The Legal Project
"[Those] who won our independence believed ... the path of safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely supposed grievances and proposed remedies." — Justice Brandeis
 
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Appreciation & Endorsements of the Legal Project

Geert Wilders

Dutch Member of Parliament

Last June, I was acquitted of all charges by an Amsterdam court. Though I am the leader of the third largest political party in the Netherlands, I had been dragged to court by leftist and Islamic organizations on charges of group insult and incitement to discrimination and racial hatred.

I was not prosecuted for anything I did, but for what I had said. My view on Islam is that it is not so much a religion as a totalitarian political ideology with religious elements. While there are many moderate Muslims, Islam's political ideology is radical and has global ambitions. I expressed these views in newspaper interviews, op-ed articles and in my 2008 documentary, "Fitna."

The legal procedures lasted over two years. They were time consuming and cost a lot of money. My acquittal was a victory not only for me, but for all the Dutch people and for freedom of speech.

This important victory could not have been achieved without the support and help of many friends in the Netherlands and abroad. The Middle East Forum's Legal Project in particular was always there to help, advice and assist. Whenever needed, I could always count on its support. The importance of the MEF's Legal Project in reclaiming free expression and political discourse in the Netherlands against the encroachment of "hate speech" and incitement laws, cannot be overestimated.

Thank you, MEF's Legal Project, on behalf of myself and all freedom-loving people in the Netherlands.

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Arnie Lemaire

Blogger

AKA Blazingcatfur
http://blazingcatfur.blogspot.com/

Middle East Forum's Legal Project has been a stalwart ally in my current legal battle which is nearing its 4th year. While I owe them a personal and heartfelt debt of thanks let me assure you that so do we all. They have offered unconditional & invaluable assistance to me and many others who face lawfare assaults. Their defense of Free Speech is deserving of our support, gratitude and admiration.

Please join them on the front lines. Their commitment to freedom enables us all to stand and fight.

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Bruce Bawer

Author & Blogger

http://www.brucebawer.com/

Thanks to help from the Legal Project, an activity of Daniel Pipes's Middle East Forum, I had been able to retain a lawyer, who, at my request, sent a splendid letter to the defense in which he spelled out the legal absurdity of my reclassification as a "regular witness." Thanks, apparently, to that letter, my name was dropped from the witness list. (Peder Nøstvold Jensen, otherwise known as Fjordman, also managed to extricate himself from this circus – also, I gather, with help from the Legal Project – but I will leave it to him to tell his own story.)

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Peder Jensen

Author & Blogger

AKA Fjordman

I got mixed up in the Breivik case against my will in the summer of 2011, when Anders Behring Breivik committed mass murder in the Oslo region and decided to include extensive quotes from some of my online essays in his internet compendium. Dr. Daniel Pipes soon afterwards kindly offered me the assistance of the Legal Project, established by the Middle East Forum to protect people who work on the topics of terrorism, terrorist funding, and radical Islam from lawsuits designed to silence their exercise of free speech. I was then put in touch with Ann Snyder and Sam Nunberg from the LP, and was offered help with paying for a lawyer. Bruce Bawer, who also lived near Oslo at the time, received support as well. The generous aid from the Legal Project was a great help to me at the time, since I no longer had a job, but was stuck with growing legal bills. Through their patient efforts, the Legal Project renders a great service to the struggle for retaining freedom of speech in the Western world and beyond.

Best, Peder Jensen

Geert Wilders Lauds Legal Project

"Last June, I was acquitted of all charges by an Amsterdam court. The Middle East Forum's Legal Project ... was always there to help, advise and assist ... The importance of the MEF's Legal Project in reclaiming free expression and political discourse ... cannot be overestimated."

Geert Wilders, September 29, 2011

Read the full text of Wilders' statement

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