Philadelphia - There it was, a huge poster hanging on a wall in an elevator lobby where I work. The title line at the top read, "Remember When (in the 60s and 70s)", as part of Black History Month. Dozens of colleagues waxed nostalgic as they jotted down their recollections beneath the heading.



Ah, and one writer became wistful about the good ol' days when it was far easier to murder Jews in a foreign land. To wit (or nitwit): "Remember when Black September shot up the Olympic Village in Munich, Germany?"



For good measure, the poster likewise waxed nostalgic as to "when Palestine was on every map."



I reported this to the big bosses at the city agency where I work and to Jewish colleagues. I also left phone messages with the local offices of the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee on Monday, February 7, and neither returned my calls. I imagine the ADL must still be busy reviewing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.



These postings reflected the latest episode in a conflict that began in May 2002 - when two Israel-bashing messages were posted on a bulletin board outside the office of a senior manager who should have known better, and we learned later that the administration sent her a letter of censure. A number of Jewish employees filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which supported the city's lame reaction.



After all, the EEOC considered this a matter of that senior manager's "Fourth Amendment" free speech rights. I wrote to the EEOC investigator to point out to him that free speech is covered under the First Amendment. Or is there a misprint in my copy of the Constitution?



Last year, some more Israel-bashing messages appeared on that senior manager's fourth-floor bulletin board, one of which announced that she was scheduled to speak at Temple University about "the Berlin Wall" being moved to "Palestine".



I complained to the usual suspects. My EEOC complaint is still pending and my contact at the ADL told me that they would not intervene because it was "an internal matter." Silly me, I forgot to tell him that this senior manager is international president of the Mel Gibson Fan Club.



Now, the new postings have appeared on the same floor. After nearly three days, the agency's integrity officer sent me this response:



"I fully understand why you might have taken offense to these two postings because of our previous experience with political messages involving the Middle East and Israel being inappropriately posted on a fourth floor bulletin board.



"I personally checked out these postings and all of the others and found them to be consistent with the 'remember when' theme. While it is true that these and other postings that had political postings might have been posted to further a political agenda, there is no way of proving the motivation behind them even if it was possible to find out who wrote them.



"The statements are historically accurate and do not express a political position on these two historical facts. In a situation like this, the department cannot interfere with staff's freedom of expression unless a posting is clearly meant to be offensive or derogatory. These postings do not meet that criteria."



Never could a message written in a celebratory tone for Jewish murders - and having nothing to do with Black history - be "meant to be offensive or derogatory."



Of course, the historical accuracy of the message could well be disputed, but that is not what is important. The agency's integrity officer misunderstood my concern. I did not want it removed. I wanted equal time, for I have my own wistful memories of that era:



Remember when, after the Israeli athletes were murdered by Black September terrorists in 1972 in Munich, Prime Minister Golda Meir organized a squad of hit men who fanned out all over Western Europe to rub out some of those responsible for the Munich killings?



Remember when a movie called Sword of Gideon was produced to recount the ventures of these Israeli heroes?



Remember when, in 1973, Ehud Barak and Yoni Netanyahu raided an apartment building in Beirut, as part of a commando squad, to blow away three Palestine Liberation Organization leaders who helped plan the Munich massacre and other terror escapades?



Ah, the good old days....