Judy Lash Balint is, in the words of her bio,
an award-winning Jerusalem-based journalist, writer and author of Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times. (Gefen, 2002) She is a contributor to the Peace Fire anthology edited by Ethan Casey and Paul Hilder (Free Association Books, 2002).
Not to mention a frequent contributor to any number of major national and international publications.
As you may recall, Judy was slapped with a libel suit in December by Radhika Sainath, an American "activist" with the International Solidarity Movement. Ms. Sainath, who boasts that's she's been arrested three times during her "visit" to Israel "for supporting Palestinian human rights and self-determination," claimed that she was defamed by being linked to palestinian terrorist activities. Really.
Then, in February, a number of self-congratulatory announcements began popping up asserting that Sainath had "won" her case when Judy "failed" to appear in her own defense. Today, Judy's defense team issued this statement.
A default judgment obtained by a foreign International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist against a local journalist has been dismissed by a Beit She'an Magistrate's Court. The Court found that the judgment had been obtained in violation of local civil procedure rules.
[ . . . ]
In December 2003, an American ISM activist brought suit against Jerusalem journalist Judy Lash Balint over an article posted on a website detailing the connections between the ISM and the Palestinian terrorist groups. The foreign plaintiff alleged that Balint had libeled her by asserting that she assisted the terrorists.
The case, however, has been delayed while the attorney for the plaintiff insisted that he had somehow secured a default judgment at a time when the Israeli courts were on strike. The canceling of the plaintiff's mistakenly granted order will now permit the defense to document the truth and accuracy of Balint's piece.
Yes, indeed it will. This should be an interesting trial.
This, I believe, is the article in question. Judge for yourself.
Update: Meryl has more on the ISM's shenanigans and Israel's response (thanks to Judith for the link).
