "ALQASSM" — a reference, no doubt, to the group's so-called “military wing”, which carries out terror attacks against Israeli civilians.
"We are pulling this plate off the road as patently offensive," Jackie McGinnis of the state Department of Motor Vehicles said in a statement quoted by NY1.
"The group represented by the name on the plate is also on the list of entities designated by the U.S. Government as a terrorist organization," the statement noted.
DMV regulations say the agency can refuse to issue a license plate it deems obscene, derogatory or offensive.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)