Rachel Ehrenfeld
Encyclopedia
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld is an expert on terrorism
and corruption
-related topics. These include terror financing, economic warfare
, and narco-terrorism. She has lectured on these issues in many countries, and has advised banking communities, law enforcement agencies, and governments.
Dr. Ehrenfeld serves as director of the American Center for Democracy and its Economic Warfare Institute.
Institute of War and Peace Studies, a research scholar at New York University School of Law
, and a fellow at Johns Hopkins
SAIS. Her Ph.D.
, in criminology
, is from the Hebrew University School of Law.
Dr. Ehrenfeld's articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, The Guardian, The Washington Times, National Review, Huffington Post, the Eurobserver, The Jerusalem Post, the New York Sun, and the Los Angeles Times. She has appeared as a commentator on television and radio news programs, including The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News, CNN, American Broadcasting Company|ABC, NBC, and MSNBC. She is also a contributor to the Terror Finance Blog.
Dr. Ehrenfeld has testified before the U.S. Congress, the European Parliament, the French Parliament and the Canadian Parliament on terror financing. She has also provided evidence to the British Parliament alleging corruption of the Palestinian Authority, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on terrorism related issues.
In 2009 she wrote an article advocating biological warfare
on Afghanistan
to suppress opium farming
In 2010 she wrote an article endorsing profiling at airports
.
In her book, "Funding Evil
", Dr. Ehrenfeld alleged that Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz had financed al Qaeda through his bank and charitable organization. Mahfouz denied the allegations. Dr. Ehrenfeld, a U.S. citizen based in New York, had not written or marketed her book internationally and refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the British court over her case. Her refusal resulted in the British Court awarding a default judgment against her.
Represented by her attorney, Daniel Kornstein, Dr. Ehrenfeld pre-emptively countersued Mahfouz in New York to obtain a declaration that the judgment would not be enforced in the United States and that her book was not defamatory under United States defamation law
. When the New York courts ruled that they lacked personal jurisdiction over Mahfouz, the New York State legislature took immediate action and unanimously passed the Libel Terrorism Protection Act (also known as "Rachel's Law"). Rachel's Law was signed into law on April-29-2008. The law "offers New Yorkers greater protection against libel judgments in countries whose laws are inconsistent with the freedom of speech granted by the United States Constitution.".
As of July 2010, six other states have passed analogs to Rachel's Law: Illinois, Florida, California, Tennessee, Maryland, and Utah. A federal bill based on Rachel's Law was passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee and has since then been approved by both Houses of Congress. President Obama signed the bill into law on 10 August 2010. The bill, S. 3518, the formally titled Securing and Protecting our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act (Speech Act), includes several measures aimed at closing loopholes in First Amendment protections for free speech. The act bars enforcement of foreign libel judgments that do not meet with American constitutional standards of due process and First Amendment protections. The burden of proof is also placed on the party suing for enforcement. The party suing to prevent enforcement may also sue the libel plaintiff for a declaration that the foreign libel judgment is "repugnant" to American constitutional law, and is entitled to attorney's fees for resultant legal proceedings. The new federal law, and the existing seven state laws that predate it, do not, however, protect American persons who exercise First Amendment freedoms but who then travel abroad and then become subject to physical application of foreign libel laws and judgments. Many countries, for example, Thailand, maintain laws that cite jurisdiction over speech exercised outside their countries and which mandate punishment for libel inside the foreign plaintiff's country even though the speech may have occurred outside. Extraterritorial jurisdiction over First Amendment rights has not been the focus of attention in international legal jurisprudence or focus in the diplomatic community.
Dr. Ehrenfeld's efforts at libel law reform in the United States inspired the Libel Reform Campaign http://www.libelreform.org an NGO campaign with over 55,000 supporters. The British government has published a draft defamation bill but is yet to act.
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
and corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
-related topics. These include terror financing, economic warfare
Economic warfare
Economic warfare is the term for economic policies followed as a part of military operations during wartime.The purpose of economic warfare is to capture critical economic resources so that the military can operate at full efficiency and/or deprive the enemy forces of those resources so that they...
, and narco-terrorism. She has lectured on these issues in many countries, and has advised banking communities, law enforcement agencies, and governments.
Dr. Ehrenfeld serves as director of the American Center for Democracy and its Economic Warfare Institute.
Career
Dr. Ehrenfeld was a visiting scholar at the Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Institute of War and Peace Studies, a research scholar at New York University School of Law
New York University School of Law
The New York University School of Law is the law school of New York University. Established in 1835, the school offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in law, and is located in Greenwich Village, in the New York City borough of Manhattan....
, and a fellow at Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
SAIS. Her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, in criminology
Criminology
Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society...
, is from the Hebrew University School of Law.
