“Peace And Nonviolence Must Be Taught.”

Roz Rothstein, International Director and CEO of StandWithUs, writes:

These are only a few pictures that I took in January 2008 when I went undercover in the West Bank Palestinian community of Dheisheh, which is governed by Mahmood Abbas and the Palestinian Authority (PA). I interviewed Palestinians there, and what I saw and heard firsthand was extremely disturbing and disappointing. While the civilized world presses Israel for concessions.

I wanted to share my recent experience with you because if you care about a lasting peace, you need to know what is being beaten into the hearts and minds of the Palestinian people. In addition to what I photographed, the Palestinian leadership continues to use television shows, sports events and textbooks to educate against peaceful coexistence.

We cannot dream of peace while ignoring the facts on the Palestinian street. The consequences will be disastrous.

You can learn more here and here (pdf viewer for the latter link required).

StandWithUs also reports: New York Legislature Passes Libel Terrorism Protection Act To Protect American Journalists and Authors From Overseas Defamation Lawsuits

Albany, NY (March 31, 2008) – The New York State Legislature today unanimously passed the “Libel Terrorism Protection Act” (S.6687/A.9652), sponsored by Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre).

When signed into law by Governor David Paterson, this legislation will protect American journalists and authors from foreign lawsuits that infringe on their First Amendment rights.

In Ehrenfeld v. Mahout, New York State’s highest court held that it would not protect Dr. Ehrenfeld from a British lawsuit filed by Saudi billionaire Khalid Salim Bin Mahfouz, where she was ordered to pay over $225,000 in damages and legal fees to Bin Mahfouz, as well as apologize and destroy existing copies of her books.

Dr. Ehrenfeld sought a court order in November of 2006 to protect her constitutional rights, but in a ruling with national First Amendment implications which sent legal shockwaves throughout newsrooms across America, as well as potentially undermining our ability to expose terrorism’s financial and logistical support networks, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that it does not have jurisdiction to protect Americans – on U.S. soil – from foreign defamation judgments, which contradict the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

The Libel Terrorism Protection Act declares overseas defamation judgments unenforceable in New York unless the foreign defamation law provides, in substance and application, the same free speech protections guaranteed under our own constitution, and it gives New York residents and publishers the opportunity to have their day in court here in New York.