Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Goldstein & Meyer in Wash. Times: "Lawfare gains ground"












Middle East Forum
May 20, 2009



'Lawfare' gains ground
U.N.
resolution on 'defaming' a case in point


by Brooke M. Goldstein and
Aaron Eitan Meyer
Washington Times
May 19, 2009


http://www.meforum.org/2138/lawfare-gains-ground








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The United Nations recently passed resolutions that would
make "defaming" Islam a globally criminal act. The United Kingdom first
refused entry to Geert Wilders, a sitting European Parliament member and
Islamist critic, and now has issued a list banning 16 other individuals,
which includes some banned solely for their exercise of free speech.


"Faith Fighter," an online video game featuring various
religious figures, attracted considerable attention and controversy, but
was removed after the Organization of the Islamic Conference threatened
the game's producers. Valentina Colombo, an Italian professor, wrote about
an Islamist who said liberal Muslims could be killed as apostates; he has
now sued her for damaging his credibility as a "moderate."


And the United States is not immune. As the presidential
election race was under way, the Council on American-Islamic Relations,
better known as CAIR, filed a complaint with the Federal Elections
Committee claiming that "Obsession," a candidate-neutral documentary on
terrorism, somehow constituted improper election activity.


More recently still, CAIR has demanded that Florida House
Majority Leader Adam Hasner step down, for the "crime" of co-hosting a
conference on free speech at which Mr.Wilders spoke. Lawsuits charging
"defamation" continue to plague people who speak out against radical Islam
and terrorism, including ongoing cases against Iranian-American researcher
Hassan Daioleslam, Americans Against Hate founder Joseph Kaufman, and
Hawaii Free Press Editor Andrew Walden. By and large, these events, and
others like them, have not made the front page of any major newspaper, or
been featured on broadcast television, if mentioned at all.


Yet, along with a number of individual lawsuits aimed at
silencing critics of radical Islam, terrorism, and terrorist funding,
freedom of speech is under siege, not only in the United States, but
throughout the West - and the ideology behind this dangerous threat is
radical Islam. And while steps have been taken to counteract some forms of
this legal warfare, or "lawfare," there is a distinct need for a
counteroffensive.


Perhaps, turning radical Islam's tactics against it is the
solution. If Europeans can be prosecuted by Islamists using the European
Union's legal system, should it then not follow that radical Imams in
Muslim countries can be cited by European citizens and extradition be
requested by them to European courts for their anti-Semitic and
anti-Christian rhetoric? Whatever the particular solution may be, some
attempt must be made, and soon.


Recognizing the severity of the threat, and the necessity of
responding to it, the Legal Project at the Middle East Forum, in
conjunction with the Federalist Society, the Center for National Security
Law and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression,
is hosting a conference titled "Libel Lawfare: Silencing Criticism of
Radical Islam," on Tuesday, in Washington. The conference, featuring
experts in the field as well as victims of lawfare, will fully address
this dangerously underreported trend. The conference panelists represent
diverse views, about the nature and scope of the problem, as well as the
solution. There will be no conference conclusion - that is not its
purpose. The conference will achieve its purpose simply by engaging in
precisely the type of speech that Islamists want to suppress so
desperately: open discussion on this critical issue of public concern,
without fear of threats or reprisal.



Brooke Goldstein is a lawyer, an award-winning
filmmaker and the director of the Legal Project at the Middle East
Forum. Aaron Eitan Meyer is assistant director at the Legal Project and
legal correspondent of the Terror Finance
Blog.

Related Topics: Democracy and Islam, Muslims in the West
Brooke M.
Goldstein
Aaron Eitan
Meyer

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1 comment:

  1. Insane P.I. Bill Warner loves to bitch and whine that he is unfairly portrayed as a Bush-hating anti-Semite ("if it weren't for this fu..ing [edited] neocon Jews who control this maggot [president Bush], we wouldn't be in this mess [Iraq]") and an Islamophobe ("I (Bill Warner) totally agree with Debbie Schlussel , she hit the nail right on the head again, it is all a fraud, a Muslim fraud, there are no Moderate Muslims").

    However, this dimwit has no problems calling Geert Wilders a Neo Nazi: "Dutch lawmaker loses bid to stop hate speech trial, Dutch Neo-Nazi Geert Wilders Must Stand Trial" Would someone please explain to Bill Warner, the Village Idiot, the meaning of double standards?

    ReplyDelete