If We Want to Protect America's Airports, We Must Profile
(2010-03-08) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Huffington Post
The Christmas Day attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 brought our minds sharply back to the threat our nation faces on a daily basis from terrorist organizations and financiers.
In 2003, then-Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, commenting on new Al-Qaeda threats to conduct a series of homicide hijackings of U.S. airplanes, remarked that airline passengers were much more More >>
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America must defend its writers
(2010-03-01) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Guardian, UK
A bill in Congress is aiming to protect US-based authors from overseas libel judgments, not change British laws
The US Senate judiciary committee recently concluded that "foreign libel lawsuits are chilling Americans' first amendment rights http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearings/hearing.cfm?id=4414 ", during a hearing on the Free Speech Protection Act More >>
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Hamas' Line of Defence to Goldstone Report
(2010-02-02) Jonathan Dahohah Halvei Shalom Life
Israel has recently delivered to the United Nations Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon its official response to the UN’s fact finding mission to Operation Cast Lead, headed by Judge Richard Goldstone. Hamas’ government is also preparing to submit its official response before the grace period of six months set to the parties by the Goldstone committee is over.
In sharp contrast to the genuine fears More >>
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Is Sharia Banking Safe for Canada?
(2010-01-29) Dan Verbin ShalomLife
With the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation releasing a report this week that may pave the way for widespread availability of Islamic financial instruments in Canada – including Sharia-compliant mortgages – an expert on Islamic banking is cautioning that Canadians should examine the implications of implementing the report’s recommendations.
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, a New York-based author More >>
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Sharia’s Dominion
(2010-01-29) Leslie S. Lebl City Journal
Leslie S. Lebl, a former career foreign service officer with the State Department, is principal of Lebl Associates, a fellow of the American Center for Democracy, and author of the monograph Advancing U.S. Interests with the European Union.
Two books argue that repression, cruelty, and fear are central to Islam.
29 January 2010
A God Who Hates: The Courageous Woman Who Inflamed More >>
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The British Threat to American Free Speech
(2009-12-20) Rachel Ehrenfeld Wall Street Journal
The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to protect American writers from the threat of suppressive libel lawsuits in the U.K.
The recent movement to change British libel laws to allow for greater freedom of expression has its origins in New York City and New York State.
I am a New York-based scholar specializing in research on terror financing and economic warfare. In my book, More >>
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U.S. Authorities Claim Al-Qaeda has Financial Difficulties
(2009-10-13) Chris Dade Digital Journal
A senior official at the U.S. Treasury is claiming that al-Qaeda has encountered financial difficulties and during the course of the year has made more than one appeal for funds. Rachel Ehrenfeld said... "They call themselves the Taliban, they call themselves Al Qaeda, they call themselves many names, all kind of Jihadist organizations. At the same time they are training together and they More >>
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Winning the War in Afghanistan
(2009-09-30) Rachel Ehrenfeld FrontPageMagazine.com
While the Obama administration is debating whether to escalate the war in Afghanistan, there may be a better solution for stabilizing the country. No one expects Afghanistan to become a peaceful, self-sustaining democracy overnight. However, without an effective strategy to turn the situation around, the surge is likely to result in the unnecessary loss of human lives and billions of dollars, More >>
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Ahmadinejad -- the Economic Reformer
(2009-09-03) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Huffington Post
On September 9, Iran will stage one of its biggest economic shams, seemingly selling fifty percent of its telecommunication company, Iran Telecom (TCI), to private investors. The well-advertised "privatization" of the company, described as "the biggest of its kind in the history of Tehran Stock Exchange," is expected to fill Iran's depleted coffers with $7.9 billion. In addition, Iran plans to More >>
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Death of a Libel Tourist
(2009-08-25) Rachel Ehrenfeld and Millard Burr FrontPageMagazine.com
Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz died in Jeddah last Saturday. The 60-year-old former owner of the Saudi National Commercial Bank and banker for the Royal family also owned a charity, the Muwafaq (blessed relief) Foundation that funded al-Qaeda and Hamas, to name but a few. He should be remembered not only because of his involvement with the shady Bank for Commerce and Credit International More >>
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Libyan Oil Is Thicker Than American Blood
(2009-08-22) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Huffington Post
In a chillingly cynical excuse Scotland released the former Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi who blew up Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The pretext "compassion" for the allegedly terminally ill Libyan, barely disguised the real reason -- oil buried deep in the Libyan sand.
The murder of 189 dead American, and 81 other nationals including 11 More >>
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ObamaCare's Medical Marijuana
(2009-08-13) Rachel Ehrenfeld Forbes Magazine
George Soros must be thrilled. Two hundred days into the Obama administration, and 16 years after Soros began his advocacy for drug legalization and promoting "medical marijuana," the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is venturing into the marijuana cigarettes production and distribution. According to the Aug. 5 solicitation for proposals, the selected organizations will be controlled by More >>
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When America's Enemies Experience Domestic Unrest
(2009-06-22) Leslie S. Lebl The American Thinker
In 1980, following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, a joke circulated in Warsaw: "What's the difference between Afghanistan and Poland? Answer: Afghanistan begins with an "A" and Poland with a "P". In other words, Poland might be Western and more prosperous but, in the end, it was just as vulnerable as Afghanistan to Soviet coercion.
That joke, however, has resonance today. The summer More >>
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A Muslim Nation's Successful Election
(2009-06-17) Rachel Ehrenfeld Forbes Magazine
Commentary
It is 131 degrees Fahrenheit in Marrakesh, Morocco, yet a slow but steady stream of voters--many of whom are women--enter the schoolyard to cast their ballots at the polling stations for the municipal elections.
On June 12, 2009, 1,503 communities chose their representatives in orderly, More >>
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The chill of libel tourism
(2009-06-09) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Guardian
The threat to sue the American author of an American publication for libel in a British court is bad for free speech.
A page-turning book containing details about the Metropolitan museum is the latest victim of Britain's reprehensible libel laws. Rogues Gallery, by the bestselling author Michael Gross, was published in May in the More >>
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U.S. Bails Out Palestinian Terrorism…Again
(2009-06-01) Rachel Ehrenfeld FrontPageMagazine.com
The Obama administration militarizes the Palestinians.
The May 28 meeting between President Barak Obama and Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas, confirms that this Administration, like its predecessors, refuses to learn from the past.
In yet another déjà-vu, the U.S. unconditional support to the Palestinians is persisting despite the fact that the Palestinians have never upheld More >>
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A Recession In Terrorism Finance?
(2009-05-29) Rachel Ehrenfeld inFocus - Summer 2009
The economic downturn and instability of the financial markets in the West has battered global economies. Despite the accompanying drop in oil prices, the current financial crisis has actually presented opportunities to expedite the influence and extend the global reach of Islamism in ways Sunni imams and Shiite mullahs could have only fantasized about before.
Saudi & Gulf More >>
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Where Is Saudi Support For Taliban Victims?
(2009-05-12) Rachel Ehrenfeld Forbes Magazine
A conspicuous lack of aid shows where the Kingdom stands.
Conspicuously, neither Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz nor the rulers of any Arab or Muslim state are holding special national telethons to help raise funds for some 400,000 new Pakistani refugees. Many fled their homes after the Taliban took over the Swat valley, and others were forced to leave amid the fierce More >>
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California Acts to Stop Libel Tourism
(2009-05-05) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld - The Huffington Post
Afflicted with one hazard of globalization -- the spread of the swine flu epidemic -- California's state Senate took measures to protect its citizens from another less deadly, yet terrorizing hazard -- the chilling effects on their freedom of expression by foreign libel judgments.
California is the world capital of the entertainment industry, which provides major revenues to the state. To More >>
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Does Iran Harbor Osama bin Laden?
(2009-04-02) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld - Huffington Post
Posted April 2, 2009 | 01:40 PM (EST)
Osama Bin Laden is in Iran, asserts Alan Howell Parrot, the director of The Union for the Conservation of Raptors (UCR), who for many years served as a Falconer for the rulers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and members of Saudi Royal family. In that capacity he was a regular guest in the seasonal Falconry-hunting camps and had access to all More >>
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How I Fight Libel Tourism
(2009-03-27) Rachel Ehrenfeld - The Guardian
Sitting at my desk on 23 January 2004, I was interrupted by an email from a law firm in London. It was a letter threatening to sue me for libel in a British court, for statements made in my book, Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed – and How to Stop It, about their client, Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz.
The letter claimed Mahfouz denied allegations in my book that he "knowingly" More >>
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"Libel Tourism" and the First Amendment
(2009-03-23) American Enterprise Institute (AEI) - Richard Perle, moderator
A rise in libel suits brought in British courts against works published in other countries has threatened free speech in America, silenced critics of Islamic radicalism, and provoked a debate over the proper legislative response.
Panelists include: author Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, her lawyer Daniel Kornstein, Floyd Abrams, Mark Zauderer, and Bruce Brown
WASHINGTON, MARCH 24, 2009--A rise in More >>
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Defeating Narco-Terrorism
(2009-03-17) Rachel Ehrenfeld - Huffington Post
Narco-terrorists and the international criminal organizations that thrive on the illegal drug trade now threaten the national security of many nations. The nexus between transnational criminal organizations and terrorist groups does not end with illegal drug trafficking. Their partnerships are complex, linking illegal drugs, money, geography and politics. Yet, U.S. and international More >>
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Misery Pays
(2009-03-09) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld - The Huffington Post
Giving $5.2 billion to the Palestinian Authority (PA) will do little to bring real change in the condition of the Palestinian refugees or security in the Middle East. Instead of rebuilding the "shelters" in the refugee camps as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has done for decades, this huge sum of money should go to build new communities, More >>
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Stop The Afghan Drug Trade, Stop Terrorism
(2009-02-26) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld - Forbes.com
"The fight against drugs is actually the fight for Afghanistan," said Afghan President Hamid Karzai when he took office in 2002. Judging by the current situation, Afghanistan is losing.