Dr. Ehrenfeld's articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Newsweek, The Guardian, The Washington Times, National Review, Huffington Post, the Eurobserver, The Jerusalem Post, the New York Sun, and the Los Angeles Times. She has appeared as a commentator on television and radio news programs, including The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News, CNN, American Broadcasting Company|ABC, NBC, and MSNBC. She is also a contributor to the Terror Finance Blog.
Dr. Ehrenfeld has testified before the U.S. Congress, the European Parliament, the French Parliament and the Canadian Parliament on terror financing. She has also provided evidence to the British Parliament alleging corruption of the Palestinian Authority, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on terrorism related issues.
In 2009 she wrote an article advocating biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
on Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
to suppress opium farming
In 2010 she wrote an article endorsing profiling at airports
Rachel's Law and Free Speech Legislation
Dr. Ehrenfeld became involved in an international legal controversy when she was sued for libel in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
In her book, "Funding Evil
Funding Evil
Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It is a book written by counterterrorism researcher Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the and the Economic Warfare Institute...
", Dr. Ehrenfeld alleged that Saudi billionaire Khalid bin Mahfouz had financed al Qaeda through his bank and charitable organization. Mahfouz denied the allegations. Dr. Ehrenfeld, a U.S. citizen based in New York, had not written or marketed her book internationally and refused to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the British court over her case. Her refusal resulted in the British Court awarding a default judgment against her.
Represented by her attorney, Daniel Kornstein, Dr. Ehrenfeld pre-emptively countersued Mahfouz in New York to obtain a declaration that the judgment would not be enforced in the United States and that her book was not defamatory under United States defamation law
United States defamation law
The origins of United States defamation law pre-date the American Revolution; one famous 1734 case involving John Peter Zenger established some precedent that the truth should be an absolute defense against libel charges. Though the First Amendment of the U.S...
. When the New York courts ruled that they lacked personal jurisdiction over Mahfouz, the New York State legislature took immediate action and unanimously passed the Libel Terrorism Protection Act (also known as "Rachel's Law"). Rachel's Law was signed into law on April-29-2008. The law "offers New Yorkers greater protection against libel judgments in countries whose laws are inconsistent with the freedom of speech granted by the United States Constitution.".
As of July 2010, six other states have passed analogs to Rachel's Law: Illinois, Florida, California, Tennessee, Maryland, and Utah. A federal bill based on Rachel's Law was passed unanimously out of the Judiciary Committee and has since then been approved by both Houses of Congress. President Obama signed the bill into law on 10 August 2010. The bill, S. 3518, the formally titled Securing and Protecting our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act (Speech Act), includes several measures aimed at closing loopholes in First Amendment protections for free speech. The act bars enforcement of foreign libel judgments that do not meet with American constitutional standards of due process and First Amendment protections. The burden of proof is also placed on the party suing for enforcement. The party suing to prevent enforcement may also sue the libel plaintiff for a declaration that the foreign libel judgment is "repugnant" to American constitutional law, and is entitled to attorney's fees for resultant legal proceedings. The new federal law, and the existing seven state laws that predate it, do not, however, protect American persons who exercise First Amendment freedoms but who then travel abroad and then become subject to physical application of foreign libel laws and judgments. Many countries, for example, Thailand, maintain laws that cite jurisdiction over speech exercised outside their countries and which mandate punishment for libel inside the foreign plaintiff's country even though the speech may have occurred outside. Extraterritorial jurisdiction over First Amendment rights has not been the focus of attention in international legal jurisprudence or focus in the diplomatic community.
Dr. Ehrenfeld's efforts at libel law reform in the United States inspired the Libel Reform Campaign http://www.libelreform.org an NGO campaign with over 55,000 supporters. The British government has published a draft defamation bill but is yet to act.
Books
- Funding Evil; How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop ItFunding EvilFunding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It is a book written by counterterrorism researcher Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, director of the and the Economic Warfare Institute...
, Bonus Books, 2003, 2005) - Evil Money, Encounters Along the Money Trail (HarperCollins in 1992, SPI, 1994)
- Narco-Terrorism; How Governments around the World used the Drug Trade to Finance and Further Terrorist Activities (Basic Books, 1990 & 1992)
External links
- Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Profile at the International Analyst Network.
- Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld Intelligence Summit biography.
- The Terror Finance Blog Frequent posts by Dr. Ehrenfeld on terror finance issues.
- Frontpagemag Author archive.
- Funding Interview Interview with Jamie GlazovJamie GlazovJamie Glazov is the managing editor of Frontpage Magazine, the online publication founded by David Horowitz. He specializes in Soviet Studies, and U.S...
. - IRA+PLO=Terror
- NYS Governor Paterson's press release for the protective legislation