Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C. Win Important Victory for the First Amendment & Conservative Blogger

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2011

CAIR-linked lawyer dismisses $10 million defamation suit against AtlasShrugs.com blogger Pamela Geller

NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Omar Tarazi, the Ohio lawyer who represented the parents of Rifqa Bary and who had filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against AtlasShrugs.com blogger Pamela Geller, has dismissed his lawsuit with prejudice. The dismissal came on the heels of a court document filed by David Yerushalmi of the Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C., and Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center, asking the court to enter a judgment in favor of Pamela Geller. The voluntary dismissal with prejudice prevents Tarazi from refilling the lawsuit at some later date and was part of a settlement in which Ms. Geller paid no money and only agreed to remove five specific blog entries out of dozens criticizing Tarazi’s involvement and handling of the Rifqa Bary juvenile proceedings.

Ms. Geller, who blogs from New York City, also refused to agree to keep the terms of the settlement confidential. As she put it, “This lawsuit was filed as part of the Islamist lawfare against critics of sharia, jihad, and honor killings, and I refused to capitulate. At the end of the day, Tarazi blinked and folded.”

Ms. Geller was unflinching in her assessment of the outcome of this suit: “This is a huge victory for the First Amendment, truth, and the anti-sharia movement in this country which is exposing an insidious cancer that brings progressives and Islamists together in common cause to attack anyone who criticizes Islamists with the threat of lawsuits, actual lawsuits, or worse, violence.”

Mr. Tarazi came under intense criticism by Ms. Geller during the Rifqa Bary litigation, which arose after the 17-year-old Rifqa converted from Islam to Christianity and ran away from her Ohio home in the summer of 2009 to take refuge with Christian friends in Florida, alleging that her father threatened to murder her in an honor killing. The case garnered enormous media coverage both nationally and internationally and involved vituperative juvenile proceedings in both Florida and Ohio.

Ms. Geller blogged about the case extensively given her work at the American Freedom Defense Initiative, an organization Ms. Geller founded and directs, the mission of which in part is to protect young Muslim women from the violence of honor killings.

In the course of her blogging about the case, which also included a rally she organized in Ohio to advocate for Rifqa’s right not to return to her parent’s home, Ms. Geller reported on various stories published at My Pet Jawa and televised on Fox News critical of Mr. Tarazi’s legal representations in court. The central allegation against Tarazi was that he had allegedly perjured himself in court filings in the Ohio juvenile proceedings.

Mr. Tarazi filed his lawsuit in September 2010 against Ms. Geller and Rifqa’s Florida lawyer, John Stemberger, seeking $10 million in damages. The lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio based upon diversity of citizenship. Ultimately, Mr. Tarazi and Mr. Stemberger entered into a confidential settlement and Mr. Tarazi dismissed his complaint against Mr. Stemberger.

Soon after the lawsuit was filed, Ms. Geller’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss in November 2010, asserting that Ms. Geller’s comments were protected speech under Ohio Free Speech law and under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court never got around to ruling on that motion.

In the meantime, the parties conducted discovery and in August 2011, Mr. Tarazi filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing that he believed he had made out his case for liability, and asked the court to grant judgment on liability and to set a trial just on the amount of damages.

On September 19, 2011, David Yerushalmi and Robert Muise filed an opposition to Tarazi’s motion and argued that not only had Tarazi failed to make out a case of defamation, but also that all of Ms. Geller’s published statements were true and not defamatory. The 400+ page opposition detailed to the court just how Tarazi had been less than candid with the juvenile court, resulting in “truth” as a defense. In the opposition papers, Ms. Geller also raised Free Speech defenses and asked the court to award her judgment and to dismiss the lawsuit against her in its entirety.

The very next day, Tarazi called Mr. Yerushalmi and asked to settle. Although Tarazi sought to keep the terms of the settlement confidential, Ms. Geller refused.

Mr. Yerushalmi explained the calculus during the settlement negotiations which culminated in a voluntary dismissal the very same day: “I explained to Mr. Tarazi: you can walk away now with no money and no secrecy agreement, or you can wait until the court dismisses your suit and renders a formal judgment that you were not truthful to the Franklin County Juvenile Court. Take your pick.” The settlement agreement and voluntary dismissal with prejudice were negotiated, drafted, and filed with the court before the close of business.

