Mission Statement
The American Center for Democracy (ACD) monitors and exposes the enemies of freedom and their modus operandi, and explores pragmatic ways to counteract their methods.
The objective of the ACD is to supplement government efforts to defend democratic institutions from global threat of radical Islam and terrorism.
The ACD works to inform decision makers and the public as to the ideological underpinnings, organizational structure, and political objectives used by terrorists and terrorist state sponsors to undermine the democratic process in Western countries and subvert liberal efforts in the Muslim and developing world and expose the sources and methods of their funding.
The ACD was established in 2003 and includes the Center for The Study of Corruption & the Rule of Law (CSC).
PLEASE NOTE: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld never received financial support from The
Middle East Forum's Legal Project, nor is she a client of the Project.
PLEASE NOTE: Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is not a signatory of the 911Truth.org. She has asked several times to have her name removed from the list, but the organization failed to comply.
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A New York rebellion against libel imperialism
(2008-11-25) Brendan O’Neill spiked
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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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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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 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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'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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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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Bringing an End to ‘Libel Tourism’
(2008-09-29) 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 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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EHRENFELD: Israel's suicidal choice
(2008-08-22) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld OP-ED:
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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For freedom's sake, we must stop libel tourism
(2008-08-15) Tim Luckhurst guardian.co.uk
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. But More >>
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British libel laws violate human rights, says UN
(2008-08-14) Duncan Campbell guardian.co.uk
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 intervention More >>
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Britain's libel laws are stifling free speech, says UN
(2008-08-14) Robert Verkaik, Law Editor Independent.co.uk
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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ALA Endorses the Free Speech Protection Act of 2008
(2008-07-31)
Category: Civil Liberties, Intellectual Freedom, and Privacy
The American Library Association (ALA) endorsed Senate bill S. 2977, the "Free Speech Protection Act of 2008" and urged its passage as soon as possible in order to protect authors, publishers and others in the United States from libel lawsuits filed in foreign countries. The bill was introduced following several notable defamation More >>
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AAP Endorses the Free Speech Protection Act 2008
(2008-07-29) Judy Platt, Association of American Publishers MEMO TO FREE EXPRESSION NETWORK MEMBERSHIP
Dear FEN Colleagues:
The Association of American Publishers has become increasingly concerned about the growing threat of "libel tourism" involving wealthy individuals who cynically exploit plaintiff-friendly libel laws in foreign courts in an attempt to silence and intimidate U.S. publishers and authors who publish and write about sensitive but vitally important subjects such as the funding 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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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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Foreign Courts Take Aim at Our Free Speech
(2008-07-14) ARLEN SPECTER and JOE LIEBERMAN OPINION - DOW JONES REPRINTS
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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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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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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Congress should outlaw shari'a finance
(2008-06-02) Alyssa A. Lappen Examiner.com
A spate of conferences in the U.S. recently on Islamic banking – i.e. shari'a finance - signals a worrisome American blindness to the budding industry's inherent dangers.
Among the perils of shari'a finance, according to a January analysis by Moody's Investors Service are: A central role in investment decisions for shari'a scholars who are actually Islamic clerics; investors being forced to 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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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- THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL
(2008-05-11) THE WASHINGTON TIMES EDITORIAL
May 11, 2008
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 More >>
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A Secular Market Nightmare
(2008-05-09) Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMagazine.com
The global sub-prime mortgage mess would have been "unthinkable in the Islamic capital markets sector," Malaysian Islamic finance scholar Mohammed Mahmud Awan told Arab News on April 24; Islamic law, or "shari'a principles" would prohibit selling "a debt against a debt," Awan said at a Bahrain university globalization conference. Trading trillions of dollars in debt without assets backing them More >>
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Specter, Lieberman, King Introduce Free Speech Protection Act
(2008-05-07) U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), U.S. Representative Peter King ( Specter, Lieberman, King
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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PUBLISHERS APPLAUD SIGNING OF NEW YORK LIBEL TOURISM BILL
(2008-05-01) American Association of Publishers
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...
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Governor Signs “Libel Terrorism Protection Act” Into Law
(2008-05-01) American Center for Democracy Press Release
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) Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Ce
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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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) 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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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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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
(2008-04-10) 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 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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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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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 York 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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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 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 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 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.
The 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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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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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 More >>
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America's First Amendment Lifeline
(2008-01-25) Alyssa A. Lappen humanevents.com
World War II began long before the outbreak of military hostilities, with the Nazi campaign to silence its critics. Yet 63 years after the end of World War II, the U.S. today faces new threats to free speech.
