Under the heading "The Paris Catholic Archbishop forbids attacks against Israeli policies," we read:
". . . After many weeks of silence, cardinal Lustiger, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris, launched an violent attack against the most revered priest of France, the abbé Pierre who gave his support to the revisionist book of Roger Garaudy, "The Foundings Myths of Israeli Politics."
Reviled by an almost unanimous condemnation by the press of his position but strengthened by a recent poll showing he had lost only 2% of the favorable views expressed by the French public opinion, the abbé Pierre delivered a heavy blast, blaming the fictitious unanimity of the press on the "Zionist lobby".
During the controversy, since March, the French Roman Catholic Church handed out only one rather low-key statement, rejecting the revisionist view and providing the Church's own view that one cannot go against "the most solid conclusions of the international scientific community", a rather unexpected source of knowledge for this Church.
The Paris Archbishop, born Jewish, converted to Christianity when he was still a teenager. An intellectual priest, his career has been very quick. In books and interviews, he maintains that he is at the same time a Jew and a Christian, although this seems difficult to understand to his more simple-minded parishioners. The intellectual establishment and the press love it.
To express his "blame" to the abbé Pierre, although he has no authority over a monk like the abbe, he chose "Tribune juive", a minor Jewish weekly. "What is at stake, he said, is an attack against Israeli policies and, on par with it, against Zionism and the Jews in general."
Usually in order to shield Israel from criticism, it was said by its supporters that a critique of Zionism was a veiled attack against Jews. But the ordinary use of criticism against Israeli policies was authorized as a proof that the use of criticism was still allowed.
Archbishop Lustiger, who recently introduced a seemingly Jewish rite into a Catholic celebration for the seven monks assassinated in Algeria, now forbids any criticism of Israeli policies or, more probably restricts its use to authorized circles.
It was a strange situation, without a precedent, to see a self-proclaimed Jew as one of the leading personalities of a Roman Catholic Church. But now the same person acts as an Israeli spokesman. This situation is unheard of. . . "
(The complete Le Monde article, of 21 June 1996, with commentaries,
both in French, are available from Le temps irréparable on
request at tempus@club-internet.fr)
Next, we have one hundred German academics and publishers making an official
appeal to end the persecution of Holocaust debaters:
". . . 100 prominent Germans have made a public appeal for an end to the persecution and imprisonment of those who question the official version of the Holocaust. An advertisement in the Frankfurter Zeitung by professors, authors, publishers, and others, has called for members of the public to sign a petition demanding that the Government respect the provisions of Article 19 of the United Nations Charter of Human Rights, which guarantees freedom of expression.
The appeal was in coded language to avoid prosecution, and merely referred to 'certain questions of contemporary history' which are controversial. It also noted that Prime Minister Major had refused to criminalise Holocaust debate in Britain. . . "
Then there is the story of a high school in Hamilton, Canada, that had
spent nearly nine months preparing for a day-long conference intended to
convince its students of the virtues of multiculturalism and, conversely,
the evils of racism.
However, when the big day arrived, some 500 of its 1,000 students - the
majority, apparently, with parental approval - decided to give the special
event a miss.
Here's how it was (in part) reported by a major Canadian daily, The Calgary
Herald:
". . . Half the students at Sir Allan MacNab high school played hookey Thursday, skipping a day-long multicultural and anti-racism conference in the works since September. Principal Trish Fulton said students - and their parents - will have to account for the terrible showing.
"'They (parents) are condoning young people not coming,'" she said Thursday. "'It seems there's a backlash against racial equity'" [sic]. . . "
The Spotlight reports that despite the fact that populist Pat
Buchanan will not receive the GOP nomination,
". . . T-shirts and bumper sticker businesses say Buchanan campaign materials outsells Dole paraphernalia by a margin of 5 to 1."
Remember that Buchanan, although carefully distancing himself from anything
even remotely smacking of Revisionism-and who can blame the man, what with
the media crocodiles surrounding every word!-is probably the most prominent
name on the world scene who has openly expressed doubts about important
facets of the Holocaust.
And, finally, there is the story of the Canadian Holocaust Stamp that simply
doesn't sell. I have now lost the specific item within the galaxies of my
Zundelsite gigabyte disk, but as I remember it, only one-third of the stamps
printed have actually been sold. A terrible, terrible showing!
People are getting fed up.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"Intellect annuls fate. So far as a man thinks, he is free."
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)