To win, the link between narcotics and terrorism must be severed. That is the necessary condition for a successful strategy to undermine the growing influence of al-Qaida, the Taliban and radical Muslim groups More >>
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Libel Tourism Testimony in Congress
(2009-02-12) Rachel Ehrenfeld - House Judiciary Committee
Hearing on Libel Tourism before The Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law Committee on the House Judiciary Committee
Oral and Written Statement
By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
Oral Statement:
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, for holding this hearing on libel tourism, which affects me personally. Special thanks to Mr. Cohen for inviting me.
Sitting at my desk More >>
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Where Hamas Gets Its Money
(2009-01-16) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld - Forbes.com
Amid international condemnation of Israel, one would never guess that humanitarian aid and even cash is flowing into Hamas coffers, while its rockets continue to hit Israel.
It is important to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinians. However, since Gaza is under Hamas control, we have to ask: Will aid reach the suffering populace? If the past is any indication, most funds and supplies More >>
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US Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Thoughts for Change
(2009-01-02) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and B. Wayne Quist - The Huffington Post
The perfect storm that the U.S. and the world faces today stems in part from failed Middle East and energy policies over many decades. Throughout this period, the U.S. has traded national security and massive wealth for a steady flow of oil. Saudi Arabia, in return, has used billions of petrodollars to fund the expansion of its repressive Wahhabi-Salafist doctrine throughout the world and funded More >>
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Clinton's Iranian Connection
(2009-01-02) Rachel Ehrenfeld - Forbes.com
On Dec. 19, 2008. at 2 p.m., the New York-based Alavi Foundation, which supports Iranian causes, contributed between $25,000 and $50,000 to the William J. Clinton Foundation. This can be best described as the ultimate chutzpah, for on the very same day, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted the president of the Alavi Foundation, Farshid Jahedi, "on a charge of More >>
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EHRENFELD/ABADY: Islamic banking - Is Treasury complicit?
(2008-12-11) Rachel Ehrenfeld and Samuel A. Abady - The Washington Times
If "cash is king," then Middle East coffers are irresistibly enticing. During a recent tour of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, Deputy Treasury Secretary Robert Kimmitt applauded the "growing role" of Arab banks in the U.S. economy. Treasury is seeking buyers for its newly acquired bailout assets because more than $1 trillion in cash is urgently needed to rescue the largest U.S. More >>
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New Yorkers Blaze Free Speech Trail
(2008-12-08) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld - The Huffington Post
Most Americans take their freedom for granted. Coming from the Middle East and working all over the world, I know better. Elsewhere, free speech and a free press are regarded as privileges, not a sacred right.
Take England for example: in January 2004 I was sued in London, by Saudi billionaire and terror-financier, Khalid bin Mahfouz, former banker to the Saudi royal family and owner of the More >>
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Rocking the free speech boat
(2008-11-24) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Examiner
On Jan. 23, 2004, at 2:33 p.m., an e-mail popped up on my computer screen from the solicitors for Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz threatening to sue me in London for libel. My first thought was, "He found the wrong victim." I then called my lawyer to find out how best I could fight back. I was determined to prevent the Brits from robbing me of my free speech rights in America. After all, More >>
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Putin's Growing Appetite
(2008-09-29) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld www.humanevents.com
President George W. Bush meeting today (Monday Sept. 29) with Ukraine’s President, aims at strengthening Viktor Yushchenko’s stand against the Kremlin. On the agenda is Russia’s growing threats against and meddling in Ukraine’s domestic politics in effort to derail its pending integration into NATO.
This meeting, as Bush’s condemnation of the Kremlin’s aggression towards its neighbors, and More >>
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EHRENFELD: Israel's suicidal choice
(2008-08-22) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Washington Times
Shortly after the citizens of the Israeli town of Sderot suffered another rocket attack from Hamas-controlled Gaza, Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered all border crossings between Israel and Gaza closed. At the same time, also on Mr. Barak's orders, a Brink's armored car carrying NIS 72 million in cash ($20 million), delivered its load at the Erez crossing to a similarly secure vehicle of a More >>
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EHRENFELD/LAPPEN: No more appeals, Palestine must pay terror victims
(2008-07-15) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen The Washington Times
OP-ED:
The Palestinian Authority (PA) recently asked U.S. federal courts to reopen cases it lost after refusing to defend itself against terror-funding charges.
Judgments would come from U.S. and international aid, the PA argues.
In both cases, Palestinian terrorists murdered American citizens. In New York, Aharon Ellis' widow sued the PA for the lethal 2002 shooting of her husband and More >>
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The Fifth Generation Warfare
(2008-06-20) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPage magazine.com
[From Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency; Edited by Jeffrey Norwitz; U.S. Naval War College, June 2008, chapter 28.]
*
The United States and the West cannot win the war against radical Islam merely with the most sophisticated military strategies. Winning requires understanding the role of shari'a and the Muslim Brotherhood in developing a global More >>
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No Bulgarian sanctions: Government will fight corruption
(2008-06-10) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Washington Times OPINION
Bulgaria's efforts to fight corruption have not gone unnoticed. On June 6, International Monetary Fund Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn praised Bulgaria's economic stability. A day earlier, Bulgaria was accepted as a member of the World Bank's "Reformers' Club;" the nation ranks among the top 10 of the 200 countries surveyed. According to a recent survey by Ernst & Young, in 2007, Bulgaria ranked More >>
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Shari'a Financing and the Coming Ummah
(2008-06-05) Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen
Chapter 28, Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency; EDITED BY JEFFREY NORWITZ, FOREWORD BY ADMIRAL STANSFIELD TURNER, U.S. NAVY (RET) AND FORMER DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. U.S. Naval War College, June 2008.
The United States and the West cannot win the war against radical Islam merely with the most sophisticated military strategies. More >>
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Brussels often criticizes Bulgaria, sometimes without grounds
(2008-05-28) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld STANDART
Dr. Ehrenfeld: Fight Corruption Now
The Bulgarians should take their Premier's courage as an example, says Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is the director of the US Centre for the Study of Corruption and the Rule of Law. She is in Bulgaria together with two US experts at the invitation of Bulgaria's Prime Minister, Sergey Stanishev. The Americans discussed the anti-corruption More >>
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Bulgaria's PM Has Both the Will and the Potential to Carry out Reforms
(2008-05-28) STANDART
This Time Bulgaria Is Determined to Succeed
Corruption and organized crime is a worldwide vice, not just a Bulgarian phenomenon, says Chris Braham, Law Enforcement & Management Consulting Global Services
Chris Braham is a member of the international team headed by Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, the Director of the American Center for Democracy, who was on a visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of More >>
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Libel Terrorism Protection Act - Interview with Daniel Kornstein
(2008-04-25) Jamie Glazov FrontPageMagazine.com
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dan Kornstein, a lawyer who has excelled in his career in New York City for 35 years. A founding partner of Kornstein Veisz Wexler & Pollard, LLP, he graduated from Yale Law School after serving in the Vietnam era Army. In addition to a busy litigation practice, he writes frequently on law-related topics and has four non-fiction books and hundred of articles More >>
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Floyd Abrams support letter to Gov. Paterson
(2008-04-23) Floyd Abrams
Dear Governor Paterson:
I write to you to urge you to sign into law the Libel Terrorism Protection Act. The bill has received so much support from so many diverse sources that I will not devote much space to why it is so needed. Any proposed legislation that is introduced in January and passes both the Senate and the Assembly unanimously by the end of March must surely be in response to some More >>
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America for Sale
(2008-04-01) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen HUMAN EVENTS
As the U.S. and Western markets plummet and the U.S. dollar continues its free fall, sovereign wealth funds (SWF) gobble up prime financial institutions, industries and real estate in the U.S. and the West. Given concerns regarding the political influence of such wealth, the U.S. Treasury, together with Abu Dhabi and Singapore, on March 20 signed an _"Agreement on Principles for Sovereign Wealth More >>
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US Rewarding Arab Terrorism
(2008-03-25) Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen NATIV
The Bush Administration’s search for partners to promote “peace” and “democracy” within the Palestinian Authority (PA) resembles Lord Charles Bowen’s “blind man in a dark room looking for a black hat – which isn’t there”.
For the first time, the Bush Administration plans to give $150 million in cash directly to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Treasury, as part of a $496.5 million “aid” package, More >>
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Burning the candle at both ends
(2008-03-22) Rachel Ehrenfeld & Alyssa A. Lappen THE WASHINGTON TIMES
With the U.S. economy “obviously going through a tough time,” America should welcome capital investments even from foreign sovereign wealth funds, President George W. Bush asserted on March 14, 2008 at New York's Economic Club.
“It's our money to begin with,” he added, referring to roughly $95 trillion in OPEC holdings of U.S. dollars and investments accumulated largely through oil sales. More >>
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REWARDING PALESTINIAN TERRORISM
(2008-02-16) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen pajamasmedia.com
Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen argue that a Palestinian security plan backed by Washington calls into question President Bush’s commitment to secure Israel’s safety.
by By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen
Unwavering U.S. determination to fund, train, and arm more than 50,000 Palestinian “soldiers” raises serious doubts about the repeated promises More >>
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U.S. AID for Terror
(2008-02-08) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMagazine.com
The Bush Administration's search for partners to promote “peace” and “democracy” within the Palestinian Authority (PA) resembles Lord Charles Bowen’s “blind man in a dark room looking for a black hat -- which isn’t there.”
For the first time, the Bush Administration plans to give $150 million in cash directly to the Palestinian Authority (PA) More >>
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The Securities Bazaar: Destabilizing the U.S. Markets?
(2008-01-23) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen humanevents.com
All presidential candidates promise to fix our economy, but no one discusses the need to better safeguard our financial markets. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), approved Bourse Dubai’s purchase of 20% of the America's largest electronic exchange, New York-based Nasdaq, on Dec. 31, 2007.