Islamic terrorists and their advocates have increasingly succeeded in silencing critics of hatred and inhumanity, much as the Nazis silenced theirs, through intimidation -- but also now, 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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Protecting Our Journalists From Libel Terrorism
(2008-01-21) Assemblyman Rory Lancman 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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Beware Fool’s Gold -- and Shari’a Finance
(2008-01-21) Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMagazine.com
The very expectations of glittering shari’a finance (Islamic banking) profits hypnotize financial institutions, securities exchanges, and banks--and there are few regulatory or monitoring protections against abuses. So why did United Arab Emirates (UAE) government IP address 92.97.131.110 send some 30,000 to 40,0000 spam messages on December 8, 2007, soliciting Islamic finance clients among More >>
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Britain is a destination for libel suits
(2008-01-20) Doreen Carvajal iht.com
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 who 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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Publishers Welcome NY Legislation to Fight ‘Libel Tourism’
(2008-01-14)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Judith Platt (202) 220-4551
Deidre Huntington (202) 220-4550
Washington , DC , January 14, 2008: The Association of American Publishers (AAP) welcomed the introduction of legislation in the New York State legislature that will make it harder for “libel tourists” 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 nysun.com
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 nysun.com
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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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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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
See the short-form documentary film The Libel Tourist.
Click on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWq5QsZLCrg
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 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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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 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 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 More >>
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The Libel Tourist
(2007-11-16) thelibeltourist.com
English - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWq5QsZLCrg
Arabic - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UI2or4Agffc
"The Libel Tourist" is a short-form documentary film produced by the Moving Picture Institute. MPI's short film program seeks to provide filmmakers with the opportunities to display their filmmaking skills while making an impact on behalf of human freedom.
Though it 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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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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Shari'a Finance
(2007-11-14) Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMagazine.com
In October, Abu Dhabi Prince Nahayan Mabarak al-Nahayan advertised his ultra-conservative sheikdom's openness “in this age of globalization,” and having had world trade “from ancient times” by welcoming 100 world-class Jewish intellectuals to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) second biennial “Festival of Thinkers.” The UAE higher education minister controls More >>
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Sheikh it all about
(2007-11-08) economist.com
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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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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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 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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Up in smoke
(2007-08-31) Kelly Jane Torrance Washington Times
By Kelly Jane Torrance - Book burning, in these enlightened times, might seem like something found only in science-fiction novels. But two American authors have found the practice quite literally still exists.
Their tome wasn't destroyed because of populist outrage. Rather, a single man succeeded in pressuring their publisher to pulp the book — without having to set foot in the country More >>
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Where Terrorism and Censorship Meet
(2007-08-29) Cinnamon Stillwell San Francisco Chronical
It has become popular for those with competing political agendas to allege threats to free speech, whether real or imagined. Yet, there is a very real threat to free speech that has received little attention in the public sphere. It's called libel tourism and it has become a major component in the ideological arm of the war on terrorism.
At question is the publication of books and other More >>
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The Libel Tourist Strikes Again
(2007-08-20) Duncan Currie The Weekly Standard
In late July, Cambridge University Press announced it was destroying all its remaining copies of Alms for Jihad, a 2006 book exploring the nexus of Islamic charities and Islamic radicalism. At the same time, Cambridge asked libraries around the world to stop carrying the book on their shelves. The reason? Fear of being sued in a British court by Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, a Saudi billionaire who More >>
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Web of terror
(2007-08-16) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen The Washington Times
On Aug. 8, the Treasury Department finally listed the Al-Salah Society as "one of the largest and best-funded Hamas charities." The director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Adam Szubin, said, "Today's action alerts the word to the true nature of Al-Salah and cuts it off from the U.S. financial system." An Aug. 1 report by the Gelilot, Israel-based More >>
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Protect the American Media … Whether They Deserve It or Not
(2007-08-14) Andrew C. McCarthy HUMAN EVENTS
It is a hard thing to defend the American media. Even when they are right and even when they badly need defending.
In large part, that’s because press hypocrisy is so striking. Journalists demand two sets of rules: one for themselves, one for everyone else.
