Stopping Islamist Intimidation of Authors

Threat and Response—Part Six

We’re fighting the Islamist intimidation of
authors—and winning!

One of the weapons in the arsenal of stealth jihadists is called “libel tourism.”

They file lawsuits against American authors in countries like Great Britain, where authors don’t have the same protection against defamation lawsuits they enjoy in the U.S.

They know they can’t win their lawsuits in the U.S., but their goal is simple—intimidate authors who are writing about terrorism.

Rachel Ehrenfeld

This tactic was used against Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of the book Funding Evil. A wealthy Saudi won a judgment against Ehrenfeld in a British court.

Ms. Ehrenfeld fought back, getting a bill introduced in the New York state legislature in 2008 that became known as “Rachel’s Law.”

The legislation was designed to protect New York authors from the kind of intimidation lawsuit that targeted Ms. Ehrenfeld.

ACT! for America delivered thousands of names on a petition, and hundreds of phone calls and emails to legislators in support of the bill, and the bill passed. In 2010, we got a similar bill passed in Tennessee.

Why is this important?

If authors and their publishers fear lawsuits in foreign countries that don’t protect freedom of speech and the press like we do in America, they’ll be less likely to write the truth about terrorism. And that’s a victory for stealth jihad because it’s a victory for suppression of free speech. It’s another way that Islamists impose sharia law on Americans.

ACT! for America is now working in several states to pass what has become known as The Free Speech Defense Act—and a little over two weeks ago, South Dakota became the latest state to pass The Free Speech Defense Act.

With every state that passes this legislation we protect that many more authors from “libel tourism.” We win, free speech wins—and radical Islam and stealth jihad loses.

If you’ve been following our “Threat and Response” emails, you see the many ways in which radical Islam is trying to impose its will on the West and on America.

“Libel tourism” is just one of the tactics employed by our enemies.

With your help, we can shut down this tactic and ensure that authors can write the truth about radical Islam without fear from those who would use the courts of other countries against us.

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ACT for America
P.O. Box 12765
Pensacola, FL 32591
www.actforamerica.org