This may soon give Dubai access to the troubled Boston Stock Exchange More >>
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Terror's financiers
(2008-01-17) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen Washington Times
The antiquated Securities and Exchange Commission's computer system prevents investigators from safeguarding U.S. market integrity. "It's like working with one hand tied behind their backs," Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley commented about the Dec. 17 release of the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report he'd initiated — "SEC: Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of Self-Regulatory More >>
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Russia’s New 'State Oligarchy'
(2007-12-17) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Human Events
The landslide victory of President Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party in December’s parliamentary election and Putin's nomination of Dmitry Medvedev to succeed him cements Putin's position as Russia's Leader. Now, he can freely accelerate the state’s takeover and consolidation of Russia's remaining heavy industries.
Putin relies on a handful of carefully selected former More >>
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Financial Jihad
(2007-11-28) Jamie Glazov FrontPageMagazine.com
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, Director of the American Center for Democracy. She has a 25-year track-record of following terrorist financing, especially Islamic radical groups and states. In the late 1980’ she identified how Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Iran bankrolled terrorism, and how they developed Islamic banking to advance the Islamic More >>
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Tithing for Terrorists
(2007-10-12) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld & Alyssa A. Lappen National Review Online
“Governments have political considerations,”“ said senior N.Y. Senator Charles Schumer, upon learning in September that Bourse Dubai intends to buy 20 percent of NASDAQ. Republican Senator Bob Bennett of Utah countered, saying, “Dubai is making a purchase on the open market of an asset that’s for sale. What’s wrong with that?”
Senator Bennett is correct — buying portions or all of NASDAQ is More >>
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The Camel in the Tent
(2007-10-08) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen Washington Times
Objections to Borse Dubai's proposed acquisition of 20 percent of Nasdaq last week prompted Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank to quip, "In the ports deal, the concern was smuggling something or someone dangerous... What Adinare we talking about here ˜ smuggling someone onto a stock exchange?"
It is not "who" Dubai will smuggle into the stock exchange we should worry about. It's the arrival More >>
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The Hamas PR Machine in America
(2007-09-26) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen inFocus
On August 8, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the al-Salah Society as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT), calling it "one of the largest and best funded Hamas charities." Treasury revealed that Hamas had used al-Salah, "to finance its terrorist agenda." The designation was one of many actions taken against Hamas front groups dating back to 1995, when Washington first designated More >>
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Fighting Financial Jihad
(2007-09-23) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld PAJAMASMEDIA
Of the 36 writers and publishers that Saudi billionaire — and terror financier — Khalid bin Mahfouz has sued or threatened to sue in England for libel, only Rachel Ehrenfeld the author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - and How to Stop It has not backed down. She explains how and why she is fighting back.
By Rachel Ehrenfeld
Since March 2002, Saudi billionaire Khalid More >>
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Russia's Artful Dodger
(2007-09-18) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen Human Events
Alcoa Inc.'s shares may have fallen 30% since their July 2007 peak, but that only makes the world's second largest aluminum producer a more tempting takeover target. A few foreign companies have expressed interest, including United Company Rusal (UCR, registered "offshore" in Jersey), now the world's largest aluminum conglomerate.
Rusal's owner, a close personal friend of the Russian More >>
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Terror Criminal Links Growing
(2007-09-13) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMag.com
Al Qaeda’s sophisticated new media campaign clearly demonstrates that the group does not lack funding. Contrary to popular belief, organizing, maintaining, training, and operating terrorist groups require large and liquid sums. Most terrorist organizations circumvent funding prohibitions by creating “political” and “charitable” wings, a ruse that enables their More >>
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To read more, see our Articles links above.
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Jihad Jane's allies in the courts
(2010-03-15) Rachel Ehrenfeld NY Daily News
The zeal with which Colleen LaRose , aka "Jihad Jane," (above) pursued a fatwa to kill the publishers of the "Mohammed cartoons" - 12 drawings of a turban-wearing bearded man with a bomb, released in 2005 in Denmark , Sweden More >>
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Free Speech Loophole Threatens American Writers
(2010-03-15) Rachel Ehrenfeld Pajamas Media
A libel judgment from a foreign court where speech protections are lacking could be enforced in this country unless legislation protecting authors moves through Congress.
The apology by the Danish newspaper Politiken for publishing the “Mohammed cartoons” — 12 cartoons of a turban-wearing bearded man with a bomb which were released in 2005 — comes as no surprise. In 2006, a More >>
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Libel law: Agog at the gag
(2010-03-02) Michael Peel Financial Times FT.com
Protesters outside the offices of Carter-Ruck, the London law firm that last year obtained a superinjunction for Trafigura, an oil trading company
When Peter Carter-Ruck, Britain’s most famous libel lawyer, died in 2003, it was as if an era had ended. He “had a chilling effect on the media”, David Hooper, a former partner in his firm, wrote in The Guardian. “He was a chancer, More >>
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EHRENFELD: Ending British abridgement of free expression
(2010-03-01) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Washington Times
Americans deserve immunity from 'libel tourism'
The Senate Judiciary Committee recently concluded during a hearing on the Free Speech Protection Act (S.449) on Feb. 23 that "foreign libel lawsuits are chilling Americans' First Amendment rights."
The Free Speech Protection Act provides protection to all U.S.-based authors and publishers from libel judgments in any country that has More >>
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Foreign-based lawsuits prompt England to rethink libel laws
(2010-02-24) Karla Adam The Washington Post
LONDON -- Amid growing concerns that England's tough libel laws stifle free speech, a parliamentary committee on Wednesday will recommend broad changes that would make it harder to bring lawsuits and prevent foreigners from using English courts for defamation cases.
Over the years, England has attracted waves of aggrieved plaintiffs, from U.S. celebrities to Ukrainian businessmen, who have More >>
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Senate committee debates libel tourism law
(2010-02-23) Cristina Abello The Reporters Committee For Freedom of the Press
The Senate Judiciary Committee in a hearing Tuesday morning voiced support for legislation that would attempt to deter foreign libel lawsuits against American authors and publishers but left the door open to further negotiation about specific legislative action.
Because other countries do not have the strong speech protections of the First Amendment, libel plaintiffs often file suit abroad to More >>
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Statement to Senate Judiciary Committee
(2010-02-23) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
Senate Judiciary Committee
On
“Are Foreign Libel Lawsuits Chilling Americans’ First Amendment Rights?”
Tuesday, February 23, 2010;
Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room 226
10:00 a.m.
Statement of Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
Director, American Center for Democracy
Thank you Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee for holding this hearing on foreign libel judgments and the chilling More >>
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Libel tourists will love the tales of Lord Hoffmann
(2010-02-07) Nick Cohen The Guardian, UK
If you want to see hypocrisy in action, look at England's libel courts.
I warned during the rage against Blair and Bush that liberals were playing into the hands of reactionaries. Unintentionally or not, their depiction of a desire to democratise the Middle East as a neocon swindle provided every apologist for tyranny and censorship with the argument that liberty was a merely a plot by a More >>
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Let battle commence over privacy
(2010-02-06) John Kampfner The Independent, London
John Terry's is only the latest attempt to suppress free speech for financial reasons
This was the week that the legal establishment bit back. For three months since Index on Censorship published its Libel Reform campaign in coalition with like-minded organisations, we've had pretty much an open field.
The evidence we have brought to bear has been compelling. Libel tourism - in which More >>
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Taking away the welcome mat
(2009-12-30) From The Economist print edition The Economist
Overdue reforms may be on the way
MOST tourists come to Britain for the palaces, the pubs and the history. But a few come to take advantage of England’s ferociously claimant-friendly libel laws (Scotland’s are different). A string of cases in which plaintiffs with tenuous links to England have taken advantage of these rules has fuelled worries about legal “forum More >>
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Supreme Court Ruling Establishes New Libel Protection
(2009-12-24) Dan Verbin ShalomLife, Ontario
In a far-reaching ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada gave its blessing to a new defense against libel that applies to journalists responsibly reporting on stories deemed to be of public interest.
The decision is being hailed by free speech advocates as a milestone victory for press freedom in Canada, a country with strict libel laws as compared to countries such as the United States.
“It More >>
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‘A Town Called Sue’: England Weighing Changes to Libel Law
(2009-12-11) Ashby Jones Wall Street Journal
This term “libel tourism” has been kicking around for some time now. It refers to the practice of filing libel suits not necessarily in one’s home country, but in jurisdictions in which the laws on libel are more plaintiff friendly. For years, the preferred destination for such tourism has been jolly old England, where the libel laws are decidedly different than they are in the U.S. (Partly More >>
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Saudi Billionaire’s Libel Legacy
(2009-12-11) True/Slant
Have you heard? England may be shutting itself to tourists.
Not the camera-toting, Big Ben-gawking, bus-riding sort of course, but a different, more controversial subset of regular visitors ignominiously labeled “libel tourists.” Lured by London’s archaic libel law- where the burden of proof rests on the defendant- non-British citizens have flooded local courts with lawsuits. A celebrity More >>
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Britain, Long a Libel Mecca, Reviews Laws
(2009-12-10) Sarah Lyall New York Times
LONDON — England has long been a mecca for aggrieved people from around the world who want to sue for libel. Russian oligarchs, Saudi businessmen, multinational corporations, American celebrities — all have made their way to London’s courts, where jurisdiction is easy to obtain and libel laws are heavily weighted in favor of complainants.
Embarrassed by London’s reputation as “a town called More >>
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Could London lose 'libel capital of the world' crown?
(2009-12-05) Alice Ritchie (AFP) Google News
LONDON — The world's rich and powerful have long chosen London to defend their interests in court, but pressure is mounting for an overhaul in the English laws that saw it named "libel capital of the world".
Lawyers, freedom of speech campaigners and even members of the government are questioning whether legislation designed to protect people's reputations is now being used to silence More >>
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Stop allowing England's libel courts to be used by the rich and powerful to stifle free speech
(2009-12-01) Jonathan Heawood Progress Magazine - UK
They call it the ‘small penis' rule. Faced with the risk of libel actions, novelists endow any objectionable male character with a remarkably small penis. What man would claim in court that such a character was based on him?
