Freedom of Speech Under Attack

Interview with Ralph Fertig, President of the Humanitarian Law Project. In June, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project that U.S. citizens could not provide "material support" to groups that the U.S. State Department classified as "terrorist". By "material support", the Court ruled that providing legal assistance counts, thus, outlawing freedom of speech and association. The State Department's standard for determining what groups are "terrorists" is almost completely arbitrary at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, it is apparent that the U.S. classified groups that don't conform to "our" interests are "terrorists". In other words, "terrorist" is a buzzword which has little to no meaning. According to the Public Report of the Vice President's Task Force on Combating Terrorism (issued and officially published by the United States in February, 1986), terrorism is "the unlawful use or threat of violence against persons or property to further political or social objectives. It is generally intended to intimidate or coerce a government, individuals or groups to modify their behavior or policies." It goes on to describe terrorist methods as "hostage-taking, aircraft piracy or sabotage, assassination, threats, hoaxes, indiscriminate bombings or shootings". The conclusion is self-evidence: the United States is a terrorist state, even according to their own standards.

Humanitarian Law Project's website:
http://hlp.home.igc.org/

Tags: Anton Batey AntonBatey Ralph Fertig Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project First amendment Constitution Supreme Court Antonin Scalia Anthony Kennedy Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg Stephen Breyer John Roberts Samuel Alito Sonya Sotomayor Elena Kagen John Paul Stevens Noam Chomsky Any Rand Norman Finkelstein Anarchism Libertarian Libertarianism Hamas Hezbollah Tamil Tigers Israel

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