Although Ms. Geller agreed to take down and not re-post five specific blog entries that directly mentioned and criticized Tarazi, dozens of critical blogs remain and there are no restrictions on Ms. Geller’s future blogging on the Rifqa Bary affair and Tarazi’s role.

One of the claims of defamation lodged by Tarazi was that Ms. Geller had linked him to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim Brotherhood-Hamas front group, which the U.S. Department of Justice had previously named as an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation terror financing trial in Texas. The trial culminated in guilty verdicts for all defendants.

During discovery, Ms. Geller’s lawyers uncovered that Tarazi in fact has personal and professional links to CAIR and argued to the court that Ms. Geller’s statements linking Tarazi to CAIR could not be defamatory because they were true. (A copy of the memorandum is available at www.davidyerushalmilaw.com under Recent Events).

Tarazi, an Ohio licensed lawyer, represented himself during the proceedings. Ms. Geller was represented by David Yerushalmi of the Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C. (New York and Washington, D.C.) and by Robert J. Muise, senior trial counsel to the Thomas More Law Center (Ann Arbor, Michigan). Patrick Dunphy of Falke & Dunphy, LLC, in Dayton served as local counsel.

About David Yerushalmi, Esq.
David Yerushalmi has been practicing law for more than 27 years. He is a litigator specializing in securities law, public policy relating to national security, and public interest law. Mr. Yerushalmi is licensed and practices in Washington, D.C., New York, California, and Arizona and serves as General Counsel to the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C., one of the nation’s leading national security think tanks founded by former Reagan administration official Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. www.davidyerushalmilaw.com

SOURCE Law Offices of David Yerushalmi, P.C.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/428220#ixzz1YcfypoLr

EXCELLENT! New York Civil Liberties Union concerned over rise in anti-Muslim sentiment and anti-mosque activities in NY State

Posted: August 25, 2011 | Author: barenakedislam

The briefing paper, Religious Freedom Under Attack: the Rise of Anti-Mosque Activities in New York State, explores the legal and cultural background against which mosque controversies have unfolded across the state over the past year.

NYCLU  It calls on public officials to promote intercultural understanding of Muslim New Yorkers while respecting the First Amendment rights of those who oppose mosque projects.

“When we violate one group’s freedom, everybody’s liberty is at stake,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “While opponents of mosque projects have a constitutional right to express their views, our public officials must work to ensure that New York remains a welcoming place for all who want to live and worship here, and that the rights and freedoms of those who wish to build mosques are also protected.”

The paper provides nine examples of incidents across the state in which Muslim communities were targeted for their beliefs and practices by their neighbors and/or local governments.

It chronicles the fierce opposition to the proposed Park51 Muslim community center in Lower Manhattan, and details heated opposition to mosques and proposed mosque projects in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn; Midland beach, Staten Island; and three communities in Long Island. It also covers three incidents in upstate New York in which mosques were subjected to harassment and attacks.

The paper examines the role that federal national security policies, law enforcement agencies and politicians have played in inflaming anti-Muslim sentiment and anti-mosque activities.

“Government policies that cast blanket suspicion on all Muslim residents are misguided and divisive,” said NYCLU Advocacy Director Udi Ofer, an author of the paper. “Religious profiling was unconstitutional before 9/11, and it’s unconstitutional after 9/11. Our elected officials must stand up for religious freedom and ensure that New Yorkers treat each other with respect and understanding.”

The NYCLU offers the following recommendations to federal, state and local public officials to protect religious liberty while also respecting the First Amendment rights of those who oppose mosque projects.

* Elected officials should play an active role in protecting the rights of Muslim New Yorkers and fostering cross-cultural understandings.

* New York should prepare for another backlash against Muslims leading up to the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and during next year’s presidential and congressional elections.

* The NYPD should reject trainings based on its flawed radicalization theory, include information about New York’s diverse cultures and religious communities in its training materials and be transparent about how it trains its police officers about Islam and Muslim New Yorkers.

* New York’s schools must take the lead in creating cultural understanding and combating bigotry.

* Government officials must vigorously enforce laws that defend religious worship.