They claim monopoly over the dark corners where their sources and sometimes deceptive intelligence-gathering practices must be More >>
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The Forbidden Library
(2007-08-13) Bryan Preston hotair.com
Peruse the “complete” list of banned and challenged books, and you won’t find a couple of titles that we’ve been discussing here on Hot Air lately. Neither Alms for Jihad nor Funding Evil, nor any of the other three books that Khalid bin Mafouz is attempting to suppress, are on the list. Perhaps the list just needs updating. Or perhaps the list’s authors aren’t More >>
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SAUDIS SUE FOR SECRECY
(2007-08-08) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld New York Post
August 8, 2007 -- THE Saudis' efforts to keep a veil of secrecy over their sup port for al Qaeda and Hamas got a shot in the arm last week, as a British publisher opted to suppress a controversial book on the financing of terror.
Facing the mere threat of a lawsuit from Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz, Cambridge University Press agreed to pulp all the unsold copies of "Alms of Jihad: More >>
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The Fly in the Bin Mahfouz Ointment
(2007-08-06) Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMagazine.com
U.K. libel laws and courts have been among Saudi Arabia’s most successful tools to veil its Islamic proselytization and terrorist funding. The Saudi operator is billionaire Khalid Bin Mahfouz, who has sued or threatened to sue some 36 U.S. and U.K. publishers and authors and was given default judgments in all of them.
But there is a new fly in bin Mahfouz’ Saudi ointment—an More >>
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Hot Air audio: How one wealthy jihad supporter is using UK courts to kill American free speech
(2007-08-02) Bryan hotair.com
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this story. The Chronicle of Higher Education (sub. required) on Wednesday published an article about Khalid bin Mafouz, a wealthy Saudi banker, and his successful effort to persuade the Cambridge University Press to halt the publication of four books that detail how Saudi citizens use their wealth to finance global terrorism. One of those More >>
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Libel Suit Leads to Destruction of Books
(2007-08-02) Gary Shapiro The New York Sun
Cambridge University Press has agreed to destroy all unsold copies of a 2006 book by two American authors, "Alms for Jihad," following a libel action brought against it in England, the latest development in what critics say is an effort by Saudis to quash discussion of their alleged role in aiding terrorism.
In a letter of apology to a wealthy Saudi businessman, Sheikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz, More >>
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Hot Interview
(2007-08-02) Stanley Kurtz The Corner
Bryan Preston, of Hot Air has posted an important interview with Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, on the Alms for Jihad controversy. We ought to be grateful for the courage of Rachel Ehrenfeld. After listening to this remarkable interview, you may want to go here and contribute to her organization.
I continue to be struck by the potential significance of this story, and also by the extent to which a More >>
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Attention Authors: Be afraid, very afraid.... especially if you write about the Saudis and their sup
(2007-07-24) Deborah Lipstadt blogspot.com
Whenever David Irving's libel case against me comes up someone inevitably asks: How could he sue you in the UK? I explain that my book was bought and published by Penguin UK and therefore he could drag me into a UK court.
Turns out that now the reach of UK libel laws has been greatly extended. It's a frightening development. In an earlier post I wrote about Rachel Ehrenfeld and how she was More >>
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From the British Courts: A strange libel case that gives pause to authors and comfort to terrorism
(2007-07-22) Deborah Lipstadt blogspot.com
There is currently a court battle going on which sounds absolutely absurd. In short, Rachel Ehrenfeld, an American and founder of the American Center for Democracy, wrote a book which mentioned Khalid Salim bin Manfouz, accusing him of funding Hama and Al Qaeda. The Washington Times has an column summarizing the outlines of the story.
Bin Mafouz sued Ehrenfeld in London for libel. As most More >>
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Battling Censorship
(2007-07-20) Robert Spencer Washington Times
One of the most potent weapons that global jihadists have to advance their cause is one of the least-remarked:
censorship. And Rachel Ehrenfeld, founder and director of the American Center for Democracy, stands today as one of the
primary targets of this tactic - and, by her ongoing resistance, one of the foremost defenders of the freedom of speech
against encroaching attempts at legal More >>
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Stop Islamic Conquest
(2007-07-20) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld blogspot.com
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is an expert on how terrorists finance their terror. She has a website, The American Center for Democracy, and her articles, as well as those of other excellent researchers and scholars, are also published at The Terror Finance Blog. I link to these and other sites in a prominent location on the sidebar.
