Middle East Forum Launches New Legal Project Website

May 5, 2009

http://www.meforum.org/2131/middle-east-forum-launches-new-legal-project-website

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PHILADELPHIA – The Middle East Forum is pleased to announce
the launch of the website for its Legal Project, located at http://www.legal-project.org/. The site
is a source of information on "Islamist lawfare" – that is, attempts by
supporters of radical Islam to suppress free discourse on Islam and
terrorism by (1) exploiting Western legal systems and traditions and (2)
recruiting state actors and international organizations such as the United
Nations.

The Legal Project involves a variety of activities,
including preparing articles, memoranda,
and briefs; compiling documents that relate
to Islamist lawfare; articles written by and about the Legal
Project; a constantly updated list of lawfare cases; and a blog section that provides
analysis of lawfare-related issues and transnational attempts to suppress
criticism of Islam.

The Legal Project website also functions as a resource
center tracking and
documenting attempts to silence criticism of radical Islam by actors such
as the Organization of the Islamic Conference and its member states, in
the form of United Nations resolutions
outlawing "defamation of religion" and by calling for the extradition
of individuals like Geert Wilders to stand
trial in Jordan for comments made in Europe.

Daniel Pipes founded the Legal Project at the Middle East
Forum in June 2007 in response to the rise of Islamist lawfare,
specifically a lawsuit brought by the Islamic Society of Boston against 17
defendants, including counterterrorism specialist Steven Emerson. Since
that time, the Legal Project has been active in identifying, analyzing and
counteracting Islamist lawfare in the United States, Canada, and
Europe.

According to Kathy Shaidle of Right
Side News, "Along with brave politicians like Rep. Peter King, The
Legal Project is leading the counterattack against Muslim lawfare."
Writing in l'Occidentale,
Italian author and professor Valentina Colombo notes, "Il Legal Project
americano meriterebbe di essere imitato in ogni dove" ["The American Legal
Project is worthy of being imitated everywhere"].

Brooke Goldstein, a practicing attorney, is director of the
MEF's Legal Project. She received her B.A. from McGill and her J.D. from
the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. Goldstein is the founder and
director of the Children's Rights Institute, an adjunct fellow at the
Hudson Institute, and the 2007 Recipient of the E. Nathaniel Gates Award
for Outstanding Public Advocacy. Her recent film, "The Making of a
Martyr," won the 2006 Audience Choice Award from the United Nations Film
Festival. She has written for the American Spectator, the New
York Daily News, Family Security Matters and has appeared on
FOX News and CNN. Contact: Goldstein@MEForum.org

Aaron Eitan Meyer is assistant director of the Legal
Project. He received his B.A. from New School University, and his J.D.
from Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. He is also Legal
Correspondent for the Terror Finance Blog. Contact: Meyer@MEForum.org

For more information about the Legal Project, including how
to participate, please feel free to visit http://www.legal-project.org/participation.php.
In addition, you may wish to subscribe to all Middle East Forum
(non-overlapping) mailing lists at http://www.legal-project.org/list_subscribe.php.

For immediate release

For more information, contact Brooke Goldstein at  Goldstein@MEForum.org

To subscribe to the MEF mailing lists, go to http://www.meforum.org/list_subscribe.php

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