Since the summer, there have been a series of vigils at Reem's California, an Oakland bakery that features a floor to ceiling mural of convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh.
Rasmea Odeh, a member of the PFLP terrorist group was recently deported from America for not disclosing her role in a grocery store bombing that led to the deaths of Leon Kanner and Edward Joffe.
In true "progressive" fashion, the initial response to these vigils was a physical attack on the participants. There were multiple attempts to harass and intimidate the participants. Mall security and the Oakland police department were repeatedly called. When that failed to stop the vigils, libelous reports about the participants began appearing across the web.
The vigils continued.
The "progressive" response from bakery owner Reem Assil, a self described "community organizer" was to file for a restraining order, which was ultimately denied by the court. Twice.
Reem Assil's assault on individual rights and freedoms has been documented by the good folk at Legal Insurrection:
A participant in the vigils has written about her experience in the Times of Israel:
This week, Reem Assil dismissed the case against journalist Michael Lumish and two others
From Mintz Levin, the law firm handling Michael Lumish's case:
The lawsuit against Mr. Lumish has been dismissed by the plaintiff, Reem Assil. Early yesterday morning, we provided notice to Ms. Assil’s counsel that we were going to appear in court ex parte on Wednesday to adjust certain pending case dates because we would be filing later that day – on behalf of Mr. Lumish – a motion to strike Ms. Assil’s case as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP” suit) designed to chill Mr. Lumish’s exercise of his free speech rights. A few hours later, while we were waiting for the Court to provide a hearing date for our Anti-SLAPP motion, we received word from the Court of the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal.
The lawsuit against Mr. Lumish has been dismissed by the plaintiff, Reem Assil. Early yesterday morning, we provided notice to Ms. Assil’s counsel that we were going to appear in court ex parte on Wednesday to adjust certain pending case dates because we would be filing later that day – on behalf of Mr. Lumish – a motion to strike Ms. Assil’s case as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP” suit) designed to chill Mr. Lumish’s exercise of his free speech rights. A few hours later, while we were waiting for the Court to provide a hearing date for our Anti-SLAPP motion, we received word from the Court of the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal.
Because Ms. Assil’s lawsuit against Mr. Lumish was precisely the type of effort to use the courts to try to obtain a content-based prior restraint on political speech, which California law does not countenance, we are very pleased that Mr. Lumish is no longer facing the burden of having to deal with such an action and attempt to intimidate him and others from engaging in peaceful protest. In light of the time and effort that we were required to invest in order to vindicate Mr. Lumish and to stand up for his free speech rights, we are considering the possibility of recovering defense fees and costs from Ms. Assil and/or her counsel in connection with this action and with their effort to silence protest against Ms. Assil’s own political speech and choice to use her restaurant to honor a convicted murderer and terrorist.
The take home lesson is that when we fight back, we win. This path is not easy, but this is the path. We can not let ourselves give in to threats and intimidation.
UPDATE
Mike Lumish has issued a statement, in a post chag spirit of t'shuvah.
Reem Assil and her malicious, anti-Zionist friends challenged the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and promptly got their legalistic butts kicked.
{Good for them.}
Anyone who followed the story of Assil's extremist and terrorist-admiring restaurant at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland knows that her attorneys dismissed her malicious "lawfare" action against Bob Pave, Robin Dubner, and myself.
This was due to the insightful work of Mitch Danzig, Evan Nadel, and Paul Huston of the law firm, Mintz Levin.
Speaking strictly for myself, I owe those gentlemen a significant debt of thanks.
There are, however, a few loose ends dangling that I want to tie up.
The first is that I owe an apology to StandWithUS, particularly Randy Kessler, Executive Director of the Northwest chapter.
And I owe a big tip 'o the kippa to Yael Lerman, Director of the SWU legal department.
{Were I her I do not know that I would have been quite so nice to me.}
When, during the vigils, it looked as if we would get zero support from the larger San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, I lambasted that organization and stormed into Kessler's Facebook space with a self-righteous fit.
It was inappropriate, unfair, and I was wrong to do it.
Nonetheless, despite my bad manners, SWU did more to help the ongoing vigils at Reem's than any synagogue or other Bay Area Jewish organization.