Dr. Ehrenfeld is an author, and in her book Funding Evil she exposes More >>
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Terrorism and Organized Crime Intensify the Economic Jihad
(2007-07-15) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Terror Finance Blog
The stronger Islamist Jihadist group become, the more funds are needed to support their activities. The stronger Islamist Jihadist become, they are able to extort more influence over criminal gangs. They charge "protection" money from drug traffickers and other gangs, and often employ fraudsters, or even assign members to carry out large scale "theft of highly enriched uranium and other nuclear More >>
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Uprooting Jihad
(2007-07-11) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Washington Times
In his letter "The roots of terror" (Monday), Chuck Woolery claims that we misrepresented the "root" causes for Muslim suffering. Yet, "[t]he repression, suffering and death of hundreds of millions of Muslims" does not result from Western or Israeli policies or actions, but from totalitarian, corrupt Arab and Muslim regimes and clerics who confine them to the Dark Ages.
The current Sunni and More >>
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Egyptian Roots of Hatred
(2007-07-06) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen Washington Times
Had the citizens of Greeley, Colo., been friendlier to the introverted Egyptian student Sayyid Qutb during his studies there from 1948 to 1950, he might not have become the Muslim Brotherhood's signature ideologue. But the lonesome Qutb resented everything America had to offer, especially individual freedom, capitalism, jazz and women's "open" sexuality.
Shortly after returning to Egypt, Qutb More >>
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Business...Russian Style
(2007-06-27) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen Human Events
The Transparency International 2007 global report released on May 24 documents widespread Russian corruption and lack of independence in Russia's legal system, and its courts in particular. This, according to the report, is due to the government’s growing political interference. Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s best-known opposition newspaper, claims that corruption in Russia is the rule, and More >>
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Landing a solid counterpunch for free speech
(2007-06-17) Gary Reid Canada Free Press
Last August, I wrote a CFP column about the use of British courts to advance libel claims by Arabs to shut down criticism and analysis of their activities from journalists and authors. The phenomenon even has a name, “libel tourism”, because the plaintiffs in these cases are not British citizens. They are taking advantage of a plaintiff-friendly legal system and a court that, for More >>
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1st AMENDMENT ON TRIAL
(2007-06-16) Bob Unruh worldnetdaily.com
Rachel Ehrenfeld
The author of a U.S.-published book that accused a former Saudi banking executive of funding terrorism is battling a precedent that experts say could give any foreign libel law priority over U.S. free press and speech guarantees.
The case involving Rachel Ehrenfeld is one of the "most important First Amendment cases of the past 25 years," and its potential for damaging the More >>
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The High Cost of Free Speech
(2007-06-16) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld San Diego Jewish World
NEW YORK—On June 8, 2007, seven months after hearing arguments in my suit against Saudi billionaire Khaled bin Mahfouz—Ehrenfeld vs. bin Mahfouz—the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals established an important legal precedent, henceforward affecting all American writers and publishers.
This “case is one of the most important First Amendment cases of the past 25 More >>
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The High Cost of Free Speech
(2007-06-15) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Democracy-Project
On June 8, 2007, seven months after hearing arguments in my suit against Saudi billionaire Khaled bin Mahfouz--Ehrenfeld vs. bin Mahfouz--the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals established an important legal precedent, henceforward affecting all American writers and publishers.
This “case is one of the most important First Amendment cases of the past 25 years,” says prominent More >>
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US Court Ruling: How Will it Impact Coverage of Terrorism?
(2007-06-14) Adrian Morgan familysecuritymatters.org
The UK is infamous for its libel laws, which do not even begin to conform to US legal or constitutional principles. Yet an extremely important battle involving the UK is now taking place in New York State, which could have major ramifications for Americans’ free speech rights. FSM Contributing Editor Adrian Morgan reveals the enormity of what is at stake.
US Court Ruling: How Will it More >>
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A Victory for Freedom of Speech
(2007-06-14) Lee Kaplan FrontPageMagazine.com
As Saudi petrodollars buy influence throughout the world for the Islamic feudal kingdom that finances world terrorism and propaganda, the US Second District Court of Appeals in New York just gave America a breath of fresh air.
Lawyers for terrorism researcher and author Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil, a book about Saudi financial influence in promoting worldwide jihad, overturned a More >>
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NEW MOVE IN US BATTLE OVER ENGLISH LIBEL DECISION
(2007-06-12) Michael Dodd MediaLawyer.Press.Net
The battle over whether a Saudi Arabian businessman who sued an American academic in London over a book which was not published in Britain can enforce the judgment he won has been sent from a United States federal court to the New York State Court of Appeals.
