Israel/Palestine
Related: About this forumOlympia Food Co-Op Wins Anti-SLAPP Motion, Court Dismisses StandWithUs Lawsuit
Today, a Washington state court dismissed a lawsuit brought against the Olympia Food Coop by StandWithUs and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
(The) court dismissed the case, calling it a SLAPP Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation and said that it would award the defendants attorneys fees, costs, and sanctions. The judge also upheld the constitutionality of Washingtons anti-SLAPP law, which the plaintiffs had challenged.
In a court hearing last Thursday, lawyers from the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP argued that the court should grant the defendants Special Motion to Strike and dismiss the case because it targeted the constitutional rights of free speech and petition in connection with an issue of public concern.
We are pleased the Court found this case to be what it is an attempt to chill free speech on a matter of public concern. This sends a message to those trying to silence support of Palestinian human rights to think twice before they bring a lawsuit, said Maria LaHood, a senior staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights.
--CLIP
In this case, the issue was whether the food coop had the right to ban nine Israeli products from its shelves in support of the global BDS movement. This action was taken according to coop rules which permitted the board by concensus to approve this measure. The plaintiffs couldve requested a vote of the entire membership to confirm or reject the boards decision, but refused to go this route. They ran for the coop board in the next election on a platform that opposed the boards BDS decision and lost.
MORE...
http://www.truth-out.org/olympia-food-coop-wins-anti-slapp-motion-court-dismisses-standwithus-lawsuit/1330530579
yurbud
(39,405 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)and would indicate that those bringing them already know their case is not a winning one
Violet_Crumble
(35,954 posts)My heart bleeds for them.......not! I was actually surprised to see the MFA was involved in this. Haven't they got more important things to do than engaging in frivolous and petty lawsuits? If they haven't, someone should get them to join DU and they can really get into firing off frivolous and petty alerts!
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Not sure if you realized that or not.
Violet_Crumble
(35,954 posts)I'm always the last to hear about things
oberliner
(58,724 posts)This story is also a reprint of a post from Richard Silverstein's blog. Are you two still running that discussion board from a while back?
Violet_Crumble
(35,954 posts)I got busy with other stuff and kind of forgot to go there. I guess I should wander back over at some point and see what's going on...
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)aranthus
(3,385 posts)The right way to deal with this is to boycott the Olympia Food Co-op. The Co-op has the right to sell or not sell what they want for whatever reason they want. Consumers have the right to shop elsewhere in response. I hope that they do.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)and I agree a ProIsrael boycott would be interesting too
holdencaufield
(2,927 posts)http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/slope_says_nope_s3INoe6zL9jxeR1Obk1utL
"Thanks to last nights vote, products from Israel such as the popular Sodastream seltzer maker, bath salts and paprika will still be stocked on shelves at the 39-year-old Union Street co-op."
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)my 'problem' is with SLAPP suits though