This is a cross-post by Rumbold
****
David T of Harry’s Place is being sued by George Galloway and one of Mr. Galloway’s collegues, Kevin Ovenden. They are demanding £50,000 for a comment left on another blog. The comment he made wasn’t nice or correct, but as Richard Bartholomew put it:
The legal threat seems to me to be badly conceived. I’m sure that Galloway and Overden are against the anti-Jewish hadith in Hamas Covenant, but while it’s there anyone who meets a Hamas governmental official risks being tarnished by association. Blame Hamas for that. And of course it’s annoying when a political opponent extrapolates a supposedly logical chain from one’s activities or position to the conclusion that in some deeper “objective” sense one is in fact supporting something else, but that’s life and to be allowed to do it is essential to public debate.
A lot of people have a lot of criticisms to make of David T and Harry’s Place. Fine. However, it is irrelevant in this context. The comment was clearly a joke, and should in no way be the cause of a libel action. Bloggers are only able to operate because of a modicum of freedom of speech, and for every frivolous libel action we fail to stand against, our future as bloggers becomes that bit grimmer.
19 Comments
Thanks Rumbold. We cross-posted Kevin Ovendon’s action here. There is more detail about Galloway’s action here:
This is an especially pernicious piece of lawfare from Galloway. If he has any sense he will “do nothing” or otherwise this one will blow up in his “inflammatory and racist” face.
David T on why Ovendon and Galloway would be well advised to curb their enthusiasm:
We’re all David T now!
Plus, someone is feeling the strain:
http://efrafandays.wordpress.com/2010/03/19/has-osama-saeed-gone-mad/
i for one am quite fed up with this “lawfare” stuff, whether it is from galloway or anyone else – and i think the sooner that it is established that bullying people in this manner is not to be borne, the better. talk about vexatious litigation. david t seems to be of the opinion that galloway doesn’t have a leg to stand on and it would be nice to think that this is his david irving moment. i hope the relevant financial backing is in place; what with jews controlling the financial world and all that, perhaps we can work on a defence fund?
b’shalom
bananabrain
Yes…Yes let us all rush forward to defend Mr T, the honourable, the noble, the kind, the one who stand firm for truth, justuce and equality, come on Ye Muslim community come forward to protect and preserve our great saviour, our beloved Mr T…he he he he. You munfaiqos really make my Friday…
“munfaiqos”?
” justuce”?
I see the best you can do is take a dig ay my mus-spullings…hehehe…but can’t stomach the fact that as usual you witch hunting neo-con bum munching baffoons have exposed your rancid Islamophobia by expressing your solidarity with this renowned Islamophobe…Oh ye muslims rise up to salute and pay homage to Sir Davelot the Saviour and Protector of the British Muslim community… hehehe
Actually, the Muslim community should come forward and defend David, Yaseen.
David has consistently and publicly defended Muslims against essentialising anti-Muslim hate rhetoric from where ever its source.
David is a loyal and incredibly generous friend to those Muslims and all others struggling for that which is right, that which is just and that which is true and against the stultifying darkness that fascists (clerical and otherwise) seek to impose.
David is a fierce and brave opponent of political reaction and fascism, from what ever place – a sharp-witted and passionate exposer of the weasel-words of cant, hypocrisy and opportunism that issue from the apologists for violence and authoritarianism.
I can think of no finer friend of the Muslim community in its time of need.
No wonder he has enemies.
…no finer friend of the Muslim community..hehehe..who are you trying to kid, you make sound like a saint, Rise ye Muslims from thy slumber and support your saviour, liberator, your sponsor the lover of all things Islamic…rise I say..Abu Fasiq you make me laugh..
I bet if he goes ahead there are Solicitors who will act for Harry’s Place for free ‘pro-bono’ just to stick one up Galloway,that nice and correct gentleman he he
“baffoons”?
ABU FOGA has just shown his love for David T the neo-con supporter of an israeli state which is illegal but yet can commit acts of terror who supports the butchering of children and the rape of women and children and enjoying it.
But don’t worry David is the biggest friend of the muslims.
Looking forward to hearing Shaykh Azad Ali issue a violent threat to David T on EasyTalk soon.