The move is the latest in the battle between Saudi businessman Sheikh Khalid Bin Mahfouz and his two sons and New York-based Dr Rachel More >>
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State Court Asked If Long Arm Reaches to Party in U.K. Suit
(2007-06-11) Joel Stashenko New York Law Journal Online
ALBANY - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit asked the New York Court of Appeals on Friday for guidance on whether the state's long-arm statute confers to the federal court personal jurisdiction over a Saudi businessman who was named as a supporter of terrorism in a New York author's book.
The author, Rachel Ehrenfeld, is seeking in Ehrenfeld v. Mahfouz, 06-2228-cv, to have the More >>
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There are Better Ways to Stop Funds for Terror
(2007-05-24) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Terror Finance Blog
In retaliation to the intensifying Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel from Gaza, the IDF conducted aerial attacks on businesses involved in transferring funds to terror organizations.
According to the IDF's spokesperson, "The IDF carried out aerial attacks against money changers' offices and businesses in the Gaza Strip which have been transferring funds from Iran, Syria and Lebanon for the More >>
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Terror, crime go digital
(2007-05-23) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and John Wood UPI
NEW YORK, May 23 (UPI) -- Emerging digital technologies to move money instantaneously and anonymously open up new possibilities for criminals and terrorists, while regulatory and law-enforcement agencies are limping far behind.
On May 3, at the release of the 2007 Money Laundering Strategy, the U.S. Treasury spokesperson was pleased to note: "Focusing on well-established money laundering More >>
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Moderate and Radical Muslims: the Confused PBS View
(2007-05-07) Alyssa A. Lappen American Thinker
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) doesn’t want Americans to learn of radical Islam’s war against moderate Muslims, such as Danish Member of Parliament Naser Khader, who are trying to reform and transport to the 21st century a faith born (and for a great many, stuck) in the 7th century.
“If [MP More >>
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How Terrorists Send Money
(2007-05-01) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and John Wood UPI
WASHINGTON, May 1 (UPI) -- Advanced mobile technology, cooperation between international mobile communications providers and international financial institutions and the lack of regulations make for a swift, cheap, mostly untraceable money transfer -- known as "m-payments" -- anywhere, anytime, by anyone with a mobile telephone.
Members of the GSM Association and MasterCard are developing an More >>
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Ukrainian premier outlines plans for the future
(2007-04-23) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Washington Times
The April 2 decree of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to dissolve the parliament and hold new legislative elections generated a political crisis that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. Reminiscent of the social unrest during the 2004 Orange Revolution, demonstrators are again filling Kiev's main squares.
This crisis originated with the constitutional reforms adopted by the More >>
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The Muslim Brotherhood's Duping of America
(2007-04-20) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen American Thinker
Making the Muslim Brotherhood a major player in Middle East politics seems to be one of the few subjects on which both Democrats and Republicans seem to agree. Neither the State Department nor the White House commented after U.S. House Majority Leader Stanley Hoyer met in Egypt with the Muslim Brotherhood's parliamentarian leader, Mohammed Saad el-Katatni. Hoyer and el-Katani discussed recent More >>
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Terrorist Funding in Real Time
(2007-04-11) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and John Wood American Thinker
Migrant workers, terrorists, criminals, and anyone holding a mobile telephone are rejoicing. Already many are able to transfer money (m-payments) anywhere anytime, efficiently and inexpensively. Technological advances and cooperation between international mobile communications providers and major international financial institutions, made such transfers possible. According to Visa USA CEO John More >>
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The Muslim Brotherhood's Propaganda Offensive
(2007-04-02) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen American Thinker
The Muslim Brotherhood (MB) is heightening its U.S. propaganda offensive in advance of the 2008 presidential elections, taking advantage of the political uncertainty and opposition to the current Administration's defense policies against radical Muslim terrorist organizations and states.
Incredibly, "Hear Out the Muslim Brotherhood," an op-ed in the Boston Globe on Sunday March 25, portrayed More >>
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What Ails Mainstream Journalism
(2007-03-22) Alyssa A. Lappen FrontPageMagazine.com
Why do otherwise thorough reporters lose their professional skepticism when covering the Middle East and Islam? This peculiar journalistic phenomenon has puzzled me since I began covering the Middle East and Islam, in lieu of the investigative financial reporting work I had done for most of my career. Indeed, it largely motivated my personal professional shift.