This strategy is all very well for novelists, but it doesn't help the journalists, publishers, non-fiction writers, bloggers and NGOs for whom libel law is no joke. They More >>
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Don’t make libel law ‘fairer’. Make it history
(2009-11-25) Nathalie Rothschild Spiked-Online
If we are serious about defending freedom of speech, then English libel should be sentenced to death.
A pledge to end ‘libel tourism’; an admission that the English libel laws are having ‘chilling effects’ on free speech; a promise to introduce wholesale libel reform in the name of protecting open debate… UK justice secretary Jack Straw’s pledges, made at the weekend in response to a More >>
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It's official - London is the libel capital of the world
(2009-11-24) Frances Gibb, Legal editor TimesOnline, UK
Libel tourism is flourishing and London is the hottest destination. Its reputation as libel capital of the world has just been confirmed by figures that show that the number of defamation actions started last year was the highest for five years.
The number of cases lodged in the High Court jumped to 259 in 2008 — the biggest number since 2004 and up by 11 per cent on 2007.
Jaron Lewis, a More >>
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Jack Straw pledges action to end libel tourism
(2009-11-22) Isabel Oakeshott and Steven Swinford The Sunday Times, UK
JACK STRAW is preparing to draw up proposals for wholesale reform of England’s libel laws, after a long-running Sunday Times campaign.
The justice secretary says the large legal fees involved in defamation cases in English courts are jeopardising freedom of speech, potentially curbing vital debate by scientists, academics and journalists.
The huge payouts awarded to individuals who More >>
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Congress: Protect American Writers and Publishers from Being Sued Overseas
(2009-11-18) Judy Platt, Association of American Publishers The Huffington Post
Picture this scenario: you're an American author who's written a well-researched, well-documented book on a topic of broad public interest. Your book's been published in the United States for an American audience. Someone who's mentioned in the book doesn't like what you've written and sues you for libel, but he doesn't sue you here, where the book has been published. He doesn't sue you where you More >>
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Free Speech Protection Act could slow 'libel tourism'
(2009-11-16) Robert Mahoney/Deputy Director CPJ Press Freedom Online - New York, NY, USA
Free press advocates in Britain are looking to a bill stuck in the U.S. Congress for moral support in the fight to reform England’s draconian defamation laws. The U.S. bill, the Free Speech Protection Act 2009, is itself the product of those laws, which have made London the capital of “libel tourism.”
A prime backer of the legislation now before the Senate Judiciary Committee is U.S. More >>
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Rotten laws that strangle free speech
(2009-11-15) Comment, Leading Articles The Sunday Times, UK
Imagine a country in which citizens are barred from reading American newspapers and books and from accessing international websites. Scientists and writers are hauled before the courts and threatened with massive damages even if their supposed crime was committed elsewhere and even if they were expressing legitimate views. It sounds like a repressive totalitarian regime but it is modern-day More >>
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The laws that stain Britain’s good name
(2009-11-10) John Kampfner TimesOnline, UK
Libel tourism isn’t just a matter for the media elite. Freedom of speech for everyone is in danger.
Britain is a pariah state, shunned by its allies and exploited by the unsavoury. The state of English libel laws (Scotland’s provisions are a little better) is so embarrassing that a number of US states have enacted legislation to protect their citizens from our courts. London is the More >>
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Our libel laws shame us
(2009-11-10) Jo Glanville The Guardian, UK
The fact that England has become an international centre for libel litigation underlines the need for urgent reform
There has never been such momentum for reforming English libel law. The impetus has come, to our shame, from overseas. Neither our own legislators or even our leading media organisations have, until now, seen the need to campaign for reform. The first push for change began More >>
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Freedom of Speech Under Attack in the U.S. As Well
(2009-10-29) Diederik van Hoogstraten de Volkskrant, NL.
Dr. Ehrenfeld: Free speech is a constitutional right in the U.S. but foreign libel judgments are threatening it.
"Let's protect ourselves."
Vrijheid van meningsuiting ook in VS onder vuur
ACHTERGROND, Van onze correspondent Diederik van Hoogstraten
Gepubliceerd op 29 oktober 2009 22:51, bijgewerkt op 22:55
WASHINGTON -
De vrije meningsuiting is in de VS een grondrecht, maar More >>
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Judge attacks stifling of free speech and 'libel tourism'
(2009-10-21) Steve Doughty The Daily Mail, UK
Demand: Lord Chief Justice calls for new laws to rein in the powers of judges in libel cases
The Lord Chief Justice yesterday delivered a sharp warning to judges not to trespass on the freedoms of Parliament.
Lord Judge, who acts as the figurehead for the judiciary, said it was a 'fundamental principle' that the courts should not try to interfere with what MPs do and say.
And he More >>
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How our senior libel judge stamps on free speech – all over the world
(2009-10-19) George Monbiot The Guardian, UK
Mr Justice Eady's rulings amplify the democratic world's most illiberal laws – enabled by 12 years of utterly feeble leadership
Trafigura's super-injunction is weird for lots of reasons. But the strangest fact is this: it has nothing to do with the Honourable Mr Justice Eady. The company's lawyers injuncted the Guardian, injuncted their injunction, and tried to injunct reports of More >>
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Arnold Schwarzenegger gets tough over libel tourists to the UK
(2009-10-15) Mail Foreign Service Daily Mail Online
The state of California yesterday banned libel tourism in an effort to resist the influence of British judges.
Its governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law which will allow its courts to refuse to enforce libel judgments handed down in London.
He acted following alarm in the U.S. that powerful individuals use British courts to silence criticism and prevent investigation of their More >>
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California the latest state to pass a law opposing British libel judgments
(2009-10-15) Roy Greenslade The Guardian
The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, yesterday signed a law that will allow the state's courts to refuse to enforce British libel judgments. It effectively negates the practice of libel tourism.
It is symbolic of the growing opposition in the States to Britain's libel laws, which are in conflict with the US constitution's first amendment protecting freedom of speech.
The More >>
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Barbra Streisand strikes again
(2009-10-15) The Guardian
Press freedom and the internet: A gagging order backfires
THIS week a national newspaper ran a fascinating story about absolutely nothing. The Guardian reported on its front page on October 13th that a question had been tabled by an MP in Parliament, but that the newspaper could not reveal “who has asked the question, what the question is, which minister might answer it, or where the question More >>
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Protect our free speech abroad
(2009-10-12) Kevin Mitchell The Reporter
Americans are being sued for libel in countries whose laws are inconsistent with free speech granted by the U.S. Constitution.
The Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 (S.449) was introduced in February 2009 in response to cases such as that of Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld's, an academic who writes on terrorism.
Her 2003 book, "Funding Evil," triggered a lawsuit in the United Kingdom by a Saudi who More >>
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Free Speech Under Foreign Assault
(2009-10-09) Robert Spencer FrontPageMagazine.com
Does the United States Constitution protect the freedom of speech of American citizens, or does it not? In this era of globalization, the answer is becoming increasingly muddled. Thursday, an American citizen, Paul Williams, went on trial in Canada. He is charged with violating Canadian libel laws in charges he made in his book The Dunces of Doomsday about a jihad terror cell at McMaster More >>
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Rescue writers from scourge of libel tourism
(2009-10-08) Rachel Ehrenfeld New York Daily News
Paul Williams has lived in Pennsylvania all his life. Yet with pretrial proceedings that begin today, Canadian libel laws now threaten to ruin him financially.
Williams is a National Book Award-winning writer whose 2006 éxposé, "The Dunces of Doomsday," revealed potential terrorist threats to the United States emanating from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Although the book was More >>
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Rescue writers from scourge of libel tourism
(2009-10-08) Rachel Ehrenfeld New York Daily News
Paul Williams has lived in Pennsylvania all his life. Yet with pretrial proceedings that begin today, Canadian libel laws now threaten to ruin him financially.
Williams is a National Book Award-winning writer whose 2006 éxposé, "The Dunces of Doomsday," revealed potential terrorist threats to the United States emanating from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. Although the book was More >>
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Brazil Threatens Americans' Free Speech
(2009-09-30) Rachel Ehrenfeld Townhall.com
Americans writers' free expression is under attack by foreign courts.
In the most recent assault, a Brazilian widow is suing an American reporter in a Brazilian court for allegedly defaming the entire nation of Brazil. She claims Joseph M. Sharkey, a New Jersey - based freelance travel columnist for the New York Times, offended the "dignity" of Brazil by criticizing its incompetent air-traffic More >>
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You Won't Read All About It
(2009-09-29) Nick Cohen Standpoint Magazine
October 2009
Readers had to stare hard at the front page of The Times of 7 May 1966 to learn that the most gruesome murder trial of the decade was over. The lead story was a less-than-gripping piece about Roy Jenkins, the then Home Secretary, visiting the US to discover what lessons, if any, he could learn about law enforcement. The second lead was a long account of one small aspect of HM More >>
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English libel laws facilitate libel tourism
(2009-09-29) Rachel Ehrenfeld Europe News
English libel laws dating back to 1849 allow foreigners to sue other foreigners in English courts a practice known as “libel tourism”. in addition, England’s plaintiff-friendly libel law is at loggerheads with American principles of free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. Libel Tourism is used a weapon to silence foreign publishers and writers in print and on the internet.
Moreover, More >>
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Libel Tourism Deterred
(2009-09-17) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The American Spectator
READER MAIL
Libel Tourism Deterred
By Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld
Director, American Center for Democracy (ACD)
LIBEL TOURISM AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT
Re: Aaron Eitan Meyer's Islamist Lawfare:
The Saudi billionaire and serial "libel tourist" Khalid bin Mahfouz is dead, but libel tourism (the use of foreign courts to sue American writers) continues to threaten Americans free speech More >>
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The End of Libel Tourism?
(2009-09-14) Rachel Ehrenfeld Index on Censorship
Libel tourist Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz has left an unexpected legacy, says Rachel Ehrenfeld. US reporters will soon be free from the threat of English libel laws
Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, who made “libel tourism” infamous, died in Jeddah on August 15.
