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Edith Bell: I Am Not Afraid of the FBI

Edith Bell was born in Hamburg, Germany, and fled with her parents to the Netherlands at age 13 to escape the Nazi regime. As a Holocaust survivor, she has seen how seemingly benign government policies can become tools of horrific repression. A lifelong peace activist, Bell helped start a chapter of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) in West Virginia. After 9/11, she felt she had to speak against the rise of civil-rights violations. She refuses to be intimidated by FBI surveillance and continues to make the case that the United States must live up to its ideals.

My Story

The People We Don't Know. I was born in Hamburg, Germany and my father was a business man ... (1:08)
Responding to the Surveillance. I was not surprised. But at the same time I felt we had to fight ... (1:39)

Themes

Stifling Dissent. In times of crisis, one argument is that surveillance is warranted for national security. Another is that unchecked surveillance will be used to stifle dissent. Eric Hallengren, Julian Bond, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Edith Bell, Peter Ackerman and Leslie Salgado describe how the lines get blurred between stifling dissent and protecting the nation.