An informal conversation with a More >>
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Funding terror
(2007-03-15) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and John Wood Washington Times
We are on the cusp of a new era of terror financing, that of mobile payments or "m-payments." An m-payment system is being developed by members of the GSM Association to enable migrant workers and the poor who do not have bank accounts to transfer money internationally, efficiently and inexpensively. According to the World Bank, 175 million migrants transferred at least $230 billion international More >>
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The World Bank continuing Aid to Palestinian Terrorism
(2007-03-07) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Terror Finance Blog
The World Bank released on March 7 its report on the Palestinian Authority. While critical pf the PA¹s lack of transparency and inability and/or unwillingness to account for the hundreds of millions it received from donors, including $100 million in tax revenues given by Israel directly to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the Bank also urges donors to renew funding the Hamas led government.
Last we More >>
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Propagating terror
(2007-02-21) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Washington Times
Six years after al Qaeda attacked the United States, many policy-makers and "terrorism experts" retain the misconception that terrorism does not require large amounts of money. This myth was strengthened first with the September 11 Commission's report in 2003 and later reinforced by its October 2005 Progress Report, giving the government an A- for its "vigorous efforts against terror financing." More >>
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Can you tell a Terrorist from a
(2007-01-21) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Terror Finance Blog
While most terrorist organizations have circumvented funding prohibitions by creating “political” and “charitable” wings - a ruse that enables their individual and state supporters to contribute “clean” money to criminal/terrorist activities – most terrorist organizations also widely engage in “common” crimes to generate funds. This phenomenon More >>
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Egypt’s role in the destabilization of the Middle East
(2007-01-04) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld The Terror Finance Blog
Egypt’s role in the destabilization of the Middle East
At the time the international community imposes economic sanctions against the terrorist government of Hamas, Egypt facilitates the transfer of millions of dollars in cash to support and sustain it.
"We don't allow money carried by Palestinians to be smuggled, but Egyptian law allows the passage of money as long as it is More >>
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Carter's Arab financiers
(2006-12-21) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Washington Times
To understand what feeds former president Jimmy Carter's anti-Israeli frenzy, look at his early links to Arab business.
Between 1976-1977, the Carter family peanut business received a bailout in the form of a $4.6 million, "poorly managed" and highly irregular loan from the National Bank of Georgia (NBG). According to a July 29, 1980 Jack Anderson expose in The Washington Post, the bank's More >>
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The ISG's Dereliction of Duty
(2006-12-11) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen American Thinker
On Veterans' Day, November 11, 2005, President George W. Bush, described the determination of Islamic terrorists, who "want to end American and Western influence in the broader Middle East, because we stand for democracy and peace, and stand in the way of their ambitions....The tactics of al Qaeda and other Islamic extremists have been consistent for a quarter of a century: They hit us, and More >>
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The Progress of Hassan al-Banna's Vision
(2006-11-24) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen American Thinker
The founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna, whose disciples are now celebrating his birth 100 years ago, would have been ecstatic to witness their progress in implementing his plans to compel the world to submit to Islam. Radical Islam have made inroads in most countries with a Muslim majority, reached supremacy in several countries and its influence is steadily growing in western More >>
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Shariah rising in the West
(2006-11-23) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Alyssa A. Lappen Washington Times
The founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al-Banna, whose disciples are now celebrating his birth 100 years ago, would have been ecstatic to witness their progress in implementing his vision to compel the world to submit to Islam. Radical Islam has made inroads in most countries with a Muslim majority, and reached supremacy in several countries Its influence is steadily growing in many More >>
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A 'political party' unveiled
(2006-08-11) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Washington Times
"Remember, Hezbollah is a political party within Lebanon... The problem is... that they're a political party with a militia that is armed by foreign nations," said President Bush earlier this week. "Political Party"? "Armed Militia"?
Hezbollah, which was established in 1982 as a terrorist organization, was finally designated in 1995 as such by the U.S. government. It was upgraded to the More >>
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Saudi Charity Begins...Nowhere
(2006-07-07) Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld FrontPageMagazine.com
Upon hearing Warren Buffett’s announcement on June 25, 2006, of giving $37 billion to charitable foundations, mostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Nihad Awad, declared that Muslim organizations “are lagging behind,” only because of intimidation by the West. The Muslims, he said, are in “the cycle More >>
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Foreign Courts Take Aim at Our Free Speech
(0000-00-00) ARLEN SPECTER and JOE LIEBERMAN The Wall St. 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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