I believe in freedom of speech, but only when it’s correctly spelt.
>> bum munching
Am I the only one to think that Yaseen is a nasty little homophobe?
For those not in the know, foga is a Bengali word that means “idiot”.
Yes, it’s all true. It is a love that dare speak its name.
You either do not know what the prefix “neo” means; or you do not know what the abbreviation “con” stands for; or, quite plausibly you do not know the meaning of either. “Neo-con” is not a description that in any way fits David’s stance, in my opinion.
David, like me – and a fair few others certainly believes in the right of Israel to exist. Israel is, of course, not an illegal state.
You mean a state has to be legal before it can commit acts of terror? Surely not!
Who, David, me, the state of Israel? I do love hyperbole at the fingertips of the sub-literate – amazing results!
Enjoying what? And who is enjoying what?
You making a complete arse of yourself? Yes, I enjoy that!
With friends like you, of course, the community hardly lacks for enemies.
I never fail to be astonished when people are surprised that Jews like David T, bananabrain, Katy and myself support the existence of the legal State of Israel.
Israel, like all nation states, and the world itself is imperfect.
I and, I assume, everybody who posts here and on other similar blogs, look forward to the existence of a perfect Israel in a perfect world.
Until then I shall continue to hope for a viable two state solution, and the improvement of relationships, personal and diplomatic, between people currently in dispute.
Of course, these are the same people who find it horrifying that non-Jews should similarly support the existence of the legal State of Israel. They are beside themselves when they discover Muslims that do the same.
Excellently put.
Abu Faris:
Isn’t it ironic that the people who insist that Israel is an illegal state, or that the occupation of lands captured during the ’67 war is illegal, invariably citing various UN resolutions, completely ignore the resolution that recognized Israel as a state within the Armistice borders. They also ignore the acts of war Israel was subjected to by both state and non-state actors.
Worst of all, they ignore how horribly the Palestinians have been treated by their own elected representatives. The news is going on non-stop and completely ignorantly about what is actually the fourth announcement with respect to the 1600 units to be built in Rabat Shlomo, in north Jerusalem, not East Jerusalem, on land that has been owned by Jews since the 19th century. By contrast, how many articles has the BBC devoted to the story Khalid Abu Toameh has tried to break:
http://www.hudsonny.org/2010/03/palestinian-authority-direct-the-heat-toward-israel.php
Here’s the esscence and it’s just PA history repeating itself. Note that this piece was written long before Bidden’s visit and the alleged “snub”.:
In recent months, Abbas has been facing growing criticism from many Palestinians who, on the one hand accuse him of turning a blind eye to corruption in the Palestinian Authority and, on the other hand, denounce him as a “puppet” in the hands of Israel and the US.
The main complaint against Abbas – as one of his former intelligence officials put it – is that he has “surrounded himself with the same thieves and corrupt guys who used to work for Yasser Arafat.” The most recent cases of sexual and financial corruption in Abbas’s administration (which were revealed by the former intelligence official, Fahmi Shabaneh and have become to be known as “Fatahgate”), have caused irreparable damage to his standing and reputation.
The Palestinian Authority is now searching for any excuse to increase tensions with Israel, hoping that this will invite outside pressure on the government of Binyamin Netanyahu to make as many concessions as possible.
Netanyahu’s recent decision to include two religious sites in Israel’s national heritage list is already being exploited by Abbas’s government to send schoolchildren in Hebron and Bethlehem to throw stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers.
Abbas is also hoping that renewed violence on the streets of the West Bank and the Old City of Jerusalem will force the US Administration to get more involved in the Israeli-Arab conflict.
The Palestinian Authority is not pleased with the US Administration’s attitude toward the conflict and would like to see President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton obsessed only with what’s going on between Israelis and Palestinians.
Arafat had also hoped to use the second intifada to force the Americans and Europeans to step up the pressure on Israel. However, his hopes faded as he lost control over the violence, which rapidly turned into an armed assault on Israel.
Yet Abbas is no fool. He knows that even if he were to sign a peace agreement with Israel, he would never be able to sell it to the Palestinians, let alone implement it when Hamas won’t even allow him to return to his home in the Gaza Strip.