The Saudi royal family’s banker, bin Mahfouz, was a regular on the Forbes billionaires list. Even so, it took the New York Times two More >>
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'Libel tourism' and free speech
(2009-09-14) Rachel Ehrenfeld The Irish Times
Madam, – As the only American author who stood up to Khalid bin Mahfouz’s campaign to silence American writers and publishers, I would like to note that the Saudi billionaire did not win his many libel lawsuits in the UK on merit, as your newspaper strongly suggests (World News, September 8th). He won because in addition to his unlimited financial resources, he used the plaintiff- friendly More >>
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Letter to Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate
(2009-08-06) Allan R. Adler, Vice President for Government and Legal Affairs
August 6, 2009
Hon. Patrick Leahy, Chairman
Committee on the Judiciary
United States Senate
224 Dirksen Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Leahy:
On behalf of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and its more than 300 members I am writing to urge prompt and favorable action on S. 449, the Free Speech Protection Act of 2009, which is currently pending before the More >>
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Florida Bill Approved
(2009-06-25) News Service of Florida
...Bill (HB 949) Crist signed into law Thursday, is aimed at stopping “libel tourism.” Sponsors of the bill said defamation lawsuits have been filed in other countries against authors who have been critical of terrorist organizations like al Qaeda. The bill allows Florida courts to essentially ignore those lawsuits.
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Anti-free speech? UK courts can help
(2009-06-20) Robert Sharp The Guardian
Libel tourism is rife in our courts – and the UK legal system is becoming utterly discredited abroad as result.
While various campaigning groups spring up left, right and centre with the aim of reforming Britain's mangled political system, it seems that our friends abroad have already grown tired of waiting for us to get it right. It is time, they have decided, to take matters into More >>
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Letter to Congress to strengthen "Libel Tourism" bill
(2009-06-15) Rachel Ehrenfeld
Dear [Member of Congress],
“Libel tourism” is a grave threat to Americans’ First Amendment free speech rights, and I’m writing you today because the U.S. House of Representatives is considering legislation that would effectively put an end to the practice.
H.R. 2765, a bill sponsored by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), was More >>
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The AAP Pushes for Expansion of "Libel Tourism" Legislation
(2009-06-15) Jim Milliot Publishers Weekly
The Association of American Publishers sent a letter to Congress last week expressing the association’s concern that current legislation designed to protect authors and publishers against libel tourism “does not go far enough.” According to the letter, the new bill, H.R. 2765, fails to provide publishers and authors with a cause of action to permit them to countersue in American courts. “There More >>
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To Amend Title 28, United States Code
(2009-06-15) Rep. Peter T. King (NY-03)
To Amend Title 28, United States Code, To Prohibit Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Defamation Judgments (H.R. 2765)
Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of H.R. 2765, legislation that would prohibit the recognition and enforcement of foreign defamation judgments and certain foreign judgments against the providers of interactive computer services. This bill, like legislation More >>
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Through the Looking Glass
(2009-06-15) Floyd Abrams Index on Censorship for Free Expression
English libel law turns US protection for free speech on its head. Floyd Abrams considers how the UK became an international libel tribunal
English defamation law is under fire. Last July, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed “concern” that English libel law had “served to discourage critical media reporting on matters of serious public interest”.
Later in the More >>
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Destination libel
(2009-06-15) Afua Hirsch The Guardian
Is the fear of legal action creating a chilling effect for investigative journalism? Campaigners want British laws changed so libel tourists stay away
The following correction was printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Tuesday 16 June 2009.
John Kampfner is the chief executive of the freedom of expression group Index on Censorship. We mistakenly More >>
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Association of American Publishers letter to Congress
(2009-06-12) Allan R. Adler, Vice President for Government and Legal Affairs Association of American Publishers
June 12, 2009
Dear Member of Congress:
American book publishers are deeply concerned about the problem of “libel tourism,” and gratified that Congress is finally turning its attention to this serious threat to our First Amendment rights. However, while we look forward to passage of legislation to address the problem, we urge that Congress give proper time and attention to shaping that More >>
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Protect freedom of information
(2009-06-09) Editorial Times-News Online
The digital age has made mountains of information available. It should make important reporting more available, too, but because of some recent developments in libel law, that is not necessarily the case.
While freedom of the press remains strong in the U.S., where it is guaranteed in the Constitution, it is under fire in other parts of the world. In recent opinion columns, both the Wall More >>
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The New Presumption of Transparency
(2009-06-09) L. Gordon Crovitz Wall Street Journal
During the Cold War, the joke went that an American explained to a Russian that, in the U.S., anyone could stand in front of the White House and criticize the president. The Russian shrugged and said anyone could stand at the gates of the Kremlin and criticize the American president, too.
We live in a new era, as seen in such varied efforts to suppress information as expense fiddling by More >>
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U.K. Libel Laws Chill Another American Book
(2009-06-08) Rachel Ehrenfeld Forbes Magazine
The most recent casualties of Britain's pernicious libel laws are New York-based best-selling author Michael Gross and his intriguing and well-researched book Rogues Gallery: The Secret History of the Moguls and the Money That Made the Metropolitan Museum. It was published in May by Broadway Books, an imprint of Crown, which is owned by Random House.
The unauthorized book describes, among More >>
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UK faces backlash over 'libel tourists'
(2009-06-07) Robert Watts The Sunday Times
US politicians try to protect citizens from British court, claiming foreigners use law to bring expensive defamation cases
American politicians are pushing through free speech laws to protect US citizens from libel rulings in British courts that have been accused of stifling criticism of oligarchs and dictators.
The development follows claims that foreigners flock to the UK to More >>
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Britain Chills Free Speech
(2009-06-04) Salil Tripathi Wall Street Journal
Libel tourists flock to the U.K. to avoid public scrutiny.
Simon Singh is an award-winning British science writer. In the best-selling "Fermat's Enigma," for example, he described the 350-year quest for the proof of Pierre de Fermat's last theorem, which eluded mathematicians until the 1990s. Now his inquiring mind has got him into trouble with U.K. libel laws -- laws that have long More >>
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The Battle on the Libel Tourism Front
(2009-06-01) Jamie Glazov FrontPageMagazine.com
Will Congress step to the plate to defend free speech?
Today’s guest for Frontpage Interview is Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, Director of the American Center for Democracy.
A Ph.D. in criminology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ehrenfed focuses on the Saudi penetration of and influence on the U.S. economy, and on the economic warfare against the U.S. and the West. She has published hundreds More >>
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Libel Tourism
(2009-05-26) Editorial The New York Times
American law, with its strong First Amendment traditions, makes it hard to sue authors for libel. To get around these protections, book subjects have been suing American authors in England, where the libel law is much less writer-friendly. Two states — New York and Illinois — have already adopted laws prohibiting “libel tourism,” and several more, including Florida and California, may soon join More >>
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Unlikely Allies Say U.K. Libel Laws Limit Speech
(2009-05-25) Eric Pfanner New York Times International Herald Tribune (Global Edition)
PARIS — The American Civil Liberties Union may not often see eye-to-eye with the American Center for Democracy, a research group with neoconservative credentials. But the two organizations are united on at least one thing: their distaste for British libel laws, which they say are being exploited to suppress free speech in Britain and beyond.
British courts have always been friendlier to libel More >>
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Combating Libel Lawfare
(2009-05-22) Andrew C. McCarthy The National Review
It has become fashionable in Washington to speak of “false choices” — “the false choice between our values and our security” or “the false choice between our liberties and our national defense,” for example. Apparently, we don’t need to make these choices.
I often wonder, while standing in the body-search line while trying to get on an airplane, or trying to get into Yankee Stadium, or trying More >>
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Libel Tourism Bill Passed by [NJ] Senate Committee
(2009-05-18) Michael Booth New Jersey Law Journal
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday recommended passage of a bill that would make it more difficult for foreign plaintiffs to collect on libel judgments originating from courts overseas.
The bill, S-1643 , sponsored by Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, says New Jersey courts need not enforce a defamation judgment from a foreign court unless that country's laws offer at least as much free More >>
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'Libel tourism' bill passes state Senate
(2009-05-15) Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer San Francisco Chronicle
Legislation designed to thwart "libel tourism" - the practice of trying to silence one's critics by suing them in England, where defamation is easier to prove than in the United States - cleared the state Senate without a dissenting vote today.
The bill, prompted by the case of a Saudi businessman who sued a U.S. author in a British court for accusing him of financing terrorists, would More >>
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FIGHTING BACK: Libel: It's What You Say and When and Where You Say It
(2009-05-05) Rene A. Henry - The Huntington News
Seattle, WV (Special to HNN) – If you can’t get a publication or media organization to correct or retract a defamatory or malicious statement, then the only alternative may be litigation. Chances of winning in court depend where you sue and where you live.
Courts in the U.S. require the plaintiff, or party libeled, to prove that the defendant published the statement knowing it to be false, More >>
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California moves to end libel tourism
(2009-05-04) Peter Huck - The Guardian
"For far too long London has been the libel capital of the world," says Mark Stephens, a London lawyer. A bill passing through the Californian legislature is the latest attempt in the US to outlaw so-called libel tourism, where plaintiffs come to England and Wales to sue writers who do not live there, with work which has sometimes never been published in the UK, for defamation. Propelled by a More >>
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Senate Bill 320- California Libel Tourism Act Hearing- April 28, 2009
(2009-04-28) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld written statement - California State Senate Judiciary Committee
Thank you, Senator Corbett, for initiating this important bill, and thank you, members of the Committee, for holding this hearing on Libel Tourism.
California is the world capital of the entertainment industry, which provides major revenues to the state. Yet every creative enterprise produced in California, and every individual writer, director, and producer in California is now at risk of More >>
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UK Libel Chills Media Investigations
(2009-04-28) Andrew Walden - FrontPageMagazine.com
Why is there so little media investigation of the financing behind Barack Obama’s early political sponsor—and now convicted felon—Tony Rezko?