Bloomberg’s 9/11 Exclusion Spurs Outrage

by admin on August 24, 2011 · 7 comments

Religious leaders are calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to reverse course and offer clergy a role in the ceremony commemorating the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Rudy Washington, a deputy mayor in former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s administration, said he’s outraged. Mr. Washington organized an interfaith ceremony at Yankee Stadium shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

“This is America, and to have a memorial service where there’s no prayer, this appears to be insanity to me,” said Mr. Washington, who has suffered severe medical problems connected to the time he spent at Ground Zero. “I feel like America has lost its way.”

City Hall officials, who are coordinating the ceremony, confirmed that spiritual leaders will not participate this year—just as has been the case during past events marking the anniversary. The mayor has said he wants the upcoming event to strike a similar tone as previous ceremonies.

“There are hundreds of important people that have offered to participate over the last nine years, but the focus remains on the families of the thousands who died on Sept. 11,” said Evelyn Erskine, a mayoral spokeswoman.

But the mayor’s plans this year have drawn increased scrutiny and some disapproval, as the event will attract an international audience and President Barack Obama will attend.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has publicly criticized the mayor about the list of speakers, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has quietly sought to play a larger role.

But the exclusion of religious leaders has struck some as particularly glaring.

City Council Member Fernando Cabrera, a pastor at New Life Outreach International, a Bronx church, said he is “utterly disappointed” and “shocked” by the event’s absence of clergy. When the terrorist attacks occurred, people in the city and nationwide turned to spiritual leaders for guidance, he said.

This article was written by MICHAEL HOWARD SAUL; full article at WALL STREET JOURNAL …

Tagged as: 9/11, mayor bloomberg, michael bloomberg, new york

Posted in:  Conservative Action Alerts

Atheists sue to prevent the famous 9/11 steel beam cross from being enshrined in the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Posted: August 2, 2011 | Author: barenakedislam | Filed under: Say WHAT? | 6 Comments »

The chairman of the Congressional Prayer Caucus has slammed a lawsuit filed by a group of atheists that wants a cross enshrined at the 9/11 memorial and museum in New York City to be removed, calling the group’s efforts “sad and misguided.”

Christian Post – Congressman J. Randy Forbes, representing Virginia’s Fourth District and also co-chair of the prayer caucus, issued a statement Wednesday in support of the steel beam cross installed at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in downtown Manhattan, at the site of the World Trade Center attacks.

The organization, American Atheists, filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to have the cross removed, or at least be accompanied by symbols of value to other faith communities and non-religious groups. (Oh yes, just what we need there, an Islamic crescent)

“The attempt to remove the cross is another sad and misguided example of incessant efforts to remove all religious symbols from public life,” Forbes said. “To remove this cross, a physical part of the history of that tragic day, would be an insult to the many who found solace in its symbolism.”

Forbes noted that the cross, made up of two intersecting steel beams found intact amid the rubble of the 2001 terrorist attacks, “has served as a symbol of hope for many devastated by the worst terrorist attack in our nation’s history.”

On Tuesday, conservative legal group the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said it planned on filing a friend-to-the-court brief on behalf of former firefighter and first responder Tim Brown in support of the World Trade Center cross.

We will aggressively defend the placement of this cross,” Jay Sekulow, chief counsel of the ACLJ, said in a statement Tuesday. “This memorial, a powerful part of the history of 9-11, serves as a constitutionally-sound reminder of the horrors that occurred nearly a decade ago.”

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) also insist that the cross’s placement in the museum is legally sound, and claim that the American Atheists’ lawsuit “is completely out of step with the Constitution.” “Nothing in the Constitution authorizes atheists to scour the landscape on a mission to seek and destroy memorial crosses.”

Posted in:  Bare Naked Islam

September 11th Freedom Rally at Ground Zero

NY Judge Gives Ground Zero Mosquestrosity the Nod: Last Legal Challenge Removed

AFDI/SIOA 9/11 Freedom Rally: Stand Against Ground Zero Mosque, and Durban III, Stand for America

NEW YORK: The human rights organization American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) will be hosting its second annual 9/11 Freedom Rally on September 11 at 3pm at Park Place and West Broadway.

Free citizens are coming from all over the U.S. to attend the rally. “It is crucial to stand for freedom on this tenth anniversary of the heinous 9/11 jihad attacks,” said AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller. “We must show the jihadists we are unbowed in the defense of freedom. As a judge yesterday dismissed a suit by a New York firefighter challenging the construction of the mosque, the last legal hurdle blocking it has been removed. But we are not giving up. It is time for free citizens to make a stand.”

