The state of "freedom of the press" in Canada can best be illustrated by what happened to a suburban paper's controversial columnist, sometimes referred to by local British Columbians as "Collins Number Two."
A Revisionist friend sent me a magnificent article with the following words which are self-explanatory:
"This Greg Felton article was the second last straw. After it was published his publisher was moved to put the columnist and his editor on notice: There were to be no more "anti-Israel" Greg Felton columns appearing in the pages of The Vancouver Courier.
"Alas, another one _was_ printed -- somehow it slipped by.
"Naturally, Felton was sacked. A denouement Vancouver Sun columnist, Paula Brook, loudly applauded.
After reading the item, one will understand why Ms. Brook, who is Jewish, was sufficiently gratified with this outcome to write (and to crow) about it. <end>
The article itself was called "Israel can't hide from its history forever" | Greg Felton, and appeared in the Vancouver Courier | May 11, 1997. From it, I select some toothsome quotes:
· "European Jews exploited the suffering of their own people to further a policy of aggression and exploitation."
· "For a country to be healthy and united, its leaders must promote a unifying national ethos replete with heroes, traditions and celebrations of its past. It's all well and good to beat the drum of pragmatism, fiscal and otherwise, but a people also needs to know that it belongs to a larger community and to have that membership reinforced through ritual and common celebration."
· "However, myths and their attendant celebrations have a dark side. If used to prop up ideologies and false histories, their innate mendacity will sooner or later tear a country apart."
· "This brings me to Israel, which celebrates its 49th birthday on Thursday. Given the events of the past year, one wonder how many it has left. Notwithstanding the fact it was created by United Nations decree, Israel is built on a lie."
· "The history of the Khazars and their Judaic conversion is a documented, undisputed part of Jewish history, but you see why it causes the Zionists fits. It proves that European Jewry is largely _Caucasian_, not _Semitic_."
· "It is with good reason that author and former U.S. State Department official Alfred M. Lilienthal declared Judaism's Khazar heritage to be Israel's Achilles heel."
· "The false history of Israel as a Jewish homeland for victims of European persecution is tied up with the fallacies of Israel's "war" of independence. Zionist history says the victorious Jews won nationhood in a war of aggression against superior Arab numbers. We know this to be a fiction."
· "More than falsified history, though, European Jews exploited the suffering of their own people to further a policy of aggression and expropriation. As prof. Ilan Pappé of Haifa University wrote in _The_Journal_of_Palestine_Studies_ (Winter 1997): "Generally speaking, the Zionists succeeded in persuading large segments of world opinion to link the Zionist cause with the Holocaust. Against such a claim, even able Palestinian diplomats--and there were not many in those days--could hardly win the diplomatic game."
· "Within Israel today, Pappé said Zionist versions of the truth are beginning to lose credibility. So-called "new sociologists" and "new historians" are openly criticizing traditional verities, such as: Israel never provokes hostilities, and whole peoples can be displaced and marginalized in the name of "national security." They're even exposing the false history of 1948. While some Zionists are willing to criticize Israel's post-1967 expansionism, Pappé says the period 1882-1967 is still off limits."
· "Now that Israel's expansionism in the West Bank is open to general debate, perhaps one day so too will the period 1947-48 and maybe even Zionism itself."
References
Khalidi, Walid. _From_Haven_to_Conquest_: _Readings_in_Zionism_and_the_Palestine_Problem_until_1948_. Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington D.C., 1987
Koestler, Arthur. _The_Thirteenth_Tribe_: _The_Khazar_Empire_and_its_Heritage_. Random House, New York, 1976.
Lilienthal, Alfred M. _What_Price_Israel_? Institute for Palestine Studies, Washington D.C., 1953.
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Here Ingrid has a request! Who has video footage or good books or articles on Israel's 50th Anniversary Celebrations? Please contact me or send me loaner copies for a special project.
Thought for the Day:
"Our task is not to tell the truth; we are opinion molders."
(Walter Cronkite)
Back to Table of Contents of the May 1999 ZGrams