The dual US-Syrian citizen Rezko--who assisted Obama in the purchase of his Chicago mansion--was heavily funded by loans from Iraqi-British ex-Baathist billionaire Nadhmi Auchi. According to testimony at Rezko’s trial, Obama met Auchi at an April More >>
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Move to control costs in defamation cases (UK)
(2009-04-24) Vicky Shaw, Press Association The Independent
Plans to control defamation proceedings costs were announced by the Government today, as concerns were raised that not enough has been done to protect the media's freedom of expression.
Justice minister Bridget Prentice said that excessive costs and even the threat of them may force defendants to settle unwarranted claims.
The aim of the consultation is to ensure that costs are more More >>
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HOUSE BILL TO PROTECT FLORIDIANS FROM LIBEL TOURISM PASSES UNANIMOUSLY
(2009-04-17)
~Bill Shields Floridians from Libel Suits Filed by Terrorists, Other Foreigners~
TALLAHASSEE, FL - Representative Charles E. Van Zant (R-Keystone Heights) lauded the unanimous passage of House Bill (HB) 949 by the Florida House of Representatives.
The measure relates to grounds for non-recognition of foreign defamation judgments. This legislation closely resembles a similar law that was More >>
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Beating the press in the globalized age
(2009-04-13) By Edward Wasserman - Miami Herald
Sometimes it seems that globalization, like some medieval king, has given the world many more unintended offspring than rightful heirs. Miseries are globalized, too.
Case in point: The U.S. practice known among lawyers as forum shopping. That's when your attorney files your suit in a courthouse where the law and the locals will look kindly on your problem, even if it's a place with the barest More >>
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The Terror Spectator: Tourist Trap
(2009-04-13) By Peter Hannaford - The American Spectator
Meet Khalid bin Mahfouz, libel tourist. This rich Saudi didn't like what Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote about him in her 2003 book Funding Terrorism, so he sued her. She heads a small New York City-based think tank dedicated to uncovering the sources of funds for radical Islamist terrorists. In the book she alleged that Mr. Mahfouz was an important source.
The book was published in the United States; More >>
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Libel over there -- and over here
(2009-04-09) Editorial Los Angeles Times
Some public figures are using England's plaintiff-friendly laws to go after books they don't like. New York and Illinois have come to the defense of U.S. writers. Congress and California should too.
April 9, 2009
Before the American Revolution, a plaintiff could successfully sue a writer for libel even when the offensive statement was demonstrably true. Then, starting with the famous Zenger More >>
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Free speech, celebrities and ugly truths
(2009-04-01) James Rainey - Los Angeles Times
British courts' plaintiff-friendly libel system strikes at U.S. protections.
After taking in a libel law panel the other night in Beverly Hills, I'm ready to stipulate: Nicolas Cage did not steal a Chihuahua. Britney Spears did not make a sex tape. And Cameron Diaz did not snog (translation later) some MTV producer in the bushes behind Justin Timberlake's back.
We can thank the More >>
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Combating Libel Tourism: Federal Efforts Needed
(2009-02-25) By Andrew M. Grassman - Heritage Foundation
Backgrounder #2244
"Libel tourism" is the exploitation of foreign countries' permissive libel laws and weak speech protections to circumvent American authors' First Amendment rights. The technique is particularly favored by those who are linked to terrorist groups and government corruption.
By suing in forums such as the United Kingdom, these plaintiffs can suppress publications and win More >>
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Attack of the Libel Tourists: Weak laws abroad threaten First Amendment freedoms here. Congress coul
(2009-02-20) Editorial - The Washington Post
THE PROBLEM has lightheartedly come to be known as libel tourism, but the damage inflicted on the First Amendment and academic freedom is serious.
Disgruntled subjects of articles or books produced and distributed almost exclusively in the United States file suit in foreign jurisdictions to get around the strong First Amendment protections afforded here to journalistic and academic works. In More >>
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Rachel’s Law
(2009-02-09) Jamie Glazov - FrontPageMagazine.com
Frontpage Interview's guest today is Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the American Center for the Democracy and author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed- and How to Stop It. She has written several other books and hundreds of articles. A frequent guest on radio and TV programs, she is the incentive for new legislation to protect Americans free speech rights from foreigners who sue them More >>
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Libel Tourism Special: ENGLISH LAW IS CARTER-RUCKED
(2009-01-15) Ratbiter - Private Eye.UK
Even in the bleak midwinter of austerity Britain, one part of the tourism industry flourishes. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Justice Eady, foreign litigants still find London an irresistible destination.
"Although it is fashionable to rail against 'libel tourism'," he declared just before Christmas, "there is no reason in law why the courts of England and Whales should decline jurisdiction." More >>
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'Libel Tourism' Threatens Free Speech: How to stop lawsuits against Americans in British courts
(2009-01-10) David B. Rivkin Jr. and Bruce D. Brown - The Wall Street Journal
The farce of foreigners suing Americans for defamation in overseas forums, where the law does not sufficiently protect free speech, is so well-known that it has a fitting nickname: libel tourism. And London is its hot destination. Particularly since 9/11, foreign nationals have cynically exploited British courts in an attempt to stifle any discussion by American journalists about the dangers of More >>
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Are English courts stifling free speech around the world?
(2009-01-08) Economist.com
SEEN one way, it is nothing short of a scandal. Small non-British news outlets and humble non-British authors (in many cases catering almost wholly to a non-British public) are being sued in English courts by rich, mighty foes. The cost of litigation is so high ($200,000 for starters, and $1m-plus once you get going) that they cannot afford to defend themselves. The plaintiffs often win by More >>
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A New York rebellion against libel imperialism
(2008-11-25) Brendan O’Neill - spiked-online.com
Brendan O'Neill meets the writers and publishers who have launched a war of independence from England's 'notorious, repulsive' libel laws.
Rachel Ehrenfeld doesn't look like a fugitive. Petite, demure, and clad in the black skirt and blouse that is the uniform of New York's working women, she sits on a leather swivel chair in her twenty-fourth-floor apartment on the Upper West Side. Her More >>
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An end to the libel tourist trap: A US bill should put a stop to 'libel tourists' - the rich and fam
(2008-10-20) Roy Greenslade - The Guardian
In a spare half-hour while discussing bailing out American capitalism, the US House of Representatives recently voted through an extraordinary bill with far-reaching implications for Britain's courts. Yet it has received no publicity here and few of Britain's lawyers even know of its existence.
By amending the legal code three weeks ago in order to prohibit the recognition and enforcement of More >>
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Defeating Libel Terrorism
(2008-10-20) Deborah Weiss - FrontPageMagazine.com
There are many forms of terrorism, and violence is just one of them. The non-violent, incremental strategies used to achieve the Muslim Brotherhood’s goal to “sabotage the west from within” are more insidious and more likely to be successful than violence. Though non-violent radicalism takes many forms, one of the most dangerous forms is the effort to stifle free speech through the use of foreign More >>
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'LIBEL TOURISM': THE FIX WE NEED
(2008-10-06) Peter King - New York Post
THE House of Representatives last month passed a bill to prohibit the recognition and enforcement of certain foreign defamation judgments. The Senate is expected to take it up soon.
Yet the bill (HR 6146) is only a step in the right direction: It doesn't do enough to combat "libel tourism."
"Libel tourism" is the practice of litigants seeking out foreign courts whose libel laws are more More >>
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Letter: Protecting Free Speech
(2008-10-04) Stephanie A. Middleton - The New York Times
To the Editor:
Re "Bringing an End to 'Libel Tourism' " (editorial, Sept. 30):
You urge the Senate to pass a House bill that would allow American courts to refuse to enforce some foreign defamation judgments, but acknowledge that the House bill "does not go as far as it could." A Senate bill introduced by Senator Arlen Specter on May 6 would provide broader protection.
The right of More >>
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Bringing an End to ‘Libel Tourism’
(2008-09-29) Editorial - The New York Times
The House of Representatives has passed a good bill that would prevent American courts from enforcing libel judgments obtained in foreign countries if those countries provide less free speech protection than the United States does. The Senate should pass a companion bill before it recesses, and the president should sign it.
The bill on "libel tourism" strikes an important blow for free More >>
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The Big Chill
(2008-09-17) Leslie S. Lebl - Human Events
It’s September now and still warm, but the temperature is dropping steadily for those who seek to expose the money trails that underpin terrorism -- radical Muslim terrorism in particular. The chilling effect of foreign legal challenges already constrains their ability to write and publish their findings.
Five years ago, the U.S.-based publisher Bonus Books released Rachel Ehrenfeld’s More >>
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"Libel Tourism": When Freedom of Speech Takes a Holiday
(2008-09-15) Adam Cohen - The New York Times
When Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote "Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed and How to Stop It," she assumed she would be protected by the First Amendment. She was in the United States. But a wealthy Saudi businessman she accused in the book of being a funder of terrorism, Khalid bin Mahfouz, sued in Britain, where the libel laws are heavily weighted against journalists, and won a sizable amount of More >>
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For freedom's sake, we must stop libel tourism
(2008-08-15) Tim Luckhurst - The Guardian
MPs should listen to the UN's criticisms, before English courts become censorship enforcement agencies for wealthy litigants.
"Oh would some power the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as others see us," wrote Robert Burns in To a Louse. But democratically elected governments face incessant scrutiny. So it is unusual to see one exposing itself voluntarily to the glare of critical inspection. More >>
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Britain's libel laws are stifling free speech, says UN
(2008-08-14) Robert Verkaik, Law Editor - The Independent
British libel laws are stifling free speech around the world as wealthy businessmen and celebrities increasingly turn to UK courts to silence their critics abroad, the United Nations has warned.
In a report published yesterday, the UN's Committee on Human Rights criticizes the phenomenon of "libel tourism", where foreign businessmen and millionaires use the High Court in London to sue foreign More >>
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British libel laws violate human rights, says UN
(2008-08-14) Duncan Campbell - The Guardian
Human rights committee says UK laws block matters of public interest and encourage libel tourism.
Britain's libel laws have come under attack from the United Nations committee on human rights for discouraging coverage of matters of major public interest. The use of the Official Secrets Act to deter government employees from raising important issues has also been criticized.