AFDI and its Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) program are encouraging all Americans to stand against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero and the anti-Semitic Durban III conference that will be held in New York City at the same time, and for American values on the tenth anniversary of the worst attack ever on American soil.

The confirmed list of speakers includes 9/11 family members Alexander and Maureen Santora, who lost their firefighter son Christopher; Sally Regenhard, whose son Christian was killed on 9/11; Nelly Braginsky, who lost her son Alexander; and others.

Other speakers include former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton (video message); the courageous ex-Muslim human rights activist Wafa Sultan; war hero and North Carolina Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; former prosecutor and bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy; popular radio host Joyce Kaufman; Darla Dawald, National Director of the Patriot Action Network; James Lafferty of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Taskforce (VAST); Coptic Christian activist Joseph Nassralla; Iraqi ex-Muslim Paul Gaynos; and others.

Hosting the rally are Pamela Geller, publisher of the acclaimed AtlasShrugs.com blog, executive director of AFDI and SIOA, and author of Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance (WND Books); and AFDI/SIOA associate director Robert Spencer, the bestselling author and director of Jihad Watch.

Building the Ground Zero mosque is not an issue of religious freedom, but of resisting an effort to insult the victims of 9/11 and to establish a beachhead for political Islam and Islamic supremacism in New York. Cordoba Initiative board member imam Feisal Abdul Rauf is an open proponent of Sharia, Islamic law, a system that denies the freedom of speech, the freedom of conscience, and the equality of rights of all people before the law. Given the thousands of triumphal mosques that have been built on the cherished sites of conquered peoples throughout Islamic history, the mosque leaders’ claim that this mosque would be understood differently by Muslims worldwide lack foundation.

The Durban III conference follows upon two previous conferences that scapegoated and demonized the state of Israel in service of Islamic jihad and Islamic supremacist interests. The rally will defend Israel against the defamation to which it will be subjected at this conference. It will also call upon the city to remove roadblocks to the reconstruction of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, which was destroyed on 9/11 and since then mired in bureaucratic red tape that has prevented its rebuilding – in stark contrast to the help Mayor Bloomberg and other city officials have given to the Ground Zero Mosque project.

AFDI/SIOA is one of America’s foremost organizations defending human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech against Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the United States.

St Nicholas Church Rally at Ground Zero – Rebuild the 95-Year-Old Church, Stop the Ground Zero Mosquestrosity!

Apparently, Islamic Supremacism trumps Christianity at Ground Zero. 

While Mayor Bloomberg wets himself in anxious haste to build the cultural obscenity, the Ground Zero mosque, the iconic St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, built in 1916 and destroyed by the destruction of the World Trade towers by Muslim terrorists, remains vanquished, unable to rebuild. Bloomberg is lobbying for 911 taxpayer funds for the Islamic supremacist grifters behind the Ground Zero mosque, but the St. Nicholas church is in purgatory, ten years after the worst day in modern American history.

Perhaps St. Nicholas should claim they are a mosque. Mayor Gloomberg and NYC Council speaker Quinn would probably pour the cement for its foundation (Bloomberg worked behind the scenes to get Ground Zero Mosque approved).

St. Nicholas Church is suing the Port Authority, claiming that agency is blocking church’s reconstruction (NY Daily News)

A notice of claim was filed on behalf of St. Nicholas Church and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, declaring their intention to sue.”This claim arises out of the arrogance, bad faith and fraudulent conduct of the Port Authority in preventing St. Nicholas from re-building its church at Ground Zero,” the church says in its legal filings.

Why not tie up the Ground Zero mega mosque in this red tape morass?

Book September 11th — we will be holding our second annual freedom rally for our war dead and to protest the 15-story mega mosque going up on Ground Zero. Be there. Join us on the tenth anniversary of that bloody, brutal day when jihad came to America.

The stealth jihadists behind the Ground Zero mosquestrosity launched a public fund-raising drive yesterday in a bid to open its doors to the public with an art exhibit that would debut just 10 days after the Sept. 11 anniversary:

The group plans to open the three-month exhibit on Sept. 21, which the United Nations has declared the International Day of Peace. The exhibit would feature portraits of the city’s immigrant kids representing at least 171 different countries.

“NYChildren Exhibit: Let’s open Park51’s doors to the World!” the fund-raising solicitation says. By early last night, Park51 had raised $867 from 14 donors, according to Kickstarter.

