January 21, 1998

Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

Friends of mine have often commented on the fact that, given the difficult times of my life, it is amazing that I could stay so "sane." A close friend went so far as to say gallantly he thought that I was "guileless."

Well, I am not so sure about that one, for I can carry grudges like the biggest elephant on earth when I am really hurt. But whatever reserves of goodwill are left in me in response to serious provocation, I am sure, are due to the fact that, all my life, I have been showered with prodigious admiration for having been able to have given life one heck of a fight against the greatest of all odds.

Hard as my life has been, and given all the "psychic pummeling" that came my way through circumstances, when it came to my professional and personal achievements, for the most part my psyche has been coddled.

All the more, I think, it is admirable that someone like Ernst Zundel can keep his sanity, because for more than thirty years his psyche has been under vicious, incessant attack - with no relief in sight. As judged by sheer amount of vituperation and scurrility, chances are Ernst Zundel has been demonized like no one else in the entire history of Canada. Ever!

Except for his circle of friends and supporters, people in Canada have been made ***braindead*** by hostile media when it comes to the name, work and mission of Ernst Zundel. As sure as the sun hangs in the sky, when somebody mentions his name, out comes the Pavlovian Reflex - the venting of revulsion, the requisite spitball, and the optional kick in the shin.

So what happens when a courageous journalist dares to give Zundel a small chance to show himself as we, his close associates, know Ernst to be: kind, charitable, fair - yet firmly moral, a man of standards, tolerance and grace?

Here is what happened a few days ago, as per one avid Zundel-watcher:

"On Saturday, January 17, Canada's national newspaper, the Toronto Globe and Mail, ran an item in which it solicited the views of Ernst Zundel regarding the onetime professional hockey czar Alan Eagleson.

Eagleson had fallen from the heights after pleading guilty to several counts of fraud. The old hockey legend was now a convicted felon and Globe reporter Anthony Jenkins interviewed Ernst Zundel about how Eagleson could truly repair the damage he had done the professional hockey players, many of them also great sports legends, whose trust he had betrayed.

Zundel was thus cast in the unusual role of a kind of moral authority. To supply some context to this interview, two things should be said:

1. The Eagleson disgrace was perhaps the 2nd hottest story of the new year here in Canada, after the Great Ice Storm of 1998 -

2. Eagleson had received a lot of moral support from many pillars of the community, including judges, CEOs and an assortment of onetime high-ranking politicians, including at least one Canadian prime minister, who were then openly criticized for both their old-boy cronyism and their moral relativism for trying to salvage the reputation of an admitted fraud artist and con man.

Today--Tuesday, January 20--came the backlash. The Globe published no less than seven (of nine) letters critical of itself for running the Zundel interview and of Zundel himself, of course.

Indeed, the name Zundel appeared no less than 21 times in the Globe's letters page. Doubtless there will be more in the days to come.

Brace yourself for a dramatic increase in traffic to the Zundelsite in the week ahead. In the pages of the Globe, at least, it seems like this new Zundel "scandal" is about to eclipse the older Eagleson story.

The paradox of all this is that Zundel's detractors are once again rushing to give him added publicity while, in fact, kvetching about the publicity he had otherwise garnered. Like a contrary wheel within a wheel; both spinning madly in opposite directions . . . A neutral observer with an appetite for ironies could not but be very impressed."

So what caused the vitriol against Ernst Zundel? What did he say that was so bad the Globe and Mail should be attacked for giving him a platform?

Here is the Focus interview, interspersed with my comments so as not to conflict with copyright:

Globe and Mail reporter: "Are you a hockey fan?"

Zundel: "I used to be an ardent soccer fan, but my allegiance went to hockey when I came here. I'm not interested any more. I grew up and moved on to serious things."

Globe and Mail reporter: "The Canadian justice system has been accused of reticence in the case of Alan Eagleson because of his political connections. Is the assessment fair?"

Zundel: "In Canada, if you are well-connected, chances you will face the music are remote. If you are an outcast, it is instantaneous."

Globe and Mail reporter: "How does one live with massive public disapprobation?"

Zundel: "I cannot compare myself to Eagleson. I did not steal anybody's money. If someone deliberately sets out to defraud, and that person has a position of trust, frankly they ought to be reviled. I don't care if they were Jesus Christ. I would tell him: 'Sell your home, sell your assets, pay back the people you defrauded and do penance for your crimes.'"

Here I would like to add that when I asked Ernst why he, of all people, was asked to do this interview, and why he even took this interview, since many other dignitaries could have been interviewed, he said that the subject matter was so hot that former friends and fans of Eagleson would be reluctant to comment negatively on a national "idol" - crook though he was, since he, Eagleson, himself had pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud!

Ernst said the Globe and Mail knew Zundel would not be afraid to speak his mind as he saw it. If there was backlash for his opinion, people would feel free to chastise him.

To continue with the Focus interview:

Globe and Mail reporter: "What penance would you recommend?"

Zundel: "The immoral act, the unethical act, the unconscionable act is not atoned by him getting three months in jail, or three years. When someone commits a real crime, beyond the sentence is restitution. If I were to find that I was wrong on the Holocaust, I would spend the rest of my days apologizing to the Jewish community and pointing out the error of my ways. If I was Eagleson, I would hit the high schools and tell the kids, 'this is where I went wrong.' It is incumbent on a role model, if they deliberately erred, to not only do their time, but to do penance."

Globe and Mail reporter: "Do you agree with those suggesting Mr. Eagleson should be stripped of his order of Canada and his membership in the Hockey Hall of Fame?"

Zundel. "Certainly. He got them under fraudulent pretenses. If he had been honest, he might not have become so wealthy that he hobnobbed with the rich and powerful and got things done because of his connections."

Globe and Mail reporter: "After he has served his sentence, would you shake Mr. Eagleson's hand, have a drink with the man?"

Zundel. "Certainly. I am a very liberal person. If he shows regret and does penance, Canadian society ought to stretch out their hands to him and heal the wounds."

Now I ask you: What is offensive about this interview to cause what our Zundel-watcher and supporter gleefully christened ". . . another Zundel eruption" - a flood of furious Letters to the Editor for portraying Ernst Zundel as less than a demon? One might also ask: Was the Globe and Mail so intimidated that not a single letter ran in support of Zundel's views?

It just goes to show how deep the ritual defamation of Ernst Zundel has gone and how deep and corrosive vilification can run in a society that has for decades chosen to stand by and not object as the mainstream media, on command, poured buckets of slime over a man whose ***only*** "crime" has been to want to lift the Holocaust Lobby's blood libel of the alleged Jewish "Holocaust" from his father's and our children's generation.

Ingrid

Thought for the Day:

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing."

(Benjamin Franklin, 1706 - 1790)

Comments? E-Mail: irimland@cts.com

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