The More >>
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Schumer's Steps Forward
(2008-07-28) Editorial - The New York Sun
Senator Schumer's decision Friday to add his name to those of Senators Specter and Lieberman among the backers of the Free Speech Protection Act of 2008 increases the likelihood that the measure will make its way into law in the scramble after Congress returns from summer recess but before it breaks again for the elections. It will be More >>
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Foreign Courts Take Aim at Our Free Speech
(2008-07-14) Arlen Specter and Joe Lieberman The Wall Street Journal
Our Constitution is one of our greatest assets in the fight against terrorism. A free-flowing marketplace of ideas, protected by the First Amendment, enables the ideals of democracy to defeat the totalitarian vision of al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
That free marketplace faces a threat. Individuals with alleged connections to terrorist activity are filing libel suits and winning More >>
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Growth of 'Libel Tourism' in England and U.S. Response
(2008-06-04) Jennifer McDermott and Chaya F. Weinberg-Brodt - New York Law Journal Online
The sharply conflicting English and American defamation regimes have recently returned to the international spotlight, following New York state's enactment of the Libel Terrorism Protection Act, the so-called Rachel's Law, which potentially renders many English libel judgements unenforceable in New York state.
More >>
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Hacks v beaks - Rich people and bad laws mean tough times for free speech
(2008-05-12) The Economist
WHEN writing about litigious issues, big British newspapers favour phrases such as "he strenuously denies all wrong-doing" (possible translation: has no convincing explanation of his behaviour); "has failed to dispel speculation that..." (was scandalously involved in), as well as words like "controversial" (outrageous) and "murky" (corrupt).
Such expensively lawyered prose helps present a More >>
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A victory for free speech
(2008-05-11) Editorial - The Washington Times
THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL - One of the most powerful weapons Islamists have is the threat to use the courts to silence people who get in their way. That's why it was so heartening to learn that on April 30, New York Gov. David Patterson signed into law the Libel Terrorism Protection Act, which is critically important in protecting the First Amendment rights of persons who report factually More >>
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Specter, Lieberman, King Introduce Free Speech Protection Act
(2008-05-07) U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), U.S. Rep. Peter King lieberman.senate.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 7, 2008) — U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and U.S. Representative Peter King (R-NY), Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, today announced the introduction of the Free More >>
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Governor Signs “Libel Terrorism Protection Act” Into Law
(2008-05-01) Press Release - American Center for Democracy
First-in-the-Nation Legislation Will Protect American Journalists and Authors From Overseas Defamation Lawsuits - Albany, NY (May 1, 2008) – Governor David Paterson announced today that he signed into law the “Libel Terrorism Protection Act” (A.9652 /S.6687 ), sponsored by Assemblyman Rory Lancman More >>
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The Libel Terrorism Protection Act, also known as *RACHEL's LAW, signed by Governor
(2008-05-01) Asm. Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Sen. Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre)
Albany, NY (May 1, 2008) -- New York State Governor David Paterson yesterday signed the "Libel Terrorism Protection Act" (S.6687/A.9652), which on March 31 passed the state's Assembly and Senate unanimously.
Also known as Rachel's Law, the bill sponsored by Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) will protect American More >>
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Publishers Applaud Signing of New York Libel Tourism Bill
(2008-05-01) American Association of Publishers
Washington, DC, May 1, 2008: The U.S. publishing industry warmly welcomed the signing of a bill in New York that will make it harder for “libel tourists” to threaten authors and publishers with foreign libel suits. The new law, the “Libel Terrorism Protection Act,” which was signed yesterday by Governor David Paterson, prohibits the enforcement of a foreign libel judgment unless a New York More >>
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Foreign Law and the First Amendment
(2008-04-30) Floyd Abrams The Wall Street Journal
Late in 1941, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion which, for the first time in our history, starkly distinguished American protection of speech from that of England.
Two union members had been convicted of assaulting non-union truck drivers. The day before they were to be sentenced, the Los Angeles Times published an editorial urging the trial judge not to grant probation, but to punish More >>
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Sign Rachel's Law
(2008-04-29) Opinion New York Post
It's hard to think of anything more critical these days than information about terrorists, and a bill on Gov. Paterson's desk would help keep it flowing.
The Libel Terrorism Protection Act basically would make authors immune to defamation suits in countries that don't offer the full free-speech rights provided by the US and New York constitutions.
Paterson has until tomorrow to sign the More >>
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Libel Terrorism Protection Act - Interview with Daniel Kornstein
(2008-04-25) Jamie Glazov - FrontPageMagazine.com
Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dan Kornstein, a lawyer who has excelled in his career in New York City for 35 years. A founding partner of Kornstein Veisz Wexler & Pollard, LLP, he graduated from Yale Law School after serving in the Vietnam era Army. In addition to a busy litigation practice, he writes frequently on law-related topics and has four non-fiction books and hundred of articles More >>
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Free Speech Vs. Lawsuit Terrorism
(2008-04-14) Investor's Business Daily
Islamofascism: Suicide bombs aren't the only chilling weapon Islamists are using in their war to the death with Western civilization. Exploiting the free world's laws on libel and so-called hate speech, they intimidate truth-telling writers.
When American Center for Democracy director Rachel Ehrenfeld in 2003 authored "Funding Evil: How Terrorism Is Financed — and How to Stop It," she was More >>
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Terrorizing Publishing
(2008-04-11) Roger Kimball The NY Sun
This spring, Encounter Books is publishing "Willful Blindness: a Memoir of the Jihad," by Andrew McCarthy, who helped prosecute the "blind sheik" Omar Abdel-Rahman and other jihadists.
I recently received a message from someone who helps distribute our books in Britain: "Can you please let us know if there are any references to Saudis and terrorist[s] in the book. We are just concerned that More >>
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One signature away from protecting freedom
(2008-04-09) Star-Gazette Editorials www.stargazettenews.com
Paterson should sign law to prevent foreign libel laws from applying to New Yorkers.
In societies in which people govern themselves and hold public officials accountable, the ability to freely gather and share information is critical. But government officials on the receiving end of public scrutiny do not always agree that robust discussion is a good thing. Therefore, two pieces of More >>
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'Libel Tourism' Bill Protecting Authors Passed by Legislators
(2008-04-03) Joel Stashenko New York Law Journal
ALBANY - State legislators voted unanimously this week for legislation that would protect authors and publishers in New York from libel judgments won by plaintiffs in foreign countries with standards that are less stringent than in the United States.
In approving A9_652/S6687 (_Se_e Bill Summary and Memo),_ the Senate and Assembly reacted to a Court of Appeals ruling that declined to change More >>
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English courts in the dock on ‘libel tourism’
(2008-04-02) Michael Peel and Megan Murphy Financial Times
Rinat Akhmetov, a Ukrainian energy tycoon ranked by Forbes magazine as the world’s 214th richest billionaire, is no stranger to England’s libel courts. He has launched successful actions in London over the past year against Kyiv Post and Obozrevatel, two Ukrainian internet journals.
Laura Tyler, his lawyer, says Mr Akhmetov went to England because he has a reputation and business links there, More >>
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Legislature Passes Libel Terrorism Protection Act
(2008-03-31) Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman Sen. Dean G. Skelos New York State Assembly, 25TH District // New York State Senate,9 District
RACHEL's LAW
unanimously Passed by NY Legislators
Thank you all for supporting the bill.
New York State Assembly, 25TH District / / New York State Senate,9 District
Assemblyman Rory I .Lancman Sen. Dean G. Skelos
Legislature Passes Libel Terrorism Protection Act To Protect American Journalists and Authors From Overseas Defamation Lawsuits
Albany, NY (March 31, 2008) - The New More >>
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Libel tourists out, says New York State
(2008-03-20) Michael Cameron Gazette of Law and Journalism
As “libel tourism” burgeons in Britain, the State of New York is set to protect its writers and journalists from such action via the Libel Terrorism Protection Act. Michael Cameron reports from the Big Apple on what this means for free speech and America’s “war on terror”
By Michael Cameron*
New York’s independent journalists and freelance writers stand to benefit from a new state law More >>
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Saudi wields British law against U.S. author
(2008-03-17) James Oliphant, Tribune Correspondent Chicago Tribune
NEW YORK
Rachel Ehrenfeld writes about terrorism for a living. But now she is the one who feels targeted.
Her modest midtown Manhattan apartment is filled to the ceiling with books, most having to do with global terror networks and Mideast conflict. Sitting at her desk, she gazes out at the Hudson River. She says she has a hard time placing her work. She says she has been blacklisted. If More >>
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The Libel Terrorism Bill
(2008-03-12) David Sigal NY Law Journal
The Libel Terrorism Bill, by David Sigal, NY LAW JOURNAL, March 12, 2008
http://acdemocracy.org/031208.pdf
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This Woman is Saving Your Way of Life
(2008-03-06) Julia Gorin politicalmavens.com
Rachel Ehrenfeld has been struggling quietly in what should be the loudest, most publicized legal battle of the century: A gay Saudi terror financier (you got that?) has sued American citizen Rachel Ehrenfeld in a British libel court for outlining in her 2003 book Funding Evil how the charities he supports fund terrorism. The terrifying fact here is that there is no law in place in America that More >>
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Exclusive: British Libel Law – Suppression of Truth in the US and UK?
(2008-03-03) Adrian Morgan Family Security Matters
In June last year I wrote on the situation of Rachel Ehrenfeld, who was landed with a default libel judgment against her at the High Court in London. Dr. Ehrenfeld had decided not to attend the hearing for libel, pertaining to statements she had made in her book: “Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop it". The ruling against her was made by High Court judge, Mr. Justice Eady. As More >>
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New York passes law against 'libel tourists'
(2008-02-29) Times Online
The state will protect authors against foreign libel judgments after a US journalist was sued by a Saudi businessman in London
Times Online and PA
Politicians in New York have acted to protect the state’s writers and publishers from so-called libel tourism after an English libel judgment went against an American author.
