Excerpt:
Seven Islamic organizations lost an appeal of a free speech ruling in the Texas Second Court of Appeals late last week, as the court upheld the rights of an internet journalist that pointed out ties of some American Islamic groups to terrorist groups.
Joe Kaufman was sued for libel by the Islamic Society of Arlington, Texas, Islamic Center of Irving, DFW Islamic Educational Center, Inc., Dar Elsalam Islamic Center, Al Hedayah Islamic Center, Islamic Association of Tarrant County, and Muslim American Society of Dallas. At issue was Mr. Kaufman's September 28, 2007 article in which he covered the ties of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Islamic Association of Northern Texas (IANT) to the radical terrorist group Hamas. Neither ICNA nor IANT were plaintiffs in the suit. None of the seven plaintiffs were mentioned in the article.