“While our critics know us as the Ground Zero Mosque, we are the Park51 Community Center,” Park51 says in the appeal. “This exhibition is about finding the courage to meet and get to know neighbors to build trust and friendship.”

96-Year-Old St. Nicholas Church at Ground Zero Sues for Right to Rebuild While Bloomberg lobbies for 911 Taxpayer Dollars for Ground Zero Mosque Supremacists 

St Nicholas Church Rally at Ground Zero (6-26-11) by Pamela Hall

TEN YEARS AFTER 9-11 they are still asking, “How long must St. Nicholas WAIT to Rebuild?”

The video is 45 minutes (yes) but well worth your time. Listen to the intelligent statements and pleas regarding the STONEWALLING of the City Of New York towards St. Nicholas Church, as they have been denied over and over for TEN YEARS to  rebuild their Church Home (while the city supports the creation of a mosque in a Coat Factory)

The are some very important and useful statements made by the politicians concerning how the church has been disabused vs the proposed mosque. Watch it.

It’s explosive – the  revelation that Bloomberg is kicking the Greek Orthodox Community to the curb.

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The leading membership-based association for the nation’s three million American citizens of Greek heritage, the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (AHEPA),]

was host to this rally at Ground Zero …..calling for St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church to be rebuilt at 130 Liberty Street.

The rally was on Sunday, June 26, 2011, 2 p.m., at Liberty Street and Trinity Place in Lower Manhattan… across from Ground Zero.  Where generations of a church…that has been there since 1913…came together…. BEGGING to rebuild their Church!

Federal, state, and local legislators were invited to attend, many were there, speaking to the OUTRAGE and stonewalling of the Port Authority and NYC and State politicians who have kept St. Nicholas from being rebuilt.

Ten Years later they must still beg to REBUILD  a church that has been at that location since 1913….

Yet, it seems Mayor Bloomberg can’t do enough to help build at Mosque in a Coat Factory at Ground Zero

While TEN YEARS LATER , negotiations to rebuild St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the only house of worship destroyed in the attacks of September 11….negotiations between the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and church representatives and the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey came to a halt in August 2010.  The people of St. Nicholas ask : WHY?

In support of the effort to rebuild St. Nicholas at 130 Liberty Street, a site chosen by the Port Authority, AHEPA submitted more than 20,000 signatures .

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Posted by Pamela Geller on Monday, June 27, 2011 at 08:20 PM in Ground Zero Mega Mosque: Takbir! | Permalink | Comments (7) ShareThis

God Smiled on NY: Largest Israel Day Parade Ever, As Naksa Day Protests Erupt along Israel’s Borders

In a glorious show of love and affection for the tiny Jewish state, tens of thousands descended upon Fifth Avenue to salute Israel today. An estimated thirty thousand people took part in the annual Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City, the largest number of participants ever in the parade, which has been held every year since 1964.

While in Israel, Syrian “Palestinian” (every Jew hater is a “Palestinian,” don’cha know?) Muslims stormed the border, attempting to provoke Israel on the anniversary of its victory over their armies in 1967.

The IDF released an 18-second video in which Israeli commanders are heard ordering their soldiers to cease firing in order to allow the Red Cross to evacuate casualties on the Syrian side. US on Naksa clashes: Israel has right to defend itself

As always, the weather was just gorgeous. The weather for the Nakba bund rallies is always torrential rains 🙂 True that

Getting ready to march —

Tuning up

Atlas dancing 🙂 — Israel flag tied to belt loop

How gorgeous is this?

Sidewalks jammed with supporters

Go, Israel, go!

 

 

Mayor Bloomberg and Minister Edelstein (Above Photo: Dan Brohawn). New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo also marched in support of Israel, and was joined by numerous politicians, including elected officials from the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Congress members from Washington were also in attendance. 

The weiner was a no-show: Congressman Weiner a no-show at Israeli Day Parade

 

He is such an opportunistic coward. Uses the Jewish card when it serves him.

‎

No pro-Jewish rally is complete without the usual cast of aspiring nazis. They were a very small group.

 

And our AFDI ad on the back of  the NY Special Israel Day Section — how great is that?

UPDATE: Breaking: Palestinian, radical leftist protest in Israel turns violent

UPDATE: TMD had these wonderful snaps:

Posted in:  Atlas Shrugs