The Libel Terrorism Protection Act was given a unanimous passage in More >>
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Albany Bill Would Grant 'Libel Terrorism' Jurisdiction
(2008-02-28) Joel Stashenko NY Law Journal
ALBANY - In December, the Court of Appeals acknowledged growing media concerns over the use of plaintiff-friendly foreign libel laws to muzzle New York journalists, but held it was beyond the Court's authority to intervene under the state's long-arm statute.
Yesterday, legislation to allow New York courts to do just that cleared a major hurdle with unanimous passage in the state Senate. More >>
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RACHEL'S LAW
(2008-02-25) Samuel A. Abady & Harvey Silverglate New York Post
February 25, 2008 -- A CRITICAL First Amendment bill, the "Libel Terrorism Reform Act" is pending in both houses of the state Legislature. It was written in direct response to the Court of Appeals' decision in the case of Ehrenfeld v. bin Mahfouz.
Rachel Ehrenfeld is an Israeli-American terrorism scholar and internationally recognized counterterrorism expert. In her book "Funding Evil: How More >>
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NY State’s “Libel Terrorism Protection Act”
(2008-02-01) David Horowitz FrontPageMagazine.com
As the head of The David Horowitz Freedom Center and Editor-in-Chief of Frontpagemag.com, I welcome the bipartisan “Libel Terrorism Protection Act” (A-9652 and S-6687), which was introduced two weeks ago in the New York Assembly and Senate by Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D) and Senator Dean Skelos (R). The bill was introduced to protect New York authors and publishers who expose terrorism and More >>
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Protecting Our Journalists From Libel Terrorism
(2008-01-21) Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Ce humanevents.com
When we think about those fighting the war on terror, we of course first think of our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are on the front lines, risking their lives to protect our country. We also think about our local cops and firefighters and first responders. They are defending our cities, unearthing terrorist plots and rushing to the scene of attacks to save and rescue lives.
But More >>
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Britain is a destination for libel suits
(2008-01-20) Doreen Carvajal International Herald Tribune
PARIS: You're an investment bank in Iceland with a complaint about a tabloid newspaper in Denmark that published critical articles in Danish. Whom do you call?
A pricey London libel lawyer.
That is called libel tourism by lawyers in the media trade. And Britain remains a comfortable destination for the rich in search of friendly courts, which have already weighed complaints from people More >>
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New York state lawmakers offer legislation to protect authors
(2008-01-13) Newsday.com
NEW YORK (AP) _ Two state lawmakers on Sunday announced details of proposed legislation aimed at protecting authors and journalists whose First Amendment freedoms to write about terrorism issues could be imperiled by libel lawsuits in foreign countries.
The plan by Sen. Dean G. Skelos and Assemblyman Rory I. Lancman resulted from a ruling last month by the state Court of Appeals that existing More >>
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Council Bill Could Protect Authors
(2008-01-10) Joseph Goldstein The New York Sun
A bill introduced this week in Albany would give new protection to New York authors and journalists against libel judgments from foreign courts and would make it easier for writers to use New York courts to challenge foreign judgments against them.
The bill was introduced in response to a British libel judgment against a New York-based researcher that ordered her to pay a libel award of 30,000 More >>
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New York Appeals Court Opens Door to 'Libel Tourism'
(2007-12-20) Joseph Goldstein The New York Sun
NEW YORK’s Highest court turned down a chance today to protect American authors from libel judgments awarded by foreign courts.
The case decided today, which pits a Saudi billionaire against a New York-based researcher, was a test of how New York's courts will respond to concerns that the First Amendment rights of American authors are being undermined by libel judgments imposed abroad, More >>
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US Author's Fight Against Libel Jihad
(2007-12-08) Watching the Media
AMERICAN MEDIA STRANGELY QUIET OVER A GROUND-BREAKING DEFAMATION CASE FEATURING A SAUDI BILLIONAIRE VS A NEW YORK ACADEMIC AND AUTHOR
US media interest in the ground-breaking defamation case of Ehrenfeld v Mahfouz that’s been playing out in American courts has been minimal to say the least, but interest is slowly increasing, particularly now that Middle Eastern interest are beginning to More >>
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Last Stop On The Libel Tour
(2007-12-05) Elizabeth Samson thejewishweek.com
Several weeks ago the New York State Court of Appeals began hearing arguments in a case with monumental and far-reaching implications for the protection of United States citizens abroad and the rights afforded by the First Amendment. The stakes are high in the case of Ehrenfeld v. Mahfouz, and the very future of free expression and public participation for all U.S. journalists, authors and their More >>
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Libel Terrorism
(2007-11-26) Matthew Vadum NewsBusters.org
Supporters of Islamic totalitarianism are using courts to silence their critics and advance their agendas as the American mainstream media barely take notice.
Take the case of Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz [1], the billionaire alleged funder of terrorism, and his dogged critic, Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld [2]. Their story has been chronicled here [3] by the Moving Picture Institute [4]. (Newsbusters' Pam More >>
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The Liberal Tourist: Silencing Free Speech
(2007-11-21) Ericka Andersen Human Events
Litigious Saudi Arabians -- making use of plaintiff-friendly British libel laws -- have imposed major restrictions on free speech in Britain. British law is just the opposite of American law. In America, someone suing for libel has to show that the statement -- or article or book -- is false. In Britain, it’s just the other way around. The defendant has to prove that what he said or wrote is More >>
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The lights go out in Britain
(2007-11-20) Melanie Phillips The Spectator
The sinister police response to Islamist incitement (see post below) in which they tried to suppress the evidence of it in the interests of ‘community cohesion’ is unfortunately part of a far larger picture of terminal British cultural cringe and abasement in the face of the threat to Britain and the west. Following the statement by the head of MI5 that we should ‘pay close attention’ to the More >>
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New York Court Considers Free Speech Case
(2007-11-16) Mike Dodd MediaLawyer.Press.Net
Media groups in the United States and Britain are awaiting the result of a decision by the highest court in New York State in the latest stage of a battle between an academic and a Saudi Arabian businessman who obtained a libel judgment against her in the High Court in London.
The New York State Court of Appeals yesterday heard argument on the issue of the circumstances under which New York's More >>
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US author mounts 'libel tourism' challenge
(2007-11-15) David Pallister Guardian Unlimited
A ferocious attack on the "chilling effect" of the English law of libel and its use by wealthy "foreign tourists" will be mounted in a top US court today, with backing from organisations that represent a majority of the world's media.
The case is being brought in the New York state court of appeals by an American academic, Rachel Ehrenfeld, against one of the richest men in the world, the Saudi More >>
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State Court of Appeals to determine long-arm laws
(2007-11-15) Valerie Bauman Newsday.com
The state's highest court must decide under what circumstances New York's "long-arm" law can be invoked to give the state personal jurisdiction over someone who is not physically within the state.
The Court of Appeals heard arguments Thursday from Rachel Ehrenfeld, the author of a book about the funding of terrorism. The Manhattan author is seeking protection from British court judgments More >>
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Sheikh it all about
(2007-11-08) The Economist
How far can a Saudi sheikh use English law against an American author?
CAN the guarantee of free speech in America's first amendment trump English libel law? That is the question facing New York's Court of Appeals, in a case starting on November 15th. Rachel Ehrenfeld, a New York-based author, is seeking a ruling that an English libel judgment against her cannot be enforced in America and that More >>
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Chilling free speech
(2007-10-19) Ilan Weinglass The Washington Times
The U.S. media has started to notice Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz's use of British libel laws to silence allegations that he funded al Qaeda. Even the venerable New York Times has featured an essay on the subject, plus an Op-Ed urging Congress to prevent U.S. courts from enforcing foreign libel judgments. While this would be a worthwhile achievement, most commentators have missed the More >>
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British Libel Actions Target Terrorism Books
(2007-10-08) Charles Hoskinson, CQ Staff CQ Weekly - Vantage Point
Influential residents of repressive regimes in the Middle East can use a wide range of official measures to counter criticism and suppress dissent. Now, a trio of Western authors contend that one such controversial figure — billionaire Saudi financier Khalid bin Mahfouz — has hit upon a novel extension of such strategies, using Britain’s plaintiff-friendly libel law to cancel the publication of More >>
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See more at the First Amendment Media Coverage link above.
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Watch Dr. Ehrenfeld interviewed about libel tourism, Nov. 9, 2009
Listen to Dr. Ehrenfeld interviewed about Al Qaeda funding on BBC WorldService, Oct. 13, 2009
Watch the Heritage Foundation panel discussion on 'Libel tourism", Feb. 25, 2009 on CSPAN2.
This video is of a panel discussion about "libel tourism." American author Rachel Ehrenfeld was sued in a British court by a Saudi financier who claimed that she libeled him in her book, "Funding Evil." Because of first amendment free speech protections, the suit was not pursued in a U.S. Court. Andrew McCarthy from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and Andrew Grossman from the Heritage Foundation discuss legislative and policy issues related to international libel laws and the publishing industry.
The American Enterprise Institute panel on Libel Tourism, including Rachel Ehrenfeld and attorneys Daniel Kornstein, Floyd Abrams, Mark Zauderer, and Bruce Brown; moderated by Richard Perle, Mar. 23, 2009
Rachel Ehrenfeld on Libel Tourism, on The Current, Jan. 13, 2009. Listen to Part Three.
Watch the Jerusalem Conference interview about Shariah banking, Feb. 20, 2008
Rachel Ehrenfeld on Radical Islam, on the Gary Null Show, Aug. 20, 2007
Dr. Ehrenfeld has also been interviewed on:
- The Kojo Nnamdi Show, WAMU
- On the Media with Bob Garfield, NPR
- The Roger Hedgecock Show, KOGO
- Southwest Radio Ministries
- Lisa Radio, lunchwithlisa.com
- FOX & Friends, Fox News.com
- The O'Reilly Factor, FOXnews.com
- Lou Dobbs, CNN
- Nightline, WABC News
- Frontline, PBS
- www.RadioNetherlands.nl
- Dakota Talk Radio, KXMB Bismarck
- Atlas Shrugs, atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com
- IsraelNationalRadio.com
- Joey Reynolds Show, WOR Radio 710 HD
- Neil Cavuto, foxnews.com
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