While I am still waiting for more detail about what happened with the eagerly (by us) anticipated Bernie Farber / Doug Christie cross-examination of the affidavit that claims that Jews will suffer irreparable harm emanating from the Zundelsite unless . . . unless. . . well, never mind! It's complicated!
Let me just tell you this:
Bernie Farber of the Canadian Jewish Congress was nowhere to be seen at 10 a.m. yesterday for his scheduled cross-examination on his affidavit, in which he pleads for a speeded-up appeal hearing to challenge Judge Campbell's devastating decision against the Holocaust Enforcers.
A lawyer for the Canadian Jewish Congress did appear for five minutes yesterday. This attorney, who had previously represented the Canadian Jewish Congress before the Human Rights Tribunal, could have been at Mr. Farber's side during the anticipated cross-examination. For some reason, he chose not to. Why the dickens not?
By noon yesterday, the Zundel team was already back in Federal Court with a request for an oral hearing by a Federal Court judge, to ***compel*** the reluctant Mr. Farber to appear for cross-examination.
The court refused the Zundel request in an oddly obscure and ambiguous response but did issue some guidelines, which were transmitted by telephone to Mr. Christie, lead attorney for the Zundel team, who was waiting to hear from the court at the Zundel-Haus.
The Federal Court headquarters in Ottawa were to forward to Mr. Christie in writing an outline and time table of what is expected of Mr. Farber and the Zundel team. On the way to the airport, Doug Christie picked up this outline. He is now high above the clouds winging his way to Victoria, B.C.
Now here I speculate on motive, since Mr. Farber seems once again to be a bit sheepish and not too eager to be questioned on his claims that the Jewish community will suffer irreparable harm if Ernst Zundel is not continued to be prosecuted for months to come before the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
Mr. Farber is given to making alarmist public statements about the precarious state of the Jewish community in Canada. When he thinks he is talking to Jewish audiences in private, he sings an entirely different tune than what he will say in public.
My ZGram readers might find it instructive to know that Mr. Farber once made similarly sweeping claims about the "dangerous" Zundel information outreach campaign before the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee - only to start squirming like an eel when an audio tape was procured and played in these hearings.
And guess what? Bernie's voice was on that tape, as he spoke to university students. He must have thought they were members of his tribe or at least highly sympathetic to his side during a meeting in which he believed himself to be unobserved by Zundelists.
Alas, a Zundel observer was there and managed to record Bernie on tape. In this meeting, Bernie claimed the exact opposite privately of what he had said publicly about the Right Wing's "danger" to the Jews in Canada.
Suddenly these right-wingers were not "dangerous" at all - they were a small, insignificant bunch of losers. They were objects of jokes and derision. They were incompetents and fools, ne'er-do-wells, people to be ridiculed etc.
As the minutes ticked away - agonizingly slowly, I've been told - and droned into an hour and beyond, Mr. Farber stood revealed to all present.
This tape - and others - are still in existence, waiting to bear witness to a man of two personas - one public and one private. There will be more revelations. To quote Yogi Berra: "It ain't over until it's over!"
So the paper war in Toronto around the Zundelsite continues. The struggle for Freedom of Speech on the Internet goes on in Toronto - despite Judge Campbell's ruling in our favor.
Now once again the regular courts will get a first-hand look at how these Zundel proceedings are handled by these intervenors.
More, hopefully, in days to come.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"NEW YORK - A massive drive is underway here to win the return of tens of billions of dollars worth of property left behind in Arab lands by Jews who fled under duress.
"The effort, which is being led by the American Sephardi Federation with the support of the World Jewish Congress, is modeled in part on the attempt by Holocaust survivors and their heirs to win restitution from Swiss banks....."
(From the Jewish weekly _Forward_ of 21 May 1999, p. 1)
Back to Table of Contents of the May 1999 ZGrams