The Libel Terrorism Protection Act Passes in New York State

Today is a great day that will go down in history as the day the United States, or at least the State of New York, took a giant step in enabling the truth to be said about the terror masters without fear of reprisals. Today the New York legislature unanimously passed the Libel Terrorism Protection Act and sent it to the Governor for his signature. Those wishing to read the bill, it can be found in PDF format here. Obviously, his signature is merely a formality at this point. If there is any justice in the world, which after today’s votes there is considerably more of it in our country, this law should be known as Rachel’s Law, after Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld whose stubborn will made this possible. Dr, Ehrenfeld, an Israeli American, was sued in the British Courts by Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz for having the audacity to finger his part in financing terrorism, financing al-Queda. To read about this in her own words, please see her letter that she allowed us at Beyond the Cusp to post along with some other blog sites.

This event has brought me great joy as it shows that the United States still stands for justice and protection of free speech. I am happy that the first hurdle has been cleared towards protecting our ability to speak the truth against all phases of the terror system free from fear of financial ruin and the silencing of our voices through lawsuits brought in foreign countries. This practice has become so common in the British Courts that it has even been given a name by the travel industry. They call it Libel Tourism. The first step taken, we cannot rest as we have forty-nine states to go plus, hopefully, a federal law protecting our First Amendment rights from this foreign subterfuge.

Below I have posted four You Tube videos. The first two give some general information about Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld’s situation and her stubborn and courageous struggle to fight back against being gagged by foreign courts and Saudi money. The third video is from the press conference given to introduce the Libel Terrorism Protection Act in the New York legislature and the final video is Assemblyman Rory Lancman speaking to explain his vote in favor of this bill he sponsored along with Senator Dean Skelos. There is one more person who deserves kudos in bringing this law to fruition. He is her lawyer, Harvey Silverglate who labored tirelessly at her side to see this law passed. This brave and determined lady took on this fight that even the renowned Cambridge University Press, the oldest English language publisher, had folded an capitulated to being silenced by this libel threat.














Please remember that this is only the first step in protecting every American’s right to free expression. Rachel’s Law only currently applies in New York State and needs to be passed by every single state, even if the Federal Government should also pass such a law. We need to act now while the irons are hot. Please take a moment to write, e-mail or call your state representatives and senators and demand they begin similar action in your state. If you have a few moments more, then contact your US representative and both Senators. This law is just as important to the blogosphere as it is for authors and journalists. We need this protection applied in every state so that there is no need to take things to the Federal Court system. We also need it at the Federal level just as a further protection. Together, we can re-establish freedom of expression by keeping it safe from attacks from foreign courts that do not hold the same views of the preciousness of free expression as we in the United States. Please help get this done and thank you all in advanced. Well, got to go and write Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and express the joy I share with her this say. After that, I need to write a few politicians. Thank you all again.

Beyond the Cusp